During last summer in Maastricht I had the opportunity to work in Maastricht most beautiful and interesting hotel. The site is not really beautiful and special but the pictures show the amazing design of this hotel.

Check www.chateauhotels.nl or www.oostwegel.com and click to the 'Kruisherenhotel'.

The design is beautiful, but do you think a good design is enough to provide an experience? Or what else does an hotel like this need to give the guests an memorable experience?!

Rob,

That is an interesting question. And after thinking about it for a while I have to say ABSOLUTELY!

This is just my opinion, and perhaps you are wondering why I am so certain...
Because an experience is just that, an experience.
A memorable experience is one that leaves an impression and can be remembered. And while design hotels are a bit different then the norm it is highly likely that it would create a memorable experience.

Obviously the pictures are powerful, as you indicated by saying that they show the 'amazing' design. If others also find them an amazing illustration of the design it might be good enough for them to be tempted to book a room or better, spread the word and let others "find" this hotel. Just like you did with this post. In my opinion design is marketing. A nice design, and pictures of the design, whether on the hotels website or in a customers picture album have the power to market the hotel. This will help the hotel become profitable.

Obviously an experience at a hostel type hotel with the nicest owners that tell their customers where to go or where to eat in Maastricht could also be a very memorable experience.

My favorite way to have a memorable experience at a hotel is when my expectations are exceeded.

I hope more people will respond<br><br>Post edited by: Bartcelona, at: 2006/11/16 07:46

I agree with Bart-Jan that design is marketing but I dont think that only design is strong enough to create an memorable experience although it is one of the keyfactors.

In my opinion an hotel is a theater, the decors are really important and create the right atmosphere but it only works with good actors, nice costumes, the good music and last but for sure not least a good play to play. I think experience is communication emotions and that will only work with a total package!

In the first months or even years it is a perfect way to promote the hotel and increase the hotel awareness. But experience is more then important in the end this pays off in occupancy. It also depends on the expectations of the guest and the type of guest ofcourse. What kind of guests stay in this hotel? Do the guests have a bigger expectation going to a design hotel or going to a Oostwegelgroup hotel? This can make a big difference I guess.

Hey Sven,
short question: what is, in your opinion, the difference between Oostwegel-guests and Designhotel-guests?!

Hey Rob, Sven and Bart-Jan,

To enter the discussion &quot;is a good design enough to provide an experience?&quot; I would firstly agree with Rob because if you look up the word experience in the dictionary you will find translations as; &quot;going trough something&quot;. So just by being surrounded by design in a hotel I don't believe you actually go trough an experience. Rob, you really formulated it well, I can relate to your interpretation. Experience is so much more than just an impression.

Anyways I found something on the net that made me doubt of my first thought. Nowadays there is a wildly popular new paradigm called &quot;experience design&quot;. Experience designers strive to create desired perceptions, cognition, and behavior among users, customers, visitors, or the audience. So if you have to believe this new paradigm and the capabilities of these new experience designers you might want to reconsider your thoughts about this subject. Maybe in future it is possible to give guests an experience trough design.

I guess we will see how this concept works in future, for now I'm not yet convinced, are you?

Tessa