234 | Model Room Mayhem

Lori Mukoyama is a Design Principal and Global Hospitality Leader at Gensler, shaping hotel experiences across cities from Chicago to Tokyo. With a background in boutique retail and large-scale hospitality design, she focuses on the tactile and emotional details that shape guests' experience of a space. Susan and Lori talk about design details, destination differences, and the future of guest experience.

What You'll Learn

• What designers actually control in a hotel, from doorknobs to pillows
• Why "15 feet and down" shapes the entire guest experience
• When hotel design should feel nothing like your own home
• How hospitality design differs across the U.S., Latin America, and Japan
• Why historic hotel renovations are booming right now
• Smart ways brands balance global standards with local culture
• How remote work is changing the layout of hotel rooms
• Why giving designers time to create a concept story matters
• How designing for a "guest muse" transforms spaces and furniture choices
• The coming shift toward multi-generational hotel room design
• Why sustainability innovation is the hospitality industry's next big challenge

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Our Top Three Takeaways

Great hotel design happens "15 feet and down."
While architecture shapes the overall building, the details closest to the guest create the emotional experience. Designers focus on the elements people physically interact with — floors, furniture, materials, lighting, and textures — because those are what guests touch, hear, and notice as they move through the space. These tactile details ultimately shape the hotel's feel.

Global hotel brands succeed when they combine standards with local culture.
Brand standards provide a framework, but the most compelling hotels interpret those standards through local context. Designers use local materials, cultural references, and regional inspiration to create spaces that feel authentic rather than generic. The goal is to keep the brand direction while ensuring each hotel reflects its city and community.

Hotel design is evolving around new ways people travel and work.
Remote work and blended travel have changed how guest rooms are designed. Desks are increasingly positioned to face the room instead of the wall, with lighting and acoustics designed to support video calls and longer stays. Hotels are also expanding into experience-driven spaces like wellness areas and social saunas, reflecting the idea that "offline" experiences are becoming a new form of luxury.

Lori Mukoyama on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-mukoyama-4a71a57/

Gensler
https://www.gensler.com/expertise/hospitality

Gensler's annual Design Forecast identifies the top trends shaping the future of the built environment in the age of rapid technological and environmental transformation. You can learn more and download this year's report here. [https://www.gensler.com/publications/design-forecast/2026]

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
https://cayugahospitality.com/

Hive Marketing
https://www.hive-marketing.com/