February 1st 2021

The transformation generation of today’s roaring twenties

The world is full of great ideas, and right now there’s a lot of them around. This article will ramble around fashion, F&B, asset management and sweating the now BIG STUFF. 

Could it be possible that there may be parallels with restaurant design and that of fashion? I posed this hypothesis with my designer and branding colleagues in London and Dallas in our January brainstorm entitled ‘future thinking’. I’m a little tired already of over used expressions such at ‘the new normal’ or ‘on the other side’ etc. We’re in ‘it’ up to our eyelashes but as an absolute optimist there is light at the end of the tunnel, we just have to wire up the switches to a super charged nuclear turbo.

Hotels are still under construction, entrepreneurs are still designing and building, chains are still growing, but in the shadows we experience depressing numbers of lifetime record closures sales declines and job losses which we cannot get away from.

We talked about the role that large hotels will play in owner portfolios, hypothesising whether there was still the capacity for them in cities where office worker behaviour has transformed and what once might have been unthinkable is now becoming acceptable ‘working from home’ and the role of zoom becoming so common place it’s hard to see a return to the social and working habits of the noughties. Some blue chips are suggesting that their staff won’t really return to the office for another year or longer, but I’d suggest that no one really knows unless you’re some given God who knows what is coming next, and try as you may my brow will remain furrowed.     

 So, what of these assets? Can whole floors be transformed from single night stays to permanent residences, staid all day dining becoming destination dining, perhaps a whole floor transformed to a gaming and sports themed destination with a global Anheuser-Busch brand perhaps. Meeting rooms transform to technological spaces that replace the traditional meeting room, to a Boardroom by the hour or day and other cavernous space transformed to destination social meeting and workspaces relieving the boredom of home working. Why couldn’t additional space be used to home retail services and shops aligned to the needs of the new user, guest, resident, visitor, worker and owner? As for the cavernous kitchens that aspirational wanting chefs built at eye watering expense? They have delivery area, huge storerooms, pick up areas. All this can be converted to a fast-rising sector of cloud and dark kitchens. What if floors became indoor, year round mini athletics tracks, tennis courts, what about biotechnology, surely we can now create sustainable city centre green floors that feed the community? 

Can a 600 bed hotel become a 350 bed hotel and multi-purpose asset that relies on multiple income, multiple destination purpose driven rather than the traditional duel income streams they currently rely?

These assets have to sweat and sweat differently. I can imagine hotel revenue directors will soon be complemented (even replaced) by single building asset managers looking after leasing etc., not just maximising the revenues of single night stays.

 And then we went on, how do we make these spaces even more dynamic, future thinking and pace setting, like fashion statements but more physical and permanent. Many owners crave trophy assets, be they the hotel brand or restaurants and bars within, but that list is a relatively short one and as we transform how do we lift stunning indulgent design and make it equally captivating, atmospheric and command crave? I return to my fashion analogy; a bit like taking couture fashion off the catwalk and into the mainstream, still generating awesome brand awareness but affordably in spaces that drive essential footfall from the residents but also the surrounding community as a new destination, but also a space that can quickly evolve, maintain and drive footfall. Dining, drinking, social and meetings spaces that used to last several years or longer won’t now as innovators and entrepreneurs teach us how to create dynamic spaces so brilliantly and affordably. The consumers’ emotional needs crave value; atmosphere, comfort and trend is now a given expectation.

 Sadly, it’s not just hotel assets now. We’re seeing swathes of retail asset redundant and closed down, my principle remains for these vast buildings too. I’m looking forward to seeing how these spaces and hotels evolve in the transformation generation of today’s roaring twenties. Futuristic thinking is demanded to make sure that guests still get their jaw dropping experience, but owners too can sleep better at night knowing their assets are sweating while they’re sleeping, whatever the time of day it is.  

David Singleton has worked in the hospitality and retail industry around the world as a brand builder, creator, operator, franchisee, and franchisor for some of the world’s best known and respected brands. He moderates, speaks, writes, advises and mentors across the hospitality and service sectors globally. Find out more at www.sociusgroup.com, www.davidsingleton.work, www.harrison.hn, and @singletoncity