Guestroom furniture follows technology, multitasks

Hotel & Motel Management, Nov 15, 2004 by Heather Gunter

In even the most spacious of guestrooms, every piece of furniture counts. That's one reason why more designers are giving armoires the ax and making more furniture pieces do double duty.

Technology also is dictating choices for casegoods.

"The electronics are changing the room today," said Rikki Lee, senior associate for Cole Martinez Curtis and Associates in Marina Del Rey, Calif., citing flat-screen televisions, in-room check-out options and wireless communication. "The television screen is becoming the computer screen, so people are using it based on that. The desk, in a lot of cases, is not something people necessarily want to sit at. A lot of people will sit in a lounge chair with their laptops."

Flat-panel televisions are decreasing the need for armoires.

"The idea of not having armoires definitely is out there because everyone wants a flat-screen TV, and they just want to hang it on the wall as art, so that armoire that used to house the beverage center and clothing, as well as the television, has disappeared," Lee said.

Beverage centers in small dressers or a highboy are the armoire alternative. If the television is hung on the wall, a dresser often is placed against the wall below it, Lee said.

Brad Elias, president of Elias Design Group in New York, described a recent project at a Sofitel property, where instead of using an armoire, televisions were placed on sculpted dressers that also housed the minibar.

"It helps expand the room," he said. "You don't have the mass of that big, bulky piece of furniture."

In the suites, flat-panel televisions are being used, Elias said.

"As the prices come down, I can see it's going to be de rigueur for all guestrooms," he said. "Right now it's a little too expensive for very broad-scale use. Were it affordable, everyone would go to the flat panel right away, immediately."

Tonya Burke of Dallas-based Wilson and Associates said that for a project her firm is working on now, they were asked to come up with a creative idea for addressing the plasma screen issue in guestrooms. They chose a credenza-type piece for the television to sit on that is combined with a desk. At one end the television sits on the credenza. Below that is a cabinet that houses the minibar. Perpendicular to that at the other end is a desk.

"It's actually a great space saver because you don't have to do the separate dining room table," Burke said. "You could get several people around it."

Back to the bed

Larger headboards also have an increasing presence in hotel guestrooms.

"Larger headboards give a sense of drama in the room," Elias said. "It does provide an upscale look."

Again using a new Sofitel project as an example, Elias described a headboard with two colors of wood in a pattern. The wide headboard encompasses not only the width of the bed, but also the nightstands.

"So you have this massive wood panel in the room," Elias said. "The look is both upscale, and amazingly, it cleans it up somehow. It organizes everything and makes the room a little sleeker."

Reading lights might be built into the headboards in addition to the nightstand lamp. In some cases, the artwork is mounted on the headboard or inset into the headboard, Elias said.

The nightstand also might be incorporated into the headboard with more of a horizontal design, Burke said.

The reason for the bigger headboard is to add a feature to the beds, she said.

"It may have to do with hotels going to the white bedding," Burke said. "Westins and Hyatts are using all-white linens, so the larger headboards are an opportunity to add color and texture to the room."

Along with larger headboards, larger desks have become a staple for hotels that want to cater to business clientele, according to Elias.

In general, casegoods are getting more of a mix-and-match look that gives guestrooms a more custom appearance.

"In our case, it's a trend of not making all of the furniture in a guestroom look en suite anymore," Elias said. "We're using multiple wood finishes in the room and mixing it with metal and glass pieces."

Elias's firm has been custom designing everything for quite a while now. For the Sofitel project, the nightstands, instead of being square blocks, have tapered sides, like an upside down, truncated pyramid. The desks are a large oval shape. The dressers have demilune fronts.

"Furniture is becoming a little more sensuous, more shaped," Elias said. "Everything has more interest. It's not just the blocky furniture that we all used to use."

Colleen Neilson, senior associate for Cole Martinez Curtis and Associates, noted a trend toward more built-in pieces instead of freestanding furniture.

"It goes along with the trend that's been around for a while of the retro '50s look that a lot of people are doing," she said. "A lot of people feel that it gives the room a sleeker look and you have a more spacious living space." And that's appreciated, even in the roomiest guestrooms.

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Company                            Circle No.

Allegiant                                 370
Bauer International                       371
Broyhill Furniture Industries             372
Caseworks Furniture                       373
Duraframe                                 374
Fleetwood Fine Furniture                  375
Furniture Design Studios                  376
Mica-Case                                 377
Solid Comfort                             378
Thomasville Furniture Industries          379