Good lighting is essential for any premises, whether you’re a pub, bar, hotel or restaurant. It plays a huge role in the overall atmosphere of your business which in turn has an effect on customer experience.
Good lighting is one of the most underestimated elements when it comes to interior design for hospitality businesses. Despite this, it is one of the biggest factors that can affect how a customer experiences your services. If you own an establishment, this advice applies to you, whether you have dining areas, serve drinks, or offer rooms in your hotel. But why exactly is it so important?
Setting the Right Mood
A lot of customers are looking for a different experience when dining out or staying away overnight. But you need to set the right mood for your business. If you’re a pub, you’ll likely have a more laid-back atmosphere and not want your lights to be too bright. This is similar to if you own a hotel. I doubt you’ll be wanting to create a dramatic feel, but you don’t want your visitors to be blinded by bright lights. A good balance is opting for warm coloured bulbs and staying away from the daylight bulbs.
If your establishment is a restaurant getting the balance right can be a bit trickier. A lot of restaurants opt for ‘moody’ lighting. You want your customers to feel cosy and comfortable whilst they enjoy their food. But you don’t want the lighting so dark that they can see who they’re sitting with, or even see their food! Good lighting is still achievable when trying to set a particular mood. An example would be the Casa Brazil in Bristol.
Increase Your Sales
Now, you’re probably thinking, “how can my lights increase my sales?”. Well, as mentioned above, your choice in lighting can have a big impact on your customers. When it comes down to it, the better your customer’s experience is, the more likely they are to return. A good experience may even lead them to recommend you to their friends. Good lighting also makes your establishment look more appealing to potential customers walking past your windows. You should place some lights where they can accentuate certain things such as your wide selection of drinks at the bar or any comfy seating.
Help Out Your Kitchen
Lighting isn’t just important for where your customers will be sitting or staying. If your business has a kitchen you need to make sure this is properly lit too. Maybe you have a restaurant, or maybe you have a pub or hotel that also offers food. Low-quality lighting in your kitchen will result in poorly prepared food. Better lighting will make it easier for your chefs to see what they are doing and pay attention to detail. For example, if a customer requests a medium-rare steak, how can your chefs be certain that is what they are serving when they can’t see the colour of the meat properly.
Keep Customers and Staff Safe
It may not be the first reason to come to mind but lighting is critical to ensuring proper safety around your premises. If you often welcome larger numbers of visitors at a time, safety would become an issue if an emergency were to occur. Even if you want to set a cosy ‘low-light’ mood, at least be sure to use floor lights so that visitors can see where they need to walk should they need to leave quickly. Floor lights are also helpful for generally finding their way around the room.
I hope that this advice helps you when you’re deciding what kind of lighting you’d like to have in your establishment. At InnDecs we have a wealth of experience working with pub restaurants and hotels with their refurbishments and are always happy to talk to you about your project. Why not get in touch to speak to one of our team? Or you can check out our portfolio to see the high-quality projects that we have completed.
