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Common mistakes when furnishing a hotel (and how to avoid them)

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At Frajumar, we manufacture furniture for hotels for decades now. Long enough to have seen projects which are delivered well planned and are carried out without a hitch, and projects that come in against the clock and are turn into a chain of decisions made under pressure.

The most common mistakes are not usually matters of taste or budget. They are procedural errors: decisions taken at the wrong time, without the necessary information, or without consulting someone who can provide a technical perspective in good time.

What we’re talking about here isn’t just theory. These are situations we see in the factory, in the technical department, in the showroom and on site. And they can all be avoided.

1. Do not involve the manufacturer in the early stages of the project

Many of the problems that reach our factory originate much earlier: when designs, dimensions, layouts and finishes are finalised without checking whether all of this is feasible from a production point of view.

It is not a question of the manufacturer deciding on the design — that is the responsibility of the interior designer and the client — but rather of them being involved early enough to spot issues that are not apparent from a plan or a rendering: a dimension that complicates the structure, a finish that is not available in the intended material, or a combination of elements that, in production, multiplies costs without adding anything to the final result.

When the manufacturer gets involved late in the process, everything ends up being ‘forced’ into place. More expensive solutions, last-minute changes, deadlines that don’t add up. And a general feeling that the project is being dragged along rather than flowing smoothly.

In Frajumar, simply drawing up a bespoke quote for a hotel can take several days’ work: every piece, every finish and every item must be examined. When bespoke furniture is involved, our technical department has to assess the feasibility before giving a realistic timeframe. All of this takes time. And that time cannot be made up at the end of the project.

Our actual deadlines, to serve as a reference:

Catalogue furniture (individual items): 15 to 45 days’ manufacturing time, plus delivery.
Furniture in small quantities or made to measure: minimum 60 days for manufacture, plus transport.
On top of that, there is the time required for finalisation, sample approval, any necessary adjustments and, in the case of large projects, the organisation of phased deliveries.

What we always recommend to our clients is the same: take the time to visit the showroom, look at fabrics, feel the wood, and check the finishes in person. Play it safe. Rushing things in the contract sector ends up costing you.

2. Customise without assessing the impact on technical aspects

Customisation is one of the aspects that adds the most value to contract furniture. It is what enables each hotel to have pieces that truly reflect its identity, its space and its concept. At Frajumar, we manufacture bespoke furniture precisely because we understand that need.

But customisation without technical oversight is a real risk.

What do we see on the production line? Requests for changes to dimensions, bases, table tops, upholstery or frames that seem reasonable on paper, but which cause problems when put into production. Tables with table tops that are too large for the chosen base, resulting in instability or ‘wobbling’. Armchairs or sofas whose proportions have been altered, causing them to lose their ergonomic design or stability. Aesthetic changes that force us to rethink the assembly, packaging or even the structural strength of the piece.

The idea we often reiterate internally is simple: not everything that can be drawn can be manufactured properly. And our job as manufacturers is to point this out in good time, before the problem reaches the hotel.

That is why, when a project requires bespoke parts or modifications to standard catalogue items, the first thing we do is run the proposal through our technical department. If it works, we go ahead. If there is a risk, we point it out and suggest alternatives that maintain the design’s intent without compromising the product.

3. Choosing the furniture without taking the hotel’s actual use into account

This is a mistake that seems obvious but keeps happening. And it takes many forms.

The most common mistake: choosing furniture based solely on its appearance, without considering how it will function in the day-to-day running of a hotel. Furnishing a room is not the same as furnishing a suite, a lobby, a restaurant, a waiting area or a covered terrace. Each space has its own frequency of use, type of guest, daily turnover, cleaning requirements and specific wear and tear.

A beautiful chair that is too heavy in a restaurant can be a real problem for front-of-house staff who have to move it 60 times a day during service. A lovely fabric that isn’t designed for heavy footfall starts to show signs of wear after just a few months. An elegant sofa with a domestic-grade frame isn’t built to withstand the wear and tear it faces in the lobby of a busy hotel.

And this brings us to a point that is crucial for us: standard home furniture is not suitable for a hotel. It does not comply with the necessary regulations — starting with the fire-retardant certification for upholstery, which is required in public establishments —, offers fewer options for customisation, is less durable and is not designed to meet the actual needs of a hotel: professional cleaning, guest turnover and ongoing maintenance.

In the hospitality industry, furniture isn’t just for decoration. It’s put to work every day.

4. Do not approve samples, finishes or prototypes before production

Common mistakes when furnishing a hotel (and how to avoid them)

In contract work, a single decision can have far-reaching consequences. If a fabric doesn’t cut it, the problem isn’t one armchair: it’s 80 armchairs. If a shade of wood turns out darker than expected under the lighting of a18>expected under the lighting in the hotel, it is not a desk: there are 120 desks.

The mistake lies in approving materials based on the render, based on the screen or via catalogue without getting to see and touch a real sample. And it happens more often than it should.

Fabrics look different depending on the lighting. A metallic finish may appear colder or shinier than expected. The shade of wood varies from one batch to another. The texture of a fabric cannot be perceived in a photograph. The combination of a tablecloth with the hotel’s flooring and walls may look good in a rendering but not work in reality. Check out our article “Fabrics for upholstering sofas in the hospitality sector”

That is why at Frajumar we insist on a process that takes time but prevents much bigger problems later on: viewing fabric samples, feeling the finishes, checking combinations, and, when the project requires it, producing a prototype or fitting out a complete showroom before launching mass production.

The showroom is exactly that: a real room, furnished and fitted out within the hotel itself, which allows the hotel management and the interior designer to check that everything works under real-life conditions. The proportions, the colours in natural light, the flow of movement through the room, the feel of the materials. Any adjustments at this stage can be resolved quickly and at minimal cost. Once the entire space has been built, the same problem becomes a whole different matter.

5. Failing to check measurements, steps and access points before manufacturing

This mistake is very real, and we’ve experienced it more than once. And it has nothing to do with the design or the quality of the furniture: it’s because a piece isn’t finished until it can be put in its proper place.

What happens? Pieces are manufactured without first checking the actual dimensions of the hotel’s access points. Lifts, staircases, corridors, doors, corners, goods lifts, loading areas. And when the furniture arrives at the hotel, it turns out that the sofa won’t fit down the staircase. Or the headboard won’t fit through the bedroom door. Or the table needs to be dismantled on site because it won’t fit in the lift.

Sometimes the furniture arrives at the hotel in perfect condition, but doesn’t make it to its final destination. And that’s when the improvisation begins – which can damage the items, delay the installation and result in costs that nobody had anticipated.

How we go about it. Before commencing the manufacture of large or bespoke components, we request or review the access plans and check that the dimensions of each component allow for its entry, movement and installation without any problems. If there are any restrictions, we take these into account at the design stage: components that can be dismantled, modules that are assembled on site, and solutions that maintain the final result without complicating the logistics.

6. Poor coordination between construction, delivery and storage

Of all the mistakes, this is probably the one that causes the most damage to the finished furniture. And it is a mistake that the manufacturer does not make: it is caused by a lack of coordination between the various parties involved in the project.

The scenario is as follows: the furniture is manufactured on time, packed correctly, transported and delivered to the hotel. But the building work isn’t finished. The painters haven’t finished, the flooring hasn’t been laid, and the rooms aren’t clean. What happens to the furniture? It is stored wherever possible: on terraces, in garages, in unfinished communal areas. Outdoors, exposed to damp, dust, sun or rain.

What we found afterwards: fabrics stained before they had even been used. Solid wood damaged by damp. Finishes scratched by contact with building materials. Items requiring thorough cleaning or repair before their first use. Months of work in the factory compromised by a few days of poor management at the destination.

And there is another related problem that we see a lot: incorrect handling during unloading and assembly. Site or transport crews handling delicate furniture as if it were building materials. Knocks to legs, scuffs on upholstery, damaged corners, forced-open fittings, packaging removed too soon. The final stage of the project can ruin months of work.

How we manage it. For large hotel projects, we organise deliveries in phases, in line with the actual progress of the building works. The sales department plans this with the client from the outset. When the client requires it, we take care of all the logistics, including installation at the destination. And we always emphasise the same point: the furniture should not arrive at the hotel until there is a space prepared and secured to receive it.

7. Thinking only about the opening and not about maintenance

The final mistake is perhaps the most strategic. And the one that has the greatest long-term impact on the hotel’s profit and loss account.

It involves choosing furniture with the sole focus on how it looks on opening day — the photo for social media, the guest’s first impression — without considering how it will age, how it will be cleaned, what happens if a piece gets damaged, and whether it will be possible to repair it or whether the whole thing will have to be replaced.

Preguntas que deberían hacerse durante el proyecto y que muchas veces se omiten: ¿se puede limpiar este tapizado con productos de limpieza profesional sin que se deteriore? ¿Si una tela se desgasta, se puede re-tapizar la butaca o hay que comprar una nueva? ¿Las fundas son desenfundables? ¿Las bases de las mesas marcan el suelo? ¿Las esquinas expuestas del cabecero van a recibir golpes cada vez que se cambia la ropa de cama? ¿Se puede sustituir un módulo de sofá sin cambiar la pieza completa?

Good hotel furnishings must not only look good on the first day. They must to continue to stand up to after hundreds of uses.

At Frajumar, we design with the entire life cycle of each piece in mind. Sofas with removable covers to facilitate professional cleaning and allow reupholstering without replacing the frame. Wood finishes that can be touched up. Accessible fittings for maintenance. Frames that allow for partial repairs without dismantling the entire piece of furniture. Because a piece of furniture that can be repaired lasts twice as long. And in a hotel, that translates directly into profitability.

Furnishing properly a hotel starts with planning properly

If there is one thing that sums up all these mistakes, it is that the majority are not produced occur in the factory or in the design. They occur during planning. Or, more precisely, due to the lack of it.

A well-furnished hotel is one where the manufacturer has worked closely with the interior designer from the very beginning. Where materials have been approved in person, not on a screen. Where access points have been checked before production begins. Where delivery has been coordinated with the building works. And where every piece has been designed not just for the opening day, but for the years to come.

At Frajumar, we support interior designers, architects and property developers throughout this entire process. From the first visit to the showroom right through to installation on site. Because we know that our work doesn’t end when the furniture leaves the factory: it ends when it’s in place, working as intended.

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