Boutique Design - April 2019 - 30

TELL ME

EXPERIMENTAL GUESTROOMS AT KIMPTON HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Kimpton's larger Stay Human campaign," says Reidenbach. "The intent of the
experiment was to determine the commonalities and connections that exist
between people when the only thing they had in common was occupying the
same space at different times."
In design terms, that meant laying out the "instruments" for the experiment
in ways that served the existing room's layout and vibe. A neon Stay Human
Project sign in each incarnation complements the existing color scheme. For
the Kimpton Mason & Rook version, the team wanted to follow the aspirational and residential vibe set in Bill Rooney Studio's original concept. So, the
sign is off-white and the books in the Leadership Library, such as "Vital Voices:
The Power of Women Leading Change Around the World" and "Radical
Candor," have book jackets in white, orange and yellow that harmonize with
the room. In Room 301, the Rottet Studio-designed space features plenty of
"white space" on the walls. So, the wings mural, just above the headboard,
provides a photo op with a playful side (maybe not first thing in the A.M., but
sitting on the bed is about the ideal angle to take a selfie with the art). A literal
whiteboard for guests to write on becomes an art piece.
OK, so not every client can take a room out of their "normal" inventory for
this kind of research. But, it does propose that a more analog way of information gathering might be poised for a comeback. One can only hope that dial-up
internet doesn't follow suit.

boutiquedesign.com APRIL 2019

K I M P T O N H O T E L S & R E S TA U R A N T S (4 , M A R T I N E Z , R E I D E N B AC H ) ; H A R A L D H A N ( 5 ) ; S H A R L E E N J OY N T ( S I D E B A R )

What do guests want? Owners and operators need information beyond the
basics of king vs. double queen, shower vs. tub or TV vs. laptop. Instead of
forecasting on their behalf, why not just ask them? They might ignore a
survey request or follow-up email, but who can ignore artist Colette Miller's
angel wings, a chance to write a secret on the wall or a Fujifilm Instax
camera begging to be used? Not the guests who checked into Room 301 at
the Kimpton Everly Hotel in Los Angeles, those who book the Work It! Room
at Kimpton Mason & Rook in Washington, D.C, or travelers wanting a new
kind of stay in any of the 18 or so other hotels that will feature the initiative
sometime in 2019.
"In conceptualizing each room, we asked ourselves how and when it
would be used, how each element placed there works within the environment, how it piques guests' curiosity to discover more. That's where we start,
and it evolves from there," says Diana Martinez, senior design director,
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.
The goal wasn't just to serve as a beta test for one-person-at-a-time focus
groups. Martinez and Kimpton chief commercial officer Kathleen Reidenbach
wanted the real-world details of how their guests think. Far from being a datamining experiment oriented toward clear "do this" prompts for Kimpton, the
team wanted to glean info about the unique ways each guest approaches their
stay. "Room 301 was our first ever social experiment and was a continuation of

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Boutique Design - April 2019

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