Design Trends Shaping the Future of Indian Hospitality

The second day of the eighth edition of the prestigious BW Hotelier Indian Hospitality Summit & Awards (IHA 2024) hosted the BWH Architecture & Design Roundtable with moderator Hemant Sud, IP Chairman, IIID-DRC including panellists Reema Diwan, Vice President of Design & Technical Services, India & South Asia, Accor Sahil Khan, VP and Head of Design and Planning, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Vandana Dhawan Saxena, Principal, Studio IV Designs, Jaskaran Singh, Principal Architect, Fab Studio, Rajat Rialch, Principal consultant, HPG Consulting, Ganesh Newton, Sr Lead Specialist - Product Management, Commercial Air Conditioning & Global Products Sales Group, Blue Star Limited Shibani Dasgupta Jain, Founder & CEO, Baaya Design  They shared insight upon Design Trends Shaping the Future of Indian Hospitality.

Deewan from the roundtable commented, “ At Accor, sustainability stands for 3 Es- Efficient design and planning, Effective operations and empowering local culture.”

Khan said, "The most important design trend for the future is Biophilic design. It embraces nature within the property. Next is smart hotels - the properties with good technology advancements. Finally, flexible hotels - designed to adapt to different usages and spaces”

Saxena further added to the discussion stating, “ India, as you know, is very rich and diverse and seeing that something is Indian could have multiple connotations. When I study vernacular architecture to the depths of what Indianness means, there were a lot of intelligent steps that were taken in the olden times and of course, it got carried on as traditions and became a part of our culture. "

“Experiential hotels can easily walk out of functionality. Instead of putting high efforts in physical property experience, if the staff is well dressed and can communicate and serve well, it can easily take care of functionality. The guests' experiences are always the driving force," commented Rialch as the panel further discussed the guest experiences.

Newton added, “ For energy efficiency, there should not be a compromise on cooling. There should be sufficient cooling irrespective of the climatic conditions, at the same time the AC system should be energy efficient.”

Jain also shared his thoughts, expressing, “It is important to imbibe local culture in our properties. It is a part of sustainability as these experiences help women, workers and families to generate income. It is a strong social component.” 

The two-day BW Hotelier Indian Hospitality Summit & Awards (IHA 2024) encompasses over 20 sessions where hospitality veterans and experts across the nation gather in order to provide diverse knowledge and insights. The Summit & Awards is a testament to BW Hotelier’s commitment towards revolutionising Indian hospitality by honouring the Crème de la crème of the industry.