Innovation

From new social media solutions to new ways of designing the lobby

Innovation has always been high on the hoteliers’ list of giving the hotel guest an extraordinary experience, and it’s not only in social media that we see things happening. In the kitchen we can see more theme creation, macha lattes, turmeric shots and cold-pressed açai juice. The bar is keeping up with the same innovation trend offering low alcohol drinks and delicious gluten free snacks, and the bathroom starts to look more like walking into a Clarins spa, lined with a vast array of beauty products.

Here at Black Olive Collection we remember when we checked in at a hotel for the first time using an Ipad. The reception desk free hotel trend was born. Thank you Andaz.

Modern luxury hotels have adapted to fast social media trends with creative innovations. There are a handful of striking new solutions for hotels that would like to keep up with the ever changing world of new high technology, like proving streaming in-room entertainment.

Some hotels really deserve one extra star when it comes to innovation, renewing the concept by offering a digital concierge app or an in-room lighting system that doesn’t take a degree in engineering to operate. Other cutting edge solutions include pillow menus, free mini-bars or being able to use your own phone devise to control the temperature in the room.

The hotel lobby as we used to see it, is now obsolete in many ways.

A simple stylish sofa-coffee table combo won’t do it anymore. The hotel is now meant to create lobby space providing both casual and formal zones as well as accommodating for multi-device social media use. Intimate areas that serve as an office away from the office give the hotel guest the opportunity to work on the laptop in a relaxing environment.

The hotel bathroom has also seen a range of new spa facilities and amenities, that are incorporated into the room design, such as waterfall showers, jet streams, and colour steam features to enhance your mood and transport you to another world.

A new array of beauty products including body scrubs, face masks, and aromatherapy candles are widely offered to make sure you are as comfortable as at home.

Innovation in gastronomy

Innovation has also come to the world of fine cuisine letting the hotel guest take part in the artistic creation by having a open space kitchen in the middle of the restaurant, where the chefs can showcase the art of cooking and let everyone be inspired by the show.

Hotels can also inspire by going beyond your expectations providing innovate ideas like offering supplements and antioxidants at the breakfast buffet, making them look as obvious as the croissants or the freshly squeezed orange juice.

In the same way hotel chefs who can replicate global breakfast trends such as macha latte, genmaicha tea, avocado toast, açai bowl and gluten free granola will automatically be seen as leading the trend.

Theme creation is another trend that is here to stay and is central in hotels that are at the forefront of innovation, and right now we are seeing an upswing for Portuguese, Nordic, Filipino and Cuban cuisines.

Themes are really pushing creativity to new heights with for example Poke, the traditional Hawaiian raw seafood salad with octopus or tuna, that currently can be seen all over the hotel dining scene.

Trianon Terrasse In the bar scene we are no longer happy seeing the same cinnamon and wasabi infused cashew and pistachio nuts, but we relish for healthy high protein gluten free bites.

Another strong trends that is dominating is low or no-alcohol drinks, so expect to hear more talk about turmeric shots, açai shots and cold-pressed juices.

In Paris and Madrid, which both historically were strongholds for average bland coffee, we are currently seeing a new fantastic wave of Australian baristas opening up coffee shops everywhere, and it’s only a matter of time before the hotel world picks up on this new trend.