Hotel FF&E Lead Times: Model Room, PIP Dates & Phased Delivery

How long does custom hotel seating take?

Custom hotel seating typically takes 4–10 weeks to build, counted from approved shop drawings and receipt of your COM or COL, with a model room approved before the rollout begins. Where an order lands in that window depends on construction and quantity: two hundred matching guest-room chairs and a curved lobby banquette are different jobs.

Trend builds the custom-seating line of a hotel FF&E package: lobby, bar, and guest-room seating, benches, and upholstered headboards. Production is the part a factory controls; the rest of a hotel schedule sits on either side of it — the quote, the model room, approvals, fabric transit, freight, and the floors you take out of service. Each is covered below, in the order a project meets them. For single pieces and restaurant work, see custom furniture lead times.

Why the model room comes first

The model room comes first because every floor after it is built to the spec you approve there, so a change is made once, in one room, instead of across the property. We build the model-room pieces, you approve the exact build, and that approved spec rolls out floor by floor without drift.

The model room is also where scale problems show up cheaply. A chair that works in a mock-up can foul a bathroom door swing at scale, and a sectional has to make it through the service elevator and the door frames, so we confirm clearances on the shop drawings before production rather than on install day. The rollout’s 4–10 weeks are then counted the same way as any order: from approved shop drawings and fabric receipt.

What moves the 4–10 weeks

Five things decide where a hotel order lands inside the 4–10 weeks: approvals, COM and COL arrival, construction and detailing, quantity and phasing, and freight.

• Approvals. Shop-drawing sign-off and final material selection are the usual gating items, on the model room and again on the rollout. Nothing is cut until the drawings are approved.
• COM and COL arrival. Your fabric or leather has to arrive before upholstery begins, and a long-lead textile can be the critical path rather than the furniture. Order it once the yardage is confirmed on the shop drawings; the COM yardage chart has planning figures, such as 5–13 yards for an upholstered headboard.
• Construction and detailing. Heavily tufted, hand-tied, or show-wood pieces take more bench time than plain builds.
• Quantity and phasing. Large and multi-property runs are scheduled in coordinated phases, and repeat units off an approved spec usually move faster because the engineering is already done.
• Freight. Carton or palletized freight from Los Angeles is scheduled after inspection and added to the production window.

Working back from a PIP date

Plan hotel seating back from the date the rooms return to service: the quote, the model room, approvals, and fabric come before the 4–10 weeks of production, and delivery and installation come after it. A property improvement plan usually arrives as a list of soft seating to replace and a date the rooms come back, and that date is the one to plan against.

• Quote, about 2 business days. Send the PIP list or the brand standard with your designer’s spec, the quantities per floor, and the fabric. We quote each line.
• Model room. Built and approved first; every floor after it is built to that approved spec.
• Shop drawings and approval. Nothing is cut until you approve them.
• COM or COL transit. Your mill’s lead time runs in parallel and has to land before upholstery begins.
• Production, 4–10 weeks. From approved shop drawings and receipt of your COM or COL. Phased jobs are scheduled floor by floor, and your quote states the dates.
• Delivery and installation. We deliver and install nationwide, or ship freight to your site or receiver.

As general planning guidance for any custom order, a straightforward project started about three to four months before opening lands comfortably; large rollouts and long-lead textiles warrant more. Every quote includes a firm lead time against your actual date.

How phased delivery works

Phased delivery means production and delivery follow the floors you take out of service, so finished rooms come back in sequence instead of the whole order arriving at once. Tell us which floors come out of service and when, and the phases are agreed before production starts.

Every phase is built to the same approved drawings and finishes, so the last floor matches the model room. A mixed room count, such as kings and queens across a property, is quoted as one project with a firm production schedule rather than as separate orders. Public areas carry the new look first, since the lobby, the bar, and the restaurant are what guests see on the first day under a new name; your schedule decides which phase goes first.

Matching what stays

Seating that has to match a spec piece, a discontinued model, or furniture you are keeping is quoted from photos and sizes, then drawn for your approval before anything is cut. Send front, side, and back photos with the overall width, depth, and height, plus the seat height if you know it; custom to match covers the details. Headboards, benches, and desk chairs are matched to the casegoods you are keeping.

What purchasing teams should send

Send the PIP list or spec package, the quantities per floor, the COM or COL, the dates the rooms come back, and the delivery address, and a firm, itemized quote with the schedule comes back in about 2 business days. Purchasing agents and FF&E consultants can send the whole package: FF&E and procurement covers documentation, terms, and freight, and the RFQ template (Excel) has one row per item. Every piece is upholstered by hand in our Los Angeles factory and assembled in the USA.