DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
065 | Going Against the Grain with Hotel Impossible Designer Blanche Garcia
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Blanche is a certified Interior Designer with over 18 years of experience in residential and commercial design and is the owner of B. Garcia Designs based in Montclair, New Jersey. She is also a principal designer featured in the popular Travel Channel reality series, Hotel Impossible.
Blanche is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) as well as a “Green Design” LEED Accredited Professional through the United States Green Building Commission.
In This Episode, Blanche Talks About …
- How she found her love of construction while volunteering at the age of 12 for nonprofit building projects around the country with her mother.
- Setting goals, then taking deliberate action to achieve them. And she shares one of her early career goals – to be on TV – and how that ultimately manifested in her life.
- Her first television appearance back in 2011 as a contestant in season 6 of the interior design reality competition series Design Star on HGTV.
- Being approached to do an episode of a new hotel design show … now known as Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible … and how that single show morphed into a role as principal designer where she helps tackle the job of revamping hotels along with host, Anthony Melchiorri.
- The differences between a decorator and a designer, and she shares several simple things hotels can do to improve the design of the properties, that don’t cost a lot of money.
- Some of the mistakes that hoteliers make, and what you can do to avoid them.
If you’ve seen Blanche on Hotel Impossible or visited her website, then you know she’s extremely talented. However, what I didn’t realize until we connected is how authentic she is. Whether you read her blog or social media posts, or watch her “how to” videos or on TV, you get the same, real person, and she’s a riot.
Resources & Links
Blanche Garcia
B. Garcia Designs
B. Garcia Designs
551 Valley Rd. #170
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
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296 | Flexible Business Model: Apartment-hotels are an emerging trend in an industry in crisis
It’s well known extended-stay-hotel and short-term-rental sectors have done better than their transient hotel counterparts during the coronavirus pandemic. Even before the crisis hit, residential-type accommodations were seeing a growth in interest from travelers as well as investors. The COVID-19 outbreak is proving mixed developments of hotel rooms, leased apartments and owned condominiums offer a unique value proposition during and after the pandemic. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.
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295 | Doing Well: Coronavirus pandemic advances wellness design and programs in hotels
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing the lodging industry to rethink health and wellness. Designers such as Blanche Garcia of B. Garcia Designs see this as an opportunity for hotels to revise their messaging beyond clean and safe by introducing wellness products and programs they can market and attract guests who want to feel good during their stay and return home feeling better than when they left. Those who promote healthy buildings as well as safe travel are exploring how implementing elements of wellness can be a cure for hotel businesses struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.