Channel Lead, Hospitality
The Intricacies of Design/Build for Hotels
Design/build has become one of the most popular delivery methods in construction, and hospitality is one of the sectors where it makes the most sense. The owner holds a single contract with one accountable party for both design and construction. At Haynes, we contract directly with the architectural team and develop the design alongside them. We begin construction only once every element is final, from brand standards and the guest room prototype to the FF&E package. The owner gets a completed design that has already been tested against budget, brand requirements and constructability before the first guest room goes offline.
Why Hospitality Raises the Stakes
In traditional design-bid-build, the owner hires an architect and the architect finishes the drawings. Only then does a contractor price them, and by that point, any changes cost time and money. In hospitality, that gap is even riskier. A project often has to satisfy a brand’s Property Improvement Plan, prototype standards and public space guidelines. The property is also rarely empty. Guests are checking in and staff are running daily operations, so every phase has to be sequenced around keeping the hotel open and the guest experience intact.
Because we are involved from the earliest design phases, we estimate as the design develops. We test room layouts, lobby and amenity concepts, and FF&E selections against budget and brand approval while they are still being drawn.
For independent hotels, the stakes look different but run just as high. There is no brand manual to lean on, so the design itself carries the property’s identity. The same process that keeps a flagged hotel on track for brand approval keeps an independent owner’s concept intact from first sketch to opening, without letting the budget drift to get there.
Choosing an Architect Who Fits
Because we hold the architect’s contract, selecting the right firm is one of the most important decisions we make for an owner. Hospitality experience matters as much as portfolio. The architect needs to understand: guest flow and back-of-house logistics, the design language of the brand or the owner’s concept, and how to phase a renovation while the property keeps generating revenue.
Working style and responsiveness matter just as much. We sit in on interviews and ask the technical questions that reveal how a firm has handled occupied-hotel work. We also help the owner weigh chemistry as seriously as credentials. An architect who treats PIP requirements as an afterthought can create friction that surfaces later as a stalled brand approval or a drifting budget. Getting the fit right at the start shapes how smoothly the entire design phase runs.
Controlling Budget Through Design
The biggest cost decisions on a hotel project happen during schematic design and design development. That is when the guest room prototype, the public space concept, and the FF&E and OS&E package take shape.
We treat budget as an ongoing conversation. At each milestone (schematic design, design development and construction documents), the owner receives an updated cost picture measured against the current design. That picture includes FF&E allowances and brand-mandated finishes. We flag the cost of a decision while it is still easy to adjust, not after it has gone to the brand for approval.
When an element needs value engineering, we work it out collaboratively within a relationship we have already built with the architect. It never becomes a late-stage confrontation under pressure. By the time we move into construction, the owner has three things in hand: a design they are confident in, a validated budget and brand approval.
One Partner from First Sketch to Opening Day
With one contract, there is no handoff where responsibility shifts mid-project. The same team that helped select the architect and priced every design phase carries that knowledge into construction. We plan the construction sequence around occupied guest floors, active back-of-house operations and the hotel’s booking calendar. Owners receive regular updates showing design progress and cost status side by side. It is a more demanding way to manage a project, but it is also what protects an owner’s investment, their brand relationship, and their guests’ experiences, from first sketch through opening day.
