-By Katie Weeks

tWhen you're trying to hang on to those last precious moments of a much-needed vacation, extra time at the hotel is a nice perk, but for design teams renovating a hospitality project in place, late checkouts are not an option.

With hospitality properties selling their space years in advance, the timing of a renovation in place is not only key, but also often inflexible. "You're much more under the gun during the construction phase because you have to be finished by a certain date since that space has been sold and contracted," says Roxanne Otto Harrell, IIDA, NEWH, associate principal at TVS in Atlanta. "It becomes a huge team effort of everyone involved."

For the past four years, Harrell's team has been working on a large-scale renovation of the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta, a 1,200-room facility that hadn't seen major work for about 20 years and has remained open during the construction process, which began in September 2006 and is slated for completion this May. The project involved creating a new master plan for the hotel and a complete interior overhaul.

Getting in and out on time is just one of many challenges. The guest experience has to be taken into consideration, from making sure food and beverage services are not interrupted and the check-in/check-out process remains smooth to negotiating contractor hours around hotel schedules. "Most contractors want to start at 6 or 7 a.m., but some hotels have strict guidelines that construction noise can't start until 9. The contractors end up working 9 to 6 instead of, say, 7 to 3, which increases labor costs," Harrell explains.

The most ideal situation, of course, is to shut down a property completely and bang out construction and renovations as expeditiously as possible to minimize lost revenue. However, this is not always an option. Take Starwood's Westin Palace in Milan, for example. "The owners agreed to do renovations and the project is ready to go, but we can't seem to do it because the hotel is always 100 percent occupied," says DB Kim, vice president of Sheraton Design, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. "When do we start closing up floors and doing some work? At some point, we will have to step in and do it, but you really have to take each situation on a case-by-case basis." What's more, shutting down a property may have impact beyond the property itself—it could also affect a region's tourism revenue, local labor, and the surrounding community. The Atlanta Marriott Marquis's tight urban site, for instance, required surrounding side streets to close to make way for construction equipment.

Of course, not all renovations have to be an all-or-nothing affair. Quite often, small steps can be taken to prolong an interior's life span. "Depending on the property and its star rating, there are all kinds standards as to when they might do renovations," says Alisa Chodos, director of interior design for Cheryl Rowley in Beverly Hills. Changing out upholstery or carpeting may be done every five years, while soft goods may last a little longer before needing replacement. Starwood continually evaluates its properties on a global scale, sending out agents who examine facilities and file property improvement proposals that catalogue and prioritize necessary upkeep as well as work needed to maintain brand consistency. Liability and operational issues receive priority over furnishings or items that speak more toward the emotional or experiential side of things, says Kim.

Against all the potential complications, a benefit of renovating in place is the instant buzz it generates. "Guests see you working the hotel and will stop and ask questions," says Harrell. "They want to know what's going on and get excited to come back and see the final product."