6 Steps to Choosing Hotel Curtains
6 Important Steps to Choosing & Installing Curtains in Hotel
Quick Overview to 6 steps to buying hotel curtains for your hotel project
In this post we are going to go through the various options to hotel owners that are looking to improve the window furnishings in their hotels and what the most important steps are in ensuring the hotel has the best finish
From working with clients in various hotels from 2 star bed and breakfasts all the way up to prestigious 5* hotels including the Sheraton / Marriott and Hilton. Direct Fabrics comes across various stumbling blocks that need to be covered before purchasing.
STEP 1. Ensure you get the correct measurements of the windows
A huge mistake time and time again is that the house keeping or management team don’t take the time to get a quality site survey taken. The old saying “Measure Twice Cut Once” this is imperative here. Ensure that you measure all the various options and document the information clearly.
Before you begin you can download our site survey form and this can help you with ensuring everything is document clearly.
Measuring is usually the downfall of most projects and this is usually only found out once the items that have been purchased or manufactured are ready for installation. It is common to have to remake or even adjust products that have been measured incorrectly.
Curtains have an added benefit when being measured for a track, if you measure too big, curtains have a tolerance as there will be fullness in the curtains. This means you can pull up the curtain tapes more or when using eyelet curtains just have more pleats on the track or poll.
With a drop for blinds or curtains, there will be little to no tolerance, always better to be slightly too long as the puddled look of curtains will look more decadent, however in a modern room may look odd.
Rule of thumb when measuring a window.
***** Go 15cm past on each side of the window recess – therefore 30cm total
*** Go 15cm above the window and then finish at the desired length.
Step 2. Selecting the Look for the rooms
Go through various room shots that you find appealing and understand which treatments are required for the best finish and what is expected for your level of accommodation. For instance a 4 star
hotel is expected to have a very high level blackout. There for you need to ensure that the curtains have a 3 pass blackout lining and minimal light seepage around the application whether it is a blind or curtains or a mixture of both. For the most blackout a curtain will provide a significant increase over a roman blind.
Note that roman blinds by design will ware a lot quicker than curtains as the rods and stitching endue a significant amount of pressure and can eventually break particularly on larger roman blinds. When using roman blinds Direct Fabrics only supply child safe chain operated mechanism.
Also be aware of the robustness of different applications using curtain tracks spreads the weight across the window where as a curtain pole will mean by design there are less brackets than a track and also because they have an angle to the bracket that if pulled on an angle they will loosen and come out of the wall.
Step 3 – Ensure you are buying Flame Retardant Soft Furnishings
In the United Kingdom / Europe / America commercial spaces are required to have flame retardant fabrics that are certified to the required standards. This means that you need to work with a contract furnishings company that has market knowledge and can supply curtains and fabrics to BS5867 in the UK, NFPA for America and M1 and B1 for Europe.
This doesn’t have to limit the range on offer it just means that “Safety is First”. It is paramount when running a hotel to know that you are operating within the law and you can abide by your insurances. There is nothing worse than thinking you may be operating with inferior window furnishings, particularly with so many high coverage events that have ended in tragedy.
Flame retardant soft furnishings have thousands of fabric options, varying from Dimouts, Blackouts / Prints / Wovens / Voiles and more.
Direct Fabrics offers a large range and can source and supply fabrics from around the world. If you have seen a designer fabric then
If you want more information on the various flame retardant standards then you can read them at the links below.
Step 4 – Choosing a colour palette and design
When choosing the design for a hotel room it can become quite complex, at Direct Fabrics we are finding time and again that hotels are preferring to use a plain curtains and bring colour to the room with accessories. This means that the rooms do not date quickly. Modern grey colours are extremely popular presently for hotel interior design.
STEP 5 – Choosing the right manufactures and price point
The old saying you get what you pay for means that you will have a huge variety of prices and for those you will get varying amounts of services.
Highest – Full Interior Design service including manufacture and installation
Middle – Online Contract Furnisher with local coverage. Choose your fabrics online and get samples, Manufactured and installed as necessary. Perfect example is www.direct-fabrics.co.uk
Low – You choose a fabric and put all the pieces together, using a seamstress and fabric suppliers being direct from the contract furnishing supplier or from a local retailer. NOTE – ensure that your fabrics are compliant to the required laws.
STEP 6 – Installing and Dressing
When it comes to installing in a commercial environment it is imperative that your curtains and soft furnishings are fitted and dresses to the highest standard. The fixings of the curtains, poles and blinds needs to be secure and strong enough for residents of the hotel / guest house to abuse daily. The residents in a hotel expect everything to work without issue or there is a potential for the guest to requests discounts or refunds. So the hardware needs to work perfectly without issue.
Ensure that the fixings are strong and secure. In an ideal world go through the plaster into the block behind. Use hardened drill bits to drill into the toughest blocks and steel.
Once the hardware is up and operations and good idea is to use a SILICON SPRAY to lubricate them so the glider move beautifully and with the gentles of touches.
Dressing curtains ensure that you use metal hooks, Direct Fabrics pre pull and hook all taped curtains. This means that you can unfold and then clip into the glider on a curtain track or on to the rings of a pole.
