Hospitality Design - December 2011 - 98

forecast

facing forward
Twelve of HD’s Platinum Circle honorees offer their insights into what they feel will await the industry in 2012 and beyond.
For 2012, though the economic uncertainty continues to cast a shadow over us, people’s desire to travel will not reduce. The constant source for unique, exceptional, and comfortable lodging experiences will not cease. There have been many fabulous hotels built in Asia in the last decade. I hope that in America we will design and build equally matched, or better yet, more ‘wow’ hotels. As long as there is imagination, I am conﬁdent that the industry will continue to reinvent itself to produce competitive, creative, and innovative products. Wing T. Chao Global Strategic Advisor

The longer the recession lasts, the more honored value becomes, the deeper it is, the more important it becomes, and the more uncertain our lives may seem, the more we will value the serenity of good design and a glass of wine.
Bob Puccini President and CEO Puccini Group

We are looking forward to greener pastures in 2012—both economically and environmentally. Neil Locke Principal Neil Locke & Associates

Hotels that cater to the wealthy are experiencing a huge expansion. Hotels and resorts worldwide will continue as there is constant demand. There are increasing numbers of millionaires and billionaires throughout the world. Those in the emerging markets, such as in China and India, are skewing up to ten years younger. Hotel design is becoming more exuberant and design-driven. Properties are more unique, tech-savvy, and modern in approach to cater to the new, young, wealthy contingent. This trend has set off debates with hotel operators to adapt to the new luxury market. One key element is deﬁnitely design, more importantly, smart design. Glenn Pushelberg Principal Yabu Pusheberg We all spent 2010 doing what we could to ensure our doors stayed open. In 2011 we looked around to see who made it through. If you were fortunate, and savvy enough, you found yourself standing among the other survivors. 2012 is about rebuilding—lives, businesses, and industries. There’s an air of caution in the market that cannot be ignored. Growth is available and plausible for the opportunistic and the realistic. If tempered with the knowledge gained from the experience we all lived through, I believe that growth can be solid and sustained. Sven Van Assche Vice President Design MGM Mirage Design Group

A haiku
It’s nasty-harsh out there, Threatening, unstable. Escapism is our job. Hotels and restaurants should be imaginative places of refuge, Offering emotional sustenance for a world in ﬂux, Immersive escapes at once cozy and bold enough to keep reality at bay, rejuvenating for guests undone by uncertainty and mechanically processed as they travel… Intimate places of sensual coziness, matte, with the edges and reﬂections knocked down, Architectures that are seductively mysterious and populated by quirky elements that are as local, organic, sustainable, and handcrafted as the dishes our chefs coddle our guests with, Idiosyncratic objects reﬂecting popular hybrid-hive culture With undertones of once-upon-a-time: Telling speciﬁc and personal stories about a site and its community In a visual language that is not just legible, but nurturing. Jordan Mozer Designer, Jordan Mozer and Associates, Limited

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - December 2011