Visual appeal is a crucial aspect of the hotel industry. Both interior and exterior must appeal to visitors and be up to a certain standard, including the walls, doors, windows, and most importantly, the floor!
In hotels, flooring may be more important than any other feature because it goes beyond interior decor. You need a strong, cosy, easy to maintain, and secure flooring option. How does hospitality vinyl compare to other materials? Let’s take a look at how you can ensure safety and hygiene, cut maintenance tasks, and keep guests happy.
Types of Hospitality Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl flooring for hospitality comes in an option range that makes it perfect for any hotel facility. The three most common types are sheet vinyl, safety vinyl and LVT/P (luxury vinyl tiles and planks).
Sheet Vinyl
Because of its waterproof properties, sheet vinyl has been a popular flooring option for hospitality for many decades. Unlike in the past and thanks to the latest technology, modern hospitality vinyl sheets have advanced significantly in aesthetic appeal.
With sheet vinyl, you can relatively easily incorporate the newest trends into your hotel, thanks to the attractive variety of patterns, colours, and available designs. Some options mimic the authentic look of wood and stone flooring at a cost fraction, offering a much easier installation process.
Additionally, some sheet vinyl flooring types for hospitality have soundproof features specially designed for areas that require impact noise reduction. Since no visitor wants to be able to hear every step their neighbour makes above them, hotel bedrooms must maintain a certain level of silence. The right floor with soundproofing capabilities will keep visitors happy, for guarantee.
Safety Vinyl Flooring
Safety is essential everywhere, but it’s even more crucial in the hospitality sector. The hotel’s flooring must be secure for both guests and the staff who work there. Staff members may be more at risk of slips, trips, and falls than guests because of their busy schedules and rushing around.
That’s why the hospitality sector frequently chooses safety vinyl flooring, especially for busy areas of hotels like restaurants, kitchens, bars, and restrooms.
Most safety flooring materials contain quartz crystals, aluminium oxide and silicon carbide particles incorporated through the vinyl to improve traction and safety underfoot. These provide sustainable wet slip resistance and high durability for years of performance in extreme, heavy footfall commercial areas.
Slip-resistant vinyl is also the safest flooring option as its design helps reduce workplace injuries. Besides being safe, it’s also highly hygienic: it won’t absorb spills, bacteria, dust, or debris, making it hygienic and easy to clean and maintain.
Luxury Vinyl Planks and Tiles
Wear and tear are very likely in hotels because so many guests stay and leave. Many organisations might not have the resources or time to keep their flooring updated, so they need to think about durability and choose a floor that will last, such as luxury vinyl planks and tiles.
Luxury vinyl planks (LVP) are long, narrow planks created to resemble the most well-liked types of wood flooring. Compared to sheet vinyl, these planks are thicker and more rigid, contributing to their durability and scratch resistance.
Most luxury vinyl planks feature a thick PVC covered in a design layer to give them an authentic hardwood appearance. This design layer can include a range of trendy hues and textures, such as light wood, grey, and even whitewash, and is protected from scratches, tears, and stains by additional layers placed on top of it.
A luxury vinyl tile (LVT) is similar to LVP but designed to resemble ceramic, porcelain, or stone tiles. It also has a thick vinyl layer, making it more resilient and rigid than sheet vinyl.
Available for glue-down or floating installations, LVT is significantly superior to conventional tile with lower labour requirements and no grouting, lowering installation costs. You don’t need to remove old flooring before installing LVT; instead, you can lay it on top of it.
What are the Advantages of Vinyl Flooring?
If you decide to use vinyl flooring in your hotel, you will enjoy a number of advantages. Depending on the specific needs of your hotel, it can truly be one-of-a-kind and can add to the overall aesthetic of your business. The main benefits of using vinyl include:
Minimal Maintenance
Due to their high volume of customers, restaurants and hotels need constant care and upkeep to keep them tidy and presentable. Customers expect cleanliness at all times throughout their experience. Unlike any other hotel flooring available, vinyl maintenance is easy as ABC. It’s simple to maintain and resilient enough to handle almost any spill or mess.
Easy Repair Options
High foot traffic areas on the flooring will undoubtedly show signs of wear, such as scratches, scuffs, and sporadic gouges. It’s just the way flooring in general and the hospitality industry operate. That’s why picking the proper kind of hotel flooring is so important.
LVT is tough and adaptable, so it can handle most wear problems or be quickly replaced tile by tile if necessary. Because of their strength and ease of repair, establishments won’t have to close or fence off areas that need maintenance.
Versatile Design Options
LVT offers a wide range of bold and reliable designs, textures, and colours, making it the ideal furnishings for any cafeteria, restaurant, hotel, or entertainment venue. Not only should hotel flooring have a beautiful design and décor, but it should also work well with the surrounding branding initiatives.
Long-Lasting Comfort
The hospitality sector is the only one where creating a “homey” atmosphere makes the most sense. For both guests and those who work in the hospitality sector, comfort is essential.
Although hardwood flooring is frequently the first and best choice for achieving the look and feel of a homey environment, often, it’s not an option. LVT is also available in various wood-look designs that will warm up any designed space if hardwood isn’t the best option.