Stephani Robson, senior lecturer at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, worked for several years in restaurants and retail food operations in her native Canada before deciding to pursue a college degree in the field. She graduated from the School of Hotel Administration in 1988, and began her career as a food-service designer with Cini-Little International and subsequently with Marrack Watts in Toronto, Ontario. As a professional food-service designer, she has designed kitchen facilities for hotels, restaurants, airports, hospitals, universities, and catering halls. She joined the school’s faculty in 1993, earned a Master of Science in human-environment relations in 1999, and in 2010 completed her PhD at Cornell with a focus on consumer behavior in restaurants. Her academic interests center on how the design of environments affect consumer intentions, satisfaction, and behavior. She is a specialist in the psychology of restaurants and has presented and published her research in a wide range of industry and academic forums around the world.
Hotel Planning and DesignCornell Certificate Program
Overview and Courses
Through the five courses in this certificate program, owners, developers, and designers of full-service hotels will learn to plan and design effective, financially viable hotel properties and successfully perform their roles in the hotel development process.
The program begins with a look at hotel types, marketing concepts, branding practices, and development roles, followed by a study of initial planning decisions, the application of marketing requirements to functional areas, and the use of planning metrics. The focus then turns to specific design considerations for guestrooms, public spaces, and “back-of-house” areas.
The courses feature a set of downloadable tools containing guidelines and reference material for hotel developers and designers. A progression of course projects give participants an opportunity to apply their learning to specific hotel development scenarios.
This program includes a year of free access to Symposium! These events feature several days of live, highly participatory virtual Zoom sessions with Cornell faculty and experts to explore the Hospitality industry’s most pressing topics. Symposium events are held several times throughout the year. Once enrolled in your program, you will receive information about upcoming events.
Throughout the year, you may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete the certificate program.
The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.
Course list
Before developers and designers can successfully design a full-service hotel, they must have a strong grounding in foundational concepts relevant to the hospitality industry. These include market segmentation, hotel types and classifications, hotel branding, and the players involved in a typical hotel project.
This course prepares participants for further studies in the specifics of hotel planning by considering how market needs drive the design process, how the "chain scale" system works, how branding decisions affect the planning process, and how successful hotel projects are coordinated.
With extensive experience as a lecturer, researcher, and consultant, Professor Stephani Robson brings hotel planning to life with a wealth of content backed by activities designed to help you embrace and apply these concepts to your next project.
An important aspect of hotel design is the early planning decisions that owners, developers, and designers must make. These include addressing the needs and opportunities of the target market prior to the detailed design of specific parts of a hotel.
This course will prepare participants to contribute effectively to initial decisions relating to full-service hotel planning, helping to ensure that later design decisions will take into account the target customer, the lodging product to be provided, and the associated allocation of space.
Professor Stephani Robson, an expert in hotel planning and design, brings this phase of hotel planning to life with a wealth of content backed by activities designed to help you apply these concepts in practical ways.
The following course is required to be completed before taking this course:
- Foundations of Hotel Planning
Hotel guests base much of their view of a hotel on the design and layout of their guestrooms. To ensure success in a full-service hotel project, developers, designers, and other stakeholders must ensure that floor plans and guestroom designs will meet or exceed the expectations of their target guests.
This course walks participants through the process of developing an appropriate room mix, floor plans, and guestroom designs that will please guests while also returning value for owners or investors. The focus is on design considerations relevant to guestrooms and related areas, not the actual drafting of architectural plans.
Cornell Professor Stephani Robson has many years of experience as a designer, lecturer, and author, and shares her expertise through videos, activities, and tools that will help you apply these concepts to your own situation.
The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:
- Foundations of Hotel Planning
- Hotel Planning Decisions
The meeting rooms, food and beverage areas, and other public spaces in full-service hotels can be important revenue generators while also attracting new guests and maintaining their loyalty. Hotel planners and designers must carefully consider the needs of their target market and develop public spaces that address those needs.
This course prepares architects, designers, and other project stakeholders to develop planning criteria and come up with appropriate designs for public spaces, from lobbies to meeting rooms, restaurants, and recreational facilities.
Cornell Professor Stephani Robson shares her expertise and enthusiasm for these topics through videos, activities, and tools that will help you apply these concepts to your next project.
The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:
- Foundations of Hotel Planning
- Hotel Planning Decisions
- Hotel Guestroom Design
Guests may not see much of the “back-of-house” areas of a hotel, but the functions these areas serve are critical in full-service hotels. The rooms division must clean and support guestrooms; the kitchen and wait staff must prepare and serve fine food and beverages; the front office and administration staff must extend hospitality to guests and keep reservation and operational processes running smoothly.
This course takes participants behind the scenes to consider the unique needs of back-of-house areas, discussing a range of principles that will help ensure effective planning for these important functions.
From her wealth of experience as a hotel designer, lecturer, and author, Professor Stephani Robson guides you through a range of videos, activities, and tools that will help you apply best practices to back-of-house design.
The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:
- Foundations of Hotel Planning
- Hotel Planning Decisions
- Hotel Guestroom Design
- Hotel Public Space Design
Symposium sessions feature two days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today’s most pressing topics. The Hospitality Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.
Join us for the next Symposium, in which we’ll discuss how both day-to-day operations and strategic goal setting in the hospitality sector have rapidly evolved over the past two years, opening up new space for real-time conversations about the future of the industry. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to various areas of the industry, examining the innovations and accommodations you have all had to make throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and strategizing on future directions. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from across the industry.
All sessions are held on Zoom.
Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.
How It Works
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Faculty Author
Key Course Takeaways
- Plan successful full-service hotels by mastering foundational concepts involving roles, markets, and hotel types.
- Make high-level decisions appropriate for the selection and placement of components of a full-service hotel.
- Plan effective guestroom areas appropriate for different types of markets.
- Ensure optimal use of space and circulation of people and goods in the public spaces of a hotel.
- Develop efficient back-of-house areas that match the needs of a full-service hotel and its market.
JOIN A HOSPITALITY SYMPOSIUM!
Download a Brochure
Not ready to enroll but want to learn more? Download the certificate brochure to review program details.
What You'll Earn
- Hotel Planning and Design Certificate from Cornell's Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration
- 60 Professional Development Hours (6 CEUs)
Watch the Video
Who Should Enroll
- Architects
- Interior designers
- Hotel consultants
- Architecture students
- Owners, developers, and construction managers
“I absolutely loved my time learning at Cornell in the Hotel Planning and Design program. I had an awesome time networking and meeting people and would absolutely recommend any of the programs to my peers!”
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Hotel Planning and Design
| Select Payment Method | Cost |
|---|---|
| $3,900 | |