Don’t take me wrong, I love stylish hotel rooms. The problem is when you throw out practicality for design or even worse still throw out taste.

Here are some of the most questionable design choices we’ve come across.

via hotelchatter.com

The Gray Hotel Milan - via hotelchatter.com

The Gray Hotel, Milan

OK these stairs look great but they’re not only terrifying to use sober but are downright dangerous after a few champagnes.

Ivy Hotel - via hotelchatter.com

Ivy Hotel - via hotelchatter.com

Ivy Hotel, San Diego: Star Suite

This hotel touts itself as an “adult playground” which I guess should give most people a clue about what to expect. Nothing however really prepares you for the chains, stripper poles and glaring bad taste you find though.  The service however is surprisingly good – or so we’re told.

Oh and we should mention too that strippers are part of the rooms service menu!

via hotelchatter.com

via hotelchatter.com

Mama Shelter, Paris

Mama Shelter’s is kind of the ultimate geek hotel.  The rooms come with IMacs, the restaurant has communal digital tables.  They also have IBooths run, yes by IMacs, which take photos of you and distribute them on digitial screens throughout the lobby and hotel.  That all sounds fun if you’ve got geeky leanings, but the problem is that geeks whilst very intelligent, often lack basic common sense.  So without going into too much detail just for a second consider the visual horror of a geeky dork thinking its a good idea to surf the internet sitting on this chair, first thing in the morning prior to getting dressed.

Mama Shelter's Paris

Mama Shelter's Paris

The Last Ten Minutes of Luxury

The Last Ten Minutes of Luxury

Guests pay for days yet remember minutes. The peak end rule explains why a stay often lives or dies on one high moment and the day of departure. What works, what fails, and how to design the arc so memory carries your brand home.

Swiss Cheese Thinking: From Disaster Metaphor to Strategic Advantage

Swiss Cheese Thinking: From Disaster Metaphor to Strategic Advantage

We use the Swiss Cheese Model to explain how failures happen—but what if we flipped it? This article explores how Swiss Cheese Thinking can transform traditional strategic planning into a resilience-based, investor-grade framework that absorbs shocks instead of collapsing under them.

The Ancient Enemy: How a 3,000-Year-Old Story Shapes Today’s Middle East

The Ancient Enemy: How a 3,000-Year-Old Story Shapes Today’s Middle East

There’s a moment that keeps coming back to me from October 2023. Netanyahu, standing before Israeli troops, invoking a three-thousand-year-old biblical commandment: “Remember what Amalek has done to you.” Most heard heated rhetoric. But for those listening carefully—it was something far more specific.