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Results of a recent survey conducted by architectural firm John Portman & Associates clearly indicate that more hotel guests are paying attention to even the minutest details - from parking lot location to hallway lighting.

Copyright Penton Media, Inc. Oct 2002

What design elements do potential guests consider in trying to gauge whether a hotel is safe? How does a hotel's design affect a guest's feeling of safety and well-being while staying there? Results of a recent survey conducted by Atlantabased architectural firm John Portman & Associates clearly indicate that more and more, hotel guests are paying attention to even the minutest details-from parking lot location to hallway lighting.

The survey is a follow-up to the firm's 2001 safety survey of female business travelers. "What we've learned in the current survey is that architects can employ design to help travelers feel even safer," says Ellis Katz, vice president and director of Portman's Hospitality Studio.

Some examples noted in the survey include:

Designing hotels with well-lit and open public spaces;

Improving security for hotel mechanical systems such as electrical and heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems;

Designing rooms equipped with panic buttons to alert the front desk of problems, and rooms that automatically light up when entered;

Designing hallways that can be clearly seen from one end to the other

"Security-conscious travelers are willing to pay for added security features," Katz notes, referring to survey results indicating 42 percent of respondents said they would pay five percent more for a hotel room that included new safety features; 38 percent of respondents would be willing to pay a 10 percent rate premium for such features.

A large percentage of respondents (70 percent) indicated they would prefer a hotel with aboveground parking, Katz claims. "It's interesting, I think the design community is already on to some of these things," he says. "We've just designed a hotel/entertainment complex in Illinois right now where above-ground parking won hands down over an underground facility."

For complete survey results, log on to www.portmanusa.com.

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[Photograph]

Ellis Katz heads the Hospitality Studio at Atlanta-based John Portman & Associates.

Above-ground parking won out for security considerations in a recent Portman project, the Schaumburg (IL) Convention Center, Hotel and Performing Arts Theater.