Do you want to be #1 with your hotel or stay mainstream?

A high-profile interior will keep you on top

We are in conversation with interior designer with Ingrid van der Veen. She helps entrepreneurs in hospitality create high-profile interiors that allow them to get or stay on top. And, with which they leave the competition behind. But yes, how do you do that?

Ingrid deals professionally every day with that important question: how is it possible that some operators of top notch hotels and restaurants remain constantly interesting for the best guests? What is the reason that they manage to stay ahead of the competition while fellow entrepreneurs in hospitality, even those who are (already) at the top, sometimes struggle to welcome new guests or fail to achieve new growth? 

Ingrid says: "I go on a voyage of discovery with my clients time and again. We look for the answer to the question of how you can become and be talked-about and how you can conquer the upper segment of the market so that you are always fully booked with well-paying and satisfied guests. And, that you read fantastic reviews about your hotel on the internet."

According to Ingrid, creating and presenting a high-profile interior is essential in this respect. "Actually, that's when you lay the foundation to get or stay at the top."

Ingrid explains further: "How nice it is when you are able to have an exceptional appearance that immediately tells clearly who you are. That first impression immediately tells your guest that you are not a one-size-fits-all and that they can expect the highest level from you as a guest. After all, you can only make a first impression once. So, it should be in order when guests take their first step into your place. Indeed, even earlier you can create that moment. For instance, when they look in through the window. Either way, the idea is that they will see your welcoming 

environment also actually experienced immediately as a great, unforgettable gift. Experience, in other words!"  

"It is therefore high time to pay more attention to interior design than ever before," she continues. "Try to be a forerunner anyway. And, have guts. Or... are you afraid of missing the mark with a new interior? Do you find it hard to make changes to your existing interior?"

If the answer is 'No' to these questions, chances are that you do not yet know or do not apply the essence of a high-profile interior, says Ingrid. "Many hospitality entrepreneurs do want to go for a special identity, but do not make groundbreaking choices, however, safe ones. This is a missed opportunity. Safe is mainstream. And not special. You actually want to stay away from that."

There are also entrepreneurs and hotel managers who make their own adjustments to the interior, for example when they add an extra room, or when furniture needs to be replaced. "It seems very innocent, but it is precisely with small adjustments that you bring the environment out of balance too quickly. This creates unrest. Not only with your guests, but also with your employees. It's just all just not right, making guests subconsciously feel they are out of place."

Moreover, hospitality entrepreneurs often think that the interior they have now is already good enough, because they are fully booked anyway and because guests leave compliments. "My advice? Don't wait for people to complain or stay away. To govern is to look ahead. Take direction. Or call for help."

For instance, Ingrid was asked by Jonnie and Thérèse Boer for the interior designs of their five-star hotel rooms at De Librije. "Of course, they too have an appealing standard to uphold. They knew that their hotel rooms were not fully up to their standard, even though they were getting compliments on them. While they had ideas of their own, they realised that they did not have sufficient knowledge of materials and colours. The last thing they wanted was to 'miss the mark'."

Ingrid was given the freedom to elevate the interior of the hotel rooms to the level of their quirky three-star cuisine, so that they could remain 'top notch' in their hotel branch too. And they succeeded.

Clients knock on Ingrid's door for exactly those reasons and objectives: she has a distinctive style. Fortunately, clients also see that a special interior is ultimately an excellent marketing tool. "I admit that some do then sometimes wonder whether it is wise to bring a lot of colour into their own interiors. They want to know whether all those colours are then not too exciting or temporary after all." 

Ingrid: "However, with good use of colour, a hotel stands like a house and you don't need padding for bare white walls. Yet many entrepreneurs or operators still feel that something is missing and actually want to add something like art or decoration. But... 'beware' I then say. As far as I am concerned, colour is not a patch-up tool for the finishing touches and styling around those white walls, on the contrary, for a top hotel it is the basis for its own successful interior."

According to Ingrid, there are three main reasons - or signals! - that make an operator know it is time to think about a new interior. 

"Firstly, if your interiors never or hardly ever feature in photo reports in interior or lifestyle or business magazines, you can really take that as a sign on the wall. Secondly, if in your hotel or restaurant your furniture, curtains or floors are worn or broken. And third: if you have a competitor who has obviously decorated it more beautifully or stylishly compared to how you have done it yourself. The time has then come to take action."

Ingrid: "The goal is that the interior tells your guests exactly what to expect, that they can see from everything which top level you stand for with your company. Let your interior say what you want the customer to remember. You will then succeed in penetrating the subconscious level of your guests. If you can do that, you are golden. Guests will feel they are in the right place. They will return to you! Because, everything is right. With your mind-blowing design, you surprise your guests with combinations and details they have never seen before. So, no standard solutions. You are no longer part of the masses."

Therefore, as far as Ingrid is concerned, it is by definition about customisation. "For me as a designer, it is always a special moment when I show my designs to my clients for the first time. When I then see their smiles, I know that they see their dream come true. It's exactly why I do this work: creating magic to transform ideas and thoughts into something tangible!"

Of course, the last step is also very important: perfect execution of the design. "Unfortunately, I still see too often that concessions are made regarding the design during construction or renovation," says Ingrid. "I find it unfortunate that inte-
rior builders or even the owners themselves put their own twist on the original design, causing them to miss the boat. This is exactly why I want to be involved in my projects from start to finish, so that the design really becomes a high-profile interior. And, that the entrepreneur understands even more that the look of his interior really has a lot of economic value."