The 2025 Insights Report from Champalimaud Design forecasts top hotel design trends, including 'integrated wellness' and 'more colour than ever

Champalimaud Design has published its 2025 Insights Report, which reveals emerging interior design trends in hospitality.

According the the New York-based design studio, 2025 is all about wellness-focused interiors, balancing bold hues with neutral tones, and creating spaces that merge functionality with experiential design.

The trend for wellness-driven design aligns with the continued strength of the wellness industry (worth an estimated US$1.8 trillion in January 2024 according to McKinsey & Co) and growing consumer interest in health.

In recent years, Champalimaud Design has noted a shift from wellness being a focus in typical areas of a hotel project (such as the gym and spa) to becoming much more integrated into each element of a space. This highlights a change in people's awareness of mindful and physical wellbeing, and how there's a desire for wellness to permeate environments through design through various touchpoints.

Matoula Karagiannis, principal at Champalimaud Design, says: “There isn’t one conversation that doesn’t evolve around wellness, and it’s part of the experience now. Where it used to be a segregated activity, it’s now touching all the senses—food, air quality, and wellbeing. Hand-crafted, warm, emotional touches are appearing more in design. It’s a lot less clinical, with wood and layered textures creating a calm and serene atmosphere.”

Kajsa Krause, principal and director of strategy for the studio, says:  “Wellness has become a driving factor in residential and hospitality projects at the high end, and guests are expecting more than the typical pool and gym. They want an elevated and personalised experience.”

Krause also notes how biophilic design (which connects people to nature): “fits particularly well in the wellness space, as it has a direct impact on physical wellbeing, enhancing visitors' connection to nature, promoting productivity, and reducing stress. This can be achieved through incorporating natural elements and to create a sense of seamless transition between outside and the interior, as well as being mindful of elements such as air quality, natural light and choice of sustainability conscious materials.”

According to the report, biophilic-inspired design will also continue to dominate colour trends for 2025 -  think clean and natural palettes, earthy hues and tonal greens. However, the report reveals how bold and playful colour choices are increasingly en vogue, creating a powerful tool to tell stories, evoke emotion, and elevate the function of a hotel space. Reflecting on  colour selection in recent hotel projects, principal Elisabeth Rogoff from Champalimaud Design says  she is: “using colour more than ever - people used to be scared of colour but are embracing it more now. In doing so, it allows you to see which colours complement each other and work paired with neutrals, such as olive greens, raspberry red and rich burgundy.”

The report also identifies a shift in expectations from hotels' public spaces, including restaurants and bars. As well as serving a specific function, these spaces are increasingly expected to offer versatile, story-driven  and "emotionally engaging" experiences". The insights from Champalimaud Design highlight a shift towards these public areas of hotels becoming more "layered, multi-sensory environments."

Throughout the report, Champalimaud Design describes how these interior design trends have manifested in their recent hotel design projects, which have included St Regis New York and The Emory (London), as well as restaurants such as L'Ermitage Beverly Hills

by Rose Dykins | GLOBETRENDER