Boutique Design - January/February 2019 - 32

JULIUS ROBINSON

BRANDS

Sheraton, Marriott Hotels

THE PROFILE

Classic, Premium

THE SCOPE Sheraton: 441 hotels with 155,617 rooms open; 79 signed hotels
with 20,421 rooms in the pipeline; Marriott Hotels: 567 hotels with 201,366
rooms open; 159 signed hotels with 45,583 rooms in the pipeline
THE MEGATREND

Executive Nomad

HOW THAT'S CHANGING DESIGN 21st-century road warriors demand more
than a clean, well-thought-out room for the night. They want a home away from
home-and may spend more time traveling than at their primary residence. This
new breed of traveler sees the guestroom as a place to rest, the lobby as a place
to work, meet friends or colleagues, relax or grab a coffee or drink, and the fitness
center as a place to hit health goals. In other words, designers can't just replicate
the physical touchstones of a residential environment by adding soft textures or
warming up the lighting scheme, though that's still essential. Instead, it's their job
to reimagine the interior of the property so that frequent travelers can maintain
the morning and evening practices, work habits and social routines that define
their existence off the road, all while incorporating the global threads, local influences and respect for the brand's heritage and worldwide identity.
When Marriott acquired Sheraton as part of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts
portfolio (Sheraton was that company's most international flag) in September
2016, the company's brand and design teams focused on all of the above. The
goal: ground each design decision in intuitive usability, ultimately letting guests
take full advantage of each amenity in the public spaces, without the stress of
figuring out "how does this work?"
"For Sheraton, we developed premium components that are very simple,
but how they are arranged together and play holistically is what will make the
brand experience so powerful," says Lionel Sussman, vice president of Global
Design Strategies, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton and Delta. He said that every

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LIONEL SUSSMAN

detail supports that concept-there's nothing that requires a user's manual.
The wish-I'd-thought-of-that cleverness makes the experience aspirational.
"The communal table, for instance, is equipped with wireless chargers,
outlets, lights, drawers with locks to hold your laptop or other belongings. The
public space will also feature new facetime booths for private phone calls or
facetimes," says Julius Robinson, Marriott International's senior vice president
and global brand leader, classic full service brands, including Sheraton. Spaces
such as the brand's new "studios," which can morph from meeting room to
dinner spot, echo the multifunctionality of modern living rather than the
rigidly segmented uses of old-school business hotels. Nowhere is that more
true than in Sheraton's F&B outlets. Sheraton's "Coffee Bar Bar," for instance,
provides a simple option for guests to grab a beverage of choice, while its day/
night conversion saves space and budget.
Just like at home, guests crave interior spaces-even in guestrooms-that
aren't designed for a narrowly defined purpose, such as sleeping or working.
"In guestrooms, we've crafted a desk that allows people to work individually or
gather in any ergonomic way, whether that's sitting, standing, watching TV or
enjoying a memorable view," says Sussman. "Adjustable-height tables also make
the FF&E a custom fit for every guest."
The successful transformation of Marriott Hotels was a great launchpad that
provided the Sheraton team with invaluable insights, notes Robinson. The guest
isn't the only one needing a bespoke offering. Different footprints and archetypes
require these amped-up residential hotspots to make their signature elements
flexible enough to wrap around corners and squeeze into tight spaces. While that
struggle is real, making fewer of those quintessential pieces part of the architecture (as in detaching them from the wall and bringing them out into the space)
means that designers have the freedom to celebrate the bones they're given.
For a real-time case study of where Marriott is taking the Sheraton brand, be
sure to track the renovation of the 1,000-room Sheraton Grand Phoenix hotel.
Marriott bought it last year to transform the hotel's guestrooms and public space
into a showcase for the brand's future direction-a vision that focuses on services
and design that enable socialization, productivity and personalization.

M O R G A N I O N E ( S H E R AT O N ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F M A R R I O T T I N T E R N AT I O N A L ( S U S S M A N ; R O B I N S O N )

SHERATON'S BUILT-OUT PROTOT YPE PUBLIC SPACE, DESIGNED BY MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
http://www.boutiquedesign.com
Boutique Design - January/February 2019

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