Breathe New Life Into Your Hotel: Rethinking FF&E on a Limited Budget

Author: Michele Evanger

Author: Michele Evanger

Furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) take up a large percentage of any hotels yearly capital budget. In the future, doing anything to update your property will be challenging based on the current state of the economy. Your budget has disappeared, but your guests dont care. You are still expected to have a beautiful, clean, and updated property. So, how can you do it? We have a few ideas: 1.Focus on something distinctive whether you focus on the lobby, restaurant or bar, do something different to get attention. You want your guests to remember their stay with you, so have a feature that stands out. In these economic times, it is difficult to afford to make all the changes that need to be made. So, if you are only able to do one thing make it a noticeable change. If you have a larger capital budget for the coming year, you may want to consider adding something distinctive to the guest rooms or bathrooms. 2.Wall color this is one of the most overlooked areas where you can make a strong impact. You can add drama, richness, elegance, or warmth just by changing the color and/or texture of the walls. If you have no budget, then stick to making a change in the lobby. If you have the ability to do so, make some changes in your hallways and guest rooms as well. Over the past year, painters have been hit by this economy too, so now is a great time to get a great price on this type of update. 3.Prioritize! - What are the top areas in need of updating? When you cant do anything, but you must do something, it is important to do the right thing! Dont be swayed by what your staff thinks should be changed focus on areas that will impact the experience and impression for the guest. Sometimes what your staff thinks is important is not even noticeable to your guest, so choose wisely. 4.Artwork this is an often overlooked and under-appreciated way to update and refresh a space, without breaking the budget. You can do a lot with a little in this area. Adding a few show stoppers can make a WOW first impression on your guests. 5.Lobby upholstery if the sofas and chairs in your lobby are torn, tattered and tired, you may want to throw a bit of the capital budget towards this line item. It does not have to suck up your entire budget. However, if you take stock of what you have and what pieces need to be replaced, you should be able to salvage some and replace only the truly worn pieces. You can save money by not doing it all, but just doing what must be done. 6.Solid Partnership - Your design and purchasing firm should work closely with you for hundreds of decisions and thousands of dollars in expenditures so the company you choose to work with is an important decision. Not only should they extend your budget dollar and give you solid advice, they should reduce the time you and your staff spends handling all of the issues that go along with any type of property enhancementAbout the Author:

Michele Evanger is an award winning Interior Design professional that has built Designs of the Interior (DOTI) over the last 20 years serving hundreds of residential and commercial/hospitality customers nationwide. She prides herself on delivering projects within budget and on time out of DOTI's corporate office in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

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