Choosing the best lamps for your hotel rooms is a combination of art and science.

On the one hand you want to give your guests adequate lighting. Few things turn guests off to repeat visits like having a room that always seems too dark, one where guests can’t quite get the light where they want it, which includes reading in bed at night.

And on the other hand, you want your rooms to have a certain appearance. “There’s a fine line between standing out and looking out of place,” as the Ledvance industry blog notes. “Statement lamps can create a great focal point for guests; however, it is important that they fit the overall design concept of a hotel.”

According to hotel lighting expert Heinrich Böhm, Senior Designer and Associate at JOI-Design cited in the Ledvance blog, “as well as being a design feature in themselves, lamps should also be used to highlight architectural or decorative aspects that give a hotel its individual flair or define its concept.”

The difficult things about selecting lamps for hotel rooms is summed up in Böhm’s observation of “one room, a multitude of purposes. Hotel room lighting needs to be bright enough to work, but also cozy enough to relax.”

The bottom line is that guests need sufficient fittings for their room, and according to Böhm, one of the most important fittings is a reading lamp.

Reading (or desk) lamps work best when they’re a combination of stylish in appearance and functional in use. Silver, white or black lamps fit most any room décor and LED models are state of the art these days.

Unless you’re going for a specific look, you probably want to avoid lamps with shades these days. They’re awkward to clean, need to be replaced more often, and just look… well, old. Stick with sleek aluminum LED lamps and it’s hard to go wrong.