The interior designers who helped bring the Four Points by Sheraton Columbus-Airport to life haven't stepped foot in the hotel. They weren't in Columbus, OH in May, when the model room debuted and the brass from Starwood came in to check it out, and they weren't there earlier this month when the four-story, 110-room hotel opened its doors for business.

But that's not to say Richard Smith and Courtney Harms haven't been hard at work making the new hotel a reality. Smith, the principal and director of design at the Denver office of IA | Interior Architects, and Harms, a senior designer and the project manager, started on this two years ago. The design duo was hired by Miles-McClellan — the general contractors commissioned by Dan Shah and the VJP Hospitality ownership team — to handle the interior design package of this Four Points.

Smith and Harms spent a day in White Plains, NY in late 2007 for an immersion program into the brand's new look. Starwood and partners have pumped more than a $1 billion into reinventing Four Points, INTRODUCING THREE NEW PROTOTYPES WITH MAJOR RENOVATIONS, CONVERSIONS AND NEW-BUILD PROJECTS, resulting in a 70-percent turnover of the portfolio. Design firms, even with past Sheraton experience like IA has, are required to go through the immersion to “understand the goals and imaging of the brand,” Smith says.

The brand now offers three design packages: Gateway Lifestyle, for resorts like the new Four Points in Punta Gorda, FL; City View, with a more urban feel; and New Homestead, the look unveiled in Columbus. New Homestead is colorful, yet comfortable, with plenty of wood providing a warmer feel, perfect for an airport location in a Midwest city like Columbus.

Bright and bold design, clean architectural lines and warm, contemporary furnishings highlight all three options. Guestrooms include a spacious work area, 32-inch flat-screen TV and the brand's signature Four Points Comfort bed. Facilities include a fitness center, meeting space, outdoor pool and a flexible f&b outlet in an open lobby setting.

“It's our green package,” Lars Rosenquist, Starwood's director of project management for architecture and construction, said when he was in Columbus to check out the model guestroom in May. “It's not a stuffy, dark hotel room. It looks clean, bright and fresh.”

Smith and Harms may not have physically been to Ohio's capitol city for this, but they did have an on-site liaison helping them. Karen Joslin, principal of Joslin Construction and Consulting, worked to keep IA, Miles-McClellan and the ownership team in concert.

“Not being out there isn't atypical,” says Smith. “Sometimes you never make it, but working with a liaison like Karen has been very beneficial. Starwood and ownership were easy to work with. There wasn't anything too difficult and it was a very smooth project.”

Smith and Harms were hired in late 2007. The interior design firm's main task is to handle the interior design package, which originates from the brand and includes floor plans, furniture and fixture placement, furniture and fabric specifications and everything else inside the hotel. Smith and Harris worked to modify the package to add local flavor to the lobby, modifying and massaging it until getting Starwood's final approval in January of this year. It was then turned over to Miles-McClellan, who hired Benjamin West for purchasing, and the rest is history.

“I questioned a lot of this all along, and I never admit people are right, but they were right,” Joslin says. “It's a real unexpected aesthetic. It's so unusual and so much beautiful wood. I think people are going to walk in and have their socks blown off.”

ANATOMY OF DEVELOPMENT

In this five-part series, Lodging Hospitality takes you behind the scenes and inside the heads of those who are bringing the Four Points by Sheraton Columbus-Airport to life.

This issue - Architecture & Design

January - Introducing the Project

Mar. 15 - Making the Deal

June - Branding & Management

October - Ramping Up/Grand Opening

Inside the Four Points by Sheraton Columbus-Airport

The Project: The development of a four-story, 110-room hotel

The Price: $12 million

The Location: 3030 Plaza Properties Blvd., Columbus, OH

The Players:

Owners: VJP Hospitality (Jay Patel, president; Victor Shah, CFO; Paul Patel, CEO; Dan Shah, Region Manager)

Builder: Miles-McClellan Construction Company, Inc.

Bank: Peoples Bancorp (Marietta, OH)

Architect: Dave Pontia of Pontia Architecture

Official Groundbreaking: July 26, 2008

Opening: August