Setting up hotel lobbies with modern-style lighting can be a little difficult. However, several additions can improve lighting results and interior designs.
What is Hotel Lighting?
Hotels and the hospitality business undergo constant change, and if you decide to run a hotel yourself, you must know how to light it properly. You must have noticed that hotels and their interiors (including the hallway, a shop, or lobbies) have different kinds of lighting.
Hotel owners want to make their hotels look good without overspending. A good instance of this is the accommodation options in Italy, which have a good reputation for their well-lit interiors compared to the rest of the hotels in the industry.
Most clients visiting these hotels want a beautiful ambiance and a balanced environment.
Why is Hotel Lighting Important?
The hotel lighting has a huge impact on the customer experience and the hotel’s overall look. It is one of the most fundamental things to consider if you wish to positively impact the guests.
Various lighting options are available, but we will focus on hotel lighting and mention some of the best benefits.
Benefits of Hospitality Lighting
The top benefits of ensuring you have good hospitality lighting for your customers.
Improves Mood
The lighting of a hotel impacts the mood of visitors, so you must prioritize lighting. For instance, warm lighting at the hotel’s entrance indicates a welcoming aura.
In most cases, hotels use LED lights that mimic natural lighting instead of the traditional yellow-hued LEDs in many buildings. Additionally, other lighting fixtures allow users to adjust light intensity during the night for a peaceful sleep.
Activates Senses
Poor lighting can make your hotel interior look bland, which is why most hotel rooms have strong and well-lit interiors. You can also choose custom designs to ensure your hotel lobby and other major parts look good. They will help you make the right first impression and enhance your hotel’s overall look.
You are more likely to interact with things around you if you see them better. Higher visibility also makes the building’s overall features look more attractive.
Provide Convenience
Lack of proper lighting can be incredibly inconvenient for customers, especially when working or looking for something. Similarly, a couple or a customer who wishes to purchase something from the market must get dressed first. However, this isn’t easy without proper lighting.
Moreover, something simple like reading a book may also become difficult if it is not light enough.
Believe it or not, most guests terminate their stay, clear out their account, and leave from hotels where they do not have the perfect experience. Therefore, you must do everything possible to ensure your guests have a memorable experience.
Lighting Trends for a Hotel
There are different characteristics, like the hotel’s design, size, location, and theme, that you need to consider before choosing the right designs for your hotel interiors. We are going to discuss these factors for your guidance.
Factors to consider for Choosing lighting Trends in a Hotel
Following are the most important factors to consider while choosing the right lighting trends for your hotel
Limitation of Glare
The glare rating is one of the most common reasons why hotel interiors seem uncomfortable for visitors. It refers to the amount of light that enters the eye and can interfere with vision.
While lights with higher glare might make the interiors look brighter, they can also be a little difficult to look at. Therefore, it is essential to choose your hotel lighting accordingly.
A hotel light with 150 lux light levels is ideal for hotel and bathroom lighting, but you should experiment with it to ensure you have the ideal indoor lighting for the building.
Distribution of Light Bodies
The distribution of the lights in a hotel determines how balanced hospitality lighting looks. It also helps balance the number of shadows in the room while the guests move around in the hotel.
If your hotel has a fore ceiling design, the ideal distance to keep in lighting is around 4 inches. You can also add floor lamps to the mix to illuminate more areas. However, you should add floor lamps to blend perfectly with your hotel’s lighting.
Color of the Light
The color of light you choose should always be balanced, but certain areas should have warmer lighting. For example, signboards in your hotel or entrances should have warm lighting to create a more welcoming aura.
However, you can use a mix of cool and warm tones on windows to bring more depth to them. A curved design can enhance this effect. Similarly, making other simple tweaks to your hospitality lighting will help you achieve excellent results.
Relative Color Rendering
The relative color rendering index is the light’s ability to imitate natural light. A good rating for the color rendering index depends on the kind of lighting you use.
Try to use lighting while considering the accumulative effect of these lights. Therefore, it is best to balance different types of hotel lighting so they blend in perfectly.
Correct Direction of the Light
The direction of the lighting impacts how intensely or loosely your lights reach the designated areas. Therefore, you should cover all angles of the hotel for maximum lighting. The best way to do this is to light the hotel with 360-degree coverage.
Similarly, if you have a square art piece that you wish to keep in your hotel, try to adjust the light’s direction accordingly.
Types of Hotel Lighting
Hotels generally have wide spaces, and filling these spaces with the right kinds of lighting will help create a beautiful and well-designed look. Therefore, we will mention the most popular types of hotel lighting you should know about.
a) Direct lighting
b) Diffused lighting
c) Indirect lighting
Direct Lighting
Direct lighting is intense and shines from the source to the surface. In this type of lighting, the bulb shines directly into the room without deflection.
Diffused Lighting
Diffused lighting uses a translucent shade or material, as the original light source is completely enclosed in these kinds of lights.
Indirect Lighting
The lighting is a secondary lighting system that helps improve the hotel’s overall look. This kind of lighting usually bounces off walls, ceilings, or other surfaces for a more 360-degree lighting effect.
Lighting Requirements for Hotels
Each hotel’s lighting requirements differ. Therefore, we will discuss some fundamental pointers to ensure you have the perfect hotel lighting design for your next hospitality lighting setup.
Consider the Layout of the Hotel
Your hotel’s layout is one of the first considerations when choosing the right lighting. While making simple lighting design changes can help, they only work if they match the surroundings of your hotel.
You can find exclusive deals on lighting products while lighting hotels if you buy them in bulk. This can help you make the lighting process more affordable.
Maintain Your Hotel Theme
Considering the many options, the possibilities of creating the perfect look for your guests are virtually limitless. However, it does not play well if you compromise on the lighting quality in your rooms.
You should always consider your hotel’s theme when deciding which elements to incorporate or leave out. For instance, if you want the interior to look more professional, you would want to use the same theme.
But then again. it depends on your hotel theme. However, this tip will help you create the best-looking hotels and increase sales.
Ensure All Areas Have Good Lighting
You never know where your visitors may visit around the hotel. Therefore, you should ensure that your hotel has ample lighting indoors and outdoors. You should especially make sure that areas like the corridors have sufficient lighting. Consider using similar color tones in all these areas to keep the look of your hotel balanced.
Add Flexible Lighting Options
Flexibility is essential in hotel lighting because customers have different lighting requirements during their stays. Therefore, try to make your hotel lighting flexible. The best way to do this is to add lamps to the rooms with bulbs with interchangeable temperatures.
Hotel guests can alter the room lights according to their needs. We also suggest adding a master switch that can turn off all the lights within a room. These kinds of lights are more common in modern hotel projects.
Keep it Simple
While providing flexible options in a hotel is essential, you should always avoid overcomplicating things. Most hotel projects install too many buttons and lighting options, which may be unrealistic.
Just ensure you cover all the space efficiently, and you should not have any trouble. We also suggest adding lighting in parallel connections so people can use it according to their needs. Additionally, if you have an art piece in glass or near a furniture piece, ensure good lighting around it.
Invest In Quality Lights Only
There are various light options in the market, and the pricing for these lights varies accordingly. However, the price of the lights in a hotel space should not be your only concern.
For example, imagine installing a low-quality light fixture in your hotel lobby. It will most likely malfunction frequently and impact the overall look of your lobby.
Therefore, you should install only the highest-quality lighting in hotels, even if it is slightly costly. Doing so will save you from various other expenses in the long run.
Prioritize Efficiency
Setting up fixtures for glass surfaces or furniture should not be your only concern. It would be best to consider the energy expenditure for your hotel lighting.
Therefore, choosing cost-effective alternatives is the easiest way to ensure you do not have to bear extra expenses. Thus, choosing LEDs for your hotel is the best way to minimize its energy costs.
Now that we have discussed the factors to consider when setting up your hotel lighting, let’s discuss the best ways to make your hotel lighting designs stand out.
How to Create a Hotel Lighting Design That Stands Out
Hotels usually have complex architecture and design, and to ensure your hotel has a suitable lighting design, you must learn how to light up the various areas of your hotel. Therefore, we are going to discuss these areas next. Let us begin.
How to Illuminate a hotel lobby
The lobby is a simple passage or transit that allows visitors to reach other areas and sections of the hotel. While you may think it is unimportant, it serves the most important part. For starters, it is usually the first place visitors will see when they enter your hotel.
So, it is safe to say that the lobby will help create the first impression of your hotel. The lobby is usually quite spacious compared to other hotel areas. It will represent the kind of hotel you run and the kind of services visitors can expect from the hotel during their stay.
There are several ways of lighting up your lobby. However, the easiest way is to focus more lighting on the reception. The reception area usually has a chair and a table for furniture for the receptionist to sit. Try to throw a balanced amount of light here so new visitors know where the reception area is.
However, avoid adding lights at a 180-degree angle to the receptionist, which could glare and compromise their vision. You must add multiple warm tones to the lobby, as they bring a welcoming look.
Balancing the horizontal and vertical lighting ensures the lobby passageway guides visitors to their designated locations.
How to Illuminate the corridors of a hotel
The hotel rooms are the next most important part of your lighting setup. It would be best if you tried to make the lighting in the hotel rooms as simple as possible for visitors. This includes functional lights with intensity setters and easy switch-on and off options.
Try adding a central on-and-off switch on both ends of the room so visitors can easily switch the lighting on and off. A simple control panel on the side of the bed or at the entrance of the room is enough for this job.
You should also add lighting that helps visitors stay aware of their surroundings. Most hotel rooms use bulbs with a temperature rating from 2700 to 3000 K. This helps provide sufficient light while avoiding any glare into the eye.
Additionally, avoid using extreme contrasts in the room, as the aim of lighting should be to blend in with the environment properly. It would help if you tried to find balance by experimenting with similar light temperatures to avoid monotony.
How to Illuminate hotel rooms
Setting up lights in hotel rooms is perhaps the most complex because everyone sees hotel rooms differently. Therefore, you should add flexible lighting options in the hotel rooms. Adding a regulator to the rooms will help the guests adjust the intensity of the light inside the rooms and personalize it as per their requirements.
Similarly, adding temperature-changing lights is also a good idea. These lights offer the option to switch between three light temperature settings. Visitors to the hotel room can adjust the temperatures for these lighting according to their needs and create the perfect lighting.
However, there are a few places in the room, including the bedside, switchboards, windows, and mirrors, where you should always be surrounded by sufficient light. Try to add bed lighting for visitors who like to read or study in bed.
How to Illuminate a Hotel Bathroom
Bathrooms do not require complex lighting. However, directing all the lights towards the mirror for your visitors would be best. The direct light should stay within 20% of the total light in the room if you wish to avoid uncomfortable reflections.
This is a major reason why most hotel bathrooms use diffused lighting to ensure that the bathroom lights do not overcompensate for available space.
How to Illuminate the common areas of a hotel
The common areas of the hotel, such as passageways, sitting or waiting areas, etc., do not require extreme lighting. However, you must still pay attention to blending the light fixture with the available space. This can help you develop a more profound style for your common areas. It is a major reason why most common areas have chandeliers in the center of the room.
How to Illuminate a Hotel Bar
The hotel bars are one of the most interesting areas to light up as they have a more relaxed look. You would not want to stuff the bar with extreme lighting because it may overwhelm the people visiting. Try to keep the environment as relaxed as possible. It will also make it easier for people to converse without worrying about dazzling lights.
Similarly, adding more color to your bar would be a great idea if your hotel visitors are younger. We suggest adding chandeliers as the centerpiece. You could also use a disco ball if the hotel bar has a dance floor. However, the chandeliers provide a more sophisticated look indoors.
How to illuminate hotel outdoor
The hotel’s outdoor space is just as important as its indoor space, as it is essential to both the people entering and those passing by it. However, keeping the outdoor lighting simple matters. If you have an LED board for your hotel, chances are that your hotel will be quite visible. One of the best ways to do this is by utilizing pendant lighting.
Modern Pendant Lighting
Pendant lighting is a popular choice for outdoor light fittings. This kind of lighting is a bit different from primary lighting options. These lights fit into the ceiling and hang by a wire, providing sleek and modern lighting wherever you install them.
However, the bulb inside the modern pendant lighting must blend properly with the rest of the surroundings. For example, if you are installing it in a hotel park or lawn, try adding these lights along the wall or fore ceiling with equal gaps in between.
We also suggest adding energy-efficient LED bulbs so you can afford them even if your lights keep running overnight. Interestingly, pendant lighting also allows you to add retractable and customizable cable lengths to increase or decrease the light impact.
How To Create Lighting According to the Non-Standard Hotel Styles
Hotels have different themes and styles, which require changes to the lighting accordingly. Let’s examine these non-standard hotel styles and how you can change them.
Non-Standard Hotel
A non-standard hotel caters to special visitors like tourists or certain groups. These may include hotels that provide specific services for honeymoon couples or adults. In most cases, visitors to these kinds of hotels usually look for fun and memorable experiences, so ensuring they have a comfortable and memorable time here is important. If your hotel has large structures or statues, use direct light to make them look more visible at night.
Similarly, if your hotel is in a good location, try to use lighting to make it stand out.
The more unique your hotel looks, the more people want to visit it. You can also add a souvenir or gift shop here to sell more products.
Conclusion
Creating the perfect lighting experience for visitors to your hotel is vital. It is essential to develop your hotel lighting to fit your visitors’ needs and blend perfectly with your hotel design and theme. The best way to ensure an ideal living experience in these surroundings requires taking each part of the hotel separately.
It is best to add lighting to the lobby, rooms., bathrooms, and outdoors one by one. However, all these lightings should fit together like perfect pieces for a well-designed picture. Consider the direction, spacing, intensity, rendering ability, and pricing of the lights you wish to use.
It will take some time to create the perfect look for your hotel, but it will help you stay ahead of the competition for years. We suggest you reach out to us at RC Lighting for more information. We are a leading provider of commercial lighting for hotels and the hospitality industry. In your order, mention the specifications of your hotel, and we will deliver whatever type of light you need to design your hotel.
