In these tough times, we can all use an excuse to celebrate. More than 150 hotel designers and operators did just that at the second HotelWorld Global Hospitality & Design Awards gala, held last month at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Creative, functional and inspiring design continues to play a key role in the hospitality industry. This year’s winners represent a wide range of concepts and segments. We also introduced a new category: best sustainable design.
We offer sincere thanks to two designers who graciously donated their time and talents to judge the contest: Jefferey Ornstein, founder, J/Brice Design International, and Dana Kalczak, VP, design and construction, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. Click here for a list of award finalists. For detailed source information on products featured in these projects, go to www.hotelworldnetwork.com/designawards. Congratulations, winners!
Hotel Europe
Killarney, Ireland
Design Firm: HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates Photography: Christoph Koester; Olaf Lummer
Hotel Europe grabbed the spotlight as the cover story in Hotel Design’s February issue, and yet again as it took home best overall design and best spa design. The redesign of the 1960s-style building by HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates was completed in July 2008 and encompassed the hotel’s public spaces, including the Crystal Bar, the restaurant Brasserie, the spa and a spa cafe, along with two suites and two model rooms. The design team brought elements from nature into the rooms, such as a neutral palette of grays, blues and greens and the use of wooden tree trunks fashioned into artwork, while they used vivid colors in the lobby, restaurant and spa. The lobby design carried over to the spa with an art installation of carved monolithic timber blocks spread along the floor. An 11-meter-high glass-enclosed atrium staircase stands impressively, while a central glass chandelier casts spirals of light. The two-level spa offers changing rooms and a fitness, kinesis and Tai Chi studio on the first floor and treatment rooms, an internal courtyard and a terraced suite on the second.
Encore at Wynn las Vegas
Las Vegas
Design Firm: ABA Design Studio Photography: Barbara Kraft Photography
In recent years, hotel design in Las Vegas has become the epitome of luxury—and the newest Wynn venture doesn’t disappoint. In designing the guestrooms and suites at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, Todd-Avery Lenahan of ABA Design Studio sought to achieve a comfortable yet fashionable guestroom.
Upon entrance, the corridor features ebony crocodile-textured walls and paneled ivory doors and leads to a spacious guestroom: Each room measures over 600 square feet and is designed as an open-plan suite, with a division between the bedroom and sitting room.
The guestroom palette uses lacquered ebony profiles, polished white sycamore millwork and houndstooth wallcoverings. In the living area, the suites feature cream leather and polished maple, which complement the large tuxedo-style sofa and chaise adjacent to the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. In the sleeping area, the draped headboard wall and polished sycamore casing are flanked by porcelain lamps set against a deep ruby wallcovering.
The bathroom’s Crema Europa limestone and polished Absolute Black contrasting details serve to complement the suite’s living area, while its architectural and decorative lighting is fully dimmable to serve the needs of the guest.
Each design detail was created by Lenahan specifically for Wynn and continues to further the legacy of Wynn Resorts worldwide.
Allerton Hotel
Chicago
Design Firm: Hager & Associates Photography: Nathan Kirkman
Set on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, the Allerton Hotel lives up to its locale’s name with its magnificent redesign. The renovation was a complete overhaul of the historic hotel’s 443 guestrooms, suites and public spaces, including the lobby, ballroom and restaurant/lounge.
With the redesign, Hager & Associates set out to merge the classical elements of the hotel with modern features, leaning more toward the modern side.
Inside the guestroom, a mix of curvilinear yet structured forms break from the cold feeling of a streamlined space, and the subtle carpet offers a contemporary platform for the furniture. Graphic fabrics in classic black and white shades are accented by punches of dusty blue to give the room a timeless glamour. The fusion of furniture and fabrics that exude both comfort and class offer guests a familiar yet unexpected feel.
For the hotel overall, designers aimed to create a design that would have a “sense of place” in Chicago and also render the hotel timeless and sophisticated.
Construction on the hotel, which is owned by Chartres Lodging, took place from November 2007-April 2008 and came in under its set budget of $10 million.
Cambria Suites
Appleton, Wis.
Design Firm: IDI+ and Cambria Suites design team Photography: Sean Leatherman and Vito Palmisano
As part of a newer brand on the block, the Cambria Suites Appleton (Wis.) by Choice Hotels International offers guests an upscale yet comforting decor. IDI+ and the Cambria Suites design team worked together to create the end product, which includes four different guestroom types.
Inside the guestroom, an angled entry opens up to a dramatic view of the entire guestroom and its mix of neutral patterns and textures, multiple wood finishes and the signature red/orange color scheme.
The designers’ biggest challenge was creating a distinctive, multifunctional suite in a limited amount of space—guestrooms range from 385 square feet for a king suite to 600 square feet for two-bedroom suites. To do this, the team designed the open grid millwork “wall” that sits atop a knee wall to create the separate living, working and sleeping areas.
The guest bath gives off a spa vibe, with a neutral, soothing palette of grays. A 6-inch-by-12-inch porcelain tile is used for flooring and shower surround, and a contrasting black base gives the room an element of surprise. To maximize the bath space, they incorporated a shelf under the vanity, a furniture piece and a three-tiered glass shelf next to the vanity. A custom vessel sink is yet another surprise and gives guests at this all-suite hotel a reason to say “wow.”
MGM Grand Macau
Macau, China
Design Firm: Wilson Associates Photography: MGM Grand
For the MGM Grand Macau, Wilson Associates were given one overarching design concept: Use references to traditional Portuguese detailing and style to reflect the region’s history as an old Portuguese colony.
To achieve this, the design firm incorporated elements from the castles and grand houses around Portugal, such as carved stone door architraves and window frames, stained-glass windows, carved marble, forged ironwork, special lighting and furnishings and courtyard mosaic floor patterns. They also used a blue tone from traditional Portuguese architecture throughout the hotel, particularly in the blue and white tiles and the blue stained-glass windows.
In the lobby, a gallery-like space showcases the work of global artists, including a hand-blown glass ceiling feature and reception counter backdrop paintings by Dale Chihuly. Also, the Salvador Dali Foundation provided a changing exhibit of limited edition Salvador Dali bronze statues as the centerpiece of the main reception area.
The Great Room and VIP Lobby especially reflect Portuguese style, with intricately designed marble floors inspired by the layouts of Portuguese knot gardens. The marble, onyx and all other stones throughout the hotel were personally selected by the design firm at stone quarries in Europe. The wooden parquet floor in the Great Room has inset metal details and varieties and tones of timbers, while hand-forged metal furniture and lighting also are seen here.
Hotel Murano
Tacoma, Wash.
Design Firm: Corso Staicoff Group Photography: (top) David Phelps (bottom) John Clark
After being commissioned to renovate what was once a weathered chain hotel and transform it into a sophisticated boutique property, Corso Staicoff’s design team looked to the flourishing local art community for influence.
The Chihuly Bridge of Glass, by Tacoma native Dale Chihuly, and the Tacoma Glass Museum have put the city’s name on the map, so the team decided to link the hotel to the community through that same use of glass art.
The hotel lobby was taken back to its original architecture to allow for a minimal and neutral backdrop for the art. The result was an exposed concrete structure with expansive architectural glass and high ceilings. It’s finished with a white terrazzo flooring, 16-foot ribbed black glass wall panels and warm gray and black wool carpeting.
The main entry enclosure and the window behind the lobby bar are made of stacked glass reminiscent of the exterior sculpture, a 104-foot piece by Greek artist Costas Varotsos, that welcomes guests to the glass art experience they are about to enter.
Other work by inernational glass artists is showcased as well in Corso Staicoff’s unique creation.
Hilton Garden Inn
Richardson, Texas
Design Firm: KLT Services Corp. Photography: Jay Brousseau
For this project, KLT Services Corp.’s Lisa Taylor offers a modern representation of Texas, leaving behind all the tired clichés.
The concept was used both in the exterior architecture as well as in the interior design. For example, the clean lines and Texas limestone used on the exterior are carried on throughout the hotel.
The harmonious palette of greens is accented with bursts of burnt orange, and a gallery atmosphere displays original contemporary Texas art with its neutral white columns and walls, pitched ceilings and subdued lighting.
The ambience of the gallery is continued throughout other areas of the hotel in the use of sculptural and functional décor. When guests walk into the property, they see the curved front desk in front of a massive Texas limestone wall. It is positioned to allow staff to serve guests and oversee the neighboring restaurant and bar areas.
The continuity of the palette and gallery concept is maintained in public corridors, prefunction spaces, meeting rooms and more.
The white walls only are interrupted by the occasional use of limestone and rift oak, which serve as the backdrop for the hometown art, including photographs of Texas icons and legends.
Wolfgang Puck’s cut
restaurant, the Palazzo
Las Vegas
Design Firm: ABA Design Studio Photography: Fred Licht
ABA Design Studio was challenged with bringing a modern and sophisticated approach to Cut’s clientele, who appreciate fine dining as well as fine design.
The restaurant delivers an environment rich in textures, including a basket-woven wool wall, honed limestone and custom walnut flooring. The romance of old, lamp-lit dining is accomplished through custom- designed fixtures. The dim lighting accomplishes an atmosphere that is relaxed while still intimate.
Leather seating, too, offers a balance between formal and subdued dining, while leather tabletops framed in brushed metal create an environment that is approachable while still bold, sophisticated and elegant.
A casual seating area off the main dining room offers a less formal option coupled with an energetic bar scene, while large parties may enjoy a private banquet room.
Wolfgang Puck’s cut
restaurant, the Palazzo
Las Vegas
Design Firm: ABA Design Studio Photography: Fred Licht
ABA Design Studio was challenged with bringing a modern and sophisticated approach to Cut’s clientele, who appreciate fine dining as well as fine design.
The restaurant delivers an environment rich in textures, including a basket-woven wool wall, honed limestone and custom walnut flooring. The romance of old, lamp-lit dining is accomplished through custom- designed fixtures. The dim lighting accomplishes an atmosphere that is relaxed while still intimate.
Leather seating, too, offers a balance between formal and subdued dining, while leather tabletops framed in brushed metal create an environment that is approachable while still bold, sophisticated and elegant.
A casual seating area off the main dining room offers a less formal option coupled with an energetic bar scene, while large parties may enjoy a private banquet room.
Cavallo Point, the lodge at golden gate
Sausalito, Calif.
Design Firm: BraytonHughes Design Studios Photography: David Wakely
This 19th century property was orginally a military base consisting of officers’ homes, barracks, a gym, chapel and even a hospital. Today, there are a total of 142 guestrooms, a restaurant and bar, meeting facilities and National Park offices.
Sitting at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, the property is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The site’s history served as inspiration for the project. Due to the combination of several building types, each public area building has its own style. The guest experience—from reception to guestroom to restaurant—incorporates elements of the cohesive whole, tied together with color, materials and art.
New buildings feature radiant heat flooring, denim insulation, recycled and sustainable woods, LEED-certified carpet and low-VOC paints.
