What is it about a hotel room that is so appealing when you first open the door and step inside? The "initial impact" a hotel room has upon its customers is one of the most vitally important factors in the hotel business. Hotel decorators realize the psychological importance of "first impressions." People know what standards to expect when they enter a room or suite of an established brand-name hotel. If a customer's expectations are met in a positive manner, the customer will be back. If a customer's expectations are not satisfactorily met, the hotel will lose business. People talk. It's a fact of life in any business.
Five-star establishments set the standards for "first impressions." Their success depends on providing their guests a very pleasurable, if not awestruck, first impression, stimulating patrons' senses by sheer opulence and beauty. Lavish décor and architecture resonate within each and every suite.
Decorating
The modus operandi of hotel decorating is incredibly simple. You can incorporate the basic elements of their systems of creating five-star luxury in your own home with little, if any, cost at all. Luxurious living is not necessarily reserved exclusively for the wealthy.
1.) Upon entering a five-star hotel room, the first thing you consciously notice is that the room is well balanced. If there is one bed, it is centered on one wall. If there are two beds, they are distanced appropriately apart on the same wall while the armoire, dresser and television are generally located on the opposite wall, directly opposite the beds, creating a balance within the main area of the room. A sitting area, usually consisting of a small table and two chairs, is likewise centered in front of the window area.
2.) The next thing you will consciously note as you enter your hotel room, is that the area is clean. Spotless. The sinks, tub, bathroom tile and fixtures literally shine and you subconsciously ask yourself, "How do they do that?" One important fact to remember is that hotel rooms are sanitized virtually every day. By getting into a habit of wiping out your own tub or shower unit with a damp towel after each bath or shower every day, you, too, can achieve the same effect.
3.) The secret to glistening fixtures depends largely on the cleaning products that are used and how often they are applied. As for the actual cleaning products employed, a housekeeper's cart contains relatively few actual cleaning supplies. A high-quality all-purpose spray cleaner, furniture polish, window cleaner and an effective carpet and upholstery stain remover are the basic essentials.
It's only a guess, but it appears that one good all-purpose cleaner is used to do most of the work on the fixtures and tile floors, generally amounting to nothing more than spraying it on and wiping it off. If this is done consistently, day after day, a room can't help but be clean. Lower-priced hotels may use something as basic as "Janitor In A Drum." The higher-priced places may use a much costlier variation, perhaps something like, "Jean e'Tour en la drumme."
Hotel rooms are also "spring cleaned" every few weeks. Curtains are removed, cleaned and replaced, lampshades and picture frames are dusted, mattresses are flipped and carpets are cleaned on a regular basis.
4.) Probably the biggest secret of all to the cleanliness factor of a hotel room is that vacuuming is the final step of the hotel housekeeping operation. A hotel housekeeper will begin vacuuming at the far end of the room and make her way to the door as she completes her project, leaving an illusion that the area she leaves behind has never before been trodden. A freshly vacuumed area provides a psychologically inviting feeling. This is equally true on the home front.
5.) The next thing you will notice in your freshly appointed hotel room is that the draperies are always open and natural sunlight floods the area. Lighting is an important factor of any room and natural sunlight gleaming into a sparkling clean area makes the shining mirrors, glass and lighting fixtures glisten that much brighter. If your initial entrance to the room is after dark, the streetlights, lights of the surrounding city or the outdoor lighting of the hotel courtyard likewise leave an important impact on your first impression of the room.
6.) You will also notice that hotel rooms are always devoid of clutter. There is no unnecessary debris taking up the surface space on the dresser, table or bathroom vanity. Simple, yet elegant displays of fresh, white fluffy towels and washcloths add just the right touch to the dressing area.
7.) Basic hotel decorating begins with a neutral color scheme because neutral colors have a natural appeal to most everyone. When they stray from neutral tones in private rooms, decorators are quick to realize, they are venturing into unknown personal preference areas that simply do not appeal to everyone. Neutral colors are psychologically relaxing, non-hostile, soothing and comforting.
8.) The color of a hotel room is provided in the bedspreads and either matching or coordinating curtains, which are generally always in earth-tone colors. The pictures on the wall likewise carry the color-scheme of the earth tone colors of green, brown and yellow with perhaps a splash of orange for effect.
9.) Hotel rooms all share another common element of having quality, commercial grade furnishings and carpet, quality room-darkening draperies and bedspreads and the finest linens. Hotel towels and washcloths are consistently white and clean and are never stained or frayed.
Buying quality products for your own home is often less costly in the long run because quality products are more durable and last much longer than sub-standard merchandise. For example, cheap towels often fray after their very first encounter with a washing machine. After 3-4 washings, they look tattered and unsightly. High quality towels often continue to look fluffy and new even after 40-50 washings. Buying one quality towel instead of two or three cheap towels actually costs less in the long run because you don't have to replace them nearly as often.
Having a few exceptionally high quality items instead of lots of low-quality goods takes up less space and makes you feel luxurious. Quality products go on sale, too.
10.) The outstanding characteristic that sets a five star hotel above the rest, is the freshly cut flower and greenery arrangement that adds the final decorative touch to the area. Without much cost, you can grow your own garden and add this special affect whenever you feel a need to truly indulge.
By using these simple techniques, you, too can experience five-star luxury in your own home. It's the little things that make a very big difference.
10 Simple Secrets Of Five-Star Luxury Decorating
Terri Emmett has three online courses: BIBLE PROPHECY: 100 STEPS TO ETERNITY, [http://www.prophecyguide.net]; THE ORGANIZER'S CLUB, [http://www.organizersclub.com]; and THE ORGANIZED HOUSEKEEPER’S SIX-WEEK CHARM COURSE, http://www.charmcourse.com; in addition to many other informational sites focusing on Home and Family.