Furnotel designs, supplies and installs bespoke casegoods and fitted hotel bedroom furniture to some of the leading names in the hotel sector both in the UK and overseas. Most bedroom furniture for hotels is manufactured bespoke due to the specific requirements of the hotel operator.

Over the years Furnotel has become very proficient in helping hotel operators, interior designers, property developers, architects and procurement companies in ensuring that they achieve the maximum specification and aesthetic impact for their investment.

Hotel bedroom furniture represents a large proportion of an overall joinery package and contributes to a significant percentage of the furniture, fittings and equipment (FF&E) budget.

When planning a hotel bedroom, it’s best practice to start by loosely “zoning” the room:

Zone 1: Lobby

This is the area immediately inside the main hotel bedroom door, usually adjacent to the en-suite bathroom.

It is a sensible idea for the guest to store their suitcase near to the door within the lobby zone. This reduces wear and tear on the walls, skirting boards and other features within the bedroom as suitcases can often brush and bump against walls and other furniture when being moved around by guests. A luggage rack and even the wardrobe is ideal to be situated within the lobby zone if possible for this very fact.

As the room opens out beyond the lobby zone, the bedroom zone accommodates the hotel bed, headboard, bedside units, and possibly a bed bench at the foot of the bed if the footprint allows.

With the vast majority of hotel weekday business comprising of corporate guests, it is important to allow a generous footprint for a desk, dressing table or workstation for guests who need space to work. This area also includes a comfortable desk chair and usually the television.

Lounges are normally found in bedrooms with larger footprints and in guest suites. This small area of the bedroom will typically include at least one chair for watching television and a small breakfast table for guests wishing to take advantage of room service. Larger hotel rooms may opt to accommodate an ottoman also within this lounge zone.

If the bedroom has a smaller footprint, the desk chair within the office zone tends to be replaced with a more comfortable chair to suite both activates of work and relaxation.

More often than not hotel rooms will have an en-suite bathroom, usually located just off the lobby zone. They serve not only as an area to freshen up but also to apply makeup and get ready, therefore often have good lighting and an airy feel.

The materials used when making hotel bedroom furniture depend largely on the star rating of the hotel and the available budget.

Most budget brands opt for melamine faced chipboard (MFC) furniture which is cost effective and easily maintained. PVC edge details can be added at an extra cost to ensure that facing edges are resilient to impact.

Generally, three, four and five-star hotels require bedroom casegoods with a real wood veneer finish which gives a more opulent aesthetic.

The veneer can be applied to an MDF or a chipboard core. The vast majority of Furnotel’s bedroom furniture casegoods are manufactured with an MDF core which produces a very robust piece of furniture.

When choosing veneers, the veneer grain should be considered first. Some specifiers like to see the rich tones of the wood grain and opt for veneers such as walnut. Others prefer plainer veneers that give a more solid effect such as maple or beech.

Thereafter, the veneer can be tinted (stained) in the factory to whichever colour is preferred.

Wardrobe dimensions differ depending on the available space in a hotel bedroom and the make-up of how the wardrobe internals are divided.

As a rule of thumb standard sizes for hotel wardrobes are as follows:

• Single wardrobe: 600mm wide x 600mm deep x 1900mm high
• Double wardrobe: 800mm wide x 600mm deep x 1900mm high

A blanket shelf above the hanging rail is a usual pre-requisite to house a spare pillow. The hanging rail itself should be sufficient in height to allow for coats and long garments to hang.

The other side of inside the wardrobe can be compartmentalised to accommodate a room safe, tea tray, ironing board and luggage rack if required.

A minimum of three wardrobe door hinges are required as standard, but four or even five hinges are preferable for heavier door panels.

There is a wide range of handles available to suit any wardrobe door application. Cost can be saved by cutting finger pulls into the door panel design in place of handles.

The dressing table has to perform multiple functions such as being a corporate workstation, a dining area and vanity.

To enable the desk to multi-task effectively, we advise attaching an upstand to the rear edge of the desk. This accommodates electrical sockets and allows electrics to be run to the desk for laptops, hairdryers, lamps etc. The timber upstand prevents the wall decoration from premature finger marks around the sockets.

Many hotel operators prefer to leave table and desktops clear for guests to use as workspaces and therefore require a shelf within the unit for the refreshments tray.

“Soft close” drawers are an optional extra which helps reduce wear and tear and noise, but also provide a more elegant upmarket feel to the bedroom furniture casegoods.

Wherever possible it is preferable to mount televisions on the wall to free up desk space. However, if there is insufficient wall space, a longer desk may be required.

The headboard is the focal point of the hotel bedroom. Higher headboards present a more luxurious appeal but if your budget doesn’t accommodate for a high headboard you can also position a piece of artwork over a lower headboard for a similar impact.

Headboards can be upholstered in a range of contract fabrics, veneered, or a mixture of both options.

Timber headboards can be manufactured to accommodate bedside lights and switches so that bedside units remain uncluttered. This can also work well in a hotel bedroom which needs to multi-function as a double or twin room.

Many professional hotel specifiers opt for floating shelves instead of a free-standing bedside table. This saves on cost, space and is more time efficient when it comes to housekeeping.

The disadvantage of these types of shelves is that they do not accommodate zip and link beds. Where zip and link hotel beds are being used, freestanding nightstands are necessary.

Where freestanding bedsides have been specified, they should have no more than a single drawer, ideally to keep them light enough for the housekeeping team to move if they need to reconfigure the beds.

Hotel luggage racks can be as simple a lightweight foldaway wooden or chrome l racks which can often be accommodated within the wardrobe.

Alternatively, the luggage rack can be a unit in its own right and can house storage drawers beneath it if additional room storage is required.

Again, an upstand is recommended at the back of the luggage rack to protect the wall from suitcase scuffs. The veneered top surface of the hotel luggage rack should be covered with stainless steel or brass bars to avoid veneer scratches.

Television Units

TV’s can be mounted straight to the wall without any encasement but this presents a less opulent aesthetic. An alternative is a simple timber surround which hides all wires and co-ordinates with other furniture pieces within the room.

Free-standing TV units are only deployed when the hotel bedroom has a particularly large footprint such as executive rooms, suites or within luxury hotel accommodation.