The Hotel of Tomorrow (H.O.T) Project is an interesting initiative of interior design company Gettys and Hospitality Design magazine. They take a well-thought-out process of analysing trends and social preferences, and apply it to hotel design.
By looking through 'lenses' such as the fact we have an ageing population, or the fact that there are more environmentalists, escapists and wellness seekers, they are trying to anticipate how the hospitality industry will develop to maximise these markets. They also look at other trends, such as:
ROBOTICS - Hotels could benefit from intelligent robots that clean/re-set rooms, and even act as a bellman, automated attendant, virtual concierge, and room service, revolutionizing staffing and operations.
EXPERIENCE ECONOMY - Consumer research shows travelers desire authentic experiences; future hotels will fully immerse guests in an environment, where they participate in a different lifestyle or a themed hotel to such an extreme degree that they feel a part of such an experience. Hotels will be co-branded with corporations, offering guests the opportunity to experience blended lifestyles ranging from health and fitness, to rock and roll, to adventure.
TOTAL CONNECTIVITY - While BlackBerrys, Bluetooth and broadband keep us in touch with important aspects of our personal and professional lives; hotel guests can look forward to computers that are nearly invisible and virtually everywhere; these computers will translate foreign languages, feed high-resolution, 3-D images into guests' eyes, and more.
NANOTECHNOLOGY - Bathrooms will be constructed of nanomaterials, which repel bacteria and bed sheets will be made with nanofabric, both requiring little effort to clean and no need to replace, reducing maintenance costs.
Combined with other macrotrends, nanotechnology has the potential to completely change the face of hospitality.
PERSONALIZATION - Hotels will compete for guests by offering integrity, information privacy, and credibility as a service. As guests' preferences change throughout their stay - from business mode to relaxation or exercise - so too do the functions of the guest room. Guests of the future will stay in multi-functional, multi-experiential hotel rooms.
WORLD FLATTENING - Physical location will have little meaning, as business can be conducted from anywhere. International guests find themselves in comfort, as hotels have identified who they are and what their needs are, customizing menus, television programs, radio stations, newspapers, and more to their home country or preference.
BIOTECHNOLOGY - The hospitality industry will be challenged by biotechnology that creates pills, which allow travellers to stay awake for 48 hours, changing the need for a traditional hotel. What happens when people need to sleep only every other day? Bioengineered materials made from corn starch, soy, and bamboo will become commonplace, reducing maintenance costs; shampoo bottles, coffee wrappers, and water bottles will be biodegradable.
CREATIVE COMMERCE - Hotels will reinvent retail, offering guests the opportunity to purchase any item in their rooms, and advertisers will target guests as they shower, relax, check in, and check out, per a guest's request. Shoppers/hotel guests of the future will experience a holographic body scan of themselves, giving them the ability to view what they would look like wearing different brands of clothes.
For more detail, and for other trends, see http://hot.gettys.com/index.php.
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