FAQs
We believe you have a right to as much information as possible about how we think and work. On that note, we believe the primary factor in who you engage on a project team should be whether or not they can solve your problems. Because for all of us, time is important. With that in mind, we’ve collected these frequently asked questions to assist you in learning more about us.
What size are the projects that you work with?
We have done projects which range from 20-room boutique hotels to 1,800 room convention/gaming hotels, and pretty much everything in between. The geographical locations include the United States, Middle East, Caribbean, Mexico, and Canada, and these projects have encompassed urban, mountain, desert, and tropical environments.
What size are Owners/Operators/Development groups that you work with?
Our clients have been single-person owners of one property, owners of multiple unbranded properties, internationally branded companies with numerous properties, and global real estate investment trusts.
How many designers are on a project?
The answer to this is dictated entirely by the project’s scope. All projects have a Project Manager who oversees and guides the day-to-day progress and communication on the project. Team sizes are typically 3 to 10 people.
Is your geographical proximity to the project site important?
No. Hire us because you think we know what we're doing and the project is a fit for our expertise - and not because we're close. However, if proximity is important and there’s an interior architectural designer closer to the project that has the same expertise and experience in doing projects like yours, it would make the most sense to hire them.
Do you provide purchasing services?
Our expertise is in interior architectural design. We don’t purchase. As a result, our fees are based solely on our time for diagnostics, designing, documenting, and administrating a project, and are not based on selling FF&E goods or the cost of the FF&E goods that we have specified.
We can recommend competent, experienced, professional purchasing agents who can purchase high quality hospitality projects better than we ever could.
What are your clients typically like?
Over time, we've noticed that our clients tend to share most of the following characteristics.
- They are not consensus-driven.
- They are far more entrepreneurial.
- They seek new information and new approaches and intuitively have courage to push the envelope, challenge, and break new ground.
- They have and take the time to study the opportunity/asset prior to acquisition. Their philosophy is to hold assets and not fix and flip them.
- They tend to be closer to the details of and be better informed about the asset.
- The value of the asset is more about meeting and exceeding the expectations within the market niche than simply looking at raw costs (of the design/build-out).
- They value luxury - long-lasting quality used judiciously.
- They take pride in their assets. There is an element of personal and emotional involvement.
- They are able to move quickly; they are stream-lined; they are nimble. To use an auto racing metaphor, smoother = faster.
- They are loyal; they value a trusted and experienced team who works well together.
- They operate on 24/7/365 access among team members.
- They are intellectually engaged in the project process, yet they don’t micro-manage. They trust the Professional to do the Professional’s job.
What if we think we don’t need all the phases of your process?
That can happen. Realize that what we need most from you is any and all information on the property, its history, its location, its target market niche, its competitive set, and so much more. Information is golden. And the more, the better. What we don’t need is anything that short-circuits our problem-solving process. It’s golden too, and it’s why you come to us. If it’s fee you’re concerned with, we can talk about site visits, presentation boards and renderings, documentation requirements, things that don’t detract from the thinking that brings us to profit-oriented solutions for you.
What if we have a policy which dictates that you can't present to our decision makers?
Though rare, some clients continue to invoke this policy. We want our good minds connecting with yours. This is why we present our our own work. It's important because we have the advantage of the full-breadth of the thinking behind the designs we show and how we solve your problems. Information exchange and direct feedback is critical to our process. This is our expertise and this is why you come to us.
There are a lot of design firms in this industry. How can I determine the differences?
This is true. There are more interior design firms than ever before. And for each client, criteria are different. From our perspective, we look at what our competitors have contributed to the industry, profit they have earned their clients, goodwill they have developed, and standards they have set or raised.
Be thorough in looking for an interior designer—first, figure out who can solve your problem and then consider the cost. If you've figured out the first, it's likely that the cost of not hiring the right consultant is more expensive than hiring them. We know we’re not the right fit for everyone. And we do believe it's always good to work with other talented interior designers. Here is a list of some of our competitors whom we know well, with no implied endorsement. Some are good, and some are great.
- KNA Design
- Creative Resources Associates
- Parker-Torres Design, Inc.
- Lawrence Lee Associates
- Wimberly Interiors
- HBA
- Flick Mars
- RD Jones & Associates
- Krause + Sawyer
- Design 360
- Verserius Studio
Do you have references we could contact?
Absolutely. We’ll provide them after we’ve mutually determined there’s a potential fit.
