Hotel Innovation: at Host the new approach to hospitality starts from reception

The realisation that the foyers of many metropolitan hotels are generally little used, except for welcoming guests, even though they are primary locations within their cities, provided the starting-point for developing the concept of “HI - Hotel Innovation”, the installation created for visitors to Host, the international hospitality show, in Milan.

From an almost exclusively private role, it is becoming increasingly necessary for the interiors of even small and medium-sized hotels to include spaces offered to a public clientele who are not actually resident guests.

It is more and more common to see foyers transformed into locations integrated into the surrounding urban areas, organised to make new services accessible to a multitude of clients with widely varying needs. This trend is affecting even smaller-sized, more modest establishments.

In the Host installation, the single-function foyer, closed to the public, has been replaced with a design which transforms it into a multifunctional space, open to use by a wide clientele, and flexible to allow the changes in utilisation necessary during the course of the day.

But reception is just the tip of the iceberg, as the team then expanded their remit to cover all the hospitality areas. The considerations which underlie the impressive space on show at the exhibition may form the foundation for projects which reposition restyled hotels within today's increasingly fast-changing hospitality industry.

A huge desk with striking, sculpted forms, placed in the middle of the stand, overturned the idea of "in front and behind" typical of the reception area, replacing it with "centre and all around". A multifunctional plan also allows the organisation of a bar and tasting area. All surfaces were clad with Marazzi porcelain stoneware slabs in the Allmarble Elegant Black and Grande Marble Look Golden White finishes: the marble look reinforces the project's stylistic and spatial identity, opening the way to infinite tailor-made solutions.

 And all "around" this updated desk are comfortable lounge areas, with seats and lamps specially designed for this new-concept space, ideal for both relaxation and work.

The installation was conceived and built by architect Marco Acerbis, in charge of its design and engineering, and Nimar Industry, in the role of general contractor, which handled the construction side and found Marazzi the ideal partner for the experimental cutting and installation of large surfaces. Visual communications, the naming of the concept and the www.hotel-innovation.it website were the work of Gusto IDS.

Styling Contimarchetti Studio

Photo Credit Andrea Martiradonna