Hotel interior: Vision and tips from Michel Ruijgrok

"Applied interior design is a living thing," says Michel Ruijgrok, Art director of E.S.T.I.D.A. He combines creativity with practical insight to develop leading interiors and striking hospitality concepts for over 30 years. With Hotelvak, he talks about his work and the changes in the hotel industry.

"I knew at a young age that this was what I wanted to do," says Ruijgrok. "As a child, I was good at drawing and wanted to be an artist. My father thought I should learn a trade. So I took a teacher training course in drawing and handicrafts but also applied for a job at Spanjaard in Beverwijk, which was the largest hotel decorator in the Netherlands at the time. I am still surprised that they took me on. I was very young and had no experience, although I did earn extra money by remodelling bathrooms and giving creative advice on this." 

At Spanjaart, Ruijgrok will become part of a creative team working for many international hotels in Amsterdam for five years. "Under the guidance of an experienced colleague, I developed quickly. After two years, I took over as head designer. I think the profession suits me so well because I am creative as well as practical. I see very quickly whether something can be created within the means and time and whether the concept is understandable for guests. I still have clients from those days." His own design agency E.S.T.I.D.A has now grown to a team of 23 people. "A lot has changed in the past 30 years. For the new generation, it is quite normal that a good part of their income goes here."

E.S.T.I.D.A also works a lot with repeat customers. "I think hospitality is something very personal. If you really have a click with the customer, you can come up with a beautiful concept together. Here, it's not about pretty or ugly, but about the client's objective and wishes." In 2000, the design agency decided to start producing its own interior components. "Due to the boom time, nobody had time. So we decided to hire two guys and do it ourselves. We are designers, who can also partly execute." 

According to Ruijgrok, the hotel business is quite conventional. He was therefore very happy with the unique opportunity to start a hotel in an old school building, which already housed a work-study restaurant, together with hospitality entrepreneur Claudia van den Berg. Since 2019, he has been co-owner of the atmospheric boutique hotel STAATS in Haarlem. "Here I was able to deviate from conventional ideas. Of course, I redecorated everything. I am a collector and was able to combine modern and vintage elements here. The decor is very eclectic, it's a kind of unity, but also surprising. The 21 rooms are all different." 

At the hotel, Ruijgrok could try new things. "STAATS is really a business card, in which I can show what is possible. For example, the hotel has open bathrooms everywhere. Not all guests were happy with this, so we started working with stickers. This is really trial-and-error work! Another experiment was our honesty bar. Our restaurant closes quite early because young people work here. So we set up a place where our guests can grab all kinds of drinks, glassware and snacks. You cross off what you use and pay when you check out. For me, this is part of being truly hospitable. Our guests experience it as very nice and it saves staff costs. My customers were sceptical, but in practice it turns out not to be stolen." 

With the experience of his own hotel, Ruijgrok is taken even more seriously by clients. He has also gained more insight into the hotel industry. "I notice that leisure has become bigger than business after the corona period. This affects guests' needs. People are looking for more expensive and luxurious rooms. They want to be pampered themselves. I think this is a trend of the coming years. I am responding to this need by putting a bath in every room at STAATS, if this was not already the case."

Ruijgrok continues: "If you want to serve the leisure market, you have to offer extra luxury. My clients are hotels that compete on specialness. Do you want to survive, even when things are down? Then it is important to stand out. This is what our designs are aimed at." E.S.T.I.D.A's style is not immediately recognisable in a hotel. "We do in each place what fits there and what suits that target group. In a broad sense, we see hotels 'rebranding' their concept, because leisure guests are more demanding than business guests. This involves an experience you want to offer people. A bar and restaurant are then just as important as the room."

How can hotels address this? "Experiencing luxury has to do with being the centre of attention. That's largely a job for the staff. These days, we already possess so much luxury at home. The only thing we can't buy is attention. Because staff are hard to come by, the future lies in automating certain tasks, such as work in the dishwashers. Less staff behind the scenes and all the attention for the guest."

"At the same time, you want the hotel to be a pleasant environment when the guest has spent a day out in the area. You can offer more relaxation in the room, with comfortable seating, but also in the corridor or in another room. Tastes and concepts differ, but nice colours and fine textures add a lot of atmosphere. Also consider good lighting, important for an ageing target group." According to Ruijgrok, attention remains the key word. "Taste is unimportant, it is much more important that everything has been thought through." 

There are simple interventions that contribute to a sense of luxury and comfort. "You can do a lot with decoration because it affects the experience. Of course, in hotels you are then quickly talking about large numbers, but a nice plaid you can wrap around makes all the difference. Or provide small bottles of champagne." For hotel STAATS, Ruijgrok developed its own fragrance. "This is not necessarily easy, but we get a lot of good feedback on this. After all, our brain has a better memory for smell than for image. This scent has been incorporated into our soap line and scented candles. With jerry cans, we can fill the soap ourselves and it looks very good."

Each hotel chooses its own concept and has its own way of working, according to Ruijgrok, including when it comes to interiors and decoration. "We always make an overall plan and try to discover what suits someone. It's a shame if a concept gets watered down after opening because it is not maintained. So the question is: how much is the hotelier willing to do? What does he have time for and how will you do it? For example, you can choose a winter and summer setup for a restaurant." E.S.T.I.D.A likes to reuse elements that are already there. "If you have good stuff, don't throw it away! With a different colour or a new carpet, your interior already looks different and it only gets more beautiful. This is where we like to help our customers. We often work together for a longer period to make the hotel even more beautiful, working in stages towards the final result."