What Signage Does a Hotel Need? A Room-by-Room Guide
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A hotel needs signage in five areas: the entrance (opening hours, no-smoking, WiFi and review prompts, wayfinding), guest room doors (a double-sided Do Not Disturb hanger and a room number or name plate), corridors and shared spaces (WC, accessibility and deliveries signs), the restaurant and bar (allergen notice, payment method, no-smoking, table WiFi and review signs) and any spa or wellness area (treatment-in-progress and occupied/free hangers, facility name plates). Only two of those are legal requirements in England and Wales — no-smoking signs at entrances and allergen information where food is served; the rest are operational. This guide works through each area and which of our FSC-certified 4mm oak veneered MDF and FSC-certified Moso bamboo (certificate BV-COC-190523) signs fit. All are made to order in North Wales, with bulk discounts applied automatically per product from 20 units.
Quantities by room count are in the hotel fit-out planner; for cafés and restaurants see wooden hospitality signs: a practical guide.
Reception and entrance
- Opening hours sign — for any reception that is not staffed 24 hours. Check-in and check-out times, reception hours and an out-of-hours number. The custom opening hours sign comes in four sizes with your logo.
- WiFi QR code sign — a freestanding WiFi QR code sign (74×112mm or 115×168mm, single or double-sided) connects a phone to the network when scanned.
- Google review QR code sign — a small Google review QR sign on the desk asks at checkout. Our review signs page explains how to get the right link.
- No smoking sign — required at the entrances to smoke-free premises in England and Wales. The wall and door version replaces the standard plastic plate; see do I need a no-smoking sign? for the wording rules.
- Directional signs — arrows to the lift, stairs, restaurant and car park. Oak direction signs take any wording and arrow direction in four sizes.
Guest room doors
- Do Not Disturb door hanger — double-sided, with Do Not Disturb on one face and a housekeeping message on the other. Classic formats are 203×89mm or 210×89mm with a 51mm hole. Oak: Please Do Not Disturb / Please Clean (square top) or Do Not Disturb / Refresh & Renew (rounded top). Bamboo: classic horizontal in FSC-certified Moso bamboo (certificate BV-COC-190523). All take your logo. The full range by format is in the complete guide to hotel door hangers.
- Room number or room name plate — hotel and spa room signs are nameplate-format oak in four sizes from 200×50mm to 580×146mm, wall-mounted through pre-drilled holes or a plain back for your own adhesive pads.
Corridors and shared spaces
- Toilet and WC signs — oak toilet signs come in 14 layouts (men, women, accessible, combined, left and right arrows, or your own mix) and four sizes from 102×74mm to 270×190mm. The toilet and bathroom signs collection has the slim and circular formats too.
- Accessibility signs — hearing loop notices, step-free and accessible WC signs. See the accessibility signs collection and our guide to accessibility signs for businesses.
- Deliveries sign — a direction sign reading Deliveries with an arrow, at the service entrance.
Restaurant and bar
- Food allergy notice — a freestanding A4 or A5 allergy sign at the service point replaces the laminated sheet. The food allergy signs collection includes hanging and logo versions.
- Card payments only sign — if the bar is cashless, a freestanding card payments only sign at the till says so before guests order; can a UK business refuse cash? covers the legal position.
- No smoking or vaping table sign — a freestanding table version suits dining rooms where nothing can be fixed to the wall.
Spa, treatment rooms and wellness areas
- Treatment in progress hanger — the double-sided open-hook hanger (75×185mm) takes your wording on each face — Treatment in Progress / Please Come In is the usual pairing — and fits over lever handles without lifting the hanger off a knob.
- Occupied or In Use hanger — for changing rooms with no lock indicator: the In Use / Free double-sided hanger.
- Facility name plates — Sauna, Steam Room, Changing Rooms. The same hotel and spa room signs used for bedrooms keep every door in one finish. Our treatment in progress signs guide covers the wellness formats in detail.
Dog-friendly properties
Say so at the door with a dog-friendly open/closed sign, and set the rules with No Dogs on Furniture and No Dogs Upstairs signs. Our guide to dog-friendly signs has the wording options.
Materials, mounting and indoor use
Signs and hangers are laser-engraved into FSC-certified 4mm oak veneered MDF or FSC-certified Moso bamboo (certificate BV-COC-190523) — cut into the wood, with no print to fade. Hanging signs come with jute string; nameplates have pre-drilled holes or a plain back for your own adhesive pads; door hangers need no fixings. The hangers, signs and keyrings are wood with metal fittings only — no plastic — and orders are dispatched in a card envelope or corrugated box with paper tape and paper void fill, with no plastic packaging. All are for indoor use — a covered entrance is fine, an exposed wall is not.
Ordering for a property
Each product has its own logo upload and personalisation box, so room plates and hangers are two product lines. Bulk discounts apply automatically at checkout, with no code, and count units of the same product: 20 units 10%, 50 units 15%, 100 units 20%, 250 units 25%, 500 units 30%, 1,000 units 35%. All items are made to order. Dispatch time is shown at checkout. UK orders via Royal Mail Tracked 24. International via Royal Mail International Tracked.
Frequently asked questions
What signage does a hotel legally need?
In England and Wales, no-smoking signs at the entrances to smoke-free premises, and allergen information for every item of food served. Fire and safety signage is covered by separate regulations. Everything else — door hangers, room signs, WC, WiFi and review signs — is operational rather than statutory.
What is the standard size for a hotel door hanger?
Classic hangers are 203×89mm or 210×89mm with a 51mm hole, which fits most UK knobs and lever handles; compact formats are 89×144mm and 89×137mm. For large handles there is a 105×203mm hanger with a 70mm hole and a 75×185mm open hook.
Do hotels need a food allergy sign?
UK food businesses must provide allergen information for the 14 regulated allergens on everything they serve; Natasha's Law (October 2021) added full ingredient labelling for food prepacked for direct sale. A displayed notice asking guests to tell staff, with the information available on request, is how most venues meet the duty. See our food allergy signs guide.
Can wooden hotel signs be used outdoors?
They are for indoor use and sheltered positions such as a covered porch, not for sustained exposure to rain.
Do FSC-certified wooden signs count towards Green Key or Green Tourism?
Yes, as evidence of eco-labelled purchasing. FSC is a recognised eco-label. Green Key's hotel criteria include an imperative supplier-engagement criterion (13.4), a guideline for at least five purchased products arriving without plastic packaging (6.18) and eco-labelled refurbishment materials (9.5), and the 2026–2031 criteria make a written Sustainable Procurement Policy imperative; Green Tourism scores sustainable procurement in the same way. Keep the order confirmation as the purchasing record. See our guide to wooden signage as a sustainable alternative to plastic.
See the full range in the hotel and hospitality supplies collection, the hotel and hospitality signs collection and the hotel door hangers collection.