Pillar 03 — Design
Design
Owner-side design management for hospitality. We are not the architect or the interior designer — we sit on your side of the table, and we run the process that gets the right design built.
We don’t draw it. We define it, appoint the people who draw it, and protect your budget while they do.
A hospitality project succeeds or fails long before the first sketch. Serein manages design on the owner’s behalf: what should be built, who should design it, what it must earn, and what it may cost. The work runs from the first conversation to opening day.
Before any design — pre-concept
The design brief
The document that tells designers what to design: audience, offer, operations, mood, budget. We write it with you, from long structured conversations — before any designer is appointed.
Market and comp-set analysis (STR or similar)
A structured look at the properties you actually compete with — product, pricing and performance benchmarks such as STR — so decisions rest on the market, not on taste.
Feasibility — managed
We appoint and manage specialist feasibility analysts, then translate their findings into decisions with you. We don’t produce the study; we make sure it asks the right questions and gets used.
The Area Program
A room-by-room, square-metre-by-square-metre schedule of everything the project contains. It feeds the cost plan and the feasibility model — and it comes before any design.
Assembling the team
Consultant appointments
A full-service hotel can need more than twenty specialists, from masterplanner to fire and life safety. We manage the appointments — shortlists, scopes, fees, contracts — so you deal with one team, not twenty-two.
Technical Design Guidelines
The document that translates your brand into instructions designers can build from: standards, materials, moods, must-haves. We produce them from the brand developed under the Brand pillar.
Design-stage contracts and scopes
We do, on your side of the table: who does what, for how much, by when — so gaps and overlaps are found on paper, not on site.
Concepts we produce ourselves
Technical F&B, spa & wellness, food and back-of-house concepts
Technical F&B design concepts, spa and wellness concepts, food concepts and back-of-house concepts — the operational layouts that make spaces work. The architecture and interiors remain with the appointed designers.
During design
Design process management
Running the design team to programme: milestones, coordination, decisions logged, and regular stage presentations so ownership always knows where the project stands.
Design reviews at every stage
A structured owner-side check at each stage — concept, schematic, detailed design, construction documentation — against brief, brand, operations and budget. Problems cost less the earlier they are caught.
Procurement advice, cost control and value engineering
Procurement advice, cost checkpoints at every stage, and value engineering that trims cost without trimming the guest experience.
Construction, approvals & operator (UAE)
Construction project management
Yes — construction project management delivered with senior delivery partners, through to snagging and handover.
Permitting and statutory approvals (UAE)
Yes. Permitting, planning, Civil Defence and the other statutory authorities, managed as part of delivery.
Licensing support
Where the appointed operator cannot provide it, yes — we manage the licensing path as part of delivery.
Operator vetting, selection, TSA
We vet and shortlist operators, run the selection, and lead the Technical Services Agreement. For management and residential branding agreements we bring in and manage specialist hospitality counsel.
A full-service hotel can need more than twenty specialist consultants. Most owners have never hired one.
- Masterplanner
- Design Architect
- Architect of Record (local permitting)
- Interior designer
- F&B / kitchen & laundry consultant
- Spa & wellness consultant
- Spa wet services consultant
- Fire & life safety specialist
- Lighting designer
- MEP engineer
- Structural engineer
- Facade engineer
- Acoustics consultant
- AV / IT / ELV consultant
- Landscape architect
- Pool & water features consultant
- Signage & wayfinding
- Art consultant
- FF&E / OS&E procurement
- Cost consultant (QS)
- Feasibility analyst
- Sustainability consultant
We appoint them, contract them, and manage them — so you deal with one team, not twenty-two.
Do you do the architecture or interior design?
No. We define the project, appoint the specialists who design it, and manage them on your side of the table: brief, Area Program, reviews, budget.
Can you join a project that is already in design?
Yes. Design reviews, cost control and process management can start at any stage — including rescues.
Who owns the consultant relationships?
You do — contracts are with ownership. We negotiate, instruct and manage them on your behalf.
Do you replace the project manager?
If you have a strong PM we complement them on brand, guest experience and design quality. If you don’t, we can carry design project management ourselves.