Emotional Design for Hotel Stay Experiences: Research on Guest Emotions and Design Opportunities

Lo Pui Ying Kathy (2010)

 Regarding the context of experience design and emotion-oriented design, this research aims to examine the emotions of hotel guests and their corresponding design opportunities in enhancing hotel stay experiences. An empirical study composed of a photo-elicitation and an in-depth interview was carried out with a focus on the hotel-evoked emotions of female business travellers. The study analyses (1) pleasant experiences, (2) unpleasant experiences, and (3) anticipated experiences by use of an analytical template based on appraisal theory in psychology, enumerative analysis, thematic analysis, coding, and memoing. The result suggests that small details serve as crucial elements that elicit guests’ emotions and differentiate guests’ experiences. This study argues that ‘design’ can influence guest experiences and evoke pleasant guest emotions and proposes a model that clarifies the relationships between hotel offerings, design emphases, guest emotions, and guest perception. This thesis contributes to relative aspects of design, including sustainability, emotions and customisation of hotel stay experiences.