Floor plan

Picture this. A high end lobby in a five-star luxury hotel with Irish brown and grey William Italian marble and a beach side hotel lobby with expensive hard wood flooring. Tiles – marble, quartz, carpet or vinyl. There is an enormous range of options today for flooring in hotels. Yet, the choices must be based as much on practical factors such as the design concept, functionality, budget, climate and maintenance.
“The Fifth Wall” or flooring, obviously plays a key role in creating that all-important first impression. And hotels unanimously agree flooring makes an enormous difference. Gaurav Wattal, director of operations, JW Marriott Hotel Mumbai, says, “The flooring defines the hotel aesthetics and positioning, whether you are a luxury or a budget hotel. It brings out the look, feel and design of the entire hotel. For instance, a wooden surface gives warmth whereas a marble floor has stark appeal.”
Aesthetics notwithstanding, utility takes precedence.Suman Majumder, director of engineering, Hyatt Regency Delhi, says “Hotels normally have to decide on flooring depending on the area and usage of a particular place. Stone floorings are mostly used in public areas and heavy footfall areas, while wooden floors are good in bedrooms and living room bars. Carpets are generally used for the ballrooms and meeting rooms to maintain acoustics.”
Anurag Rai, director of rooms, Sheraton Bangalore hotel at Brigade Gateway adds, “Different types of flooring are required for several reasons. To create different zones, carpets and wooden flooring are used in more luxurious sections such as suites and private dining areas while high traffic areas have stones or marble which can be maintained easily, and which also enhance the aesthetics of an area. Lobby and lounges can have a mixture of carpets and luxurious marble.”
Firdaus Variava, vice chairman, Bharat Flooring, feels functionality apart, using different textures are a must to enhance guest experience. “Hotels by their nature offer an experience to the customer which they would not find otherwise. Offering different textures and types of flooring imparts a feeling of luxury and of being in a different environment. Combining different textures and types of flooring gives a variety of sensory inputs such as that of seeing these different textures as well as feeling them with your feet at the same time.”
Indeed, varied textures in flooring help in creating a different setting and exude a diverse feel for every area of the hotel. For example, JW Marriott Mumbai’s Spanish restaurant Arola, has a dark wooden surface, adding style, panache and warmth. Spices, the hotel’s Oriental dining outlet, also has a wooden surface, and this complements the overall Pan-Asian look and décor. Saffron, the Indian restaurant, has stone surfaces lending a rustic feel to the Indian cuisine. Mezzo Mezzo, their Italian specialty, has carpets and marble flooring positioning it as a luxury fine dining restaurant, while the Lotus Café has complete marble flooring in line with the hotel lobby, imparting opulence to the overall look and feel of the outlet.
Thanks to regular innovation, exposure to newer designs and access to materials from across the world, flooring has become one of the most diverse areas in a hotel. BG Vyas, COO, Asian Granito India Ltd, says, “The market for floor tiles is opening up. Nowadays, hotels are opting for an interesting combination of both the traditional and the modern. With their ever increasing demand, the tiles market is catching up on the supply side and today offers various designs and sizes at differing price points.”
He adds, “Today, ceramics is not the only option. Materials like wood, glass, granite, limestone, marble, natural stone, porcelain, slate, quart, resin and mosaic are emerging as top favourites. Customers today have a wide variety to choose from depending on their preference and budget.”
Budget maybe an important consideration, but given the volume of traffic in a hotel, maintenance is even more important. Rai admits, “Maintaining a floor is very critical for a star hotel. Clean and fresh carpets make a hotel stand out from competition. We need to budget considerably for regular marble polishing and carpet shampooing. We spend Rs 2.5 lakhs for this maintenance.”
Wattal of JW Marriott Mumbai concurs. “It is extremely important to consider the kind of flooring material chosen depending on its usage. One needs to assess the wear and tear of the surface for choosing what material to go with. For instance, if you have a banquet Alfresco terrace with live cooking areas, using a surface that absorbs easily will not work since it will leave stains.”
Suppliers, too, accept this and are working around this demand for easy maintenance. Vyas of Asian Granito, says, “These days, durability and easy maintenance form an important part of the decision making while choosing tiles. Tiles with smooth and rich texture, vibrant colours, fine finish, attractive looks and exclusive patterns are highly preferred by hotels. Wood-styled tiles are also a hot trend as they are not only totally water-safe, but also its wood-like finish and texture provides a classy look.”
Firdaus of Bharat Flooring also says, “The appearance and life of your floor depends not only on the excellent quality of the tiles, but also on the quality of fixing and polishing of these tiles.”
Interior designer Monica Khanna avers, “Stone flooring that is finished and polished is the easiest to maintain and most hygienic. Flooring should be decided based on the climatic conditions in that area. If you use carpets in humid conditions, then it is a bad idea and if you use high gloss stone flooring in extra cold
areas, it gives the room an additional feeling of cold, which is not very attractive to the guest.”
While interior designers may be selecting the flooring materials along with the hotel management team, maintenance is the sole domain of the housekeeping department. Rai of Sheraton Bangalore agrees, saying, “In every hotel, housekeeping is in charge of maintaining different floorings. There are effective chemical solutions from companies like Ecolab and Johnson Diversey who provide high quality chemicals for floor cleaning. Along with the right machinery, these keep floors clean and hygienic.”
Given their versatility and quality, Classic Marble, Nitco, Pergo, EGO Flooring, Way Floors and Kajaria Tiles remain top favourites. Asian Granito’s newly launched ‘Carrara White’, the whitest tile collection in the unglazed larger format in the double charged vitrified category, is much sought after.
Unarguably then, flooring forms the base of any interior scheme, and hotels are no exception. With a variety of choices available today, it is easy to get carried away. Yet, hotels cannot ignore the practical aspects that need to be considered. Whatever the flooring, it has to be suited to a particular area and usage pattern in the hotel. Else, aesthetics are mere wasteful expenditure.