Close to 300 leading hotel architects, interior designers, Hoteliers and suppliers are attending the second annual Design Inn Symposium at Sydney’s new Doltone House Hyde Park today (Oct 9).
Hosted by ISIS Group Australia and HM magazine, Design Inn is bringing together local and international speakers for the leading hotel design symposium in Asia-Pacific.
This morning, highlights have included the ‘brand race’ – featuring Accor’s Lindsay Leeser, IHG’s Phil Kasselis and McKay and Partners’ Ken Mackay (from the UK) – and what makes boutique and lifestyle hotels work.
On the brand panel, speakers looked at how big-chain hotels have moved away from the cookie-cutter approach, including Hotel Indigo and Sofitel So, and how individual designer-brands such as Citizen M and hotels by Ian Schrager have not just become popular, but also forced chains to adapt.
Boutique and lifestyle hotels also proved to be popular session, featuring some of the leading Hoteliers in Asia-Pacific, including Unlisted Hotels’ (Singapore) Peng Loh, Bisa Hotels’ Dan Bisa, 8Hotels’ Paul Fischmann and Federal Group’s Greg Farrell.
The panelists looked at the ever-growing popularity of boutique hotels and how cutting-edge design is winning over the travelling public across the globe.
Also featuring today are sessions on international design trends, office to hotel conversions and changes in the workplace environment.
The keynote interview is with the founder of Ace Hotels, Alex Calderwood, who this afternoon is providing an exclusive insight into one of the world’s hottest hotel chains.
For more highlights of Design Inn, see Friday’s www.hotelmanagement.com.au email newsletter.