Hamilton designed the back wall of the two-story lobby, on the mall entrance side, to look like tissue paper coming out of a giant shopping bag. Behind the shiny, white Krion façade guests can peek into the restaurant. He also wanted the hotel design to provide some contrast for the travelers who’ve spent three or four days cruising from store to store and are looking for a break. “You also need quiet spaces and something you look forward to going back to that’s significantly different from the mall experience,” Hamilton says.
A sky bridge connects the hotel to the mall, and a second bridge joins the hotel’s meeting spaces. “By adding a bridge to the front of the building,” Hamilton says, “it allows us to take the flow of people going to meetings and events away from the bar and restaurant and hotel lobby.” Hamilton had this in mind when he established a gallery concept at the Chicago property as a buffer zone between the public spaces and the meetings and events spaces. Now, the concept has become a part of the Radisson Blu design DNA, he says. At the Mall of America, the gallery features mainly pieces from Minnesota artists, with a Glasgow artist thrown in for good measure, and a 40-foot table surrounded by red designer chairs.
BIG OVERSEAS
As of fourth quarter 2012, there were 272 Radisson Blu hotels in operation across the globe, the bulk of which are located in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and 86 more in development. The Blu pipeline in the United States is small compared to Carlson Rezidor’s total of 616 hotels in operation in the Americas, spread heavily between its Radisson and Country Inn and Suites brands. That’s partly because of economic circumstances at large. There is still a weak lending environment, Kirschke says, especially when it comes to new construction. In the early days of the brand’s growth in the Americas, the company has been selective about which properties it wants to flag as Blu.
By late summer 2013, the Radisson Plaza Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia will be converted to a Radisson Blu after a $17 million renovation. The existing hotel has been performing well comparatively in the market, Kirschke says, but Carlson Rezidor saw an opportunity to reposition it and potentially leverage its revenue per available room (RevPAR). “If we can convert from green to blue and command a 20 or more percent premium on RevPAR, that makes the calculation very easy,” he says.
