Airport Hotels: Designs That Defy Stereotype, from Amsterdam to Toronto

For the longest time, Airport hotels have been treated as nonchalant, transitional places — simply somewhere to rest your head during a layover, en route to your true destination. With their focus on business clientele, airline staff, and people seeking refuge from a canceled flight or missed connection, airport hotels haven’t always provided an experience that guests could relish as destination-worthy.

However, major design overhauls at the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center and the Sheraton Toronto Gateway Hotel showcase a big leap forward for what airport hotels can offer. By completely reconstructing their interiors to enable a seamless blend of business and leisure, by orienting public spaces around multiple ways to meet and gather, and by infusing the guest experience with genuine ties to local culture, these next-generation airport hotels are charting a new path for travelers who want make the most of every step of their journey.

In this episode, host Hamish Kilburn dives into the re-making of the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel with local designer Colin Finnegan, of FG Stijl. They reveal the nuanced spatial design choices and deep understanding of a traveler’s perspective that informed Colin’s work to re-imagine that hotel experience — from the first moment a guest looks out the window as their flight descends into Schiphol Airport.

Then Hamish speaks with Lauren Holmes, Interior Design Manager at Marriott International, about how airport hotels are being reimagined writ large — and what she’s learned from transforming the Sheraton Toronto Gateway Hotel into a more inviting space for repeat travelers and locals looking for a better place to spend their workday.

• 00:00 What exactly is “the airport hotel experience,” and why is it so forgettable?
• 01:45 Hamish’s conversation with Colin Finnegan, founder of FG Stijl and lead designer for the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel, begins with a walk-through of how the guest’s arrival check-in journey has been completely changed through spatial decisions and visual cues
• 07:23 The thought process behind making an airport hotel feel like a welcoming social space
• 09:04 How to ensure guests feel a genuine sense of place and a strong connection to the local setting
• 13:45 Hamish’s conversation with Lauren Holmes, Interior Design Manager at Marriott, begins with an exploration of who business travelers are and what they want in the next generation of airport hotels
• 18:14 What’s changed in airport hotel guest and client needs, especially with regards to work settings, flexible spaces, and the need to blend leisure with business

Featured Hotels: Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center and Sheraton Toronto Gateway Hotel

Featured Designer: Colin Finnegan, FG Stijl

Explore more stories about hotel design at Travel by Design

Follow host Hamish Kilburn's hotel design reviews @HotelDesigns