One night a few weeks ago I was having dinner with three hotel executives and a gentleman who is a hotel investor. It was a casual, “off-the-record” dinner.

During the conversation, I was asked to describe my idea of the “perfect new hotel concept.” I stumbled a bit in my response, not expecting the question, but I later put together a few thoughts in writing. I thought I would share some of my random recommendations with you here. This is the first of two installments.

Location/size: The 75- to 150-room Hotel Richard will feature a unique modern interior located in a restaurant-rich, up-and-coming, low-crime neighborhood of a second-tier city. 

The front window: One side of the entrance, clearly visible from the street, will feature a well-lit, live-in “office” for the three live-in members of the property’s Labrador Concierge Team. Passersby would be able to observe the dogs relaxing during their off hours. During the day, they would be available to accompany guests on city walks with recommended dog-friendly routes available. The Labrador Concierge Team would also greet arriving guests and bid goodbye to others. 

Check-in: The Richard will feature the industry’s only “30-Second Check-In.” No credit card would ever be requested. Guests would be treated like they were entering a friend’s home, and no friend ever asks for your credit card on arrival. Instead, all financials would be set up online in advance so that all the Arrival/Farewell Desk has to do is greet the guests and present them with a packet that includes their room keys and a small book telling guests everything they need to know about the hotel in a light, humorous style.

Signage: No, we won’t do signage. Those in the know — well, they know how to find us. There will be a Richard Wall in the lobby featuring framed photos of two dozen famous “Richards,” but no one will know who is the property’s true namesake.

Hotel manager location: Our goal is to place the on-duty manager directly in the midst of “the action.” The manager’s office will be in the lobby, close to the elevators. The office will be an open space, and managers can offer drinks to guests while personally greeting new arrivals and those departing. Every guest will pass directly by the Hotel Richard manager several times each day of their stay. Of course, managers have work to do, so we will have enough management staff to do necessary paperwork as well as meet and greet guests.

Food and beverage: The Hotel Richard will not attempt to compete with area restaurants. Our goal will be to meet certain but not all food demands at the lowest possible food and labor costs. We will have one menu at our lobby-based Ultra Take-Out station. We will carry refrigerated sandwiches exclusively — three — selected as the very best in our city from three well-known sandwich emporiums. We will prepare lattes and a minimal selection of other drinks. But we will not have in-room delivery.

The exclusive water wall: In the lobby area, we would feature the industry’s first “water wall,” where display shelves feature waters from around the world. Guests can select their preferences and pay for them at the Ultra Take-Out. The backdrop of the water wall will be a map of the world showing destinations whose water is featured. 

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