Traveling with a Crowd?

When you are planning a trip for a group, finding suitable accommodations can be tricky. How many are you and how many will a hotel room sleep? Does it make sense to book multiple rooms or a suite if you’ll be spending all your time on the beaches, ski slopes, or night clubs? And if you do book a suite, who gets the bed and who gets stuck on the sleeper sofa?

Mark and Gwen Snider, owners of the Winnetu Oceanside Resort and Nantucket Hotel, are old hands at hosting large groups, especially during New England’s peak summer season. Rollaway beds fit the bill, but they were unsightly and cluttered the rooms and halls when not in use. Resource Furniture’s Kali and Kali Duo wall beds were a great alternative to the old-fashioned rollaways. Guests attending events with children love the clever way the extra beds “hide in plain sight” — and the comfort of sleeping on a real bed with high-quality mattress beats a rollaway or sofa bed any day.

A world away from the New England coastline, the Arlo Soho touts itself as a place to tuck away for a nap or use as a “home base” while on urban safari in downtown New York City. With 325 efficiently-designed guest rooms averaging 150 square feet each, the hotel capitalizes on its innovative use of custom furniture, hidden storage spaces, and wide a range of playful touches to offer guests an array of bed types and views. Our Oslo 173 sofa with queen sized wall bed is installed in one of Arlo’s “Queen Terrace” rooms available with a spacious outdoor deck, lounge chairs, and some of Manhattan’s only outdoor showers. Event guests at the Arlo have their own separate sleeping quarters, but can use the hotel’s many common area amenities including living room, library, multiple studies, restaurant/bar, rooftop and courtyard for enjoy each other’s company.

The New York City-based Marmara Hotel takes cues from both the Winnetu and the Arlo, combining the use of transforming furniture with the ability to connect multiple guest rooms into larger suites to provide additional space for groups or families. Our Swing wall bed with sofa works perfectly for the Marmara, giving guests a spacious living area during daytime hours with the ability to turn it into an additional bedroom as needed.

The Arlo and Marmara are just two examples of increasingly popular micro units sprouting up in hotels and resorts throughout the United States. The developers of YotelPAD Park City outfitted their rooms with our Tango Sofa queen wall bed and Kali Duo Board, a desk that turns into a pair of cozy bunk beds. The innovative use of space, paired with crowd-friendly common areas, has proven so attractive for family and group travel that their next resort, YotelPAD Mammoth, expands on the concept.