Shelley Reiner was a delegate at TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR London 2020.
Suited Interior Design’s Shelley Reiner tells us why she goes for projects that dive deep into its history, culture and destination.
From big brands to boutique hotels, experiential design is the hottest ticket in the hospitality industry.
Suited Interior Design’s founder Shelley Reiner spoke exclusively to TOPHOTELNEWS on the sidelines of TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR London 2020, which took place on February 6 at the Conrad St James, to explain how the most successful experiences are created through considered, thorough and site specific hotel design.
What’s your background in hospitality design?
Reiner: I have been designing hotels and resorts globally for the last 20 years for various firms which has taken me all over the world. In the last five years I have opened my own practice, and we are still designing globally across Asia and Europe.
What are the most exciting projects you’re working on?
Reiner: I love these sweet little projects we have on at the moment. Mostly, they are individually owned, and that requires a lot of steps and thought and research into the country and their local materials. We’ve got two really good ones right now, but one of them is in the Azores. Incredible place, we did a really long, extensive research trip there. And then there’s a really fantastic boutique hotel that we’re doing in the heart of Athens right now which has 48 different rooms and three different room types. So it’s a lot of work, but they’re really, really thoughtful projects that allow us to put a lot of research into them.
What drives your design philosophy for your hotels?
Reiner: That’s easy. It’s the research. I always say any designer worth their salt can put a scheme together. But what we do is, before we even put pen to paper, we go to the site and we spend at least a week there. Sometimes we even bring a professional photographer with us. We hire architectural tours. We get in depth — I call it the deep dive. We do the deep dive into the city or the region and really try and understand the sort of DNA of the building and the guest’s profile. And then we sort of put that all together and we use design as a tool to position the hotel within that market.
What trends do you see dominating the hospitality landscape?
Reiner: One thing we’re seeing more of is an interest in converting healthcare properties or retirement properties into more hotel-based models. High-end rehabilitation facilities that are more like boutique hotel rooms rather than traditional rehabilitation facilities.
Shelley Reiner was a delegate at TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR London 2020. To attend, address or sponsor our boutique hospitality networking events around the world, contact the TOPHOTELPROJECTS team.
