277 | Contagious Ideas: Hospitality brand and design experts search for creative solutions in the age of COVID-19
Summary: In the introduction of his book, “Hotel, an American History,” A.K. Sandoval-Strausz writes: “The hotel as we know it today did not evolve randomly or naturally, nor did it develop as some sort of automatic response to structural needs. Rather, it was the deliberate creation of an identifiable group of people who lived in a specific place and time.”<br> Hotels, he writes, are an artifact of an epochal shift, an important period in history. At the same time, the hotel is a microcosm of key challenges of modern life.<br> In the year 2020, we are living in an unprecedented, and therefore historical time.<br> America’s hotels are telling the stories of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the economy and the people who depend on a thriving hospitality industry for their welfare.<br> It is the hotel’s designers who help tell a story through branding, architecture and interior design.<br> This episode of Lodging Leaders explores what designers are doing to help hoteliers reimagine their properties in an age of heightened consumer awareness of health and wellness.<br> We feature Alpa Patel, founder and CEO of Spaceez, a web-based interior design company that caters to motels and hotels in the economy and midscale segments; Patti Tritschler, founder and CEO of Interior Image Group, an interior designer for branded and boutique hotels; Roger Hill, CEO of The Gettys Group, and his colleague Ron Swidler, the global hotel design firm’s chief innovation officer; and Steve Palmer, managing partner at The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, who focuses on the company’s restaurants and F&B concepts.<br> Resources and Links<br> <br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerghill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Roger Hill</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-swidler-521a848/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ron Swidler</a> of <a href="https://www.gettys.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Gettys Group</a><br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevepalmerir/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Steve Palmer</a> of <a href="http://iigdesign.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Indigo Road Hospitality Group</a><br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattitritschler/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patti Tritschler</a> of <a href="http://iigdesign.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Interior Image Group</a><br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alpapatel66/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alpa Patel</a> of <a href="https://spaceez.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Spaceez</a><br> <br>
