But it is a very different sector today than it was just a few years ago. Increased competition and changing lifestyles are creating an unprecedented diversification of product.

Traditional boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred as operators seek to satisfy the changing expectations of their guests. The result is a process of metamorphosis with the hotel becoming a hybrid of different sectors and the evolution of a new design language that blends modern and edgy with ‘luxury for less’ is becoming increasingly prevalent across the sector.

The fastest growing customer base in the hotel sector is the corporate business traveller at around six per cent a year and it is this group, combined with the disruptive influence of the Millennial generation, that is having the greatest influence on hotel design trends.

Hotels are increasingly creating lobbies that are lifestyle driven, catering for guests who don’t want to work in their rooms but are instead demanding facilities to work in cohabitable spaces where they can interact socially and network.

The rooms are also smaller, further encouraging guests to work, engage and spend money in the lobby, which in turn creates a culture with other guests.

Business and leisure have now become interchangeable (‘bliesure if you will) and according to David Whitehead, a director from Broadway Malyan’s Lisbon studio, the Millennial generation have their own expectations and demands from the traditional hotel lobby.

While the design of hotel lobbies is being driven by customer expectations, it is also providing a new revenue opportunity for operators in an increasingly competitive sector.

Lobbies are becoming usable spaces for customers who may or may not be staying at the hotel with break out areas for business meetings, conference calls, strategy days, product launches, parties and performances.

They are becoming more integrated with the food and drink offer of the hotel with the introduction of everything from coffee shops to nail bars to galleries, creating an offer that is more quirky and esoteric and giving guests fewer reasons to ever leave the hotel while also becoming an amenity space and place to meet and hang out for the local community. The lobby has become a social meeting place in its own right.

“Ultimately the guest is now looking for an experience,” said Margarida. “The modern traveller is less concerned about their hotel room and as more emphasis is focused on the lobby, so we are seeing rooms become smaller and more functional.

“Instead they are looking for fulfilment through being able to work remotely, meet new people, explore new places and immerse themselves in different cultures. Our job as designers is to facilitate these new lifestyle trends while creating that sense of excitement and anticipation that every guest should feel when they walk into a hotel lobby.”