Flooring Design Trends in the
Hospitality/Hotel Sector by Span Floors

Q1: What are the prominent trends in flooring design in the hospitality sector?

In the luxury hospitality segment, one of the trends that has been observed internationally is having engineered wood as a flooring option of choice in the bedrooms and top end suites, club areas. One of the main reasons for this choice is the luxury appeal of such floors and the large variety of possible patterns. Wood species such as teak and american walnut continue to impart a certain level of luxe to the room. Oak engineered floors in various colour tones and excellent grain structure are also an excellent and a very popular option. Another reason, besides the aesthetics, is the speed of installation and the ease of renovation. By survey, it is found that installing a wood floor due to the modern installation systems available not only saves a considerable time in construction, they are also easy to maintain and renovate provided the right product is used.

Q2: Given the needs and requirements for flooring in hotel buildings vary from other buildings, what are the few key aspects taken into consideration for material selection?

At the outset, it is important to know the kind of market the hotel is targeting. If the target audience is HNIs, be they professionals or families, it is important to note that today they most likely will be using a luxury flooring material in their home. They would be well travelled so would be exposed to the kind of materials being used in competing hotels. Choosing the right quality of material becomes utmost important in such a scenario. It is a sorry state of affairs in certain properties where I have had the personal experience of staying – the choice of the material, installation technique as well as the incorrect maintenance protocols – all lead to client satisfaction. Product specifiers, purchase teams, project management teams, housekeeping teams as well as the vendors – all need to be roped in and work as a team so as to achieve the desired end result.

Q3: How has technology changed and improvised flooring products?

If we talk about laminate flooring, at Span Floors, we now offer our newest water resistant laminate flooring which is becoming very popular. One of the challenges clients faced was that the hotel housekeeping staff would sometimes use too much water during cleaning or a guest might leave a tap unturned. This caused the laminate flooring to eventually degrade faster. As a solution, this new material is water resistant from 24 to 72 hours depending on the type. This means accidental spills, if left unhandled for this duration mentioned, would not cause the floors to deteriorate. This of course is subject to certain conditions. This is a boon for hoteliers as our collection contains no plastics and totally made from wood sourced from certified forests with 3rd party certifications. If we talk about engineered floors, we offer products that have a superb stability despite the varying Relative humidity (RH) conditions across the country and through the seasonal changes.

Q4: What are some of the most opted flooring products in this industry?

Water resistant laminate flooring and 3 layered or multiply birch core engineered floors with white oak, American walnut or teak as the top layer. Floor installation techniques also matter and affect the guest comfort. For example, our Elastilon underlay used to install engineered wood floors with T & G connection offers exceptional stability as well as brilliant in room and below room sound acoustic properties. Oiled floors are another flooring of choice in the engineered flooring category as they are very easy to repair, renovate and maintain.

Q5: What significant improvements have been made in flooring materials?

If we talk about wood floors, it is the resistance to moisture, the durability of the top layers to enable them to take more traffic, the environmental & emission profile (use of sustainable wood and low off-gassing materials to improve indoor air quality) as well as the installation and maintenance techniques. All have significantly improved to bring the level to world class.

Q6: With a diverse range of offerings and services, could you share details of some of the latest flagship products?

Our Coswick collection of super stable engineered wood floors are a breakthrough in the wood flooring market. Not only do they have a brilliant aesthetic appeal, they are also exceptionally stable. For the hoteliers, it means much quieter and cleaner floors leading to higher guest satisfaction. For the outdoor areas, we have our Vulcan collection of exterior wood floors that can be exposed to sun and rain with minimum movement making them ideal for poolside and terrace floors or Alfresco dining areas. Vulcan comes with an anti termite feature and special coatings are available to make them low maintenance.

published in: https://www.hotelierindia.com/operations/flooring-design-trends-in-the-hospitality-hotel-sector-by-span-floors