Why does a hotel feel good, why does it tire you, or why does it fail to create a bond? In Between is an independent experience eye for boutique hotels, resort hotels and hospitality projects. It does not replace the architectural team; it sits on the side of the owner or operator and reads the space not only through aesthetics and plan, but through the whole flow of the guest’s stay, from arrival to departure.
Founder Zeynep Didem Bardakcı brings together an architectural education, facade and shop-window work for hotel projects and prestige brands, and site-specific art production. Recommendations are therefore not just ideas that look good, but decisions that can be built, produced and costed.
Hotel projects at design stage
While the project is still being drawn and decided, the hotel’s story, identity and use scenario are clarified. Who is the hotel for, how will guests spend their day, where will they slow down, where will they gather? The answers become a transferable framework the architectural office can use as input. Design then develops from a clear intention rather than trying to gain coherence through later additions, reducing the time, cost and quality lost to revisions. Report framework: R1 — Design Stage.
Operating hotels
In an operating hotel the work happens inside the hotel, not at a desk. Plans, sections and function diagrams are read first; then the hotel is assessed on site at different days and times, including an actual stay. Arrival and reception, daytime use of shared areas, room layouts and acoustic behaviour, the relationship between courtyard, pool and rooms, breakfast and restaurant operation, and evening social use are observed together.
The reading also covers safety and regulation: fire regulations, escape scenarios, balustrade heights and similar essentials are assessed alongside spatial decisions. Report framework: R2 — Operational Spaces.
What we assess
Arrival, entrance and reception · circulation, thresholds and pauses · room layout and guest comfort · light, sound and acoustics · shared areas, pool and courtyard use · food and beverage and service flow · target guest profile and space-use policies · materials, texture, scent and site-specific art · safety and compliance. The assessment is carried out systematically with the In Between Checklist of 1,175 criteria in 17 categories and 20 themes.
Applied example: a resort hotel in Gili Trawangan
At a boutique resort in one of the island’s busiest areas in Indonesia, the architectural decision to pull the rooms back from the main road proved right; but a shared courtyard and shallow pool, not supported by a clear guest definition and use policies, made the experience time-dependent and unpredictable. The report offered a phased roadmap that clarified the experience identity and aligned architectural, operational and communication decisions. Read the anonymised report →
Frequently asked questions
Is In Between an architecture office?
No. In Between does not take on architectural design or produce drawings or construction documents. It creates a space for thinking, translation and filtering between the owner and the architectural team, so the team can read the owner’s intentions and priorities more clearly.
How does the process work in an operating hotel?
A desk review of documents, on-site observation and a stay at different days and times, an architectural and technical reading, then a report and phased roadmap ordered by importance and priority.
What does the report include?
The hotel’s strengths, gaps and weak points; revision proposals or new scenarios for each finding; and a phased roadmap filtered by feasibility, cost and operational reality.
Do you support implementation?
If requested, specialists, manufacturers and solution partners are recommended for the proposed revisions, and implementation is accompanied as an independent outside eye.
Where do you work?
In Between is based in Istanbul and works project by project in Turkey and abroad; the published sample reports come from projects in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Are results guaranteed?
No. In Between does not offer a ready-made package or a guaranteed effect. It works through the right questions to make options, likely outcomes and risks visible; the owner makes the decision.
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