Money Growing: New Russian Cosiness

The basis of the creation and the subsequent development of the modern Russian hotel market was the Soviet hotel network. In the 1980s in the USSR the tourism system covered more than 50 million people. After perestroika, the adverse economic conditions and mistakes from fast reform negatively affected the development of the hospitality sphere. "By 2004-2005 neither large corporations nor financial structures showed a lot of interest in the hotel business. Several projects were announced but not realized," recollects Andrei Kanorsky, general director of Avant Group.

Now the construction of hotels has become a more and more vital topic both in Moscow and in the regions of Russia, as in fact there is a deficit of quality hotels everywhere. According to Kanorsky, no more than 20-25 per cent of existing premises meet modern requirements, with the remainder requiring complex reconstruction or replacement. Just to replace all the hotel premises constructed before perestroika you would have to reconstruct and renovate at least 200,000 rooms.

The development of the hotel market is promoted on the one hand, by forward development of the economy and the raw materials sector which provides free money, and on the other hand, the presence of the huge potential market in the formation of which these funds could be invested.

According to the Russian hotel association (2007), Moscow and St. Petersburg make up 70 per cent of the Russian hotel market. But it is necessary to expect that this share will gradually change in favour of regions as more and more hotels are under construction there. It is a question of resort cities, for example Sochi, the investment appeal of which does not concede to the capital. A number of cities with populations of more than a million are also considered as actively developing areas. The hotel business is growing quickly in the Kaliningrad, Tomsk and Volgograd regions, in the Urals (in particular in Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg), and also in Krasnoyarsk.

Change of mood

Until recently designers of hotel rooms decorated rooms in conservative classic style. Interiors were created to last for years and references to ultra fashionable seasonal trends and tendencies were unacceptable. Designers held the opinion that the interior of a hotel chain should be universal and recognized in any country.

Optimum use of space and its functional purpose, constructive furniture and décor are required from the design. "It is necessary to consider a number of things that have their own particularities with the interiors of hotels,” Andrian Kulikov, director of Domus Aurea, says. “Hotels for example should have more strict safety measures, and therefore materials offered for use don’t look as beautiful and expensive as the interior of a private dwelling."

However in the last several years investors and owners of hotels in pursuit of clients have started to pay more attention to the individualities of hotel rooms. "Now a hotel room is a theatre where the designer plays a role,” says Aaron Betsky, the curator of the XI Venetian Architectural Biennial. “A more creative, emotional approach to the decoration of such premises is therefore appreciated. The design of an interior is aimed at making the visitor of the hotel to feel secure and privacy, which there is not enough of in the world today,"

Arild Hovland, senior vice-president of Rezidor, explains that this trend has developed due to changing clientele. "Businessmen, forced to travel, have become younger, and among those who simply want a holiday, on the contrary, are older,” the expert explains. “Clients have also begun to understand that a hotel is not just a place to stop for the night. Now it is also a place for permanent residing."

Standards and comfort

Marina Kharlamova, an expert at GVA Sawyer considers: with the arrival on the Russian market of international companies with brands and quality standards there is a clear trend of improved quality of offered services. Western brands have introduced new standards concerning space, engineering equipment and the decoration of rooms. According to them, for example, the area of a room in a 3* hotel should be not at least 15 sq.m like middle class hotels from the Soviet era, but at least 18 sq.m and it is obligatory for it to have a bathroom. In addition all rooms today are equipped with air-conditioners, and Wi-Fi services will be offered in the whole building of the hotel. It is these key parameters that distinguish the hotels of international brands from old Soviet hotels.

According to Hovland, hotel rooms have drastically changed from the point of view of comfort. Now there are multipurpose wide screen TVs to which it is possible to connect a personal computer. "Special attention should be given to electric cabling to facilitate the use of modern equipment, for example coffee makers and electric tea makers," the expert notes.

The area of bathrooms has also changed. During Soviet time the standard area for a bathroom was 10 sq.m. Presently, according to international standards of the hotel market, the area of a bathroom should be at least 25 sq.m.

As far as bathroom suites are concerned shower cubicles rather than baths now dominate. Emphasis is on functionality and reliability (in particular, the service life of the equipment is an important criterion). In rooms with raised comfort (4* and 5* hotels) the most recent innovations of sanitary engineering are often used. "Designs are different. From ultramodern forms and functions to special antique imitations, that are meant to emphasize the charm of olden times and make the guest feel, not so much the bath, but the traditional atmosphere of hospitality," describes Kanorsky.

The external shape of the hotel premises is also strictly regulated by international standards. In the design and construction of new premises focused on the international market or in declaring premises as world class, conformity to international quality standards, for example European Hotel Standards (EUHS) is extremely important. An international certificate of quality will allow a hotel to use international symbols referring to the corresponding category of hotel and to promote the hotel in international booking systems.

In addition to international standards of certification each international hotel chain, whether it be Hilton or Marriott, has internal standards. For example, according to international certification in 4* hotels halls should be carpeted, while the internal standards define what color this carpet should be in all the hotels of the chain. New hotel premises opening under independent management try to reach these standards. But in the future changes in architectural styles and interior design will move in different directions: if previously operators tried to copy international standards, now the phrase "international class hotel" has a different meaning.

Not like everybody else

The philosophy of decorating such hotels is that everyone is different. The work of the designer becomes connected with the historical cultural details of Russian reality. For example, the interior of the Dostoevsky hotel in St. Petersburg is decorated in the style of the times of Dostoyevsky in St. Petersburg.

The Leningradskaya Hotel in Moscow was constructed in the 1950s and is one of the famous Seven Sisters Stalin skyscrapers. It has 28 storeys and measures 136 m. In half a century of the existence of the Leningradskaya hotel it received 2 million visitors. Outside the building seems harsh, but the internal furnishings are executed in baroque style. There are bronze bars on the stairs, painted, moulded, even carved wooden ceilings, bronze chandeliers and lions, and monumental furniture made from expensive wood.

On November 1, 2005, Mospromstroi started reconstruction of the hotel which was completed at the end of May this year. As a result of decreasing the number of rooms from 329 to 275, and increasing their minimum area from 18 to 33 sq.m, it now corresponds to the world standards of 4* hotels. Each room has air-conditioning and climate control, high-speed Internet connection and Wi-Fi, liquid crystal TV, multichannel satellite TV, electronic keycard, a mini-bar and many other things. After restoration the hotel it now has three conference halls, a banquet hall, a VIP restaurant, a business center, meeting rooms and exclusive presidential rooms measuring 145 sq.m. On the lower ground floor, which was previously a bomb shelter, there is now an equipped fitness club and swimming pool. The technical and engineering systems which were 90 per cent worn out have been completely replaced. There are now new lifts, fire-prevention systems, new water supply and ventilation systems, new electric cabling, and new water drainage and heating systems. Mospromstroi are proud that it was possible to keep the architectural-artistic image of the interior of the hotel. The proprietors of the Hilton-Leningradskaya hotel are Sadko Hotel and the government of Moscow. The volume of investments in the reconstruction have totalled more than $100 million.

Hotels emphasizing a national aspect and unique image are few, but experts predict that soon there will be more of them. For example, Stabilnaya Liniya is reconstructing the facade of the right wing of S.Menshikov's mansion, the favourite grandson of Peter I and which is a national monument of architecture (created by architect Matvei Kazakov). The main idea of the project is to revive the traditions of Russian architecture while considering modern construction trends, and will result in the creation of the first premises of a chain of 3* mini hotels, with the first being called Assambleiya Nikitskaya.

If the concept of the future hotel does not assume a historical and cultural them, then the designers will emphasize the individuality of the interior by using fashionable trends and original stylistic solutions. The most popular styles of furniture and decoration in Russian hotels are constructivism, hi-tech and country.

Despite an aspiration to decorate hotel rooms with individuality, comfortable minimalism still remains the most common. Mixed-style decoration is being left behind: In the opinion of designers, a unique image of a hotel is much easier to create with one style.

According to Hovland, the main thing in creating the image of a hotel (both the rooms and public premises) is visual effects. "The interior of a hotel should not be cold and conservative,” the expert says. “Visitors want to come to a warm and at the same time attractive space, and only then will they want to return to their rooms. Conservative classic is losing popularity: this style looks too forged. We decorate hotels using different concepts - from homely style to glamour to provincial to African. These new tendencies have recently been amplified."

Finding a balance

To create a luxury class hotel room needs not only original design concepts and comfortable furniture, but also the right sounds, smells and colors - everything that creates cosiness and a relaxing environment. "Smells should be natural - for example, the aroma of freshly baked bread. But too many smells can negatively affect the whole environment. To find a suitable balance of sounds and smells is an art," says Hovland.

Colors can be bright, but should not be too loud. In Moscow the individually designed floor of the seven-storey Apple hotel corresponds to one of the colors of the rainbow, the base color is repeated in the interior of the lounge. The color of furnishings and furniture in the hotel are muted and diluted with colder shades, for example white.

Designers do not aspire any more to decorate a hotel room with an inconceivable number of accessories like they did 10 years ago. According to Lada Guseva, head of Mugu Interiors, the main tendency in the decoration of new luxury class hotels is for simple and laconical designs, and the use of the most environmentally friendly, natural finishing materials: natural stone (marble, onyx), expensive types of wood (black rosewood), natural leather, and the use of high quality artificial materials (for convenience of operation) is also possible. "As a rule, it is impossible to distinguish whether the headboard of a bed is made of natural leather or from a substitute. The cost of such materials is equivalent to the "originals," the expert explains.

Functions and values

One more prominent aspect is the ergonomics of space. In hotel as in the machine of a business class, all desirable should appear near at hand. Sleep should be paid special attention to: mattresses, pillows, blankets, linen should only be first-rate quality and from the best manufacturers. In the room there should be some light sources, and they should all be adjustable, it helps to highlight the beauty of an interior.

"Unfortunately, in the majority of Russian hotels the situation that has developed is pitiful. They dazzle us with designs and an abundance of gold and crystal, but the visitor of such a hotel is essentially deprived of the possibility to read before going to sleep in normal lighting or simply relax, or may fall in the bathroom. This is especially felt in luxury rooms which are larger than standard rooms because of within the lay-out of the room it is filled with absolutely unnecessary objects that only irritate," complains Guseva.

In Kanorsky’s opinion, architectural and design decisions in the hotel business are an important part of creating consumer value and should also provide an additional contribution to the commercial effectiveness of the project. For example, expensive wall coverings will quickly turn from an advantage to a disadvantage if they are absolutely not suitable for frequent cleaning. Or a design that includes a mezzanine as a children’s sleeping area with an almost vertical ladder, from the point of view of safety is far from acceptable for every parent.

Another example is a hotel in a Northern region, where the entrance to each room is from outside. The original architectural project in itself is magnificent, but it doesn’t take into account the local climate. As a result within 9-10 months the chambermaid needs to pull a heavy trolley through the snow and rain, which increases the time it takes to clean each room and may lead to the requirement of more staff (and accordingly, expenditures on personnel).

Therefore in average class hotels functionality must come first. It is also a question of using modern materials (inexpensive, durable, simple to clean), and about overlapping the functions of furniture (for example, a desk with a mini-bar). High class hotels have their own requirements. For example, if part of the image of the hotel works on art or antiques, then it should have some.

Multifunctionality concerns not only the hotel room, but also public areas - lounges, dining rooms, conference halls. The hotel room should be a place where it is possible not only to have dinner, but also relax, watch TV.

Furniture from where?

Suppliers of furniture and equipment quickly respond quickly to the inquiries of hotel operators, offering new collections of furniture for standard rooms or adapting standard collections for non-standard lay-outs. In increasing frequency they offer complex solutions for equipping a whole hotel with rooms of various standards and configuration. For example, for the Akvatoriya Leta hotel (Avant Group) the furniture was provided by Russian company Dubok from Yeysk. In Moscow’s Okhotnik hotel of the same company the tender to provide the furniture for the rooms was won by Aptrend. In a hotel in Adler the supplier of furniture was Krasnodar manufacturer Valido. In choosing the company the main criteria were the price of the products, the functionality, and guarantees on the date of delivery.

When creating a project investors cooperate with both Russian and foreign design companies - everything depends on the level of the hotel, the budget, and the format of the hotel in terms of marketing. To decorate a motel on a highway, Russian experts will most likely be used. If it is a boutique hotel in a fashionable place and the budget is sufficient to finance the development of the design, then either Russian or foreign designers may be involved. Hovland recommends addressing specialized companies which have wide experience in the development of architecture and design in the hotel business (they should have at least 10 international projects under their belt). "There are not enough of such companies, and they are all very busy, but the result will not take long to pay off," the expert says.

The prospects of hospitality

In Moscow there has been a shortage of hotel places for a long time already. In particular, in mass-media the opinion of experts is that because of the deficit of hotel places Moscow lost out on the opportunity to hold Expo-2010 and the 2012 Olympics. The hotel segment is the only segment in the Russian real estate that can’t be called completely formed.

Today the figures characterizing the volume of development of the hotel sector in Russia still remain lower than in other segments of the market. This concerns both the number of premises, and the total volume of constructed areas. Hotels as commercial real estate premises still lose out to their main competitors - retail, office and housing projects - in the struggle for investment, as the recoupment period of hotel real estate projects is longer than office, retail or housing (8-12 years).

Of course, the Moscow authorities try to participate in actively solving this problem. In 2006 it was announced that by 2008 the hotel room fund that existed before the reconstruction of such hotels as Rossiya and Moskva will be restored. Accordingly, from 2008 an increase in the cumulative room fund should begin. By 2010 this should grow to 186,473 places. Special attention is being given to 3* hotels: in this year alone more than 50 premises of this category should be commissioned. However, whether announced plans are realized on time is not known. In the whole of last year in Moscow little more than 10 hotels opened. At the moment more than 80 hotel projects of various categories representing both new constructions and reconstructions of old Soviet hotels have been announced.