The Hotel that Didn't Houseflow

I love traveling. As a house designer, that means I get to play critic to more spaces.

I'm reminded every time how much the world needs competent designers. Our spring break, 2022 was no different. We weren't comfortable traveling the world, pandemic and all, so instead we pretended to travel the world by going to Las Vegas.

What a place! Hotel rooms are built by the 1000's at time, one identical small space after another, meant for people moving in and out daily. It's perfect for HOUSEFLOW. How is there not checks and balances to make sure people have a smooth experience with the built architecture?

Second case in point:

The first picture is the full kitchen. The second picture is what happened when we began using it. C and G shaped kitchens are long on counters but short on usable storage or Stuff flow, and as you can see, problematic for People flow too. There wasn't a convenient place for garbage so we set it out. Then we opened the fridge. No one was going anywhere until the door closed, together they formed a full blockage. This kitchen by hotel standards was huge, yet it functioned so small and inefficiently.

The final case in point is a universal flow problem in almost all homes and hotels: messy clutter. It doesn't even matter that an empty place for stuff exists, no one uses it because it's too inconvenient. The unfancy photos below are just an honest look at our hotel room on a random day.

First picture: There is a closet. Do you see it? Two closets, actually. Neither were used once. Shoes were taken off at the door, bags and coats draped over the chairs and tables. Why? 1) It's easier. Humans like easy. 2) The open closet doors blocked the path to the bathroom. 3) It's too easy to forget your things behind closed doors. Imagine if instead of a closet there was a row of wall hooks, some open shelves for shoes, and a small counter for odds and ends. With that configuration it would be much easier to manage the stuff bomb that goes off when coming home. Plus, visually the room would gain 20 square feet helping Eye flow. I use this technique in all my homes. The hooks and cubbies I call "Personal Valets" - because having them is like hiring a 24/7 personal valet to hold your things convenient and ready for when you come or go. The small counter for odds and ends I call a "Runway" because it lines up your stuff for take off and landing (i.e. leaving or coming home).

The second picture is a vanity top cluttered with things. There are two potential solutions to this clutter. 1) A better vanity with drawers. Easy to use, but for hotels may be too easy to forget items inside. 2) A "butler shelf". A butler shelf is a term I invented for an open shelf 6" to 18" above any counter. Does moving the clutter up a couple inches help? Yes. A resounding yes. It increases counter space and it's like having a butler conveniently holding all your most used items ready for you on a platter.

Don't be like this hotel suite. Before you build or buy, open and close all the doors to test for flow. Create open storage solutions for the your convenience and for your guests' convenience.