If you’re a career-mined hospitality professional, you should always be looking for ways to stand out from the crowd. One way to do that is to work for hospitality venues that people will be talking about for years to come. I don’t mean Las Vegas or Disney Resorts. No, I’m referring to none other than China’s Ping Pong shaped hotel.
This unique establishment is clearly one for the record books. Built by the people who have developed a national obsession with ping-pong, this paddle-shaped venue has everything a hospitality employee would want, including unforgettable branding and concept recognition. A picture’s worth a 1,000 words, and all you’d have to do is show someone a photo of this hotel and they’d know you were a “player” in the hospitality scene (no pun intended).
Part of a new $45.8 million sports complex, the new hotel will be built in the city of Huainan and resemble an upside-down ping-pong paddle. (Not to worry, a strong wind won’t knock it over—it’s built to survive all manner of nature’s wrath). Rounded guestroom windows will have the surface texture of a table tennis racket. The 500-foot hotel will feature an observation deck shaped like a paddle's handle, enabling guests to view the city.
Huainan's Director of Municipal Bureau of Sports noted that a ping-pong racket standing on its end offers the perfect architectural shape for a hotel.
The ping-pong hotel will join other unique, sports themed structures in the 165-acre sporting complex. The main stadium, for example, will be shaped like an American football. Smaller stadiums and gym facilities will resemble a volleyball, soccer ball, and basketball. The sports bureau has signed an agreement with the China Sports Industry Group that ensures a number of games will be played in these stadiums over the next two decades.
Of course, China isn’t the only place with unusually shaped hotels. Honoring the Rugby World Cup, the French recently built a giant rugby ball hotel. And when they built it, people came, paying nearly $10,000 per night.While hotel designers have often turned to sports to inspire their creative hospitality venues, there are other shapes that have turned a head or two. For instance, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai resembles a wave to compliment the sail-shaped Burj al Arab, one of Dubai's most unforgettable images.
So there you have it. Hotels everyone will be talking about. And if you happen to be working at one, you may just have an edge when it comes to advancing your hospitality career. After all, image is everything.
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