Tuesday, 05 February 2008 |
When you tire of the endless sandy beaches and azure waters of warm
climates, but you are not quite ready for space travel, head to Lapland
for a dramatic, mystical getaway. The snow igloos that pop up each
winter to complement the 20 spectacular glass igloos and 31 luxury log
cabins at Kakslauttanen resort in Saariselkä, Finland, are definitely cool in all meanings of the word.
You can lie in your bed under the glass ceiling of your glass igloo,
cozily covered by thick down duvets, and watch the snow fall gently in
the light-blue air of the endless night. It is surreal and magical. You
actually do forget that it is cold and, in fact, you are not cold. The
duvets and clothing provided ensure that you are really feeling cozy.
There is also a snow chapel, the world’s largest snow restaurant for
150 people, a Finnish traditional smoke sauna, an eight-meter-tall
glass tepee (designed to resemble the typical Lapp tepee called kota)
for cocktail parties under the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights,
revontulet in Finnish), and a honeymoon suite or two. You guessed, it,
this place is hugely popular for fairytale winter weddings.
Snowmobile safaris, ice swimming and other frisky activities will keep
you and your guests entertained for days! You can start your Finnish
lessons with Hyvää päivää, which means hello, or literally, “have a
good day.” By Tuija Seipell
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Wednesday, 30 January 2008 |
Since 1991, San Francisco-native Jeanie Fuji has acted as the
traditional Japanese okami (land lady or female inn keeper) of the Fujiya
Ryokan (traditional wooden inn) in the Ginzan Onsen (hot springs) area.
That year, she married Fuji Atsushi, the son and heir of the
350-year-old inn and started her rigorous training under her
mother-in-law in the art of serving customers, true Japanese style.
This included preparing all meals, washing the dishes and cleaning all
rooms. The goal was to make sure every need of every customer was
anticipated and met following the age-old inn tradition of providing
the right amount of service at the right time.
Fuji describes the types of things she had to learn. “Sliding a fusuma
door open and shut, greeting guests, bringing them meals on small o-zen
tables... everything has to be done a certain way, following the old
traditions. And I had to learn how to talk with the guests using
polite, formal Japanese. I often wanted to give up and go home to the
United States. But now I love my work here,” she says in a Japanese
publication.
By the time she had a good decade of experience behind her, Fuji had
gained a celebrity okami status that she modestly and reluctantly
dismisses. By 2004, she and her husband hired Tokyo-based celebrity
architect Kengo Kuma to raise the personal service of the inn to even
higher level. Kuma overtook a complete remodelling of the inn that
reopened in July 2006. Kuma is behind many well-known buildings,
including the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey headquarters in Tokyo.
The capacity of the thoroughly wooden, three-story Fujiya Inn
was reduced to only eight rooms with full capacity at 16 persons.
Considering the location of the inn, right in the middle of a
relatively remote rural area known for its hot springs and natural
beauty, the level of luxury in the inn is astonishing.
Kuma has been able to combine traditional Japanese simplicity with
international tastes and needs, yet avoided the dumbed-down,
westernized version of Japanese style. In fact, Fuji has written an
autobiography on this subject Nipponjin ni wa, Nihon ga Tarinai
(Japanese people are not Japanese enough), in which she emphasizes that
it is important for modern Japanese to recognize and re-claim the value
of their own millennia-old customs and history.
At Fujiya Inn, you feel that you are part of an ancient, authentic and
almost organic history that seems to be seeping through every seam and
screen here. Many aspects contribute to this effect. One is Kuma’s
brilliant use of layers, screens as thin as veils, to both hide and
reveal space. The omnipresent samushiko bamboo screens by craft master
Hideo Nakata (no, he’s not the horror-movie director) and his son
required 1.2 million four-millimetre-wide strips of bamboo. Green
stained-glass panes by Masato Shida and the prolific use of the
handmade, richly textured Echizen Japanese paper add to the feeling of
lightness and transparency.
The organic, natural quotient of the inn is also boosted by the baths
and the hand-prepared, fresh food. The inn has five beautiful private
hot springs baths including an open-air bath on the top floor. The food
is based on a regular washoku (Japanese cuisine) menu and features many
edible plants and other local ingredients. Fuji’s favourites include
the sansai, mountain vegetables, including kogomi (ostrich fern
fiddleheads) and urui (plantain lily petioles.) The only exception to
this local-only rule is Cafe Wisteria (English for fuji), open only in
the summer months, and offering international coffees and cakes.
To get to the Fujiya Inn, take the 3.5-hour trip on the Yamagata Bullet
Train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo and then get a bus to the hot springs. Or
fly from Tokyo to the Yamagata airport and arrange for a pick up by the
inn. By Tuija Seipell
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Friday, 18 January 2008 |
Opened just a few days ago by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the new
VIP centre at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport could potentially resurrect
your impressions of airline travel as something to look forward to.
However, the centre - also called the Royal Centre - is only open to
Royalty, Ministers and state secretaries, diplomats, trade delegations
and top directors in international business. So, unless you qualify,
you'll need to just suffer the regular airport torture.
The new space has already become the pride and joy of Dutch design.
Overall design of the space is by Amsterdam-based concrete architectural associates bv, known for a huge number cool retail,
hospitality, entertainment and exhibition environments around the world.
Schiphol's new VIP-centre replaces an old, much smaller VIP area. The
new centre contains a separate Royal Lounge for members of the Royal
Family, a press centre, a Company Lounge, plus various reception and
meeting rooms. The Royal Lounge is an enormous living room with lounge
sofas, and Royal Family pictures on the bookshelves. The wall paper in
the room is created from 5,500 mini reproductions of the national coat
of arms. By Tuija Seipell
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Monday, 14 January 2008 |
China’s first carbon-neutral hotel, the hip 26-room URBN Hotel Shanghai,
will officially open this spring. Conceived by owners Scott Barrack and
Jules Kwan, URBN promises to be the start of a new boutique hotel
empire.
No strangers to luxury developments or to China where they have lived
for 10 years, the two plan to open another 20 URBN hotels in China in
the next three years, starting with Beijing, Hangzhou, Dalian and
Suzhou. The hoteliers will go as green as possible by rehabilitating
existing structures, using recycled materials, maximizing green space
and introducing eco-friendly solutions.
Beyond co-founding boutique real estate investment and development company Space Development with Kwan, the California native Barrack has established several property companies in China, including Space International specializing in luxury French Concession district properties, and Inn Shangha,
the city’s first serviced boutique apartment complex. Sydney,
Australia-born and raised Kwan is an alternative media and property
development expert.
The partners have a unique, personal perspective on what works and what
doesn’t for a luxury traveler in China. To give visitors a true
Shanghainese urban experience — something they felt was missing — they
invited international Shanghai-based collaborators with similar
sensibilities to convert a 1970s post office building to the stylish
URBN Hotel Shanghai. The result is an impressive fusion of contemporary
and Chinese design.
URBN’s spatial concept, interior and facade design are by A00 Architecture,
a partnership of three Canadian architects, best known for conversions
of Shanghai’s historic houses into unique residences. The hotel’s
interior designer is Brazil native architect, Tais Cabral, known for
her commercial, cultural, residential and retail work in Paris, as well
as her furniture design. By Tuija Seipell
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Wednesday, 31 October 2007 |
We really do take swimming pools for granted. Lounging poolside at the
hotel, swimming a few laps at the health club, or dipping into the
Jacuzzi at the spa — we are used to pools but we want them fabulous.
Scary-blue tubs with tepid, chlorinated water just don’t do it.
Right now, we are hunting for the best and most amazing hotel swimming
pools in the world and we’d like you to help us. Please let us know
where your favorite, cool pool is. (
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)
While you are at it, you might be interested in some history of the
pool. Bathing pools, of course, predate swimming pools, and we have all
heard of the lavish and sophisticated ancient baths. But the swimming
pool has a long history, too, dating back to ancient times.
Already in 2500 B.C., Egyptians knew swimming as an organized activity
and depictions of swimming from India are equally old. Ancient Romans
constructed artificial pools for athletic training, nautical games and
military exercises. Swimming was also part of boys’ education.
Extravagant swimming pools with live fish entertained Roman emperors,
and gave the pool its Latin name piscina. Ancient Greeks did not
include swimming in their early Olympic games but they did practice the
sport and built swimming pools as part of their baths. The first heated
swimming pool was built in Rome in the first century BC.
England’s first indoor swimming pool, the 40-foot-long Bagnio in Lemon
Street, Goodman's Fields in London, opened in 1742. King Ludwig II of
Bavaria built the first-ever wave pool with electrically heated water
and light, in his Linderhof castle in 1879.
In the U.S. the earliest public swimming pools were small indoor pools
built with the intention of encouraging better hygiene among the poor.
By the 1920s, the American public pool had become a large public place
of amusement and recreation for thousands at a time. Home swimming
pools became popular in the U.S. after WWII and Hollywood films made
the backyard pool an important status symbol.
All of this historical stuff is really rather exhausting when all we
really want is serious pleasure – superior amenities, spectacular
views, impeccable details, breath-taking eye candy. Let us know where
such pools are, so that we can let the rest of the world know, too. By
Tuija Seipell
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Monday, 20 August 2007 |
Berlin is one of only three UNESCO Creative Cities and it has a distinctive and strong creative subculture.
But it takes a while for the cool aspects to become apparent because
Berlin is not a city with instant sex appeal like Paris or Rome. And
don’t try to do anything before 11am - the place is dead till then.
Luckily,
we knew where the action is. In Berlin, it is in the Mitte district (German
for middle or center), a historic district formerly part of East
Berlin. Now, it is somewhat edgier than SOHO but also similar with its
refurbished buildings, one-of-a-kind designer fashion shops, cafes,
bakeries, restaurants, bars, art galleries, studios and an overall
creative vibe that attracts the city’s designers, architects,
photographers and artists. Mitte is also the historical heart of Berlin
with most of the main sights and many media companies within its
borders.
In Mitte, we stayed at Lux 11.
Lux 11’s name gives a nod to Rosa Luxemburg, the German champion of
socialist causes, after whom the street is also named. The hotel name
also refers to luxury and light (lux is light in Latin).
Lux 11
is a chic 72-room apartment hotel opened in 2005 in a renovated
building that started as a stately residences in the late 19th century.
It was later converted to an office building from which the KGB was
apparently in direct contact with Moscow during the Cold War. We don’t
know if this is true but we like the story.
The hotel concept and interior are by London-based architects Giuliana Salmaso and Claudio Silvestrin.
They‘ve managed to create an environment that combines a clean,
minimalist and practical style with an abundance of tactile and sensual
details, white walls, natural wood, concrete in China green, curtains
in leather, upholstery in rough canvas.
We liked the simplicity – no
frilly things to annoy you, no boring sets of matching bedding and
window treatments. We also liked the little kitchen (the hotel buffet
breakfast did not appeal) which we stocked at Bio Organic Supermarket a
block away on Dircksenstrasse. We found the best coffee at Buscaglione
on Rochstrasse (1 Block away) and the best soup at Kultur (opposite hotel).
What You'll Love: Location, location, location. Mitte is where its all at.
What You Wont: No air conditioning, lifeless pillows. Expensive internet access (12 Euro for 5 hrs)
Alternative Hotel - Hotel De Rome
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Thursday, 26 July 2007 |
The most fabulous example of a hotel combining drama, surprise, luxury and comfort is hiding in the heart of the historical, artistic and night-club haven of Montmartre in Paris. Opened in June 2007, the restored aristocratic mansion The Hotel Particulier de Montmartre has definitely decided to grow up. The two masterminds behind the project are Morgane Rousseau and Frédéric Comtet who with the help of Mathieu Paillard have managed to mix art and comfort brilliantly in their unusual hotel.
The owners commissioned well known artists, designers, sculptors and architects to create an intimate five-room enclave of exceptional atmosphere and charm.
One of the distinctive rooms is the “vegetable room” designed by New York-born, Paris-based contemporary artist Martine Aballéa. With her interpretation, she wishes to evoke hanging gardens, trees and the play of sunlight and shadow. The other artists involved in creating one of the compact private suites are photo artist Natacha Lesueur (room theme: Curtain of hair), painter Philippe Mayaux (Window), fashion and textile curator Olivier Saillard (Poems and hats) and illustrator and creative director Pierre Fichefeux (Tree with ears).
Finland-born Mats Haglund of Chanel, Colette and Paul & Joe boutique fame, created the private living room. He used the personality of the proprietors as his starting point and furnished the salon with originals of classics by Arne Jacobsen, Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto.
From every window, residents can view the luscious and intimate garden created by Louis Bénech, one of the landscape designers responsible for revitalizing the world-renown Tuileries Gardens.
With that much artistic and design cache, The Hotel Particulier de Montmartre will not have difficulty attracting a clientele. But to get there, you must leave the nightclubs of Montmartre, start thinking like former Montmartre residents Salvador Dalí, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh, and locate the secret alleyway between l’avenue Junot and la rue Lepic. Continue to the Sorcerer’s Stone and pray that the iron gates will open for you. By Tuija Seipell
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Monday, 16 July 2007 |
Unlike the tourist-tainted landscapes of neighbouring of Cancun and other Caribbean resorts; Santorini, Greece provides a seemingly untouched backdrop of white hills, red beaches and blue seas.
A gem of Santorini, the Ikies Traditional Houses, sits high atop the archipelago of islands in the village of Oia (pronounced E-ah). Ikies houses are divided into studios (one bedroom), maisonettes (loft bedroom), and suites. Each lodging has its own intriguing name – presumably derived from local occupations – such as artisan, boatman, collector and antiquarian.
The eleven luxury dwellings are carved out of pumice and designed to blend in with the surrounding architecture – hence “traditional houses”. The theme of bright white with a highlight of blue windows, roofs and shutters create a mesmerizing effect when pared with the Aegean’s cerulean waters and red clay cliffs.
Ikies makes brilliant use of their surroundings by perching their apartments on these cliffs, and expanding the space even further with private patios, Jacuzzis and pools, all of which are carefully crafted for viewing of Oia’s famous sunsets.
Beyond the intricately detailed infrastructure, Ikies has become renowned for its obsession with service. One satisfied review read, “Their staff lives for nothing more than to refill your cocktail.” Continental breakfast, light fare and cocktails are all served to your room (or terrace or pool area). For the romantically-inclined, Ikies also offers a full service honeymoon package, with champagne breakfasts, flowers, satin sheets and the works.
With its full-service amentities and incomparable landscape, Ikies is a prime example of what this region has to offer. Stay tuned to Coolhunter to learn the ins and outs of the best places to vacation in Santorini, Mykonos, and Athens as we will be reporting live in September. By L. Harper
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Monday, 09 July 2007 |
Do & Co Hotel is located in Vienna’s District 1, on the pedestrian-only
Stephansplatz, right in the middle of the most historic part of this
mindbogglingly historic city. The hotel of 41 luxurious rooms and two
suites opened in May on the sixth floor of the famous, glass-walled
Haas Haus building, but it is the view that really takes your breath
away. What you see from the Haus is a straight-on, full-size, real-life
panorama of St. Stephen's Cathedral – Stephansdom -- that has defined
Vienna since 1147 AD. It is the sound of this Cathedral’s massive
Pummerin (big bell) that announces the official arrival of the New Year
in Austria.
The original Haas Haus building was a furniture and interior decor
store, Philipp Haas & Sons. Several reconstructions later, the
grand-daddy of modern Austrian architecture, Pritzker prize winner Hans
Hollein, designed the
current glass-steel-concrete structure. It opened in 1990 with notable
disapproval by traditionalists. Hollein was also behind the latest
upgrade that included the Do & Co hotel.
Do & Co, the hotel’s holding company, is known worldwide for its
first-class airline and event catering business and its Do & Co
Restaurants and Cafes. In the Haas Haus, it operates also Vienna’s hot
spot, the ONYX Bar (pictured above) on the 6th floor, and Do & Co Restaurant (7th
floor), plus luxurious event space on the 8th and 9th floors with
amazing views over Vienna.
The heritage of the company’s Istanbul–born founder and majority
shareholder, Attila Dogudan, is reflected in the colorful touches
interspersed in the Do & Co hotel interior by Amsterdam-based FG
Stijl. The firm’s
partners, British Colin Finnegan and Dutch Gerard Glintmeijer, have
managed to unite Dogudan’s Turkish heritage and Vienna’s prissy past
with understated modern luxury. Your room will come equipped with Kilim
bedspreads, chocolates from Viennese confectionary institution Demel
(also owned by Do & Co), and a Bang & Olufsen flat screen TV.
By Tuija Seipell
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007 |
You have to really want to get to the Isle of Jura in the Inner Hebrides on the west coast of
Scotland. Even the ever-optimistic PR people admit that “there is no
quick way to get there.” The fastest way from London takes up a day and
involves two planes and a ferry. George Orwell, who wrote 1984 here,
described Jura fittingly as "an extremely un-getable place."
Those who show up have always had a reason. Mostly it has been the lack
of people (180 in total), the abundance of deer (3,000 or 5,000
depending on whose numbers you believe) or the quality of whisky.
Jura’s single malts have been famous from 1810 on and whisky
aficionados know all about its 10-year-old, 16-year-old and 21-year-old
single malts, and JURA Superstition.
While all are perfectly good reasons, we are drawn to Jura by the Jura
Lodge, opened in late 2006 in the old head distiller’s house next to
the award-winning whisky distillery. Step into this magical lodge of
five bedrooms and you are not quite sure if you should dress up as
Marie Antoinette for the bath, as your Swedish uncle Sven-Olof for the
sitting area, or for an upper-crust summering Hamptonian for the
sleeping area. Whomever you decide to reside as, you will love the
eclectic interiors of the Paris-based American multi-tasker Bambi Sloan.
She has managed to capture both the corniness and magnificence of the
entire Isle with its Viking heritage, ever-present sea, the silence and
the deer. The overall feel is a strangely harmonious and comfortable
mix of Nordic folklore and somewhat threadbare luxury. The rooms are
large, like enormous, leisurely bathrooms with a bed and a sitting
area. The details are exquisite, appropriate and often humorous. A
chair made entirely of dee antlers. A typewriter (do you know what
that is?) that uses real physical strength, not electrical power.
White, lacy, crochet-edged drapery. The public areas include a music
room for playing cards and taking a nap and a huge kitchen to share
meals, cook together and swap stories.
Sloan says that she is horrified of “anonymous luxury hotels’ and
instead defines luxury as a return to the simple pleasures in life,
bathing while viewing the sea, eating locally caught seafood, hiking
the moors. We must agree.
The lodge is for rent only as a whole from £1500 a week and £1000 for a
long weekend (Fri – Mon). These fees mean that you either cook yourself
or bring your own chef, but for a fee Jura can arrange for a chef, too.
By Tuija Seipel
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Wednesday, 06 June 2007 |
To categorize the new Indigo Patagonia hotel and spa in Puerto Natales, Chile, as a cool place is to make use of the word cool in both its old and new meaning.
The old cool — as in somewhat coldish, refreshingly chilly — is a
fitting description of the six-storey, 28-room block of a building. It
is also a perfectly appropriate way for the hotel to be here in the
middle of Patagonia’s fresh magnificence.
In the new main hotel building, Chile’s favorite modern architect Sebastian Irarrázaval has
managed to encase a balance between understated Northern European
luxury and a straight-forward humility toward the surrounding
environment.
Indigo is not a product of indulgent architecture that attempts to take
over the scenery. It is an honest, almost college-dormish building that
fits in its place as if it had always been there while also standing
out as something one wants to explore. That has also been the appeal of
Patagonia to adventurers, mountaineers, kayakers, trekkers and
nature-lovers for decades. With its ancient ice fields older than time
itself, fjords deeper than anyone can fathom, air and sky clearer than
seems natural, and vistas more humbling than you can be prepared for,
Patagonia makes you feel a bit like an intruder and yet you are unable
to resist its lure.
At Indigo, the new cool is evident both outside and in. The red
corrugated-metal facade sports huge white lettering that indicates the
various floors and spells out “indigo.” This creates an almost
surreal effect, as if the facade were a fake prop onto which the
lettering is being magically projected. All the while, the building
looks way more industrial than residential.
Inside, touches of luxury and attention to detail are everywhere. From
the natural materials — wood, basketry, cotton and linen — to the
neutral color palette and ever-present vast windows, everything helps
you ease into the main attraction of Patagonia: the natural world.
The new Indigo Patagonia hotel is a fusion of the three owner’s ideas.
Climber and publicist Hernán Jofré’s brought along his love of nature,
chemical engineer Ana Ibañez contributed impeccable taste (we can thank
him for the elegance of the interior), and Olivier Potart added vision
and fantasy. The Chilean, Spaniard and Frenchman dreamt up the concept
of the new hotel and converted the eight-year-old original Concepto
Indigo hotel into the new hotel’s restaurant. The two buildings now
cozy up to each other spectacularly unmatching yet happily at home
as part of the town’s low and semi-vacant skyline.
Perhaps it was the owners’ international backgrounds that affected
Indigo Patagonia’s particular mix of mountain chalet and safari hut and
then balanced it harmoniously and meticulously by the over-arching
touch of northern calm. The rooms exude comfort and simplicity and the
large windows everywhere let you see where you are.
Nowhere is it more evident that you are in the lap of luxury and rather
close to heaven, than in the top-floor spa. The sauna and two massage
rooms are great, but soaking in one of the three outdoor Jacuzzis
overlooking Fiordo Última Esperanza (Fjord of Last Hope) when you
really know you’ve found bliss.
The town of Puerto Natales (pop. 18,000) in the province of
Última Esperanza is on the mainland but connected to the sea by
channels. You can get there, for example, by taking one of the daily
flights from Santiago de Chile to Punta Arenas and then driving 250 km
to Puerto Natales. The area is best known for the Perito Moreno
glacier, Fiordo Última Esperanza, and for Torres del Paine
National Park that is on the UNESCO world heritage site tentative list. By Tuija Seipell
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Tuesday, 22 May 2007 |
Aqua Dome
is a 140-room, four-star-plus hotel and spa complex in Tirol Therme
Längenfeld, the Tyrolean Alps in Austria. The altitude must have had an
effect on the planners and designers because the place is out-of-this
world heavenly.
The services are impressive and the facilities absolutely beautiful
although somewhat counterproductively named with words too difficult to
pronounce unless you speak German. The dome-ceilinged, glass-walled
thermal spring hall Ursprung (Origins) is the main indoor area with two
pools and a huge waterfall. From there, you swim via two canal pools to
the amazing outdoor area, Talfrische (Freshness Valley). With its
illuminated structures and steaming vessels it resembles the
potion-making lab of a gigantic but friendly sorcerer. The two canals
lead to a cone-shaped illuminated tower. From there you proceed to the
three bowl pools that look like gigantic martini glasses. Bobbing in
one of these eight-metre-high bowls that are 12 to 16 meters in
diameter, you can gaze upon the Alps and contemplate your good fortune.
The beauty center and spa are known as Morgentau (Morning Dew), the
rest room (not a bathroom but a room for rest) is called Besinnung
(Reflection) and the view terrace is called Umsicht (View).
Gletscherglühen (Glowing Glacier) is the impressive “sauna world” with
various Finnish saunas from earth lodge and hay sauna to a loft sauna,
a steam cathedral, a salt water (they call it brine) grotto, herbal
bath, ice pool and a panorama whirlpool. The fitness center called
Gipfelsturm (Peak Push), the kids’ area called Alpen Arche Noah (Alpine
Noah’s Ark), the medical center (Medalp 4health) plus several
restaurants ensure that everyone’s needs are met.
Aqua Dome is one of the six VAMED Vitality World resorts, all located in Austria.
What also impressed us about Aqua Dome are its architecture and its
surroundings. Aqua Dome is located about 70 kilometers from Innsbruck
and 180 kilometers from Munich in Längenfeld in the heart of the beautiful 67-kilometre-long Tirolean Ötztal valley
known as a thermal springs area since the 16th century. Aqua Dome’s
3000-year-old, 40-degree Celsius sodium-chloride-sulphate-sulphur
thermal waters flow from this ancient valley.
The Aqua Dome is Austria’s largest tourism project of recent years. It
has revitalized tourism in the entire area, long known for fabulous
hiking, skiing, mountaineering and white water rafting.
We don’t know about you, but we’ll climb a mountain or two any day if
the reward is a warm evening spent in one of Aqua Dome’s misty martini
glasses. By Tuija Seipell
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Tuesday, 15 May 2007 |
Qantas is set to dramatically up its luxury quotient next week when it
opens the doors to its glamorous new first class lounges in Sydney and
Melbourne international airports.
Designed by Marc Newson (who’s designed everything from airplanes to
bags), the lounge, which is rumoured to have cost $20 million, boasts
features usually seen only in super-luxe designer hotels.
We’re talking a food menu put together by fine dining king Neil Perry;
a full concierge service; a day spa (yes, day spa) where 1st classers
can indulge in facials and massages for free; individual marble lined
shower suites stocked with Payot cosmetics and Kevin Murphy hair
products; a library stocked with best selling books, magazines,
newspapers and board games; and an ‘entertainment zone’ with plasma TVs
and Sony play stations. Oh, and if you care to do some work in
the midst of all that luxuriating there are fully equipped workstations
with internet access.
“The services offered in our new lounges will be equal to those found
in the world’s best five star hotels and restaurants,” boasts Qantas's
GM John Borghetti. “For example, the concierge service will help
customers book a restaurant in any city around the world or get tickets
to the latest Broadway musical.”
It’s practically done away with the need for a hotel. The only things
missing are king sized beds with Egyptian cotton sheets. First class
really is the only way to fly.
In an interesting side note Qantas has also commissioned uber designer
Newson to design its new, much anticipated A380, set to be the biggest
passenger plane in the world. With Newson’s reputation we can only
imagine what it’ll look like – something like an Ian Schrager hotel we
expect. By Laura Demasi
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Thursday, 03 May 2007 |
Melbourne’s Royce Hotel, housed in a former Rolls-Royce showroom, has
being overhauled by design firm SJB Architects and Interior Design. The
multi-million upgrade includes a refurbishment of most original rooms
and two brand-new floors with 29 new rooms and suites. It is a case of
out with the terracotta, moss green carpets and faux armoires -
in with Isernia limestone, moody Vistosi lighting and flatscreens.
SJB has created a collection of seven types of conservative,
contemporary suites, all with a sense of drama, privacy and calm. The
Royal Suites come with four-poster beds and curved modular lounges.
Most suites have extended king-sized beds with faux leather headboards.
Bedding includes duvets, crisp white linens, down pillows and soft
cushions. Room layouts are intelligent with a sensible use of space and
the touch lighting has myriad settings for just the right mood. There
is plenty of seating; chaises, ottomans, desk chairs and even little
round tables, an ample work area and broadband access from the bed as
well as the desk – hallelujah. The marble bathrooms feature a deep spa
bath with its own flatscreen television, separate shower and WC.
Although not expansive, these bathrooms would have to be contender for
best boutique bathroom in the city. Several junior executive suites
come with views over Barry Humphries’ (aka Dame Edna’s) grammar school,
the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Shrine of Remembrance.
Although the main public areas, restaurant Dish and Amberoom bar of the
hotel have been revamped, the refurbishment has a way to go. The glam
lobby aesthetic of animal skins, chandeliers and quirky chair
collection is almost ruined by a glass cabinet displaying polo shirts
and travel brochures, standard rooms are still awaiting their
makeovers. However, in the right suite, the Royce Hotel experience at
$215-315 per night offers serious value, right on the edge of the CBD
in South Yarra close to some of the city’s best shopping, restaurants
and gardens. The trick is, make sure you don’t book a standard room,
insist on a room on the fifth or sixth floor, or a suite on the lower
levels. By Emily Ross
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Thursday, 12 April 2007 |
My first thought when asked to review a ‘boutique’ hotel, was something
along the lines of ‘God help me’. It seems this new breed of
hotel was designed purely for city boys and city girls to pour money
into for the duration of yet another pointless business trip.
Overpriced, understaffed, and all because people want a kooky carpet in
every room.
So it was with a strange recalcitrance that I walked into London’s
Zetter hotel for my Sunday night stay. The former 19th century
warehouse sits on the Clerkenwell Road amidst design houses and
refurbished blocks in the increasingly trendy Farringdon. Opened in
2004 by Michael Benyan and Mark Sainsbury – the pair behind acclaimed
restaurant Moro in nearby Exmouth Market – the focus is strongly on
cutting edge-design and eco-friendly living. Natural light floods
in from the building's five-storey semi-elliptical atrium, while a
borehole drilled beneath the property provides water purified and
bottled for drinking.
The tiny lobby is dominated by its chandelier of pink glass calla
lilies, and offers three options. To your right, a wood panelled,
cork stooled bar, with the Mediterranean themed restaurant
beyond. To your left, a small, perfectly formed reception
desk. And straight ahead, the red mirrored, boudoir themed
lifts.
Reaching the fifth floor, the aspects of design suddenly become more
apparent. The large atrium pushes natural light through the
building, and the artwork from local artists breaks up the slightly
drab pastel décor. My room for the evening didn’t feel like your
bog-standard abode. The eclectic mix of original Penguin
Classics, wide screen TV and soft furnishings felt more like an
affluent teenagers bedroom than twenty something playground. The
enormous wood decked balcony matched the room in size, while London’s
newly emerging skyline provided the perfect backdrop.
Add to this ambient mood lighting, free wireless broadband, DVD player
and access to a 4000-track music library, my preconceptions of ‘trendy’
hotels suddenly seemed a bit archaic. The hotel has done
away with the outdated amenities that characterise so many other
establishments. Most rooms don't have a mini-bar or tea-and
coffee-making facilities. Instead, coffee and vending machines on each
floor dispense everything from champagne to disposable cameras.
Greeting fellow travellers in matching robe and slippers while buying a
bottle of champagne is surprisingly | |
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