AI is rapidly moving from a conceptual tool to a core driver of hospitality design, fundamentally changing how hotels are imagined, tested and brought to life. From early-stage concepting to operational planning, designers are using AI to explore more ideas in less time, challenge long-held assumptions and align more closely with owners and operators before a project ever breaks ground. Hotel Business caught up with Mayur Patel, senior designer of architecture, engineering and construction firm BRPH, to discuss how AI is changing hospitality design.
How does Al change the early design process while still keeping designers in control of the creative vision?
AI is definitely changing early design, but it’s not replacing us. It’s more like a really fast, slightly clueless junior designer. It can throw out tons of ideas, plans, massing and styles faster than we ever could starting from scratch. So, instead of a blank page, you’re working with a whole field of options right away.
But the key is, we’re still driving. We set the constraints, shape the prompts and decide what actually makes sense. AI doesn’t have taste; it just reflects whatever direction we give it.
Where it really helps is speed. Iterations that used to take days can happen in minutes, which makes early client conversations a lot more visual. But speed alone isn’t the value. It’s about knowing what’s worth developing vs. just chasing cool images.
It’s also useful for quick reality checks like zoning, performance and feasibility, so we’re not wasting time on ideas that won’t go anywhere. That said, it tends to over-optimize, so we still have to balance the numbers with experience, feel and intent.
Same with style exploration. We can test a bunch of different looks and atmospheres really quickly. But if there’s no clear concept behind it, everything starts to feel kind of generic, like that obvious AI look. On the plus side, it cuts down a lot of the repetitive work, diagrams, variation and basic setup so we can spend more time actually thinking about the design.
At the end of the day, the important stuff is still on us: judgment, narrative, what feels right, how it connects to people and place. AI can support that, but it can’t replace it. If anything, our role is shifting more toward curating and directing instead of producing every single iteration. We’re filtering through a bigger set of possibilities and focusing on what actually matters. The biggest risk is that everything starts to look the same. The way around that is keeping the concept first and using AI as a tool, rather than letting it make decisions for us.
Example: During a competitive pursuit of a confidential client (a large-scale branded resort with IP), the design challenge was to tell a story. According to our client, our competitors brought in plans and design sections; we brought in vision and a guest walkthrough for how they would feel moving through each space. Our team used Midjourney (AI tool) to generate a series of concept visuals that purposely blurred the line between reality and imagination. There were not literal final designs. They were snapshots that showed lighting, textured materials and the overall feel of the space. We were able to tell a cohesive, cinematic story early in the pursuit process without laying out a full early design, which secured us the project.
How is Al specifically changing the concept phase of hospitality projects, particularly when it comes to massing, adjacencies and layout exploration?
AI is making a huge impact in the concept phase for hospitality, which has always been pretty intuition-driven. It’s not replacing that gut instinct; it’s just letting us test and push it way faster.
You really see it in massing, adjacencies and layouts. Instead of coming up with a couple of options, we can now generate a ton of variations based on things like site, views, solar, zoning, etc.—especially in hospitality, where views, arrival and how public and private spaces are separated directly affect revenue and experience.
So, you can spin a tower, tweak the form and test different scenarios in minutes. But we’re still the ones deciding what actually works. AI might give you something that’s technically “optimal,” but if it doesn’t feel right or support the story, it’s out. It’s giving us volume, but we’re the ones giving it meaning.
Adjacencies are another big one. AI can map out relationships between rooms, lobby, F&B, spa and back-of-house, all based on rules like keeping service separate from guest flow. That’s super helpful, especially since bad adjacencies can kill both operations and guest experience.
But again, we’re still shaping the experience. Sometimes the “most efficient” layout isn’t the best one. We’re the ones deciding where to create moments, where to break the rules a bit, where to slow things down or create a reveal.
Layouts are similar. You can run a ton of floor plate and unit mix options really quickly, test key counts, efficiency and revenue potential, all at once. That’s huge for hospitality, where everything is tied together. But turning that into something that actually feels like a brand, something memorable, that’s still on us. AI can get you a functional plan, but it won’t give you spatial rhythm or those key moments that make a project stand out.
Overall, it shifts the concept phase from this step-by-step process into something more exploratory. You’re setting up parameters, generating a wide range of options and then curating and refining. And the big advantage is you can look at experience, operations and performance all at the same time instead of one after the other.
Example: On another large-scale campus-style hospitality project that combined hotel, residential and restaurant amenities, the complexity was in how people would navigate the environment and experience as a whole. Here, we used AI to develop experiential maps. By layering traditional sketching with digital illustration and AI-generated images, we created rich and detailed diagrams that told a story about movement, discovery and destination. Most importantly, our client could understand guest flow and programming while still getting the feel for the design and overall visuals.
In what ways is Al challenging traditional assumptions around circulation, back-of- house design and spatial sequencing in hotels and resorts?
AI is starting to challenge a lot of the assumptions we’ve always had in hospitality design, especially around circulation, back-of-house and how spaces are sequenced. Not that those ideas were wrong, but they were usually based on precedent and limited iteration. Now we can actually test a lot more scenarios and see what really works.
Take circulation. Traditionally, it’s been very structured. Clear paths, clean hierarchies, guests move one way, service stays hidden. Arrival to lobby to elevator to room, very linear. But when you actually simulate how people move, it’s messier. Guests don’t move in straight lines. They loop, wander, double back and cluster. And sometimes what looks “inefficient” on a plan actually works better, people spend more time in spaces, engage more and end up interacting with amenities like F&B or retail.
So, instead of thinking about circulation as one clean path, it starts to feel more like a network. You still need clear primary routes, but then you layer in secondary paths that allow for exploration. You can create moments where programs overlap a bit and experiences intersect.
AI also lets you simulate things like housekeeping routes, food delivery timing and staff movement. That opens the door to more flexible setups, like satellite service areas or localized support spaces.
But even with that flexibility, we still have to hold the narrative together. If everything branches too much without intention, it just feels disconnected. We’re still shaping the story across all those paths. More broadly, what AI is really doing is making trade-offs more visible. Things like efficiency vs experience, privacy vs activation, clarity vs exploration, we can actually test and compare those now instead of just relying on instinct.
Example: On a major theme park attraction, we used a combination of AI and our BRPH “Corner Cave,” a visualization tool that allows clients to walk through a space using 3D and 2D modeling—all without even leaving the office. We are able to scan virtually, then present the walkthrough virtually to our design teams, interior decorating teams and to any construction partners or clients. We were able to set the stage and walk them through the back-of-house design, seamlessly also showing the front, where guests primarily are. It incorporates the design with the necessity of showing where maintenance, equipment and back-of-house operations will integrate.
How does using Al early in the design process help owners and operators make better decisions before a project moves too far down one direction?
Using AI early isn’t just about speed; it actually changes the quality of decisions owners and operators can make before a project gets locked in. And in hospitality, where early moves impact millions in CapEx and long-term OpEx, that’s huge.
One of the biggest shifts is turning assumptions into something you can actually test. Traditionally, early decisions come from precedent, gut instinct and maybe a couple options if you’re lucky. Now you can look at 10, 20 or even 50 directions pretty quickly.
So instead of asking “Is this a good option?” it becomes “How does this compare to everything else we could do?” That’s a completely different mindset.
It also brings financial clarity in much earlier. You can start tying design decisions directly to things like revenue potential, ADR strategy, construction cost and even staffing. Change the layout, adjust the mix, tweak the building and you can see the impact almost immediately.
That’s powerful for owners because now it’s not just a design conversation, it’s “if we rotate this, we get more premium rooms,” or “if we add this amenity, here’s what it does to operations.” It turns decisions into real trade-offs instead of educated guesses.
Another big one is risk. Traditionally, many issues don’t surface until later, when the project is already committed and harder to change. With AI, you can test things like site strategy, circulation and operational flow, all much earlier. So you can kill weaker ideas before they become expensive problems.
AI also helps avoid that classic “design lock-in” problem. Once a concept starts gaining traction, people get attached, the schedule reinforces it and suddenly it’s hard to change even if it’s not the best option. AI keeps multiple paths alive longer and makes it easier to pivot because iteration is so much faster.
Can you explain how your team uses AI and 3D visualization or VR to help clients better understand and engage with the design story?
At BRPH, we’re not using AI and visualization as just a final presentation layer. It’s part of how we design from the start. The goal isn’t just to show clients what something looks like; it’s to help them actually understand it, experience it and be part of shaping it early on.
One of the biggest ways we do that is through rapid concept storytelling. We use tools like Midjourney, Veras, Photoshop with AI and Google AI Studio to quickly generate different directions, materials and overall vibes that align with the project. Instead of showing a single idea, we usually put a few intentional options on the table.
In some cases, we’re also training AI on our own past work, material libraries and hospitality precedents, so the outputs feel more like us and less like generic AI imagery. For clients, that makes a big difference. They’re not reacting to abstract ideas; they’re reacting to something they can actually see and understand.
We also bring clients into the process through real-time 3D work sessions. Using Rhino, SketchUp and D5, we can adjust massing, test layouts and swap materials, all live. Then we layer in AI tools like Veras to enhance the visuals without losing control of the design.
So instead of going away to design and coming back with a finished concept, we’re evolving it with them in the room. They can immediately see what the changes will do, which helps close the gap between concept and visualization. Alignment just happens faster.
On top of that, we’re using VR to let clients actually step into the project. With tools like Enscape, they can walk through arrival, feel the scale of a lobby and understand how spaces connect. It becomes a lot more intuitive than looking at drawings.
AI helps here, too. We can quickly adjust lighting, materials and even simulate different times of day or levels of activity. And because they’re experiencing it early, they can catch issues early too, things like scale feeling off or spaces not connecting the way we intended.
Another big piece is scenario testing. We can build out multiple options pretty quickly and actually visualize all of them. For example, one option might push key count, another might lean into experience, another tries to balance both.
What really ties it all together is the narrative. The AI imagery connects directly to the massing and layout, which then ties into the 3D model and the VR experience. So it’s not a bunch of disconnected visuals; it’s one continuous story from idea to experience.
The end result is a different kind of client experience. Instead of just reviewing a design, clients are actively engaging with it. They can explore options, understand trade-offs and experience the space before it’s built.
