How to Choose the Best Balcony Planters for Your Hotel

A well-decorated balcony is an impressive perk for any hotel room, making your website and social page imagery even more enticing and providing guests with lush, secluded havens to relax in and enjoy. On the other hand, a balcony left to be battered by the elements is not only a massive missed opportunity, but it can also quickly become an eyesore.

Adding attractive foliage in pots and planters is the simplest and most cost-effective way to transform a drab and dingy balcony into a peaceful, leafy oasis. However, achieving this takes a little creative thinking, especially if you're working with a small space or an area often exposed to extreme weather. Continue reading this handy guide to discover which plants are best at surviving harsh climates, how to choose balcony planters that suit your decor, and more tips on using potted outdoor plants to elevate hotel rooms and maximize customer experience.

Choosing the Best Outdoor Planters for Your Hotel Balcony

From pots and troughs to hanging baskets and window boxes, fiberglass planters are lightweight, easy to move, and available in hundreds of different finishes making them an excellent option for adding blooming color and verdant foliage to outside areas.

To enlarge the space and create a sense of consistency, think of balconies as extensions of your hotel rooms and choose containers and patio furniture in a similar style and palette to the interior aesthetic. For example, if your establishment has a slick, contemporary theme, opt for angular planter boxes in monotone hues like white, black, gray, and metallics. Alternatively, choose rounded vases in popping on-brand colors for a young, energetic vibe.

Also, while it may seem logical to decorate a small space with small pots, this can make balconies feel cluttered and decrease their size further. Instead, go for a few bigger, well-positioned planters — or have them custom-made to the exact dimensions you require — and use hanging baskets to add height and visual interest to bland walls.

Common Balcony Gardening Problems and How to Solve Them

Although you don't have to worry about de-weeding and keeping lawns mowed like a traditional garden, balconies do have their challenges. The main three are:

• Safety — When decorating a hotel balcony, ensure there's enough drainage, planters attached to the railings are secured so they won't fall off, and you've spoken with a structural engineer about the amount of weight it can hold. The middle of a balcony is its weakest point, so place pots around the perimeter and the heaviest items close to load-bearing walls.
• Privacy — Nosey neighbors are the last thing your customers want when trying to relax on their vacations. One solution is to screen off your balconies using vine-covered trellises or planters filled with flourishing shrubs and hedges, providing a sense of seclusion and protection against wind, dust, and noise from the busy city streets below.
• Climate — To ensure the foliage you purchase thrives, first work out the balcony's altitude and the direction it faces. For those suntraps pointing south, sumptuous palm trees and ferns are ideal for shade, while Mediterranean plants such as bougainvillea and geraniums add vivid color and won't wilt in the heat. It's also wise to keep a few evergreens dotted about as these do well on cooler, shadowy balconies and continue to bloom throughout the year.

Best Plants for Growing in Balcony Planters

Luckily, there's a long list of hardy, low-maintenance greenery for you to grow in your balcony planters. Try using bamboo's tall, strong stature or gently swaying potted grasses to separate zones or block out unsightly views. Incorporate vines like clematis, honeysuckle, and jasmine for freshness and fragrance, or large-leaved tropical trees for year-round botanical beauty. Finally, add pop pansies, petunias, begonias, and other short-stemmed flowering bulbs in hanging planters for a brilliant array of seasonal brightness that can stand up against even the strongest gales.

Looking for the perfect balcony planters for your hotel? We have an extensive range of outdoor pots and planters made from high-quality fiberglass with anti-corrosive properties, so you can be confident they’ll easily withstand whatever the weather throws at them. Contact us on (855) 249-5084 or at sales@potsplantersandmore.com for more information.