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There is a discerning trend towardsthe usage of tiles, marbles andgranites in the Indian hotel

industry these days. Flooring for a hotelrequires several facets. It needs to beattractive, durable, easy to maintain andcost-effective. You want the high volumetraffic areas to withstand the dailypounding and the flooring to still look aselegant years after, as it did the day it was

installed. The expectations from the floorsof hotels are high and thus it can be hardto find the ideal flooring that will fit theexacting standards of todays hospitalityindustry. Luckily, with todays technology,even traditional floors have been updatedto address the requirements needed inpresent day hotel flooring.

Tiles of StyleIn fact, not only in terms of flooring, youcan bring a spark to the entire dated decorby introducing a new tile treatment.Nowadays, the use of translucent glass orglazed porcelain to add shimmer and

sheen to the hotels dcor is gainingimportance. Textured trim and accent tilesare being used in small doses to impart aunique look to the hotel. There areceramic, porcelain, glass and natural stonetiles to complement a hotels decor. Floortiles are available in a variety of sizes: 12" X12" tiles are the standard, and aregenerally 3/8" thick; 16" X 16" tiles arealso available and are usually 7/16" thick

and 24" X 24" tiles are usually the biggestforms of tiles available for the Indianhospitality sector, and come in thickness.

Natural stones add another dimensionto any style or layout of a hotel. They canbe used in both inside and outsidesettings. Natural stone is usually classic inappearance and brings a touch of old-world charm to any tiled room. Stone tilescan be formal or informal, elegant orrustic. Natural variations in colour andtexture among stone tiles can also makeeach design unique. Stone tiles can oftenhave a timeless quality associated with it.

Besides stones, ceramic is anothertraditional and yet modern element ofdcor. The ceramic tiles are available in amultitude of shapes, colours and sizes. Tocreate traditional checkerboard patterns, orto create intricate and ornate motifs,ceramic can play a prime role.Among the ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles canbe used for almost any hotel dcorapplication, which can have versatile and

colourful outcomes. Porcelain tiles go backa long way through history. They wereoriginated in China where porcelain wasrenowned for and often referred to aswhite china. These tiles are ceramic tileswith a water absorption rate of less than0.5 percent that are used to cover floorsand walls. They can either be in unglazedor glazed options. These tiles canwithstand high and low temperatures,making them good choice for exteriordesign applications.

The glass tiles, which are vogue in hoteldcor today, have a rich historical legacy.They were used in mosaics as early as

By Kanishka Gupta

The Edifices of Hospitality

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2500 BC, but it took until the 3rdCentury BC before innovative artisans inGreece, Persia and India created glass tiles.

In the recent years, glass tiles have becomewidely popular. This trend can beattributed to recent technologicalbreakthroughs, as well as to the tilesinherent properties, in particular to theirpotential to impart intense colour andreflect light, and their imperviousness towater. Glass tiles add style and excitementwithout straining your budget, and arecolourful and reflective, providing asparkle to any composition. Use glass tilesto enhance your design into a work of art,opined Sarath Naidu, CEO, Gingerbay

Consulting.Stones and tiles are of huge importance

to the hospitality property as they are oneof the first surface finishes to be viewed ona finished building or space, one of thefirst crucial elements to be touched/admired /experienced by the user uponentering or usage of hospitality space.Their colours lend a big hand in achievingthe desired ambience. Their texture/sheen/design/pattern can dramatically alter anydesign to suit the designers vision.

Get FlooredFlooring allows you to add decorative anduseful embellishments to your hotel spaceslike lobby, guest room, and many otherareas. Depending on what materials youchoose, flooring can last for the entirelifetime of a hotel, so it is important toselect a style and colour of flooring thatwill endure for years to come. Flooring canbe done in tiles, marbles, granites, etc.with a number of different optionsavailable within each category.

Knowing which styles and finisheswork best in each room and what materialsare best able to withstand moisture and

resist stains will help you determine whichtype of flooring is best suited for yourneeds. Consider the following questions

to help make your selection: What types ofapplications can flooring be used for?What size of tiles, marbles and granites willyou need for your installation? Whatmaterials are tiles, marbles and granitesmade from and what are the benefits ofeach? What styles of trim tiles are available?Are there any special features or finishesyou wish to have? pointed out Naidu.

The Rocking PlayersHere it deserves a mention that the designand dcor in the Indian hospitality

industry has seen a dynamic change in therecent past with Indian and internationaldesigners putting in their innovative bestto bring out a colourful ambience in hotelspaces. Earlier where only whites andbeiges would be the flavour, nowdesigners have managed to change thestaid perception. Now the industryaccepts all sorts of colours and productvariations and hence stones and rocks fromall over the world are being used.

In our engineered marble and quartzrange we have over 150 colours andpatterns that are constantly being used bythe hospitality and many other industriescurrently, asserted Subodh Shah, the

Director of Classic Marble Company.Suppliers like Classic Marble boast one ofthe largest offerings of exquisite eco-friendly marbles and quartz in India forclients to choose from.

Classic Marble Company has been animportant player in the natural stonespace in India for about 18 years now.The company was the first to import fromas many as 40 countries and provides anarray of natural stones and rocks be itnatural marble, granite, onyx andtravertine; all under one roof. Classic

Marble has over 500 natural andengineered stones on offer. Some of themarbles which Classic Marble has beenconstantly providing comprise ofStatuario, Crema Bellasimo, BotticinoClassico, Irish Brown and a variety ofonyx and travertine.

Almost all the star hotels in Indianowadays are using marbles and granitesin their public and private spaces. Marblesand stones are natural materials, they arenot coloured or pigmented, they arehomogenous and in line with the concept

of green buildings. Besides, their colourand texture do not fade after years. Theyare available in aesthetic, vibrant coloursand they gel with all kinds of interiors/exteriors finishes. Hotels prefer long-lasting marbles and granites since theycannot rip the floors and sidewalls oncethe construction is complete because ifthey do so they will lose revenue,explained Deepak Agarwal, ManagingDirector, Mangla Flooring.

Mangla Flooring is a major vendorwhich supplies various kinds of marbles,

granites, quartzite, sandstones, limestone,onyx, travertine, etc. for hotel projects.The company is one of the leadingprocessors of marbles and granites, servingthe building and construction industrysince the last 20 years, having executedprestigious projects across the country.The company keeps an inventory ofgranite slabs and tiles in over 100 colours,shades and textures. Mangla Flooringsupplies real semi-precious stones forinlays tiles, slabs, murals, table tops andborders, designer stones for mosaic

flooring, cladding and borders anddesigner stones for moulding, profiles andParul Singh Sharma

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Sarath Naidu

Subodh Shah

cornices.The company has a complete team for

stone carving work, inlay work with semi-precious and gem stones, overlay workon marble, sandstone, limestone, etc. Thecompany offers granites and marbles inunique colours and shades and indifferent finishes like polished, honed,sandblast, shot blast, bush hammered,flamed, river wash, satin, tumbled andantique for exterior and interior

applications in various sizes andthicknesses, ranging from 18 mm to 50mm in slabs and tiles for any size ofprojects.

Precious stones previously used forcufflinks and other jewellery can now beused to decorate your bathrooms,drawing and dinning places, kitchens,bedrooms, and offices. Mangla Flooringimports stones from countries such asSouth Africa, Italy, Tanzania,Madagascar, Brazil, Australia, Arabicnations, etc. With a pool of

international architects and interiordesign professionals, Mangla Flooring isequipped with modern technology andideas for generating evolutionin the luxurious interiors,viewed Agarwal.

The sourcing centre forIndian marble is Rajasthan;for imported marbles Turkey,Italy, Spain and Greece arethe main sourcing centres.The sourcing centres forIndian granite are Karnataka,

Andhra Pradesh and TamilNadu in South India and for

public areas flaunt grey beige travertinewhereas our rooms have a combinationof sunny gold marble and travertine for

a bright cheerfulenvironment. Florentinebeige marble and Venusbrown Italian marblehave been used in thespa and salon, alongwith textured featurewalls all over the hotel.

Glass mosaic tiles havebeen used on featurewalls along with Ariston

white marble inside the en-suitebathrooms, elaborated Parul.

Here it deserves a mention that allstones and rocks used at this propertyhave been sealed with an appropriatestone sealer, paving the way for smoothand regular cleaning and maintenance.Periodic sealing of stones is required toretain the look and longevity of thestones. An efficient housekeeping team

in this regard is an added asset.However, simply spending a fortune

on a huge variety of stones and rocksdoesnt make for an elegant hotel dcor.The right selection of texture of stone,rock or tile selected is very important.Flooring should be anti skid and notslippery at all , to avoid any accidents. Theright thickness of stone is very important,both for cladding and flooring, external aswell as internal. For cladding, it should beenough to incorporate an appropriatecladding system (wet or dry), whereas for

flooring it should be thick enough tosustain multiple vehicle loads in the

imported granite the sourcing centres areNorway and Brazil. A gamut of marblesand granites of imported and indigenousvarieties is available underone roof at ManglaFlooring, asserted Agarwal.Here it deserves a mentionthat all marbles, granitesand various stones that areimported in India areprocessed at Silvassa, the

capital of Dadra and NagarHaveli.

In hotels, specifically inan upper-end international chain likeours, one has to be very careful aboutmaintaining a balance between theIndian and western design sensibilities.A calm, neutral palette with focal colour-accents provides an interestingbackground, both in external as well asinternal spaces, articulated Parul SinghSharma, Senior Manager ProductStrategy (Architectural Cell), Vatika

Hotels, which owns and executed theproject of The Westin Gurgaon NewDelhi.

A huge array of rocks wasused in The WestinGurgaon New Delhi byVatika Group, such asGwalior white sandstone forthe external faade whichis chosen for its globalappeal, neutral colour andease of achieving the desiredtextures, and red travertine,

emerald green marble, blackgranite, etc. The hotels

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porte-cochere and of thebanquet equipment infunction areas.

The colours and veinpattern of the finished

product depend on thespecific formulation andtechniques used by differentmanufacturers. ClassicMarble Company, themanufacturers of Indias firstindigenous engineered stone Kalingastone usesimported epoxy in order to impartstrength to the stones and atomised resinalong with polishing lines to give aninternational finish to its marble andquartz collection. Kalingastone marble is

manufactured in the form of blockswhich are then converted to variousthicknesses keeping in mind the clientsrequirements, whereas Kalingastonequartz is manufactured in variousthicknesses; directly in the form of slabs,explained Shah.

Choosing the Right OneHoteliers are struggling with thechallenge of how to choose the rightsuppliers for flooring solutions. Duringthe planning and designing stage, hotels

appoint designers and architecturalconsultants who advice the owners onthe type of marbles, granites and tileswhich are required for the constructionof interiors/exteriors. Theserequirements are communicated to thevendors and we supply them thematerials based on their specifications,asserted Agarwal.

Many hotel owners are unaware ofwhat to look for in a supplier beyondjust getting the lowest price. First ,determine the requirements of your

hospitality property. This willhelp you figure out whether asupplier can meet yourrequirements, explainedNaidu. If you dont know

what your specificrequirements are, the chancesof choosing the wrongsuppliers are high. Secondly,look at the total cost to beincurred, that is the price pluscosts incurred before or afterthe product or service delivery,

instead of choosing the supplier with thelowest price, as it is important to balanceother important elements such as quality,delivery, and service. You dont want tochoose the lowest-price supplier, only to

discover hidden costs of doing businesswith the organisation, such as poor qualityor poor service that can drive up your realcosts, he elaborated.

Naidu urges the hotels to Considermaking a site visit to a potentially key orcritical supplier to see their operations first-hand, meet their management, and helpincrease your knowledge of and comfortlevel with the supplier.

What if the supplier is stationed far offand such inspection is not feasible? If thesupplier is located offshore and visits are

not practical, then consider using thoselocal resources who thoroughly understandyour requirements to make baselineinspection, he aired.

Design requirements, quality, steadyavailability of good grade blocks and easeto work are the key factors to be consideredwhile selecting the flooring solutions. Ourteams including architects scour bothnational and international markets toprocure the right product. Suppliers arechosen based on their expertise, setup andmarket reputation, proffered Parul.

As for the future trends, innovation isthe key to success and a significant driverfor brands today and at Classic MarbleCompany, our constant efforts are to keepour products suited to our customer needs,which gives us an amazing edge, averredShah.

One can say that since the Indian hotelindustry is growing at a buoyant pace, themarbles, tiles and granite industry is alsogrowing in an impressive manner in thecountry. The future of this industry isbright since it is closely linked to the

hospitality industry, which is seeing aresurgence, concluded Agarwal.

Deepak Agarwal