AccorHotelsÊis improving guest room accessibility with a new Smart Room concept designed to accommodate all travellers and inspire the hotel industry to follow suit. Developed by the Design Solutions Department of AccorHotels in association with designer Didier Versavel, the concept room is arrayed with features that meet the needs not just of guests with reduced mobility, but all travellers as well.
Working in consultation with AccorHotels’ employees with disabilities to create smart technical, technological and design solutions, the Group’s teams are reinterpreting accessibility standards far beyond the industry norm to offer an accommodation experience that puts an end to the segmentation between “accessible rooms” designed for persons with reduced mobility (PRM) and other rooms.
Damien Perrot, Senior Vice President Design Solutions at AccorHotelsÊexplains:
“With the Smart Room concept, our goal is to inspire the hotel market by introducing a new approach to the traditional PRM room, which is often unoccupied, not very welcoming, and stigmatising. We have envisioned a room for everyone, with design and creativity adhering to PRM standards and practices to the point that they disappear to the benefit of emotional and sensorial experience. This innovation can be tailored to all AccorHotels brands in all segments. It reflects the Group’s desire to pave the way towards positive hospitality and to respond to the concerns and requirements of all our guests.”
Sized to accommodate up to three people, the Smart Room features many innovations, including:
- a connected tablet to adjust light and music (through aÊDevialet PhantomÊspeaker) to create the perfect atmosphere, close curtains, tilt the headboard and control audiovisual equipment
- a wardrobe with sliding shelves and rods for easy access to clothes
- LED lighting with footboard motion sensor facilitating movement at night
- a television positioned on a 180¡ swivel panel
- a bathroom equipped with an easily adjustable showerhead, a folding and adjustable shower seat, a height-adjustable sink (70 to 90 cm, or 28 to 36 in.), designer grab bars doubling as towel rails, and other features
- sleep aids, includingÊDodow, a device that promotes both concentration and sleep, orÊDreem, a headband with integrated brain energy sensors and a relaxation system
- customizable olfactory atmospheres withÊSensorwake, to create a gentle awakening experience to the aromas of either coffee, tea, sea breeze, as well as shower capsules perfumed with essential oils created byÊSkinjay
