Today’s hotel guests are looking for a deeper connection to the places they visit. Designers are responding by creating a strong sense of place not only within the hotel, but across its outdoor spaces as well—using landscaping rooted in the local environment to enhance the guest experience and drive revenue throughout the property.
“Today, travelers are very discerning,” said Lisa A. Haude, principal of interior design, Studio RYS. “They’re actively seeking to immerse themselves truly into their destination. When we start designing purposefully, it becomes very authentic, and guests gravitate toward hotels that offer that sense of belonging and rooted culture.”
Those authentic experiences begin long before guests reach their guestrooms.
“This arrival sequence, which starts with landscaping and those first impressions, is what sets the tone,” she said. “It strengthens the brand, increases guest satisfaction and ultimately drives ROI in a positive way because guests are excited and wanting to be there.”
Designers note that connection to place has become increasingly valuable as many traditional differentiators have been leveraged. Robert J. Gdowski, principal/director of hospitality design, JCJ Architecture, believes the industry has reached a turning point.
“The hotel industry has optimized everything it can commoditize, but what it can’t commoditize is the feeling of being somewhere that couldn’t exist anywhere else,” he said.
That uniqueness increasingly influences guest behavior. “The properties that outperform, that turn guests into advocates rather than just repeat visitors, are the ones that create an emotional connection to their setting,” Gdowski said. “Guests feel it before they can name it.”
Alison Gilbo, designer, The Society, sees similar trends among today’s travelers. “Connection to place has become such a strong driver of ROI because people are craving experiences that feel rooted in something real and memorable,” she said. “Guests may not remember every finish or amenity, but they remember how a place felt.”
That emotional connection often translates into tangible business results, including longer stays, stronger loyalty and greater word-of-mouth engagement, according to Gilbo.
Rather than treating landscape and culture as decorative additions, designers are using them as the foundation of a project’s narrative.
Haude said successful projects begin with understanding the local community, environment and culture. “That creates your foundation to the story of what that design is going to be,” she said.
From there, design teams incorporate regional materials, local craftsmanship, artwork and color palettes that reinforce a destination’s identity. “It could be local stone, wood, artisan textiles or significant sculpture,” Haude explained. “That becomes a natural design partner and creates a very seamless and authentic experience that’s very rooted in place.”
Gilbo approaches the challenge in a similarly nuanced way. “I usually think of translation as less about illustrating a place and more about listening to it first,” she said. “The goal is for guests to feel the essence of a place without having to be told what they are looking at.”
Rather than relying on overt references, she looks for a destination’s “underlying rhythm and emotional character,” allowing culture and landscape to emerge through scale, texture and the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces.
One of the most significant changes occurring in hospitality design is the elevation of landscape from backdrop to experience.
“I don’t really think of the landscape as something to add in at the end,” Gilbo said. “It’s usually the first narrator in the story.”
Many designers are allowing the landscape to shape how buildings are organized, experienced and programmed.
“The building isn’t trying to compete with the site or imitate it—it’s responding to it,” Gilbo said. “When it works, it doesn’t feel like you’re looking at nature from inside a hotel. It feels like the hotel is just another way of experiencing the place itself.”
At JCJ’s Jamul Casino Resort project in California, the design team positioned amenities to maximize engagement with the surrounding mountain environment.
“The rooftop pool deck works because of its relationship to the landscape,” Gdowski said. “The amenity and the view are inseparable.”
Haude noted that integrating landscape into the overall narrative allows designers to create a seamless experience across the property.
“Thoughtfully designed gardens, patios, outdoor lounges, meditation paths and water features give guests respite and reflection,” she said. “Architecturally, expansive glass and views further dissolve the boundaries between interior and exterior.”
The growing emphasis on local landscapes also aligns with sustainability goals. Native materials and plantings not only reduce operational costs but help reinforce a property’s authenticity.
“The native plants allow us to support the local ecosystem, reduce water usage and lower long-term maintenance costs,” Haude said. “At the same time, they create an authentic emotional and visual connection specifically to the region.”
She pointed to Hawaii as an example. “When you go to Hawaii, you’re expecting to see palm trees and birds of paradise,” Haude explained. “It would be very strange to suddenly see hydrangeas. That’s just not what you would expect in a tropical climate.”
Gdowski believes sustainability and guest experience should never be viewed separately. “When a planting palette comes from the regional ecology, guests experience it differently even if they can’t articulate why,” he said. “The environment feels grounded in its location rather than installed from a catalog.”
One of the biggest financial benefits of site-driven design is its ability to create memorable experiences that guests share with others.
Haude cited the Renaissance Austin Hotel as an example. Located adjacent to The Arboretum, an open-air shopping destination featuring open green spaces, the property embraces its natural surroundings through outdoor gathering spaces, trails, fire pits, water features and a refurbished horse trailer converted into a food-and-beverage venue called the Lucky Pony.
“That design story was very intentional, starting from the second you arrived at the property,” she said. “It goes all the way through and creates a very memorable sense of place.”
Jamul Casino Resort, Gdowski said, demonstrates how place-based design can transform an entire business model.
“The hotel changed guest behavior by transforming the property from a day-trip gaming destination into a true resort experience,” he said. “The rooftop quickly became one of the property’s defining guest spaces because it places visitors in direct relationship with a mountain landscape that can’t be replicated elsewhere.”
The designers expect landscape and site-driven design to become an even more important competitive differentiator.
“I think it definitely is becoming a defining advantage,” Haude said. “Guests really want that immersive experience. They want that boutique-type experience that reflects the locale they’re going to.”
For Gdowski, the future belongs to projects where the site itself drives the design process. “The projects that will define hospitality over the next decade are the ones where the site was the first voice in the room,” he said.
