'I'm generally wary of architects'.(CLIENT'S VIEW)

The hotel sector is a difficult place for architects. It is largely run by limited people whose ruthlessness has taken them to the top, and limited people are rarely design-literate. But hoteliers are not the only ones responsible for the poor interiors of many hotels. You designers are part of the problem, too.

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You either sell out by giving clients international-style dripping deluxe, or you design something that is fashionable and uncomfortable in equal measure--an over-designed folly that says more about the architect's ego than it does about the needs of the building's future users, its staff and customers. There is nothing duller than standardisation and nothing that dates so quickly as trendy. Remember that.

I am the ego police, and architects are not short on egos. My experience with One Aldwych was certainly bumpy on the architectural side: I felt the architects resented the fact that I had strong opinions and a clear idea of what I wanted, and that I got involved in areas of the project that they seemed to feel were their terrority. But I couldn't afford to let my vision slip. I had to be pleased and proud of One Aldwych and, most importantly, ensure it was a commercial success. As a result, I got the hotel of my dreams.

If you want to find work in this sector, don't wait for clients to find you. If you want to work with someone, tell them so.

In my experience, the hotelier-architect relationship is essentially visceral. Do I like you? Could I work with you?

Hoteliers don't actually know that much about your profession, so if at least one person in your firm has hotel experience I, for one, would be open to hearing from you.