Hotels have always been an indispensable aspect of any tourist's trip away. And for travelers with refined tastes, so-called "design" hotels are now the option to go for.

Promoted under the subtitle of "Design Experience, Build Brand," the third international Design Hotel Forum was recently held at The Peninsula Shanghai and offered attendees an intriguing insight into a rising industry. Design hotels share common themes with boutique hotels and luxury hotels, but also have completely unique elements.

In the words of one keynote speaker at the event, Professor Bai Changhong, the dean of the college of tourism and service management at Nankai University in Tianjing, a design hotel is expected to provide "fine" services. "Design hotels are there to create an 'experience.' This enables the guests, not only to experience modern, intelligent facilities in a hotel, but also to experience special services provided by the hotel and experience the emotional care from that hotel," he said.

Industry association

The forum also saw the founding of the non-governmental China Design Hotels Association, whose headquarters will be based in Shanghai. "What defines a design hotel is its very particular architecture, interior decor and services. The highlights of a design hotel are its locality, its privacy and its customized details which specifically target upscale customers," said Huang Tiemin, chairman of China Design Hotels Association, as well as the vice president of Shanghai Tourism Trade Association. 

A number of panel talks invited hotel owners and hotel managers to share their principles about the effective running of a design hotel. Baima Duoji, the chairman of Songtsan Lodges, a chain of hotels in Yunan Province, believes that his hotels should be the "destination of a journey, providing diverse consumption options for clients. "

Christophe Peres, founder of Hotel Francais of Mohkan Shan in Paris, holds the view that a good design hotel should provide services as exemplary as five-star hotels while highlighting their own unique characteristics and environment.

For Wang Qiyu, managing director of the Stark Management Group, the priority is to offer customers an "enjoyable, affectionate experience from the first second to the last second staying in the hotel."

Design jobs

Design hotels are particularly noted for their architecture, landscaping and interior design. And a great many of the architects and designers who attended the forum expressed the point of view that a design hotel should be built to fit in with the local environment and the natural landscape.

"The building of our hotels have to be perfectly adapted to the natural landscape in which they are located, so we will send designers to live on the selected site for some time beforehand so that they will get some inspiration before building the hotel," said Pan Yuen, senior director of Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts.

A guest-oriented philosophy is also an important part of design hotels. Charles Hayes, president of business consultancy, IDEO China, offers six solutions to attaining better guest-oriented services in design hotels: creating empathy, finding inspiration, prototyping ideas, telling stories, leveraging partnerships and integrating communities.

Cultural influence

"One of the most important trends for design hotels lies in a distinctive cultural experience," Professor Bai told the Global Times. "For some foreign customers in China, the most important thing they can experience in a local design hotel are "representative" Chinese elements, especially cultural elements, things that differ to their experience in their home countries," Professor Bai told the Global Times. "Human civilization is universal, but the interesting part is that people in different parts of the world have diverse cultures and lifestyles. And to offer unique experiences is what a design hotel can do best. "

Tim Davis, global director of marketing at Small Luxury Hotels of the World, pointed out that many tourists make China their destination in order to "experience genuine, Chinese-representative boutique hotels."

Huang Yan, president of the newly opened West Lake Reclusive Life, insists that each of their design hotels boasts a "fabulous surrounding natural landscape as well as interesting cultural or historical elements."

Zhang Wei, the president of Blossom Hill Inns, believes her design hotels are in keeping with a certain lifestyle. "The goal of Blossom Hill Inns is to offer customers a sense of feeling at home," she said.

Among the winners at the China Best Design Hotels Awards for 2012 were The Puli Hotel and Spa, the Park Hyatt Ningbo Resort and Spa, and the Aman at Summer Palace.