The right flooring is crucial for any place, but especially important for the hospitality industry. The right floors in restaurants, bars or hotels can make the place better when it comes to functioning, style, comfort and attracting guests. If you're running such an establishment and are searching for the best hospitality flooring, here are some things to consider.
Hotels
Hotels are places with heavy foot traffic, so durable and quality flooring should be a must. Certain areas such as lobbies, restaurants, and hallways will be the most exposed to foot traffic. The most often remodelled floorings are the ones in the lobby; luxury vinyl tiles are a great choice for redefining spaces, while hardwood flooring gives that home-like atmosphere hotels strive to achieve. The durability of hardwood and LVT makes them resistant to scratches, stains, and indentations.
Restaurants
When it comes to hospitality flooring, restaurants need something that will last for at least a decade. Luxury vinyl tiles are a wonderful choice as they're long-lasting, water-resistant and very easy to clean. In case there's a need for reparation, you'll only repair the damaged tile, without actually doing the entire floor.
The flooring depends on the type of restaurant of course. A high-end restaurant with Micheline stars will certainly choose something more expensive such as hardwood. But when it comes to kitchens, it's always a good idea to invest in flooring that will endure frequent foot traffic, spilling, stains and moisture. And on top of everything, it should be easy to clean.
Vinyl or Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT)
A luxury vinyl tile (LVT) is a common hospitality floor choice. This hospitality vinyl is extremely durable and can resist a lot of traffic. Today, LVT comes in many different colours, styles, textures and patterns. It can imitate other types of flooring such as stone (but the stone isn't quite the best choice of flooring for restaurants and hotels as it's expensive and not-so-easy to instal).
Carpet Flooring
Many hospitality establishments, especially hotels choose carpet flooring because it gives a warm and luxurious feel. The great thing is that carpets are very quiet and dampen sounds; you can choose from various colours, styles and patterns. Today, carpets are relatively fast to install which is important in the hospitality industry. The maintenance is done with vacuuming and steaming.
Tile Flooring
Many hotels and restaurants choose porcelain and ceramic tiles as they give a classy look and are a great choice because they're durable, easy to clean and of course, won't get damaged from liquids. In case of damage, it's not too difficult to repair or replace tiles. The downgrade of these tiles is that they take a bit longer to install and often have a higher upfront cost. The good thing is that costs for maintenance and upkeep over time are quite comparable with most other options though.
Concrete Flooring
If your restaurant, bar, or hotel is in a more urban and contemporary look, choose concrete flooring. It looks quite industrial and modern and is especially appealing to younger and trendy people. You can stamp concrete floors to create patterns, polish them or overlay a lovely poly aspartic material on top that’s both durable and slip resistant.
What to Consider
Hospitality floors are far different from home floors. There's higher traffic, a larger area, a style that must match the entire object, etc. If it's a hotel flooring, then it must not be too loud; if it's a bar flooring it should be durable and easy to clean.
Consider the Hotel Area
Consider where the flooring will be; this will determine many other factors, such as how soundproof or comfortable the flooring should be for that specific area. Hotels are large spaces, with many rooms that serve various different purposes, so every room has various flooring needs. Bedrooms would need more features than reception areas, for example.
Comfort
Speaking of hotels, comfort isn't only in how comfy a bed feels. The floors too should feel pleasant under the guests' feet. This means that they should feel soft, easy to walk and must not cause any noise, especially in the hallways.
Acoustics
Speaking of noise, hotels and even restaurants need a certain level of silence. The guests (especially in a hotel) shouldn't hear every footstep of their neighbours above, or people walking in the hallway. This is why the best floors have soundproof features and reduce noise at all times.
Durability
There will be many people coming and going to restaurants, bars and hotels, so the traffic will be constant and high. This is why the floors must be durable and tear-resistant. Constant reparations and change of floors are very expensive things to do, no matter how big the budget of the establishment is. This is why you must always invest in high-quality and durable floor options that will serve for at least a decade.
Safety
Safety is crucial in any place, but even more so in the hospitality industry. The floors must be safe for the staff working in the hotel or restaurant, but also for the guests. Having busy staff rushing about at work, they are exposed to a higher risk of trips, slips and falls; the same goes for the guests. Avoid floors that are slippery and that are known to lead to potential accidents.
Hygiene
Finally, hygiene is essential in the hospitality industry. There will be dirt, dust, spilling of liquids, mud, you name it. Your floors must be easy to clean and should be able to resist damages caused by any of these things.
