The second in a five-part series for Hotel Designs, this article sees Northern Lights explore the influence of ‘the ultimate risk-management tool’ within the hotel design process – the sample room…
In luxury hotel design, the bedroom is where intention meets experience. A well-drawn plan suggests comfort and elegance, but can struggle to capture how light falls across textures and finishes, how shadows form on the walls, or the subtle warmth that transforms a room from functional to restorative.
This is where sample rooms come into play: not as a box to tick, but as a space where design decisions are tested, refined, and ultimately made real. Sample rooms have become a cornerstone of high-end hotel design. They reveal nuances that drawings and renderings can’t capture, like the reflections across materials, or the subtle interactions of finishes under changing daylight. These details define luxury and expose where design refinements are needed.
Four Seasons Park Lane – Lighting by Northern Lights | Image credit: Richard Waite
Beyond aesthetic validation, sample rooms are about control. In an industry defined by compressed timelines, complex approvals, and international supply chains, they are the ultimate risk-management tool. They allow teams to experiment, iterate, and secure consensus among stakeholders without jeopardizing schedules.
Importantly, early prototyping also protects budgets, as refinements made in the sample room are far less costly than adjustments made following production.
Lighting, in particular, benefits from this hands-on approach. It is deceptively complex, often carrying multiple roles simultaneously: it must create atmosphere, support function, integrate technology discreetly, and reinforce the hotel’s brand identity. Subtle differences in brightness, material reflectivity, or shade depth can transform – or disrupt – the intended experience.
Raffles – Sample Room Lighting Development | Image credit: Northern Lights
As the category authority on programme-led lighting delivery, Northern Lights delivers sample rooms in weeks rather than months, giving designers the certainty to refine placement, validate lighting schemes, and secure approvals early – proving that meticulous design does not need to be sacrificed for speed.
Projects such as The Peninsula Hotel and Raffles London at The OWO, where Northern Lights delivered two full lighting mock-up rooms, demonstrate how early investment in sampling prevents downstream headaches and protects the original vision. From Four Seasons Park Lane to Hilton Newcastle, rapid sample iterations enabled faster approvals, giving designers the freedom to refine ideas without slowing the wider programme. Even under the tightest timelines, flexible mock-ups allowed teams to pivot confidently without compromise.
Raffles London sample room – Lighting by Northern Lights | Image credit: Northern Lights
In today’s hospitality environment, the most successful bedrooms are those where early testing and hands-on refinement are embedded in the design process. It enables designers to reconcile ambition with reality, ensuring that every subtle detail supports the guest experience.
By redefining what is possible in lead times and prototyping, Northern Lights is setting a new benchmark for how luxury lighting can be developed, approved, and delivered at pace – challenging norms and reshaping expectations in the industry.
Next in this series, we will explore how luxury hotel lighting can be delivered at pace without compromise, and why a programme-led, early-engagement approach is redefining how hospitality designers achieve their ambitions.
Read series part 1: The challenges of luxury hotel bedroom design
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Main image caption and credit: Raffles London – lighting by Northern Lights | John Athimaritis
