A Transforming “Wow” Effect for Guestrooms
Today, with engineered hard wood flooring, carpet is no longer the only option for the guestroom. The property receives a giant “wow” effect and the perceived increase in quality can bring higher ADR’s and a more residential feel to the homesick traveler.
Canary Hotel Guestroom
Installation speed and thus, significantly less labor, makes this a viable option. At less than $10 ft2 installed, hard wood floors are twice as much as carpet, but may be worth it for that upscale look. As always in renovations, there are other factors to consider:
- Area rugs will be necessary. Make sure you consider this in your evaluation.
- Furniture will need to have appropriate glides in order to prevent scratches to the flooring.
- Overage will be necessary for materials (allow 10%).
- Matching wood base is typically more expensive than traditional guestroom base.
- Sound transmission to the guestrooms below can be an issue. Make sure you test this in your model room with high heels. If this is a problem, the solution is a cork or nylon underlayment.
- Make sure your sub-straight is level. If not the wood floor will “bow”. This may not be noticeable with carpet, but with wood your guest will trampoline to bed. The solution is a cementitious self leveling application prior to wood floor installation.
- Remember transition strips to accommodate flooring thickness differences to other types of flooring at the vestibule, corridor and bathroom.
- Keep some attic stock for at least 5% of the project just in case you need to repair guestrooms in the future.
Durability for engineered wood floors is an issue as the number of times they can be refinished is limited. However, as compared to carpet, the long term payback should be considered. In other words, the flooring can last 10 – 15 years compared to carpet’s 3 – 5 years.
To see some great guestroom wood floor installations, visit the Canary Hotel in Santa Barbara and the St. Regis Aspen in Colorado- both TynanGroup, Inc. projects.
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