Communal tables for hotels

One long table down the middle of a breakfast room seats solo travelers side by side, without a scatter of two-tops. These 12 communal tables pair solid wood or wood tops with cast iron or steel bases, and four are sold as sets. Measure the length you can give the table first, with an aisle on both sides of it.

Length, guests and the aisle

Give every guest roughly two feet of edge, and never less than 18 inches. A table 96 inches long seats four a side at two feet each, eight in all, and five a side when guests sit close. Behind each chair, 18 to 24 inches of floor lets a guest push back and stand; beyond that, keep a 36-inch aisle so your team can clear plates with the room full. Draw it in a property plan before you commit to a length, because a long table is hard to move once the room is set around it.

Solid wood over iron and steel

Of the tops, ten are solid wood and two wood. Bases are cast iron on seven tables and steel on four. Solid wood shifts slightly through the year, a natural trait of the material, and the six-month warranty on solid wood tops does not reach that movement. Keep the table away from a heating vent or a door that opens onto the terrace all day. Shapes are mostly rectangular, with square, round and drop-leaf versions listed too.

Compare the solid wood butcher block table at $189 with the dining table set at $342. The first is where prices start; the range reaches $515.

Where a long table works in a hotel

A breakfast room at six, a lobby cafe at noon, a casual bar menu at night. The same table holds all three, and it gives a guest traveling alone a seat that does not feel like a table for one. At a conference hotel it also works as a working table between sessions, with laptops where the breakfast plates were an hour before. Set the chairs along it in one finish so the long line looks deliberate, and plan the pendant lights above it before the table arrives. Every table here is listed for indoor use; for the terrace, look at patio tables. For smaller pairings, see table sets and bar-height tables, or step back to the full tables department.