In a world where most purchases can be made with the click of a button, the hospitality landscape is evolving to keep pace with a new era of consumer expectations in the form of shoppable hotels. These concepts present a convenient and mutually beneficial opportunity: Guests can easily buy products they enjoy during a stay, while brands can sell more effectively through experiential retail.
Captain Balfour
The Captain Balfour bungalow opens up to a private pool and views of the Atlantic Ocean
The McKinley Bungalows in Montauk on New York’s Long Island have been transformed into shoppable summer retreats by Studio Robert McKinley. Inspired by the Atlantic shoreline as well as Europe’s coastal towns, the bungalows feature a curation of home furnishings that are available for direct purchase.
The newest bungalow, Captain Balfour, is defined by a sandy neutral palette that pairs with whitewashed wood paneling and vintage furnishings, including teak credenzas, armoires, and 1970s coat racks and chairs. Based on the thought that guests can take a part of their vacation home with them, purchasable items in this bungalow include Beni Rugs, California Faucets, Heath Ceramics, and a coffee table from Monea, the studio’s newly launched lighting and furniture collection.
guesthouse by good neighbor
This summer, good neighbor—a multi-touchpoint retail concept in Baltimore dreamed up by Shawn Chopra and his wife Anne Morgan—debuted guesthouse, a shoppable boutique hotel that acts as an extension of their retail store.
Housed directly above the good neighbor shop, guesthouse comprises seven rooms featuring brands sold in their store, such as Audo Copenhagen lighting, Iris Hantverk bath accessories, original ceramic by local and Indian artists, and custom millwork designed in-house. The rooms are intended to make guests feel like they’re staying in a loved one’s home, and Chopra explains, if they “want to purchase something they love, there is a room guide with all the items and a QR code to our website. Items can be packed and ready before guests leave or shipped directly to their home.”
Casita Piegatto
Piegatto’s Faba Fiber sofa and Storm coffee tables adorn Casita Piegatto’s outdoor patio
Casita Piegatto, nestled above a private bay on Lake Atitlán in Tzununa, Guatemala, is a three-story short-term rental appointed with contemporary furniture from the Piegatto brand’s collections. The house functions as a “second showroom, where we present our latest collections of indoor and outdoor furniture to both our trade community and their clients,” says architect and company CEO Alejandro Estrada. QR codes placed throughout direct guests to online ordering information and catalogs for select pieces.
YOWIE Hotel
A sunny yellow table sits by the window in a YOWIE Hotel guestroom
The YOWIE Hotel in Philadelphia, founded by Everett Abitbol and Shannon Maldonado, is an extension of the retail shop of the same name Maldonado founded in 2016. The new 13-room hotel “feels like a cool apartment, not a normal hotel,” says Maldonado. “It is such a magnetic space that you want to get closer to and see what’s going on even if you’re not staying in the hotel.”
A physical catalog in each of the rooms describes everything within the space, from the furniture to the wall paint, specifying items that are available in the downstairs shop and those that are made to order. “I looked at the rooms as a mix of a hotel and showroom,” Maldonado explains. “It was important for each room to be different so I could showcase all the brands I’ve wanted to work with for years,” she adds. “Your average person doesn’t know how to buy a made-to-order commissioned artwork, and we’re happy to be that conduit.”
This article originally appeared in HD’s December 2023 issue.
