Matterport Digital Twin Capture for the Omni Royal Hotel Renovation in New Orleans, LA
Project Description
The hospitality industry depends on accurate building documentation when planning renovations, upgrades, and property improvements. For large hotels with hundreds of guestrooms, gathering existing conditions data can be a complex process that requires careful coordination with hotel operations and guests. Scan Skunks recently completed a large-scale Matterport scanning project at the Omni Royal Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, where our team captured a comprehensive digital twin of the property to support an upcoming renovation effort.
The project involved documenting all 374 guestrooms throughout the hotel using Matterport technology. With a team of three experienced scanners working on-site for four days, Scan Skunks successfully captured detailed visual documentation of the existing conditions while minimizing disruptions to hotel staff and guests.
Located in the heart of New Orleans, the Omni Royal Hotel is a historic property with unique architectural characteristics that make renovation planning both exciting and challenging. Capturing accurate digital documentation of the guestrooms allows stakeholders to better understand existing room layouts, finishes, and conditions before construction activities begin.
Digital Twin Documentation for Hospitality Renovations
When preparing for a hotel renovation, owners, designers, and project managers need reliable information about existing conditions. Matterport technology provides an efficient way to create immersive digital twins that allow project teams to virtually walk through spaces from anywhere in the world.
For this project, Scan Skunks utilized Matterport cameras to capture every guestroom throughout the property. The resulting digital twin provides a visual record of room layouts, furniture placement, finishes, and existing conditions. This information can be valuable for renovation planning, budgeting, coordination meetings, and stakeholder communication.
It is important to note that the digital twin created for this project is not intended to replace traditional New Orleans as-built drawings , architectural surveys, or BIM modeling. Instead, the Matterport deliverable serves as a visual documentation tool that allows project teams to remotely review spaces and better understand existing conditions. When precise measurements, construction documentation, or design modeling are required, additional services such as LiDAR scanning, as-built drawings, or BIM modeling may be necessary.
Challenges of Scanning an Occupied New Orleans Hotel
One of the most significant challenges associated with this project was performing scanning activities within an actively operating hotel. Unlike vacant buildings or facilities undergoing construction, the Omni Royal Hotel continued normal operations throughout the documentation process.
The Scan Skunks team carefully coordinated scanning schedules to work around hotel guests and staff. Guest privacy and convenience remained a top priority throughout the project. Our technicians adjusted their workflow as needed to avoid occupied areas and minimize interruptions to the guest experience.
Capturing 374 guestrooms in just four days required efficient planning and execution. The team developed a strategic approach to room sequencing, floor progression, and daily production goals to ensure the project remained on schedule while maintaining quality standards.
Working within an occupied hospitality environment often requires flexibility. Guests may arrive unexpectedly, housekeeping schedules may shift, and rooms can become unavailable without notice. Our team remained adaptable throughout the project, adjusting routes and scanning priorities as circumstances changed.
Off-Hours Scanning to Reduce Disruptions
Another challenge involved conducting portions of the scanning work during off-hours. Hotels operate around the clock, and certain areas experience higher levels of activity during specific times of the day.
To minimize disruptions and maximize productivity, Scan Skunks coordinated scanning efforts during periods when guest activity was lower. Early morning and evening work allowed our team to access rooms and circulation areas more efficiently while reducing the likelihood of interference from hotel operations.
This flexible scheduling approach helped ensure the project could be completed within the aggressive four-day timeline while maintaining the high-quality standards expected by the project stakeholders.
Addressing Building Alignment Variations
Building alignment challenges were another notable aspect of the project. Older hospitality properties often contain slight shifts in walls, corridors, floor elevations, and room configurations due to original construction methods, renovations, and building settlement over time.
These variations can create complexities when documenting spaces and organizing large quantities of scan data. The Scan Skunks team carefully managed data collection procedures to ensure consistent coverage throughout all guestrooms.
Our experience working in hospitality environments allowed us to efficiently navigate these alignment challenges while maintaining accurate visual documentation across the entire property. The resulting digital twin provides project stakeholders with a valuable resource for understanding room configurations and existing conditions throughout the hotel. Designers, ownership groups, construction managers, and consultants can use the virtual walkthrough environment to review spaces remotely and make more informed planning decisions before renovation activities begin.
Efficient Large-Scale Matterport Capture
Successfully documenting hundreds of hotel guestrooms within a limited schedule requires both experience and manpower. For this project, Scan Skunks deployed a three-person scanning team capable of working simultaneously across multiple floors and room groupings.
This collaborative approach significantly increased productivity while maintaining consistency across the entire dataset. By leveraging proven workflows and extensive hospitality documentation experience, the team completed the capture of guestrooms in just four days.
Large-scale New Orleans hospitality scanning projects require more than simply operating cameras. Effective planning, coordination, quality control, data management, and communication all contribute to a successful outcome. Scan Skunks' experience with hotel documentation projects allowed the team to efficiently navigate these requirements while delivering a comprehensive digital twin solution for the Omni Royal Hotel renovation team.