It’s often undermined but it does make a difference. Those idle hotel rooftops are highly versatile and can be great for business.
So, what does it take to have a well-designed and well-equipped hotel rooftop? Well, comfort and ambiance are the first things you should be looking at.
You want adequate lighting to trigger relaxation. A poolside lounge may have different lighting than a bar and a restaurant. In any case, you want each zone to seamlessly blend into one another. Next comes seating. Your guest demographic and whether you have a rooftop pool help determine the seating arrangement. Is your primary demographic business travelers, families, millennials, or extended-stay guests? Work your way up from there.
And regardless of the demographic, nothing quit e kindles coziness like a fire pit. You can also choose fire tables or a fireplace to bring people together.
While firepits might be perfect as the sun goes down, a carefully engineered pool area will keep your guests entertained all day long. A cantilever pool or an infinity pool will add a whole new aesthetic to not only your rooftop but also to the exterior.
After fire and water, the next earthy element to truly amp up your rooftop is greenery. Incorporating green walls, vines, plants, and even trees will promote a fresh energy. Culture the bees or grow fresh produce for your bar or restaurant—your guests will love the extra care.
Next, depending on your franchise and budget, a rooftop restaurant may be a good idea. You can also expand your F&B options to a bar, lounge, casual café, or even a chic shack—go alfresco for something economic and cool!
There’s always a design to fit your budget. If you want your hotel to generate a buzz, make sure that it reflects authentic and local elements. And if you have more space to spare, turn it into a socializing zone by hosting yoga classes at dawn, meetups during the day, and performances in the evening.
Make the experience count.
For more hotel design insights, visit: https://www.base-4.com/base4.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Platinum Award: Monumentally Hip Hotel Conversion
At one time the tallest building west of the Mississippi, the Foshay Tower has stood proudly on the Minneapolis skyline since 1929. Built by Wilbur Foshay as a tribute to the Washington Monument, the 30-story obelisk served as an office building—and cultural icon—for more than 70 years before the Ryan Companies and co-developer RWB Holdings partnered with Starwood Hotels & Resor...
| Aug 11, 2010
Hilton President Hotel
Once an elegant and fashionably trendy locale, the Presidential Hotel played host to the 1928 Republican National Convention where Herbert Hoover was nominated for President, and acted as a hot spot for Kansas City Jazz in the '30s and '40s. The hotel was eventually abandoned in 1984, at which point it became a haven for vagabonds and pigeons, collecting animal waste and incurring significant s...
| Aug 11, 2010
CityCenter Takes Experience Design To New Heights
It's early June, in Las Vegas, which means it's very hot, and I am coming to the end of a hardhat tour of the $9.2 billion CityCenter development, a tour that began in the air-conditioned comfort of the project's immense sales center just off the famed Las Vegas Strip and ended on a rooftop overlooking the largest privately funded development in the U.
| Aug 11, 2010
The softer side of Sears
Built in 1928 as a shining Art Deco beacon for the upper Midwest, the Sears building in Minneapolis—with its 16-story central tower, department store, catalog center, and warehouse—served customers throughout the Twin Cities area for more than 65 years. But as nearby neighborhoods deteriorated and the catalog operation was shut down, by 1994 the once-grand structure was reduced to ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Healthcare
11. Operating Room-Integrated MRI will Help Neurosurgeons Get it Right the First Time A major limitation of traditional brain cancer surgery is the lack of scanning capability in the operating room. Neurosurgeons do their best to visually identify and remove the cancerous tissue, but only an MRI scan will confirm if the operation was a complete success or not.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gold Award: Westin Book Cadillac Hotel & Condominiums Detroit, Mich.
“From eyesore to icon.” That's how Reconstruction Awards judge K. Nam Shiu so concisely described the restoration effort that turned the decimated Book Cadillac Hotel into a modern hotel and condo development. The tallest hotel in the world when it opened in 1924, the 32-story Renaissance Revival structure was revered as a jewel in the then-bustling Motor City.
| Aug 11, 2010
Silver Award: Palmer House Hilton Hotel & Shops Chicago, Ill.
Chicago's Palmer House Hilton holds the record for the longest continuously operated hotel in North America. It was originally built in 1871 by Potter Palmer, one of America's first millionaire developers. When it was rebuilt after the Great Chicago Fire it became the first hotel in the U.S. to put a telephone in every room.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gulf Coast Hotel's Stormy Road to Recovery
After his initial tour of the dilapidated 1850s-era Battle House Hotel, Ron Blount, construction manager with Retirement Systems of Alabama, said to his boss: “You need a priest more than you need a contractor.” Those words were more prescient to RSA's restoration of the historic Mobile landmark than he could have known at the time.
| Aug 11, 2010
Lifestyle Hotel Trends Around the World
When the Rocco Forte Collection opens the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily in early 2009, the 200-room luxury property will be one of the world's newest lifestyle hotels. Lifestyle hotels cater to guests seeking a heightened travel experience, which they deliver by offering distinctive—some would say avant-garde, or even outrageous—architecture, room design, amenities, and en...