In conversation with: Lee Chamberlain, Co-Founder of Reevela

Reevela’s mission is to transform the way people experience and interact with the world of interior design. Imagine you’re staying at a hotel, and you spot a beautifully designed lamp in your room, appreciate the comfort of your bed, or find the candle holders in the breakfast restaurant charming. With Reevela, which was ‘Highly Commended’ in the Best in Tech category at The Brit List Awards 2023, you can turn these moments of curiosity into opportunities for discovery and purchase.

Image caption: Hotel Odeon, Suite | Image credit: Pendulum Magazine

Hotel Designs: Why did you start Reevela – and why now?

Lee Chamberlain: I started Reevela from my interest in both interior design and the hospitality industry where I’ve worked for 20 years as a wholesaler. I’ve travelled extensively and seen many hotels, restaurants and other venues and have always been influenced and inspired by the items I see. I then have found that many times I’ve been in places where the reason why I’ve become inspired is not just because of the actual touch or feel of it, but also because I’ve been able to try it. The irony is that I’ve often been to design hotels and then went to reception and asked them what the design is yet they don’t know. I would say it doesn’t support their brand narrative.

Why did we start now? I feel Corona for one thing, when venues were forced to close down, forced us to re-look at things. Venues were receiving funding from governments and states and that funding was never sufficient enough, yet the hotels had so many fixed assets that could have been monetized, even if their doors were closed. Another thing that we thought was very important was the concept of post-stay. It is about extending the guest experience by helping guests to take the design home with them.

HD: How does it work for the guest – can you talk us through how a guest would purchase items they liked in their room?

LC: The first and most obvious client, is the guest that is an actual paying user of the hospitality venue. These users can see the entirety of a venue, both the public spaces and the private areas, such as guestrooms.  By immersing in and experiencing the product, guests might be inspired to recreate the experience at home. The guest could go into either a QR code which is placed in the room or the venue, or through the venue’s digital guestbook. By jumping into our platform where products are displayed in different spaces of the venue, the guest can find the product that they have already tried and seen.

Another type is the visitor, who would be accessing and enjoying the public areas. This is also a very strong user journey and in this case they would use Reevela’s journey so that you would either following us on social media or via our web page. Again the client or guest can choose to explore the product in-situ before buying and extending the aesthetic of a particular hospitality experience at home.

Image caption: Hotel GuestAPART | Image credit: Hotels.com

Hd: How are concepts like Reevela helping to soften interior design schemes to feel distinctly more residential?

LC: We believe concepts like Reevela blur the lines between hospitality and home, encouraging designers to make hospitality interiors to be more residential and relatable. By empowering guests to identify and purchase furniture and decor from their favourite hotels and restaurants, Reevela incentivizes designers to create spaces that evoke comfort and familiarity. This shift is helping to transform hotels from following an impersonal, standard interior playbook approach, to designing spaces that are warm, individual and reminiscent of home. By incorporating elements such as plush sofas, cozy throws, and bespoke artwork, hospitality venues are able to enhance the emotional connection guests foster with the space, thus developing stronger brand narratives.

Furthermore, this trend emphasizes sustainability and versatility, as Reevela promotes the use of durable, timeless pieces that appeal to eco-conscious travellers. In essence, Reevela is driving a new era of hospitality design that prioritizes warmth, sustainability, and personal connection, making hotel stays more memorable and homely.

HD: How have hotels you have worked with up to now valued from working with you?

LC: We have had very good responses from the pilot venues, which are all early adopters or open-minded venues to new technologies and new concepts. They are venues that see the value of their interior design as part of their brand identity. They are often venues that already are experiencing considerable interest from their clientele, whereby they receive requests at the reception desk. What we have solved for them is the satisfaction they can give to the guests through the accuracy and frequency of giving a more comprehensive response.

If we take one hotel in particular, Hotel Odeon, they used to have a book underneath the desk, with data and information that they had collected themselves, but it didn’t have everything, and not everybody knew how to use it. They always felt that they were losing an opportunity based on the fact that they had a hot lead in front of them.

HD: Congratulations, Reevela was highly commended in the Best In Tech category at The Brit List Awards 2023. What’s next for the brand?

LC: Thank you! Being recognized at The Brit List Awards was a huge honour and validation of our concept and intention to bring experiential design shopping into the hospitality arena. We will begin a pilot in our home town of Aarhus where we partner with local design brands and creatives, who focus on sustainable and socially responsible design processes to land their products in local venues for increasing their exposure. We believe that by allowing guests and locals to touch, try, and experience furniture and decor in real-life settings before buying, that we improve the emotional and contextual conditions needed to make more satisfying and long lasting purchases.

For venue owners, we will dramatically improve their ability to integrate and marry the design trends and style of their local designers into their brand narrative. We also intend to incentivize front office staff for supporting the development of sales on our platform, thus acknowledging the incredible customer service skills and value that front office staff play in venues. Furthermore, we will begin supporting on the spot collection of products at venues for selected local products, making certain hotels not just showrooms but also sales points, which will reduce the discovery to purchase timeline for local, innovative products.

Reevela is not just changing how you shop; it’s changing where you shop, turning every space you visit into the start of a unique retail journey. But stay tuned for even more exciting developments from us in the months to come.

Reevela is one of our Recommended Suppliers and regularly features in our Supplier News section of the website. If you are interested in becoming one of our Recommended Suppliers, please email Katy Phillips.

Main image credit: Hotels.com