Hotels are designed to provide a warm, comfortable and luxurious haven for guests to escape the stress of everyday life.
It is essential to adjust your hotel as the weather gets colder to provide the best possible service for your guests.
Here are some tips to prepare your hotel for winter and keep your guests warm.
Heating
One of the most important things to do to prepare your hotel for winter is to find a reliable and environmentally-friendly heating solution to keep your hotel warm all winter long.
Creating a warm, cosy environment is key for the comfort and enjoyment of guests in hotels. The last thing your guests want when they stay in a hotel is to have to endure a cold, sleepless night because you have a faulty boiler or poor heating system.
At Mitchell’s, we offer air-source heat pump installations in Gloucester, which can help to reduce power consumption and keep your hotel operating in greener territory. This means that your heating system can operate more efficiently and contribute towards a brighter, greener future.
Lighting
As the temperature drops and the evenings get darker, many people find themselves experiencing symptoms of SAD (Seasonal affective disorder). This is a type of depression that has a seasonal pattern. The episodes of depression tend to occur at the same time each year, usually during the winter and the symptoms include a low mood and a lack of interest in life.
The main cause of SAD is a lack of sunlight. This is why as a hotel owner, it is crucial that you think carefully about the choice of lighting in your building as it can either worsen or improve these symptoms.
Here are some tips for creating a warm, cosy environment which will leave your guests feeling happy and refreshed:
Use yellow or blue hues
Yellow lighting has been clinically used to treat depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) because it replicates the colour and hue of natural sunlight. While it is a good idea to make the most out of natural sunlight as much as possible in winter, yellow lighting is the next best thing.
Blue lighting is another great option for creating a calm and relaxing environment. Beneficial in all shades, blue is known to be the most healing of all colours as it reduces anxiety and blood pressure.
Add SAD lamps
SAD lights are designed specifically to alleviate symptoms of SAD.
The light produced by the light box simulates the sunlight that’s missing during the darker winter months. It’s thought that light may improve SAD by encouraging your brain to reduce the production of melatonin (a hormone that makes you sleepy) and increase the production of serotonin (a hormone that affects your mood).
These lamps can be added around your hotel room to create a brighter, happier environment for guests.
Give your hotel walls a refresh
The colour of your walls can also impact the lighting that is reflected around the wall. It is important to think carefully about how you want your guests to feel when they stay in your hotel, as this can be influenced by the colour of the walls.
Some popular choices for hotel walls include:
- Blue – similar to blue lighting, blue walls help to create a calming environment. The calming influence is often associated with an increase in productivity.
- Green – green is another great choice for hotel walls due to its association with nature and health. It provokes feelings of tranquillity and allows you to feel healthy, grounded and calmer.
- Yellow – Yellow walls can spark a great deal of happiness and ambition within a person.
Hygiene
When guests choose to stay at your hotel, they are expecting a clean and safe environment. Winter is rife with nasty colds and flu’s which is why you have to be more diligent when it comes to cleaning in the colder months.
To prevent the spread of diseases and illnesses in your hotel and to improve guests’ experience, it is essential that you make sure every room is deep cleaned before and after guests’ stay. This includes changing the sheets, bedding, and towels, wiping down every surface, hoovering etc.
You can also provide a hygiene bucket for each room including hand sanitiser, wipes etc to encourage guests to maintain high cleanliness standards.
Switch up the bedding
As the temperature is rapidly dropping, it’s now time to switch your airy, summer sheets and lightweight duvets for some cosy, thicker bedding. You should also add an extra blanket or fluffy pillows to the room for some extra comfort and warmth.
Not only will this create a warmer, cosier space for your guests to snuggle up in during winter, but it can also add a luxurious, stylish touch to any room.
Christmas Decorations
One way to prepare your hotel for winter is by adding some Christmas decorations. Christmas decorations are a great way to add a touch of magic and excitement to your building and help get your guests in the Christmas spirit.
However, it is important that you think about the different cultures that will be staying at your hotel to ensure that you can cater to everyone and provide an inclusive experience for all.
To make your guests feel welcome, you can offer to take down or change the festive room decorations for guests that do not celebrate Christmas.
Here are some tips for decorating your hotel for Christmas:
Choose a specific colour palette
If your hotel boasts a luxurious, stylish design and colour scheme, you don’t need to go overboard with garish, loud Christmas decorations as this could take away from the premium feel of your hotel.
Try to add Christmas decorations which maintain your hotel’s style and colour palette. Keep in mind, however, that a ‘colour palette’ does not mean that you must only use one flat colour and become boring and monotonous. You should use all of your imagination and creativity and enrich your Christmas decoration with different elements that share the same character and style.
Christmas lights
Warm fairy lights are the perfect Christmas decorations to add a touch of magic and glamour to your hotel. They also don’t take away from the style and beauty of your hotel’s look.
Try adding fairy lights to tree branches, wreaths and staircases for the ultimate, enchanted Christmas hotel.
Smells and aromas
The human brain can instantly link a smell to heartwarming Christmas memories, so it’s a good idea to add some common, oranges, clove and roasted chestnut-scented candles or aromas to get your guests in the Christmas spirit.
Update your menu
If your hotel has a menu, winter is the perfect opportunity to give it a refresh and add some Christmas-themed meals.
Some popular dishes include pate or fish starters and turkey centrepieces with all the trimmings. Finish with a good old-fashioned Christmas pudding and follow with a choice of yule log or Christmas pudding.
However, it is important that you are catering for people of different ethnicities who do not celebrate Christmas and those who do not eat meat etc.
Add a meat-free menu to make sure you are being inclusive of everyone.
Utilise social media
Winter is a prime opportunity for social media and marketing. Change your profile pictures and cover photos to reflect the Christmas spirit and the decorations set up at your hotel.
Social media allows you to reach those who may not be staying with you this year so that you can inspire them to book in the future. Successful content could include photos of decorations, special food, or simply your guests having a good time.
People love to share opinions, so a seasonal online poll (favourite holiday cookie, for example) is the perfect way to get them involved. Don’t forget to develop a strategy and schedule posts in advance, as many staff may be busy or unavailable.
Mitchells: Heating engineer in Gloucester
If you are looking for an expert heating company in Gloucester, then look no further than Mitchells.
At Mitchell’s, we offer air-source heat pumps which can help to reduce power consumption and keep a building operating in greener territory. By choosing Mitchells, you are helping your heating system operate more efficiently while contributing to a brighter, greener future.
We also offer a range of other services including air conditioning repair and it network installation in Gloucester.
If you are looking for additional information on the range of services we offer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our friendly team here today. We have an expert team on hand to answer any questions or queries you may have.