๐๐ "๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป" ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ? ๐จ
"Hotelification" is the latest buzzword in workplace design, where offices are transformed into less office-like spaces.
My Wednesday morning question:
๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐?
The headline from a recent New York Times article on โThe Hotelification of Officesโ:
โ๐๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฌ๐ด, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ โ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด,โ ๐ญ๐ถ๐น๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ.โ
New York Times
Hereโs the glaring issue with that statement: "๐๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฌ๐ด..." ๐ง
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ธ๐, ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ณ. Not to mention the backlash to the recent news of Amazon's desire to have their staff back in the office 5 days a week.
It appears battle lines have been drawn.
Back to the Forbes statement, it reflects a traditional mindset that assumes work requires a desk. I believe terms like "Hotelification" have emerged to justify why we would have any additional amenity in an office.
But is this concept new?
During the early days with WeWork, we embraced the idea of creating a "home away from home" in the workplace.
๐ป Having a beer tap in the kitchen wasnโt just a novel gimmick. It was part of an amenity stack designed to challenge the cold, sterile, grey, and boring single-use traditional office designs.
We didnโt just want to offer desks; we aimed to build communities and create experiences. ๐
Fast-forward a decade, and thatโs precisely what terms like "Hotelification" aim to achieve.
Now more than ever, we need to ensure that the spaces we create truly foster connection, productivity and collaboration, not just mimic the comforts of home. We've been there already.
So, what do you think? Is "Hotelification" just a fancy term, or is it genuinely reshaping how we think about the office?
Ping me a message and let me know your thoughts
Thanks for reading
