What’s the most intimate way to get in touch with guests? The answer lies between the sheets.
Travelers desire more from hotels than simply a bed that provides a good night’s sleep, but it’s still a fundamental component of guest satisfaction. That’s why updated soft goods are a top priority when it comes time for guestroom renovations.
“People today are so much more aware of the design and the details of the design than they were 10 years ago,” says Niki Leondakis, president and COO at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. “I think they have higher expectations, and I think in a boutique hotel they’re even higher.
“People have an experience expectation that the design and décor are a big part of,” she adds. “If soft goods are appearing dated or worn, it’s definitely a missed opportunity, as well as a lot of times unhappy guests.”
Timing of guestroom renovations depends on the age of the existing hotel soft goods, case goods, or both. The lifespan for bed linens depends on the occupancy of each individual hotel, but Leondakis says they usually last three to four years, on average. “While there’s some flexibility in the life of your soft goods,” she says, “at some point you just need to stay ahead of customer expectations or you’re going to impact your brand and your reputation.”
WITH EVERY FIBER
Soft goods like sheets, pillows, and duvets are key pieces because they actually touch the guests, says Shawn Berry, vice president of sale and marketing, hospitality, for Standard Fiber, a producer and supplier of basic bedding products. When fibers break down or staining occurs, linens need to be replaced.
To enhance their investment, Berry says hoteliers can purchase bedding made with the latest fabrics, textiles, and fiber technologies. One innovation in top-of-the bed products is nanotechnology, which involves controlling and manipulating fibers on a molecular level. Standard Fiber has a partnership with Nano-Tex, whose inventors can transform individual fibers of a fabric and enable products to withstand spills and release stains, or manage odors and moisture.
Guests won’t notice a difference in the way the product feels because the technology is inherent in the fabric. “We’re working at levels thousands of times smaller than the width of human hair,” says Berry, adding that anti-stain fiber technologies eliminate the need to chemically treat linens before washing commercially.
Standard Fiber also has a partnership with COOLMAX, which engineers its fabrics with a technology that wicks moisture and accelerates drying. This moisture management technology is suitable for bedding products such as comforters, mattress pads, and pillow covers to help facilitate a comfortable night’s sleep.
Since mattresses are a big expense, Berry says hoteliers can safeguard their investment with encasements or topper protectors. “It’s not the sexiest thing in the world,” Berry admits of encasements, but it makes guests (and hoteliers) feel better knowing there is a barrier in place that offers bed bug and dust mite protection.
LIFE CYCLE
This year, about 25 percent of hotels in the Kimpton portfolio are undergoing renovations. In addition to guestrooms, some of the hotel renovations will include updated lobbies or meeting spaces. “We just happen to have several hotels that all opened at about the same time and we’re kind of going through a similar life cycle,” Leondakis says.
Properties that have recently undergone renovations or have projects currently in the works include Lumen in Dallas, Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco, Hotel Monaco Denver, Hotel Monaco Chicago, Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City, Hotel Rouge, and Topaz Hotel in the D.C. area.
Hotel Monaco Denver began redesigning and refurnishing its 189 guestrooms at the end of November with the help of interior designer Susan Caruso, and renovations were complete the second week of January. General Manager Von de Luna says this marks the first major redesign of the hotel since it first opened in 1998. The feedback from guests has been positive, he says, especially from long-term guests who witnessed the transformation. “The original design was very whimsical and colorful,” de Luna says. “Susan captured that but with more sophistication and a grown-up feel.”
When guests can wrap themselves in layers of comfortable bedding, it’s a real plus for guest satisfaction as a whole. “It’s one of the more important aspects of the design for sure,” he says.
Guestrooms across the portfolio have Sealy pillow-top mattresses, created exclusively for Kimpton. The hotels also offer guests custom pillow preferences, such as foam or down. Beds are triple sheeted with zebra-pattern linens exclusively designed for Kimpton by Italian textile company Frette. The pattern is a modern take on a traditional white-on-white woven jacquard. The duvet, sheets, pillowcases, and shams are 100 percent Egyptian cotton, 300-thread count sateen.
At Hotel Monaco Denver, a bronco-embroidered decorative pillow with a splash of turquoise and a fuzzy cow print throw at the foot of the bed complete the new bedding look. “Think of the bed as ice cream and the linens and sheets and the pillow cases kind of top it all off and make you feel the most comfortable,” de Luna says.
That makes the throw the crowning cherry—de Luna has received more guest requests to purchase the throws than any other item in the room. “The cow print throw is kind of the star of the show,” he says.
Ongoing maintenance of the Frette sheets, especially since Kimpton is on a three-sheet program, is an expensive investment, but Leondakis says it’s one that’s well worth it. “Bedding is probably the closest you’re going to get to your customer—where they sleep and how they feel while they’re sleeping,” she says. “I think if you don’t invest in a great bed, it’s a missed opportunity.”
