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ACTIU Berbegal y Formas, S.A.
What is hospitality? The new architecture of experience

What is hospitality? The new architecture of experience

JULY 2025 | 2 minutes

Hospitality is not just a hotel industry term: it is a people-centred design philosophy. It goes beyond physical comfort and seeks to create memorable experiences in any environment. Today, hospitality has become an architectural language that welcomes, excites and connects through space.

What does hospitality mean? Why does it go beyond hospitality?

Traditionally linked to hotels and restaurants, the concept of hospitality has expanded to a global vision that encompasses offices, educational centres, health, retail and cultural spaces. Designing with a hospitality approach means conceiving every environment as a host: spaces that receive, care for and make people feel welcome.

This paradigm shift transforms functional design into experiential design: furniture, light, materials and sound are no longer isolated elements but become part of an emotional narrative.

interior design hotel room

How to turn your business into a hospitality space?

For an establishment to be truly a hospitality business, the client must be placed at the centre of everything. To speak of hospitality in architecture is to speak of spaces that:

  • Anticipate the needs of the user.
  • From the architecture to the service, everything communicates welcome.
  • Generate emotional and physical comfort.
  • Tell a story and reinforce brand identity.
  • Encourage permanence, relationship and remembrance.
  • They use light, materials, sound and temperature to generate well-being.

Emotional aesthetics are key: enveloping materials, integrated vegetation, indirect lighting, careful acoustics and subtle aromas create a multi-sensory experience. At Actiu we design versatile products such as Noom 60 whose purpose is to welcome, excite and adapt to different contexts.

restaurant chair

Hospitality in the hotel sector and beyond: a common philosophy for new spaces

Offices with a soul
Lobbies converted into experiential lobbies, rest areas as lounges, micro-hospitality applied to each workstation. The office as a space that nurtures, retains talent and projects corporate culture.

Education with warmth
Classrooms and common spaces inspired by residential environments. Soft textures, warm light and versatile furniture that encourages collaborative learning and emotional well-being.

Retail that connects
It's no longer just about selling, it's about creating connections. Hospitality design in retail proposes welcoming atmospheres that invite you to explore, linger and remember.

Healthcare that really cares
Hospitals and clinics designed with sensitivity: calm colours, friendly materials, natural light and organisation designed to reduce stress and improve recovery.

hotel reception furniture

Hospitality as spatial branding

Hospitality environments project the values of an organisation. From the layout to the finish of an armrest, design becomes a sensory branding tool that conveys culture, care and purpose.

In offices, this approach enhances employer branding and talent retention. In hotels, it impacts guest memory. In education or healthcare, it generates belonging and security.

Keys to understanding the hospitality concept

1. From the hotel sector to the global concept: hospitality today permeates the design of all sectors, creating welcoming and caring environments.
2. Empathetic design: layout, technology and materials are chosen with the user's journey in mind.
3. Sensory narrative: spaces tell stories through light, colour, texture and sound.
4. Space as host: architecture communicates hospitality, wellbeing and brand values.
5. Conscious luxury: beauty lies in attention to detail and respect for the environment.