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At Fava, a Mediterranean restaurant in Bangalore, the flooring is a fine balance of form and function .

Flooring solutions in the hospitality industry play a big role in making a first impression on guests. Hotelier India takes a look at the trends in the market.

To set the first impression, for the longest time most classy luxury hotels opted for carpets – expensive, in fact, setting the standards for luxury, hushed sounds and warmth. Observing trends, Kanchan Rizvi, Director Sales and Marketing, Radisson, Pashchim Vihar, Delhi, says, “Earlier, luxury hotel meant carpets. A Taj Mahal, an Oberoi, all used to have expensive, plush carpets and that was their offering of luxury and comfort.”

Paresh Panchal, Associate Designed, Bobby Mukherji Associates, agrees, “Carpets were a favorite till some time ago, but in the new properties, they are not being taken up, they need too much cleaning and maintenance, damage is expensive to replace.”

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Today flooring is about durability, ease of maintenance as well as style, but many factors have to be kept in mind. “Sound absorption, music, crowd usage, we don’t want a cocktail effect ( too many people, too much music).
So flooring has to be a fine balance as a function of all of these,” adds Chef restaurateur Abhijit Saha, of Avant Garde Hospitality, with two restaurants in Bangalore – Caperberry and his new Mediterranean one, Fava.

Laminates
Laminates, that took over from carpets as the new ‘minimalistic’ style, about ten years ago and became an accepted design option due to the ease of maintenance, are already on their way out.

Says Dhruv Sodhani, Managing Director, Consolidated Carpets India Ltd,“ there was this move from old fashioned carpets to the latest in flooring then – wooden laminates.

These would be a fraction of the cost, mimic real wood and be easy to lay as well as maintain. Most hotels went in for this option then, but slowly, there was a realization that even laminates are not indestructible. For instance, a constant dampness from the AC can take its toll on the surface. “

The scene, it appears, started changing when the markets were flooded with sub-quality Chinese laminates. As Kanchan Rizvi, points out,” Most people now know the difference between laminates and the real thing.”

Abhishek Saraf, Director at Square Foot, (a 50 year old company with 110 members, and offices and showrooms in over 7 cities, servicing 44 cities across the country) says, ”Yes, people are discerning, as well as aware that quality comes at a cost, they are also willing to pay it. Now more and more hoteliers are getting clarity that flooring is a capital cost. They can have no compromise on it. Besides, more exposure has clearly indicated that laminates, all said and done, don’t show that class.”

Stone
Today, functionality is the underlying factor for most decisions about interiors. For instance, in the entrance areas, most hotels opt for stone.

The wear and tear factor here needs to be carefully balanced with the décor of the rest of the property. Says Kiran Kumar, Executive Housekeeper, Ista, Bangalore, “In the public areas, high quality marble or granite is usually used. At Ista, we have used flame finished granite flooring, it is very different, and has a rough finish.”

For those who prefer the up-market stone look, now it is Italian marble. Even though it is quite expensive, it retains its new look for quite a long time.

Observes Paresh Panchal, “In most hotels, in corridors and some public areas, carpets are still used primarily to keep the noise levels down, since then there has not been much evolution for products that help do that. In areas like lounge and reception, most hotels like to go for Italian marble, since there is a very high wear and tear, with a lot of people and footfalls. Italian marble is very wear-tear-resistant, so it stays very durable in lounge areas.”

“But maintenance of marble floors is not very easy, there is honing to be done on a regular basis, and polishing every night. Each time you hone, a microscopic layer gets rubbed off but that sacrifice needs to be made to be able to keep the shine in place,” Kiran adds, from his experience of the Taj Mount Road, Chennai, where extremely high end Italian marble was used for the reception area.