Refresh and Elevate Your Hotel’s Outdoor Experience This Spring

As the weather warms up and the days grow longer, guests will be looking to spend more of their time at your hotel outside. For hoteliers, this transition to spring can be an overlooked opportunity, since a successful refresh is more than just pulling the covers off last year's chairs.

Elevating a hotel’s outdoor experience is about creating a comfortable, welcoming spot where people want to spend time. This can involve some up-front investment, but choosing wisely can pay dividends when guests enjoy the outdoors at your property. Whether it’s a rooftop lounge, a poolside terrace, or a quiet courtyard, outdoor square footage can become some of the most valuable real estate you own.

Selecting Outdoor Furniture

It’s tempting to look for outdoor furniture options that minimize your CapEx budget. However, in the high-traffic world of hospitality, Innvision has observed that "cheap" often turns out to be the most expensive choice a hotelier can make.

Outdoor furniture that was not purpose-built to withstand the24/7 rigors of a hotel environment and the stress of weather across four seasons will reveal hidden costs. If it’s not heavy and stable enough, it will get blown around and possibly damaged on windy days. Within a season or two, faded fabrics, rusted frames, or structural failures often emerge with lower-quality furniture. In these cases, additional costs for maintenance, repairs, and replacements start to pile up.

Furthermore, guests notice a wobbly table or a sun-bleached cushion. In contrast, high-spec furniture and materials, such as stone or metal accents and weather-resistant textiles, don’t just last longer – they also look better for longer. For guest satisfaction purposes, they are worth theinvestment.

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Creating Atmosphere - Beyond the Seating

Once the foundation of quality outdoor furniture is set, a designer such as ID Studio would add these elements that appeal to the senses to create more of a guest connection:

• Strategic Lighting: Lighting should not only be functional; it should also be emotional. Swapping harsh overheads for warm, layered LED solutions, such as architectural uplighting in planters or discreet path lighting, can transform a daytime patio into a sophisticated evening venue. Furthermore, lighting in the right places can create more usable outdoor square footage for guests to enjoy.
• Climate Control (Heating): Spring evenings can still be brisk. Radiant heaters or integrated fire features are amenities that can raise ROI by extending the time guests want to be outdoors. When guests are warm, they might be inclined to linger longer and buy something to eat or drink.
• Living Greenery: Oversized planters and native species can create natural privacy screens. Greenery softens the hard angles of architecture and makes a setting more welcoming by providing a sensory "reset" for guests who have been traveling.

The Bottom Line

A thoughtful outdoor refresh signals to your guests that you have considered every element within their stay. By prioritizing durability and intentionality in your ambiance, you aren't just buying outdoor furniture and accessories, you are also investing in higher guest satisfaction scores and a better bottom line. The sooner you begin the process, the less lead times can delay your product. Contact us to talk about how a small investment in your outdoor spaces can have a big impact.