With consumers increasingly looking for something unique, the personal touch is becoming ever more important in the hospitality industry. We look at the issue from several angles – including the rise of digital nomads and a new Danish approach to holiday home rental.
The idea has also become associated with hotels and other accommodation with a genuinely personal touch
So how do you inject personality into your property? Architects and interior designers point to various approaches. One is to go all-in on being quirky, using nothing but antiques and second-hand finds and plenty of colour – think Hazlitt’s in London, for example, a declared favourite home away from home for writers such as J.K. Rowling www.hazlittshotel.com/rooms.
The Stockholm hotel Et Hem www.etthem.se/house/ proclaims its ambition to be a genuine home away from home in its very name: It simply means ‘A Home’. Set in three former private resi-dences, the hotel has been carefully decorated to resemble a private dwelling while still providing the comforts travellers expect today. Tricks that can be usefully picked up include deliberately mismatched (but carefully chosen) furniture, real art on the walls, and plenty of books presented on shelves and in seemingly haphazard heaps dotted around the place, inviting you to sit down and browse. The use of potted plants echoes the Swedish painter Carl Larsson’s world-famous paintings of the family home, here brought into interiors that combine mid-century designs and contemporary chic. The effect is personal and relaxed.
So too can the extra events you offer: The Arlo in SoHo, New York caused quite a stir when they introduced ‘Cozy AF’ knitting classes
For contemporary interiors, a distinctive colour scheme, interesting wallpaper and statement lighting can all help set you apart. So too can the extra events you offer: The Arlo in SoHo, New York https://arlohotels.com/soho/ caused quite a stir when they introduced ‘Cozy AF’ knitting classes, showing that small measures can make all the difference. Personality is not just about the outer framework – it’s also about what you put in them.
The need for actual homes away from home is bound to rise in coming years as digital nomads – people who can, and do, work from anywhere – are becoming mainstream. More and more people are now taking advantage of the freedom offered by working from home to actually substitute that home for a completely different country. They change location as the fancy takes them, creating a new need for spaces that are not only homes away from home – but also a workplace. The short-term rental market is especially interesting for this group, and hosts are increasingly noting the need to provide a proper office space, too.
People who can, and do, work from anywhere
– are becoming mainstream
In Denmark, we have seen a rapid rise in holiday lets specifically aimed at the ‘home away from home’ trend in the form of ‘Landfolk’ https://landfolk.com/en – literally ‘Country People’ – a company which specialises in renting out holiday homes/cottages with that little extra something that sets them apart. The company prides itself on hand-picking every house on their list – not everyone who wants to rent out their second home is accepted here! The main criterion is personality: whatever the style of the property, it must be executed with genuine flair and care. You’ll find minimalist, all-new luxury houses alongside whimsical thatched cottages, with the one common denominator being the personal touch. All this also means that being accepted as a Landfolk host has become quite a badge of honour!
The company establishes a different kind
of connection between ‘host’ and ‘guest’ which means that the visitors show greater care
for the place they visit, treating it with the
respect they show their own home
With consumers increasingly looking for the unique, bold and personal design choices pay off. And rethinking the ways guests connect with their home away from home can yield great results. Go with your gut in your designs, source unusual one-off items that aren’t from a catalogue – and arrange events that go outside the norm. If you’re passionate about it, someone else will be, too.
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