Sociables

Creating a share-able space

  

Location: W Hotel, Bangkok

I was excited to come but there is a lot I dislike about this hotel room. The shower door doesn’t close completely (a major pet peeve). Air-conditioning can only be adjusted with a tablet app, and when you digitally adjust the temperature or fan speed it takes several minutes to sync with the actual air-conditioning unit. The same app controls all the lights in the room (except for bedside lamps and bathroom mirror). I accidentally unplugged the tablet in the middle of the night so it was dead when I woke up and I couldn’t turn the bedroom lights on until it recharged. There is a draft pointed right at the desk. Despite its loud, youthful vibe the hotel charges extra for internet access!

Bed and service have been excellent so far but generally, this hotel is too over-the-top and there are lot of things that turn me off of the room. But despite my negative reaction (that I haven’t had about any of the other three hotels I’ve stayed at this year), I’ve posted several photos about the W. Shortcomings aside, this room was made to be shared.

On the bed are a pair of ginormous gold-sequined muay thai gloves that read “lights” and “out”. The minibar holds a tray of childhood favorite candy, instead of the usual overpriced peanuts and chips. The alcohol tray comes with martini glasses and a shaker in case you want to mix your own cocktails. Cute signs are all over the room. Water bottles are captioned with a “Drink Up” sign. The extra toilet paper roll is encased in a bag labelled “Backup Plan”. The directory and room service menu is entitled “Everything You Want To Know.” Breakfast was served on a bright purple tray. You control the room with an app!

The taste level in this room can only be described as questionable (diamond sculptures and etchings on the wall?) and there are many UX limitations, but this W room is chockfull of iconic elements.

This should be a consideration in any space, product design and activation. What are people going to capture and share? What will be the subject of Instagrams and tweets? If I were a restauranteur I’d design table lighting to ensure that food will look delectable online, no matter how good/bad it actually tastes. I’d like to call these, at least for now…