The Biggest Hospitality Trends of 2020

Seven hospitality design studios predict will be a ruling hotel and restaurant design

The environment is top of mind

An authentic—and results-driven—approach to sustainability in residential interior design, the hospitality world is taking its responsibility toward the planet equally as seriously Redesigning the structures and objects in our lives in direct response to climate change and in service to a healthier world, and it’s becoming the rule, not the exception Hotels are leveraging bigger design moves like carbon-neutral paint, biodegradable linens, and air-purifying sculptures, others are incorporating smaller gestures like water-saving showerheads and refillable carafes and water stations on each floor to replace plastic bottles. Others have slightly grander visions—resort brand Six Senses aims to be plastic-free by 2022 and is integrating sustainable initiatives like passive cooling, electric transport, and Earth Labs into each of its new properties

Designers are layering it on

With the eco-friendly ethos of reusing and repurposing, the experts predict that we’ll also be seeing a lot of layering in of vintage and recycled objects alongside new ones—a “mixology” of sorts, as Rockwell Group partner Shawn Sullivan, who recently designed the restaurant Chica in Miami, put it. “Rich environments are trending and achieved through a range of techniques—from layering multiple materials and patterns on patterns to mixing old and new with found objects,”

Self-care is front and center

“Right now, the world is full of noise pulling our attention in multiple directions at once,” Atelier Ace’s Sawdon says. “Hospitality seems to be moving toward creating grounding, holistic experiences for guests, providing them with mindfulness and elements of self-care.” “In 2020 designers should create ‘templates,’ designing in a way that leaves space for people to create their own experiences instead of having something forced upon them.”

We’re reevaluating our relationship with technology

As guests increasingly yearn for convenience and independence, much of the hotel experience has become digitized and executed via iPad or smartphone. “More integrated technology like self-check-in screens and self-check-out billing is limiting guests’ interaction with hotel staff

The Instagram “look” is over

The counter effect of hotels and restaurants clamoring to make their spaces as Instagrammable as possible is a swing in the other direction, toward what ASH NYC’s Cooper calls “decoration proper.” “The internet and social media have made copying and pasting ‘the look’—be it color blocking or eclectic modernism—so easy that I think we lose individuality and the ability to remember a place because they all look the same,”

 

   

The breakfast room at Maison de la Luz, designed by Atelier Ace and Studio Shamshiri.

The Scott resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, designed by AvroKO

Inside one of the villas at Six Senses, a wellness-oriented hotel brand, in Shaharut, Israel.

The lobby and concierge area of Nashville's Thompson hotel, designed by Parts + Labor