Hotel guests call for proper bathroom doors, a look at the architecturally rich stadiums the Olympics have spawned, and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is all in on business travel. All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.
Olympic architecture that has made a statement
The London Aquatics Centre; photo courtesy of Velirina/Adobe Stock
If you’re anything like us, your Olympics fever is real right now. Between tuning into the games and events taking place at Paris 2024, plenty of moments are also being dedicated to reflecting on previous Olympic Games. A roundup of architecturally significant Olympics structures from Dezeen is one such refresher. The online publication pulled together 15 architectural icons constructed for the Games over the last 100 years, including Zaha Hadid’s London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 edition and Kengo Kuma’s Japan National Stadium for the 2020 games (which took place in 2021 due to Covid). It’s also noted that due to a more critical focus on sustainability, fewer permanent venues like these will likely be built in the future.
A controversial bill has New York hotel restaurants on edge
The rooftop at the Curious Yellow-designed Rockaway Hotel in New York, a venue from In Good Company; photo by Kyle Knodell
On Tuesday, the public hearing for a controversial new bill in New York was postponed to allow more time for feedback. The Licensing Hotel bill, or the Safe Hotels Act, was introduced in mid-July and seeks to help hotels maintain public safety, health, and working condition, reports Eater. However, for the operators of hotel restaurants, the potential legislation would handoff restauranteurs’ ability to hire staff to hotel management, as well as require hotels to have licenses that would be renewed annually. “Hotel owners would no longer be able to lease or sublease their space to small business owners as they must be employed by the hotel owner,” Terence Tubridy, owner of In Good Company Hospitality, points out. “It would be catastrophic for our industry.”
Attention designers: Don’t forget the guestroom bathroom door
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
Writer Laura Studarus is on a mission to find out where all the hotel bathroom doors have gone. In a recent Thrillist article, Studarus recounts personal experiences with guestrooms lacking soundproof, solid barriers separating the lavatory from the rest of the space. “Modern hotel bathrooms seem to be lacking an important amenity—namely, real doors,” she writes. Instead, proper doors are often replaced with sliding ones that don’t fully shut or with frosted—or, in some cases, see-through—glass. Surveying friends and hotel reviews further concluded: Privacy is not always on the docket in private areas.
The importance of investing in business travel
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
It’s predicted that corporate travel spending will reach—or surpass—2019 levels by the conclusion of 2024. Despite the business travel potentially growing by 8 to 12 percent this year, some company leaders remain resistant following Covid’s travel halt, Forbes reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon is not one of those leaders. In a recent LinkedIn post, Dimon says “leaders have to get out. They have to get out all the time. They have to be curious; ask a million questions.” As a hiatus from the monotony of daily life and routines, business trips also offer new experiences, expanded thinking, and more.
Get to know the power players in Hospitality Design‘s People issue
Richard Born, Ira Drukier, and Sean MacPherson at the Hotel Chelsea in New York; photo by Christine Keeley
We hope you’ve had the chance to check out all the goodness of our 2024 People Issue. The pages boast interviews with 22 impressive individuals, including educators, brand experts, prolific designers, and more. On the cover, hoteliers Richard Born, Ira Drukier, and Sean MacPherson are captured at the Hotel Chelsea, the trio’s most recently completed New York project. Read the cover story here, and get a behind-the-scenes peek at how the cover came together on Hospitality Design’s newly launched TikTok account!
