Purpose This study, a critical reflection, aims to reimagine service aesthetics as a central organizing principle of hospitality. Rather than treating aesthetics as a superficial layer applied to service encounters, it conceptualizes aesthetics as a multisensory, affective and ethical infrastructure shaping how hospitality is performed and experienced. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on theories from emotional labor, dramaturgy, servicescape and experience design, this paper synthesizes perspectives from hospitality studies, critical design and aesthetic theory. It proposes a triadic framework of service aesthetics encompassing human expression, spatial orchestration and technological mediation while critically examining the role of automation in service environments. Findings Service aesthetics operates not only visually or atmospherically but through expressive bodies, spatial rhythms and digitally mediated environments. The study identifies three aesthetic layers: the performative labor of service workers; the sensory and symbolic design of physical space; and the algorithmic shaping of mood and interaction through technology. These layers jointly construct emotional resonance and social meaning while also creating risks of alienation and aesthetic inequality. Practical implications Hospitality organizations should treat aesthetics as a relational and ethical dimension of service design. This includes recognizing aesthetic labor, designing inclusive sensory environments and integrating technology that amplifies rather than erodes expressive human presence. Originality/value This paper advances a framework of aesthetic infrastructure in hospitality, reframing service environments as relational systems of human expression spatial design and technological mediation.
Heo et al. (Fri,) studied this question.