Just as I was about to begin my editorial comments for our November hospitality issue, I came across this tidbit relating to the hotel industry on MarketWatch.com, dated Oct. 28, 2008, one day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped another 203 points, the Nikkei index in Tokyo dropped 6.4 percent, the FTSE 100 in London dropped 0.8 percent, the CAC 40 in Paris dropped 3.0, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped more than 12 percentage points:

The downward gravitational pull on the national economy resulting from extraordinary financial events currently playing out on Wall Street and in Washington has prompted PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR) to revise downward its hotel industry forecast for 2009 issued September 2008. The company now is expecting RevPAR and profit declines of 4.3 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, for U.S. hoteliers in 2009, according to its updated forecast.

The new forecast reflects research reported by Smith Travel Research (STR) in September that projects a 5.9 percent drop in occupancy and weak average daily rate growth, which PKF believes is just the beginning of an even greater protracted decline expected for the industry. Mark Woodworth, president of PKF-HR, in a special update released on Oct. 28, noted that "the speed and severity of the downturn in the national economy, both that which has already occurred and that which is anticipated for the year ahead, has vastly exceeded our previous expectations. Thus, for only the second time since the events of 9/11, we feel that a mid-term update is warranted."

The news came as no surprise, but it did save me the trouble of having to spread doom and gloom without qualified substantiation. And even though today there are also indications that the credit crunch might be easing, we all know recovery is still a long way off. The hospitality sector, following the lead of the travel industry upon which it so heavily depends, is about to take a turn for the worse—which puts it squarely in step with many other business sectors today.

But if we were to look at bright spots in the hospitality market, one of those would surely have to be design. Remember when all you expected from your accommodations was a clean, quiet room with a comfortable enough bed and a bathroom stocked with shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion? Today, these are the most minimal of requirements, thanks to design having taken center stage in the transformation of an industry. Capitalizing on increasing personal wealth and an increasingly savvy consumer in the last decade, the once-novel concept of the boutique hotel brought high design, upscale ambience, and attentive service out of the sole realm of the luxury resort and elevated expectations through all levels of the hospitality industry. Ever-more sophisticated consumers of today are being met with the most creative design solutions of any property type.

Luxury, for example, is no longer specifically defined as plush fabrics, rich materials, elegant furnishings, and copious details. The same sense of quality can be imparted through stark minimalism that offers guests an alternative and perhaps unexpected experience, like the San Ranieri Hotel in Pisa, Italy (see page 74). Hotel experiences that are one with their surroundings have given rise to ecologically sensitive properties like the remote, indigenous beauty of the Sasakwa Lodge on the Serengeti Plains (see page 80). And elegantly themed properties like the contemporary art glass gallery that is the Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Wash., (see page 62) are more and more common. Designers of all pedigrees are applying their talents to hotels in all budget ranges, and refreshing, contemporary design concepts are even trickling down to properties like once-mundane chains, roadside motels, and one-night-stay airport accommodations.

With expectations thus raised, people's discretionary dollars may temporarily disappear, but their newly honed tastes for refined design and their own particular version of luxury will not. There is no turning back the fantastic evolution of design in the hospitality industry—only the challenge of making it happen on reduced resources until this crazy economy turns around.