With experience in prototype design and implementation, JAI has a specific understanding of how vital hotel prototypes are to ensuring brand integrity, consistency and familiarity. It is a distinction that sets us apart from many other design firms.
The experience our team has with brand prototypes actually dates back to my first opportunity after college. I worked as the in-house designer at the corporate headquarters of Extended Stay America, the largest growing chain of hotels at that time. It was there that I became well-versed in creating a brand from inception, including production of prototypical construction documents, brand specifications and guidelines for brand standards. Little did I know then, that initial experience would pave the way for an incredible future opportunity for my company.
In January 2015, Cambria Hotels & Suites, part of Choice Hotels International, unveiled their new construction brand prototype. JAI proudly participated in creating and planning the smart new Cambria package that offers a fresh strategy designed with the business and millennial traveler in mind.
When creating a new prototype, extensive research and collaboration goes into every detail, from the guest’s arrival experience and dining offerings to the bed placement and light switch color. Each detail is considered in advance to inspire the brand experience from check-in to check-out.
Some unique considerations for Cambria Hotels & Suites included:
Creating warm, public spaces that would invite guests to hang out in a manner we call “alone but together”
Incorporating technology around every corner for convenience and productivity
Designing a check-in desk that curves into a U-shape toward the guest for the subtle feeling of being embraced.
Establishing a smart modular design that enables a market-driven mix of room types and suites, while not compromising a fresh, comfortable and stylish design.
Considering relevant furnishings for the target audience. For example, do millennials use desks or should desks be removed from the rooms?
Through repeated analysis, prototypes serve to better meet the guest’s expectations and save developers, architects and interior designers from reinventing the wheel on each new project. However, because no two sites are ever truly identical, it is critical to have an expert team in place that can navigate through the space planning and revisions needed to adapt accordingly. Occasionally, an alternate design is also needed for a prototype hotel to accurately integrate its regionality.
JAI has a deep understanding and appreciation for the standards and specifications of prototypical design. We provide our clients with a commitment to brand integrity and have a proven track record of being a valuable asset to a new prototype design, as well as all brand specific hospitality design.
The new prototype Cambria Hotels and Suites will be opening across the United States and Canada in 2017. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this brand.
