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Bob's Blog - No 2 - The Sample Room

- 03/03/2008


With all new build Crowne Plaza hotels the franchisor, Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) have to approve the design and build of the hotel. A key milestone in this process is the sample bedroom which has to be approved by IHG before the fit out of all the bedrooms can be completed.  

So it’s fair to say this is an important visit. The significance of which is highlighted when the main contractor responsible for building the hotel brings out the finest china tea set  for the meeting which is usually only blessed with builders mugs of various descriptions bearing dodgy slogans, covered in cracks and lined with stains which I hope are tea.

Having discussed the sample room for many months at design and contractor meetings we agreed to have two sample rooms ready for the royal visit so we could include some alternatives for discussion. The day prior to the visit I had planned to view the rooms to ensure they complied with the brand standards and make any final adjustments, the sample room has to be a complete replica of a room as it would be ready for a guest to arrive when the hotel opens.

Unfortunately on viewing the rooms I found that they were far from ready, the electricians where still fitting lights and although I’m no electrician it appeared that when switches were pressed either nothing happened or the intended light did not illuminate. However there were more worrying issues like the lack of a bed in the sample room which I believed our visitors would notice. As the day moved on more and more people arrived in the room to lend a hand, at one point we had the senior site manager fitting coat hooks (he was obviously well qualified to be a manager as he clearly could not put a hook up straight) project managers, owners and my boss which including the electricians who were doing their best to entertain us with a light show totalled about 14 people most of whom were managers.

Two beds did turn up although one of them was the wrong size, the supplier of which although saying that was the size he was given assured us he would be back the following morning (the day of the visit) to install the new correctly sized bed.

Surprisingly no one shouted at one another, moreover it appeared they all wanted to play a part in turning a building into a “hotel” regardless of whether or not they were qualified to do the job.

The result was that at 5pm on the eve of the visit most of the electrics worked and we had one bed. The following morning we had arranged for the cleaners to be there at 8pm and the missing bed would also be there at 8pm.

So I arrived at 7.30 just in case anyone turned up early, by  8am no one had arrived, the cleaners arrived at 8.15pm and the bed,  following a number of phone calls and assurances they had left the depot about 1 hour away at 6.30am arrived at about 9am. This was followed by a flurry of activity to have the rooms ready. Having made the beds the all manner of objects, cushions and decorative items started to appear in the room, these included a pink and black “leatherette throw” which I was glad to see returned to our designers store and a 6ft wooden giraffe which was reluctant to leave the room.

Our visitors arrived at 11.30am and were refreshed with the tea served in best china. I’m pleased to say that although our visitors sometimes disagreed with each other about what they liked and disliked about the design, overall they were impressed and even liked the giraffe! We can now continue with our hotel development, which I am sure will progress much better when left to the professionals although I’m not so certain about the future of the giraffe.

Comments

good guest page. thank you.

- Dgimis, 18/11/2008

Looking good Bob! Don't forget about the video. Here's a link to Tom Lord's video diary for the Windsor HQ move to Denham. https://www.ihgmerlin.com/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_43291_2488126_0_0_18/tom_s_blog_da_337013.html Best Russell

- russell green, 18/03/2008

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