The Three Things You Must Have for a Successful Custom Furniture Project In A Hotel

Let’s be real, custom anything on any project is difficult and requires specialization, expertise, and focus. Custom furniture, specifically in hotels, is nothing new, but for the hotelier just now beginning to furnish their spaces, the idea of a custom project might seem intimidating. After all, it’s so much easier to simply go online, pick out some furnishings that match your hotel’s color scheme and aesthetic, and then wait for it to arrive. It’s convenient for sure — but it also could be the same thing your hotel guests have already seen a thousand times, at a thousand other hotels - and it probably won’t last the rigors of your hard-charging guests. That’s why, for many discerning hoteliers, a custom furniture project is worth the extra work. After all, we’re in the business of delivering experiences.

However, there are a few things you’ll have to take into consideration in order to ensure that your custom furniture project is successful. In our work with Agency 967, we’re often called upon to find the right supplier for custom furniture projects, and in each presentation I give, I always recommend designers, purchasers, and hoteliers alike focus on what I call the “Three C’s” of a custom guestroom furniture project: Clarity, Communication and Comfort.

The First Step to a Successful, Custom Guestroom Furniture Project: Clarity

If your custom guestroom furniture project isn’t successful, your chances of a successful hotel opening are much slimmer. How can you have a successful hotel opening if you don’t have the right — or even any — furnishings? You can’t. 

That’s why it’s so vital that, even before you place an order for a custom furniture project, you ensure that the custom furnishings provider you’re working with follows best communications practices. If the firm isn’t communicating with you consistently and effectively before they receive your order, how do you think they’ll communicate after they receive your order?

But communication is a two-way street. To better ensure the success of your project, you also need to communicate efficiently and effectively on your end, too. Be upfront about your aspirations for the project and your hopes for the end result. I always ask: “What the most important experience you have when the guest enters the room.” Often times the answers that designers and owners give are quite surprising…but it also enables us to focus resources on what’s most important.

Make Sure a Supplier Has the Capabilities to Meet Your Needs 

Once you’re sure that a supplier is able to provide clarity of communication, then you need to actually ensure that your supplier is capable of giving you the best options based on your criteria for the project. 

Every custom guestroom furniture project comes with its own, unique set of requirements for things like budget, schedule, and quality. Some projects may need a quick turnaround time; others may need the highest in quality; some might need to stick within a very strict budget. Whatever your parameters for the project, define those and define them exactly. Then, once your internal team is clear on those definitions, you can make an informed decision as to which of the suppliers you’re considering is capable of meeting your needs.

Confirm Your (and Your Guests’!) Comfort on Opening Day 

Through my experience, I’ve found that one of the most difficult steps in a hotel custom furniture project is “the last five miles,” aka the time between when the custom furniture order arrives at the warehouse and makes it to it’s final resting place in the guestroom on property. It’s during this step that valuable time can be eaten up as you try to solve challenges that come up on-site. These range from issues within your internal team in actually prepping the property for opening day to issues with the custom furnishings itself. 

To better avoid issues like these, and thus confirm that you’re going to be comfortable with a hotel opening day that goes as smoothly as possible (and also confirm that your guests will be comfortable once they check in), it’s important to develop internal strategies to deal with any furnishings-related issues that may arise, ahead of time. 

We know what questions to ask before they become issues. Let's go "Make it So!".