Jennifer Pascua, Morning Reporter
Grand Rapids- In the lobby, as well as in the guest rooms, one of the many standout sit-down features you’ll notice is the furniture. If you’ve got a good eye you know exactly where the chairs and tables came from.
The JW Marriott is being marketed as an international hotel. But, since it towers over Grand Rapids, developers wanted to utilize as many West Michigan vendors and manufacturers as possible. According to General Manager, George Aquino that’s why guests will be able to sample creations from Steelcase.
“When we were in New York with our designers. They showed us the chair for the room. That’s when it started spinning. Ok, that needs to be from steelcase. I mean, we are the furniture capital of the world. And we want the best task chair in the hotel.”
Guest rooms are outfitted with the well-known Steelcase Leap chair, as is the office-area.
Most of the public areas feature coffee tables and seating from the Grand Rapids company. From the plush couches, chairs and coffee tables at the Maya Lounge on the 19th floor up to the edgy Concierge Lounge on the 23rd floor. A good selection of what you see was already in Steelcase’s stock. But, some custom-made items were needed and are now featured in the trendy and hip Mixology lounge.
“JW is very modern and very contemporary feel to it, so a lot of the fabric we have really had to match that. So, we’ve worked with all their design partnerships, and Custer, here locally to make sure that marriage is perfect,” said Aquino.
A marriage that could eventually bring birth to a family, “We’re hoping with Marriott international, that they take advantage of all these resources that we have here in West Michigan on furniture.” said Aquino. “And, hopefully, introduce steelcase to the rest of the Marriott portfolio all over the world.”
The JW says Steelcase designers will be able to come to the hotel to watch people use the furniture and see their immediate reaction. And it’s quite possible that in the future, Steelcase could use the JW as a place to showcase its new furniture inside before the rest of the world can take a peak.
