It’s generally a known thing that, regardless of how nice your hotel is, the carpet in the hallways is going to be atrociously ugly. I mean, think about some of the hotels you may have stayed in…
Hyatt Regency
Intercontinental
JW Marriott
Hilton Garden Inn
We’re talking bold colors, huge patterns, etc. And especially when the hotel in question is considered to be relatively classy and classic (I know the Hilton Garden Inn, for example, is not classy and classic; I was trying to show a range of hotels), those big, bold prints just seem so incongruent to the rest of the decor.
Which brings us to the question:
What’s up with the ugly carpets?
That’s a simple one. Hotels use carpets with big, often colorful patterns on them for the same reason that public transportation uses colorful patterns – so if there’s a stain on the carpet…or, conversely, a clean spot…your eyes won’t be as drawn to it.
I mean, it’s going to be pretty hard to spot something that shouldn’t be there when the whole carpet is designed to look like a bunch of spots that shouldn’t be there.
So why even have carpet in the first place?
You might be thinking to yourself, “If they have to worry so much about stains and clean spots on the carpet, why not just use tile instead?”
It’s a legit question. After all, some hotels are already getting rid of carpet in their rooms, in part because of the upkeep issues.
But carpets in the rooms and carpets in the hallways are two entirely different things. And carpets in hallways make a whole lot of sense:
Sound absorption
Carpet in hotel hallways helps to absorb sound and dampen noise. Whether it’s the rolls of the luggage wheels on the floor, or kids running and screaming down the hall, that noise would bounce off everything and be amplified if there was no carpet.
Energy efficiency
Carpet helps to provide thermal insulation, which in turn helps with energy efficiency.
Easier to change out
Granted, carpet shows signs of aging more quickly than flooring and needs to be replaced more often. But flooring may have to eventually be switched out, updated, broken tiles replaced, etc. It’s easier and faster (and therefore cheaper) to replace a whole carpet than a whole floor.
Safety
People from all walks of life are going to walk down a hotel’s hallway on their way to their room. Someone who loses their footing and falls has a higher risk of getting hurt on the hard floor than on the soft cushioning of a carpet. Carpet also offers traction, which may help prevent someone from falling in the first place.
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