December 2014 - Volume 15, Issue 5
Share via: Share this page
Polyu HTM
SHTM and Hotel ICON looking for hotel room of the future with "Tomorrow's Guestrooms" competition

What is the hotel room of the future? How does it appeal to the next generation of connected world travellers? The SHTM and Hotel ICON are striving to find out with their designated rooms for research and development - "Tomorrow's Guestrooms".

Following the success of the technology-themed first round of the competition last year, the SHTM recently announced design as the theme of the second round. The "Tomorrow's Guestrooms Design Competition - The Hotel Room of the Future" is being held from 1 September 2014 to 31 January 2015.

At a media briefing held last month, Professor Kaye Chon, SHTM Dean and Co-Chairman of the competition, said that with the emergence of "experience economy", hotel guests are demanding stays that deliver unique high-touch experiences related to aspects of comfortable design in terms of furnishing and amenities, wellbeing and technology.

Mr Richard Hatter, General Manager of Hotel ICON and the competition's other Co-Chairman, added that Hotel ICON appeals to the next generation of connected world travellers who blend work and play, demand style and substance, and are technologically savvy. According to studies conducted in the US, millennials are likely to spend more on travel than any other age group over the next 12 months, and will spend drastically more than previous generations. The SHTM and Hotel ICON are looking to cater to this extremely sophisticated generation by designing a room for the future within the confines of a typical Hotel ICON room.

Professional and young architects, architecture studios and other businesses in the industry as well as design students from tertiary education institutions around the world have been invited to submit proposals individually or as teams to showcase their visions of hotel room design for guests of the future.

Entries will be reviewed by an expert panel, and will be judged on functionality in design and creativity in implementation. The winners will have the chance to have their design realised in the designated Tomorrow's Guestrooms at Hotel ICON. The student winner will also be given the opportunity to develop their design during a mentoring internship at Conran and Partners in London.

Dr Basak Denizci Guillet, SHTM Associate Professor and Co-ordinator of the Tomorrow's Guestrooms project, observed that Hotel ICON is in many ways a project of the future as it educates the professionals that will lead the industry in the years to come. The Tomorrow's Guestrooms Design Competition will provide not only valuable insights into the hotel room of the future, but also an excellent opportunity for current and future hoteliers and young designers to understand the desires, needs and expectations of a very sophisticated generation.

For further details and applications, please visit: http://shtm.polyu.edu.hk/tgr.
This e-newsletter is issued by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
© All rights reserved.