Zeynep Didem Bardakcı · 17 October 2026
The first moment we step into a hotel room, we usually meet an image: the bed, the curtains, perhaps a view. It is the moment we see in photographs. Yet our real relationship with the room begins after we put the suitcase down. Where do I charge my phone? Where do I hang my jacket? How do I find the light when I get up at night? Comfort hides in the answers to these small questions.
A hotel room is a whole day of life fitted into a few square metres. Sleeping, dressing, working, washing, resting and setting off again all happen in the same small space, often in an unfamiliar place and with a tired body. The room’s functional layout — which activity happens where, and in what sequence — directly shapes how at ease a guest feels.
The bathroom’s position: the decision that sets the room’s rhythm
Whether the bathroom sits by the entrance or by the window changes the entire flow of the room. A bathroom near the entrance gathers noise and services on the corridor side and leaves the sleeping area calm. A bathroom opening towards the window brings daylight and a sense of space inside, but privacy, steam and night-time use then need to be rethought.
For a guest who wakes at night, the path from bed to bathroom should be short, unobstructed and softly lit. A door that faces the bed, light that falls on a sleeping partner, the sound of a flush carried into the room: these are the result of decisions measured in centimetres, and guests feel them immediately.
The socket: a small detail, a big disappointment
One of the most frequent guest complaints is the lack of a reachable socket by the bed. Everyone now travels with at least two devices, and the phone spends the night at the bedside. A socket hidden behind the nightstand, a few centimetres above the floor, technically exists; for the guest, it does not.
Bedside sockets should sit close to the top of the nightstand, reachable without bending, ideally with USB or wireless charging. The need also has to be met at the desk, by the mirror and near the luggage area. If a mirror and a socket are not planned together where the hairdryer will be used, the guest ends up shuttling between bathroom and room.
The wardrobe: depth and reach as much as width
The wardrobe is often placed in whatever corner the plan leaves over. Yet guests interact with it many times a day. A depth that lets hangers move freely, a rail height that does not crease a long dress or coat, a lower compartment for shoes and bags, doors that do not hit the bed or the entrance door: all of these can be solved regardless of the room’s size.
On short stays many guests never unpack. An open luggage rack, or a surface where a suitcase can lie open, can be worth more than a large wardrobe. The functional layout should follow how guests actually live, not an assumed scenario.
Light: who controls the room, when, and from where?
The first light should be by the door when you enter, and every light should be switchable from the bedside once you lie down. A guest who cannot tell which button controls what on a complicated panel ends up feeling along the wall in the dark. A reading light angled so it does not disturb the person next to you, a low, glare-free guide light for the night: small details that are remembered.
Working, sitting and the spaces in between
The desk is not only for the guest who works. It is where make-up is done, breakfast is eaten, a map is unfolded. Its position relative to the window, screen glare, room to pull the chair back and access to power should be considered together. An armchair by the window gives the room a second mood: a place to rest without lying down.
Movement space: invisible comfort
Being able to walk easily around the bed, two people getting ready at the same time, a door that opens without hitting furniture: these clearances may look like “empty space” on a plan, but for the guest they are comfort itself. In rooms designed for guests with disabilities these dimensions are not a preference but a requirement, and the room’s whole layout must be built around them.
Conclusion: comfort is the sum of decisions nobody notices
In a well-designed hotel room the guest does not search for the socket, struggle to find the light or wrestle with the wardrobe door. They do not notice any of it; they simply feel at ease. A poor decision, on the other hand, is noticed at once — and what the guest remembers is often not the look of the room but that small discomfort.
This is why the functional layout comes before decoration. The room’s story, materials and atmosphere only find their response once this foundation is right. At In Between, in projects at design stage and in operating hotels, we look at the room through the guest’s eyes, considering plan, light, ergonomics and the use scenario together.