Hoteliers seek comfortable, residential look when buying spa furniture

Hotel & Motel Management, April 5, 2004 by Elaine Yetzer Simon

When it comes to selecting spa furniture, many of the same principles apply as when buying pool furniture.

"When we start a project for spa furniture or outdoor furniture, the comfort is very important, as well as the maintenance," said D.B. Kim, v.p. of Westin design. "We want to be clean and comfortable."

Lorraine Park agreed that spa furniture selection is all about cleanliness and making guests comfortable. Park is area spa director at The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa--A Wyndham Luxury Resort in Carefree, Ariz.

"We like to go with a residential look in the spa, which means we often have to go with residential furniture because there's not always a commercial option available," she said. "We're definitely all about comfort. Everything [guests] touch has to be very detailed and very comfortable."

Kim said the furniture in the spa area conveys elegance, refined timelessness, honesty in use of materials and efficient use of the pieces.

Materials include teak, walnut, mahogany, stainless steel, special glasses, ceramic tiles and aged marble tiles, he said.

The Boulders uses some of the same materials: bamboo, dark woods and teak.

"People don't see a lot of bamboo, so that gets a lot of oohs and aahs," Park said. "That's a signature for us."

esimon@advanstar.com