2025 Design Trends: Creating Hospitality Spaces That Keep People Coming Back

In 2025, hospitality design is moving beyond aesthetics and into a new era defined by experience, emotion, and purpose. Customers aren’t just looking for beautiful venues - they’re seeking spaces that make them feel something. Whether it’s a neighbourhood café, hotel lobby, bar, or quick-service restaurant, hospitality interior design now plays a pivotal role in shaping how long people stay, how often they return, and how deeply they connect with a brand.

This year’s trends reflect a shift toward experience-first environments, sustainable thinking, multisensory touchpoints, and immersive brand storytelling. As a hospitality design and retail design agency, McCartney Design continues to design spaces that balance creativity with commercial outcomes - ensuring every project feels authentic, functional, and distinctly memorable.

Below, we explore what’s shaping the future of hospitality and commercial retail design - and how these trends can help you create spaces that keep guests coming back.

What are the top hospitality design trends for 2025?

The Return of Experience-First Design

In 2025, “experience-first” is no longer a catchphrase - it’s a measurable driver of customer engagement and loyalty. Rather than focusing solely on visual styling, leading hospitality brands are prioritising the entire sensory journey: how a space sounds, feels, flows, and invites people to settle in.

Key elements shaping experience-first spaces include:

• Layered lighting that transitions throughout the day, supporting mood and dwell time.

• Texture and materiality - soft upholstery, raw timbers, stone finishes, and warm metals that create tactile richness.

• Acoustic design that balances ambience with clarity, especially in busy cafés, hotel lobbies, and bars.

• Seamless spatial flow, guiding customers naturally through ordering, seating, and social zones.

At McCartney Design, this philosophy underpins every project: great hospitality interior design should feel effortless, intuitive, and uniquely aligned to the brand’s personality.

Sustainable and Sensory Spaces

Sustainability has shifted from a trend to an expectation. In 2025, operators and customers alike want venues that reflect responsible choices - without compromising on comfort or style.

Sustainable design considerations include:

• Responsibly sourced materials and low-VOC finishes

• Recycled or upcycled elements

• Energy-efficient lighting

• Durable materials that extend the lifecycle of the fit-out

• Thoughtful spatial planning to reduce waste

Parallel to this is the rise of sensory design in hospitality. Designers are increasingly using sensory cues to create memorable, emotionally resonant experiences:

• Scent to evoke comfort or freshness

• Soundscaping to match different dayparts

• Tactile finishes that add warmth and encourage people to “stay a little longer”

• Biophilic elements — natural light, greenery, organic textures - promoting wellbeing and connection

Together, sustainable design and sensory experience are elevating hospitality spaces from functional to deeply immersive.

Storytelling Through Design

In 2025, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in hospitality and retail interior design. Customers want to understand what makes a brand unique - and interiors are now a stage for expressing that identity.

Brand storytelling in interiors can be achieved through:

• Spatial layout that reflects the brand’s purpose or customer journey

• Custom signage and wayfinding

• Lighting design that highlights key elements

• Colour palettes tied to emotional associations

• Material choices that reinforce heritage, locality, or craft

How McCartney Design Brings Brand Stories to Life

• Drive Café BP – a project where functionality and brand expression meet in a fast-paced retail environment.

• Pappa Flock (Surfers Paradise) – a bold, fun and full-of-good-vibes venue where vibrant orange, street-art murals and thoughtful interior detail bring the brand to life.

These projects demonstrate how a clear narrative, executed through design, helps customers feel connected and engaged - ultimately driving loyalty.

What’s Next for Hospitality and Retail Interiors?

Looking beyond 2025, several themes are set to define the next wave of hospitality and retail design:

• Modular and flexible layouts that evolve as customer behaviours change

• Integrated technology, from digital ordering to ambient smart lighting

• Hybrid spaces that blend retail, hospitality, community, and productivity

• Design for speed and convenience, particularly in QSR and grab-and-go settings

• Personalisation at scale, using data and spatial cues to tailor experiences

As customer expectations continue to rise, brands will need environments that combine functionality with distinct personality - creating places people return to because they want to, not because they have to.

If you're planning your next venue, talk to our team about creating your next hospitality experience.

FAQs

What makes good hospitality interior design?

Good hospitality interior design creates a cohesive customer journey - blending layout, lighting, acoustics, sensory cues, and brand identity to shape how guests feel, move, and interact within the space.

What are the biggest hospitality design trends for 2025?

Experience-first design, sustainable materials, sensory immersion, and brand storytelling sit at the core of 2025’s biggest trends in hospitality.

Why is brand storytelling important in interiors?

Brand storytelling builds emotional connection. Through material choices, lighting, signage, and spatial flow, interiors can express what a business stands for - helping customers remember and return.