Renovating the First Impression While Selling It

A guest's impression is formed in the first ninety seconds, and during a lobby renovation those ninety seconds include hoarding, a temporary desk and a diverted route. Managing that is not decoration — it directly affects reviews, which affect rate, which affects the return on the renovation itself.

The temporary reception is the part most often improvised. It gets set up in whatever space is free rather than designed, which means the front desk team spends months working somewhere that does not function while trying to deliver the arrival experience the hotel is selling.

Walk it as a guest would: from where the car stops, through the door, to whoever greets them, to the lift. Every one of those steps has to work during the renovation, and each is a decision rather than something that resolves itself.

The most common failure is signage. A guest who cannot immediately see where to go has already formed an impression, and clear temporary wayfinding is one of the cheapest things on the entire project.

1. 01Plan the temporary operation with the hotel before mobilizing.
2. 02Build hoarding that presents well, not just complies.
3. 03Phase so arrival and departure always work.
4. 04Do the loudest work outside peak arrival hours.
5. 05Clean continuously — the lobby is on show at all times.

Spend real money on the hoarding. A well-finished, well-signed, well-lit hoarding tells guests the hotel is investing in itself. Plywood and a handwritten sign tells them the hotel is falling apart, and the reviews say so.

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