Welcome to the hotel of the future

While focusing even more on its core business, i.e. hospitality and service, the hotel industry will also seek to penetrate local life and culture even more deeply. You no longer “go to the hotel”: you “enjoy an experience” during your stay, enhanced by tailor-made services, whether you are travelling alone, with your partner, family or friends or on business.

Hotels are being reinvented, transformed and adapted to provide a proactive response to three major challenges as they look to the future:

Meeting the CSR challenge

Environmental issues are central to all our hotel renovation projects. A growing number of customers are attentive to the CSR commitments of the hotel establishments and chains they use. CSR initiatives are also an attractive argument in favour of ethical recruitment and occupational well-being for employees in a sector under pressure. We are taking tangible action to limit the impact of our hotel business and thus our overall carbon footprint. During the construction phase, we strive to reuse or sell off the furniture we don’t plan to reuse. Our in-house teams work hand-in-hand with our Sustainable Development Department and recognised consultants to identify effective environmental solutions both upstream and downstream. As such, in order to improve our energy management, we install more energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems and presence detectors that switch off all power when the room is unoccupied.  Together with our operating partners, we challenge each project in order to better anticipate, innovate and design systems that are sustainable and efficient both financially and energy-wise.

Bringing design to life

Guests no longer visit hotels just to have a room for the night – they are looking for memorable experiences. Design can be used here to offer a hybrid mix of uses, services and experiences within the same space, for example in the lobbies, which now offer restaurants and cafés as well as creativity rooms, libraries and children’s play areas. This new conception of space encourages discovery and sharing, in particular by allowing outside customers and locals to come and share the same experiences: no need to be a customer, the hotel has rediscovered its role within urban life. What can be more pleasant than knowing that the place where you’re staying is also a bustling hub of local cultural life?! The design thus becomes more stylised, less uniform, with a considerable focus on nature and people by offering green spaces and open public living spaces dotted with islands and alcoves..

Mastering technological strengths

Artificial intelligence and automation are just some of the technological developments that have enhanced the guest experience. The digitisation of administrative tasks gives hotel staff time to focus on their real job, namely welcoming guests and providing hospitality. For example, check-in can now be done online or via a hologram: a robot can hand over your keys or take care of room service! Staff can now take the time to welcome their guests, provide information and advice, or simply talk to them. Because the human aspect is what makes the difference in a hotel: in future, contact and services will need to be stepped up so as to offer meaningful interaction and leave happy memories of a positive local experience. Technology is also an essential lever in improving hotels’ environmental performance, thanks to smart automation, which is capable of adjusting air conditioning and heating in accordance with space occupancy, for example..

The hotel of the future is already here, exuding a real personality that makes you want to stay there and come back again.  Each customer can enjoy a personalised stay tailored to their profile, guaranteeing a memorable experience which they will then share with others.