Lobby Living
Merrill Shindler
Posted: November 1, 2011
My notion of what a proper hotel lobby should be was formed by the classic 1932 Hollywood potboiler Grand Hotel, which starred just about every major name on the MGM lot—Greta Garbo, both John and Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery—and the great Lewis Stone, who, as Dr. Otternschlag, uttered the film’s signature line: “Grand Hotel…always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens.”
But, of course, much did happen. For this was a hotel with a lobby that was an exercise in Brownian movement—a roundelay of intrigues, affairs, dashed hopes and unexpected passings. You don’t get stuff like in the lobby of a Holiday Inn Express.
But, if the new trend of the modern hotel lobby spreads, we can expect lobbies to grow from storage spaces for luggage into actual destinations. It’s something that’s been the standard in Las Vegas for a long time—it’s hard to say where the lobby ends and the casino begins. In Vegas, lobbies are also gateways to restaurants, lounges, and shopping malls.
The rise of the modern hotel lobby in the real world is a bit more modest. At one end of the hospitality spectrum, even the most casual of hotels are starting to offer lobby perks like WiFi, complimentary espresso and cappuccino, and conversation pits where corporate road warriors can meet with friends and clients. But at the more rarefied end of things, hotel lobbies are being rethought and repurposed as destinations in and of themselves.
Perhaps the most notable of these reconfigured lobbies is found at the TRYP by Wyndham chain of hotels, where the lobby has been turned into an outpost of Madrid called Plaza Central, complete with a Gastro Bar, where Lavazza Italian espresso is served, along with wines from the Mediterranean and a selection of charcuterie and cheeses. There’s a breakfast buffet, just like the breakfast buffets found at hotels throughout Europe, with ciabatta, tortilla española, churros, Greek yogurt—and a wide variety of breakfast pastries and cereals.
According to Fernando Salazar, vice president of food & beverage for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, “After we acquired the Spanish Sol Meliá hotel company, we wanted to keep the brand’s Spanish essence and Mediterranean DNA. We came up with the concept of turning the hotel lobby into the plaza mayor we see in every city in Spain or Italy, with lots of small plates, and sharing plates, at the Gastro Bar. The idea of the Gastro Bar is that the food and drink aspects are equally important. And we’re building so it works as a freestanding destination, not just a hotel restaurant.”
Marriott International is going with the name M.I. Great-room, where the culinary destination of choice is a small, larger, and larger still plate concept called 5.10.20. Once again, they’ve turned what used to be a dead space into a lively room with a wide assortment of craft and local beers, along with wines served in six ounce and nine ounce glasses and small dishes that range from sea salt fries with garlic aïoli dipping sauce to walleyed pike fingers to an “American antipasti” of mini sliders, chicken wings, regional veggies, and dips.
At Starwood’s Le Meridien chain, the lobbies are turning into Le Meridien Hub, which they describe as “social gathering places for creative people to converse, debate, and exchange.” And they’ll be doing all that “exchanging” in an “Interaction Zone” with “coffeehouse-style seating” and a “curated library of books with topics reflecting the cultural aspects of each Le Meridien location.” Or, you can just head for the Hub’s Latitude Bar for a cup of coffee. According to Eva Ziegler, global brand leader for Le Meridien and W Hotels Worldwide, “more than 12 years ago, when Starwood launched the W brand, our lobbies became living rooms. Soon after, Sheraton brought people together with the Link@Sheraton. Most recently, the Aloft brand’s lobbies have been designed to draw people out of their rooms.”
The Jefferson, the first Relais & Châteaux hotel in Wash-ington, D.C., doesn’t have a lobby per se. As Jefferson himself would have preferred, there’s an elegant entrance followed by a number of special spaces in which to socialize, like the book room with its semiprivate nook. The shelves are filled with historical books as well as signed copies of books by contemporary authors who were guests, including such culinary luminaries as Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, and Alice Waters.
A dramatic two-sided limestone fireplace rises in the center of the Great Room at The Osprey at Beaver Creek in Colorado. The space is decorated in urban mountain chic, with plenty of wood, leather, plush textured fabrics, and cozy throws and pillows. A communal table encourages mingling, while a flat screen TV is available for movie viewing or Wii challenges. With a high-speed chairlift literally steps away from the great room, hungry skiers and guests of the 45 room RockResort property are equally drawn to the breakfast, lunch, après ski, and dinner offerings of executive chef Michael Wilganowski.
The lobby-as-destination notion has trickled down from the boutique level to the world of clean well-lighted spaces in which to spend the night. At the Hilton Garden Inn and Holiday Inn chains, there’s what’s referred to as a “Starbuckian area”—with the inevitable assortment of Starbucks coffee options, along with communal seating. As one Hilton executive observed, what they’ve found is that Millennials, raised in a world of computer access, would rather hang in the lobby than in their room. “They want to be alone—but not lonely.”
Holiday Inn is also adding “social hubs,” where guests can meet and greet—and, I assume, do some of that very popular “exchanging.” Meanwhile, Courtyard by Marriott has been opening Courtyard Bistros, while Hyatt has created a Hyatt Place concept, where guests can catch a coffee and a bite—and work on their laptops. Which brings us back to Grand Hotel. Were it remade today, Lewis Stone would still gripe. But his gripe would be slightly different: “Grand Hotel…always the same. People come, people go. And they drink so much coffee!”
Food writer Merrill Shindler talks about food and travel on KABC Radio. His favorite hotel lobby is at El Monasterio in Cuzco, Peru, where they serve you complimentary coca tea to help with the altitudes. And coca leaves to chew on.
