Prudent hospitality operators are always looking for ways to cut costs, but according to Howard Wolff, worldwide director of marketing at design firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG), sometimes accepting offers of free help can prove to be a false economy.
Wolff is referring to architects who offer to do free design work in the hope of winning business. Ultimately, he believes that free design costs more in the end as it's far more expensive to build and run a poorly planned hotel. And in the worst-case scenario you may have to go back and redesign from scratch.
In an article written for hotel consultancy services firm PKF, Wolff argues that the most successful owners and developers don't accept offers of free design work for the following reasons:
- It shifts the focus from a job's quality and on to the moral obligation that is built up by those offering to do it, compromising your decision-making ability.
- It's generally the less experienced firms which offer free work to get their foot in the door, and you get what you pay for.
- Firms offering free work can't afford to take time to adequately understand and address your goals and objectives, so you end up with a "best guess" solution.
- Every aspect of creating a profitable and popular building is affected by how it's designed, and a poor design - no matter that it's free - could result in disaster. And besides, with hospitality design the fee usually accounts for only about 5% to 7% of the total development costs, excluding land and financing.
- In the case of hotels, you risk losing revenue if you don't retain a firm with the insight and knowledge capable of delivering a design that attracts better-paying clients and generates higher rates and occupancies.
Wolff argues that the most successful projects are created through a close, collaborative relationship between owner and architect. "You will not be well served by people who do some free sketches in a vacuum, hoping that you will feel obliged to use their firm later on," he says.
www.pkf.co.ukwww.watg.com