Perception of luminous environments of hotel rooms : effect of lighting, use and individual characteristics on the judgment in real situations
Given the current changes in technologies and regulations, the emergence of LED technology multiplies the possibilities ofdesigning indoor and outdoor luminous environments adaptable to user’s needs and expectations. Although engineers andarchitects care about lighting quality, few fundamental elements of luminous environments have been evidenced as importantregarding customers’ expectations in the hospitality.In this context, our thesis aimed at better understanding the perception of light environments in hotel rooms from a users’perspective, the hotel customer itself. We assumed that the judgment of appreciation of a luminous environment depended onits lighting parameters, but also the situation during which the luminous environment was perceived and the individualcharacteristics of the users who perceived it.A three-step methodology was designed to test this hypothesis and to retrieve the judgment of appreciation of the users undera real situation in a hotel room. The first phase of this research program highlighted the importance attached by customers tolight depending on the activities undertaken during his/her stay, such as a situation of leisure or a situation of work. The secondenabled the selection of the relevant lighting parameters to design a luminous environment in a hotel room based oncustomers’ preferences. The third phase was set out to measure the influence of the situation on the assessment ofappreciation of luminous environments varying in terms of illuminance (30% of luminous flux vs 100%) and color temperature(2700K, 4200K).Overall, the users preferred the luminous environment characterized by warm white and dim light while relaxing, whereas theypreferred a warm white and bright light when working. Differences in individual characteristics like age and gender influencedthe assessment of appreciation.Moreover, the methodological issue of our project was to develop an experimental device allowing the formulation and thecollection of the users’ assessments of appreciation regarding luminous environments in a hotel room under an ecologicalcontext.