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    Watch the AHEAD Global 2022 hospitality awards ceremony

    Today, AHEAD will announce the winners of the AHEAD Global 2022 hospitality design awards and its headline Ultimate Accolade. Dezeen is collaborating with the brand to show the ceremony here at 1pm London time.

    The AHEAD Awards is an annual programme highlighting striking hospitality around the world, split across Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia and the Americas.
    For its climactic Global leg, regional winners are pitted against each other to determine the ultimate winner in each category. The winners will be announced over a digital broadcast aired on Dezeen and AHEAD’s website.
    This year the programme received over 630 entries spanning 60 countries, which were judged by a panel of leading hoteliers, architects, interior designers and industry experts.

    AHEAD Global awards 2021 winners announced in series of video ceremonies on Dezeen

    Previous AHEAD winners include the Six Senses hotel by Jonathon Leitersdorf, a luxury resort in Cala Xarraca, Ibiza, which was named the winner of the spa and wellness category at the AHEAD Europe awards 2021.

    NoMad London, a former prison transformed into a luxury hotel, was named Hotel of the Year for the AHEAD Europe 2021 award, while the One & Only Mandarina luxury resort in Mexico was awarded the Hotel of the Year for the AHEAD Americas 2021 award.
    Partnership content
    This ceremony was broadcast by Dezeen for AHEAD as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here. Images courtesy of AHEAD.

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    Eight hotel interiors enriched by decadent jewel tones

    Plush velvet upholstery, Moroccan rugs and chinoiserie-style ottomans feature in this lookbook of hotel interiors that use saturated jewel colours to bridge the gap between cosiness and luxury.

    Shades of ruby red, cobalt blue and emerald can help to create interiors that are rich in depth and dimension, especially when accompanied by tactile materials such as silk or leather.
    Read on for eight hotel interiors that demonstrate how to translate this palette into modern interiors without it feeling stuffy.
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring 70s-style interiors, biophilic homes and innovative stone furniture.
    Photo by Paul CostelloThe Chloe hotel, USA, by Sara Ruffin Costello

    Interior designer Sara Ruffin Costello set out to emphasise the grand Southern Victorian architecture of this 1800s family mansion in New Orleans when converting it into The Chloe hotel (top and above).
    Cobalt blue walls and matching chinoiserie ottomans help to complement the building’s original tall ceilings and dark wooden floors, as well as the burnt umber tiles that encircle the fireplace in the reception room.
    “The Chloe is moody with dark, antique furniture, with an emphasis on Orientalism but updated and made culturally relevant through a very special art collection,” Costello told Dezeen.
    Find out more about The Chloe hotel ›
    Photo by Ricardo LabougleNobu Hotel Barcelona, Spain, by Rockwell Group
    This Barcelona hotel by restaurant-turned-hospitality chain Nobu introduces elements of Japanese craft and design into the Catalan capital, with nods to traditional ink paintings, shoji screens and the gold-lacquer mending technique of kintsugi.
    In the hotel’s moody suites, this is realised in the form of inky blue carpets and built-in millwork finished in saturated lacquer colours, while bathrooms feature traditional ofuro soaking tubs.
    Find out more about Nobu Hotel Barcelona ›
    Photo by Christian HarderEsme Hotel, USA, by Jessica Schuster Design
    Interior designer Jessica Schuster worked with the Historic Preservation Board of Miami to revive the Mediterranean revival “grandeur” of this 1920s hotel in Miami, making liberal use of plaster and travertine. Pecky cypress, a type of cypress wood containing small holes, was used on the ceilings.
    These are complemented by decadent furnishings, vibrantly clashing patterns and saturated colours, with bedrooms finished in either a rose quartz or emerald green colour scheme.
    Find out more about Esme Hotel ›
    Photo by Nicole FranzenHotel Kinsley, USA, by Studio Robert McKinley
    Interior designer Robert McKinley wanted to steer clear of the typical upstate New York aesthetic of “antlers or plaid” when designing Hotel Kinsley in the Hudson Valley.
    Set over four historic buildings – including a former bank – the hotel instead draws on an unexpected material palette of boiled wool, intricate garnet-red Moroccan rugs and velvet upholstery in shades of mustard yellow and topaz.
    Find out more about Hotel Kinsley ›
    Photo by Atelier AceMaison De La Luz, USA, by Atelier Ace and Studio Shamshiri
    Housed inside the former annex to New Orleans’ town hall, this 67-room guest house offers a modern take on Southern hospitality by integrating furnishings and artworks that draw on the city’s uniquely multicultural heritage.
    Among them are references to New Orleans as the home of America’s first pirate, alongside quirky details such as the sapphire-blue concierge desk, where guests can collect their tasselled keys.
    Find out more about Maison De La Luz ›

    Chief Chicago, USA, by AvroKO
    Down to the service ducts, every surface in the lobby of this Chicago members’ club is painted a rich shade of green, with matching tiles laid across the floor.
    This serves to set the backdrop for a mix of eclectic furnishings and abstract artworks, which design firm AvroKO chose to provide an alternative interpretation of traditional old-world luxury.
    “Saturated walls are intentionally bold, balanced by the warmth of plush upholstery and broken-in leather, creating approachability with an overall style that is fresh and enduring,” the studio said.
    Find out more about Chief Chicago ›
    Photo by Riikka KantinkoskiHotel Torni, Finland, by Fyra
    Originally built in 1931, Helsinki’s Hotel Torni once served as a meeting place for spies during world war two and was later favoured by artists, journalists and other cultural figures, including Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
    Now, local studio Fyra has renovated the building while preserving its “bohemian ambience”, sticking to a moody emerald-green colour palette and layering different styles of furniture, including modern pieces by Swedish designer Gustaf Westman alongside tubular steel seats that were typical of the time.
    Find out more about Hotel Torni ›
    Photo by Heiko PriggeThe Hoxton Poblenou, Spain, by Ennismore
    The Hoxton’s outpost in Barcelona proves that jewel tones can also work in sunnier climates, drawing on a slightly more muted palette of rust red, mustard yellow and aquamarine.
    The scheme was informed by the distinctive colours and forms used by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, whose studio was located nearby.
    Find out more about The Hoxton Poblenou ›
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring 70s-style interiors, biophilic homes and innovative stone furniture.

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    Earthy colours bring warmth to clifftop Aethos Ericeira hotel in Portugal

    Lisbon-based Pedra Silva Arquitectos has teamed up with Spanish design studio Astet to convert a former clifftop farmstead on Portugal’s west coast into a destination for surfers.

    Aethos Ericeira is a 50-room hotel positioned high up on sandstone cliffs, overlooking the beach on a stretch of coastline known to offer some of the best waves in Portugal.
    Aethos Ericeira occupies a converted farmhouse. Photo is by Francisco NogueiraPedra Silva Arquitectos oversaw the building work, which included reworking the facades, while Astet replanned the spatial flow and designed the visual aesthetic of the interiors.
    Their design draws from its setting, combining references to the rural landscape with elements of surf culture, and also taking advantage of the elevated view.
    The original facade is updated with protruding box windows. Photo is by Francisco NogueiraGrand windows, simple furnishings and an earthy colour palette help to create an environment where visitors can feel relaxed and connected with the setting.

    “When we came across the property, we immediately knew it was a unique opportunity – a secluded destination on top of a 40-metre cliff, surrounded by lush fields with unrivalled ocean views,” said CEO and co-founder Benjamin Habbel.
    “The building, a former farmhouse turned into a rehab centre, had been abandoned for many years,” he told Dezeen. “Despite its bad shape, we saw huge potential.”
    Arched windows are a key feature in the lobby. Photo is by PION StudioThe venue is one of five properties under the Aethos brand, along with locations in France and Italy.
    Like its sister venues, the ethos behind Aethos Ericeira is to promote mindfulness among guests, by offering wellbeing-focused spaces and experiences.
    The materials palette includes wood, rattan and soft-green tiles. Photo is by PION StudioFor Pedra Silva Arquitectos, this meant bringing a greater sense of cohesion to the existing buildings and the various extensions that had been added over the years.
    The old farmhouse was kept simple, with light-rendered walls, a clay tile roof, arched recesses and protruding box windows. Meanwhile other parts of the building were updated with timber slats and metal panelling.

    Ian Pablo Amores creates pink hotel with courtyard garden in San Miguel de Allende

    “We felt the solution was to establish a clear distinction between old and new, restoring the existing building to something closer to its original state, and giving recent extensions and new construction their own distinct character,” said studio founder Luís Pedra Silva.
    “For the areas of more recent expansion, the challenge was to achieve a contemporary look and feel that was well integrated,” added architect Bernardo Nadais.
    “We achieved this by combining a strong materiality with surgical instances of demolition – removing some sloped roofs, opening up the balconies – allowing us to reinterpret the facades into clearer shapes and volumes.”
    Timber slats clad one of the newer buildings. Photo by PION StudioAstet’s interior design strategy centred around the year-round experience.
    The materials palette incorporates warm natural materials like wood, velvet and rattan, but also brings in cooler surfaces that include marble and stone.
    A swimming pool is framed by the buildings. Photo by PION Studio”Ericeira can be great and sunny but there are a few months where it’s windy and rainy, so the number one goal was for rooms and common spaces to function in the summer and be cosy in the winter,” said Astet’s Ala Zureikat.
    “Yet we didn’t want to be too literal and use Portuguese tiles, because I think that’s the first thing that everyone associates with Portugal,” he told Dezeen. “We wanted to achieve a more sophisticated twist.”
    The hotel is designed for surfing enthusiasts. Photo is by PION StudioThe most distinctive space is the hotel reception, which is characterised by the original arched windows, soft-green tiles and large louvre screens.
    The bedrooms are more minimal, with custom headboards, muted fabrics and wooden flooring.
    “The door of the room is a full-size mirror, so wherever you are, you always have a view of the ocean,” said Zureikat.
    Onda is the hotel restaurant. Photo is by PION StudioAethos Ericeira facilities include a restaurant, a gym, a heated saltwater pool, a meditation and yoga deck, and a spa with hammam, hot slab and treatment rooms.
    Landscape works help to create easy flow between these spaces, and link up with pathways leading to the beach.
    Other recent beach hotels to open include Ethos Vegan Suites in Santorini, Villa W in Saint-Tropez, and Patina Maldives.
    The photography is by Francisco Nogueira and PION Studio.

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    Dezeen's top 10 hotels of 2022

    A temple-like hotel in Mexico and a converted prison in Berlin feature in this roundup of the best hotel designs of 2022, as we continue Dezeen’s review of the year.

    Over 50 hotel and short-stay projects featured on Dezeen in 2022. Our list includes both destination hotels, such as the idyllic Patina Maldives, and stylish urban boltholes like Ace Hotel Toronto.
    Key hospitality trends include growing demand for staycations, as offered by venues like Sweden’s Treehotel, and the rise of the work retreat, thanks to venues like Artchimboldi Menorca.
    Read on for our top 10 hotels of 2022:
    Photo by Jaime NavarroCasa TO, Mexico, by Ludwig Godefroy

    Natural cooling was the priority for architect Ludwig Godefroy when designing this boutique hotel near Puerto Escondido, on Mexico’s Pacific coast.
    The cast-concrete structure integrates various openings – including large circular cutaways – to allow the breeze to flow through. There’s also a pool spanning the building and a series of outdoor baths for first-floor rooms.
    Godefroy described the hotel as “like the reinterpretation of an Oaxacan temple, generating a radical sensory experience upon entering”.
    Find out more about Casa TO ›
    Photo by Tom de PeyretHotel Terrestre, Mexico, by Taller de Arquitectura X
    Also near Puerto Escondido, Mexican architect Alberto Kalach and his studio Taller de Arquitectura X designed a monumental hotel complex that runs entirely on solar power.
    Hotel Terrestre consists of a series of buildings constructed from concrete and hand-made mud bricks, including 14 villas, an open-air restaurant, a spa and swimming pools.
    The ambition of the design was to embed structures in the landscape as if they have been there for years.
    Find out more about Hotel Terrestre ›
    Photo by The IngallsDowntown LA Proper Hotel, USA, by Kelly Wearstler
    Named hotel and short-stay interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2022, this 148-room hotel in downtown Los Angeles has an eclectic interior created by designer Kelly Wearstler to reflect the city’s thriving creative scene.
    A former private club built in the 1920s, the property has been transformed with influences from Mexico, Morocco, Spain and Portugal, as well as references to local culture and history.
    Arriving guests are greeted by a hand-painted multicoloured mural designed by artist Abel Macias and a graphite reception desk designed by ceramicist Morgan Peck. Other highlights include a suite with its own pool.
    Find out more about Downtown LA Proper Hotel ›
    Photo by Patricia ParinejadWilmina, Germany, by Grüntuch Ernst Architects
    One of the most surprising new hotels of 2022 occupies an abandoned women’s prison and courthouse in Berlin.
    Locally based Grüntuch Ernst Architects transformed former cells within the 19th-century Charlottenburg facility into tranquil guest rooms finished in light colours, soft textures and warm, tactile materials.
    The U-shaped cell block now also contains a library, bar, spa and gym, while an extension housing Wilmina’s restaurant links the building with the former courthouse, which houses the hotel reception and a gallery called Amtsalon.
    Find out more about Wilmena ›
    Photo courtesy of BIGBiosphere, Sweden, by BIG
    The ever-popular Treehotel added another architect-designed treehouse in 2022, this time by Danish firm BIG.
    Joining designs by the likes of Snøhetta and Tham & Videgård, BIG’s Biosphere is the eighth treetop suite to be installed on the remote woodland site in Swedish Lapland.
    The building exterior is formed of 350 birdhouses of different sizes, fixed to a metal grid. Behind this is a 34-square-metre glass cube containing a bed, a toilet and a lounge space designed with birdwatching in mind.
    Find out more about Biosphere ›
    Photo by Fernando GuerraPatina Maldives, Maldives, by Studio MK27
    This project by Brazilian office Studio MK27 turned an island in the artificial Fari Islands archipelago in the Maldives into a luxury hotel resort, featuring secluded beach suites and water villas that project out to sea.
    The buildings – which include the Dezeen Awards-shortlisted spa – feature a materials palette of earthy colours, matt finishes and natural textures that chime with the natural landscape.
    Never rising above the tree canopy, they are dotted around the island in an arrangement designed to create areas of vibrant social activity and spaces of complete seclusion.
    Find out more about Patina Maldives ›
    Photo by William Jess LairdAce Hotel Toronto, Canada, by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects
    The Ace Hotel brand continued its tradition of collaborating with prolific architects for its first venue in Canada, which is designed by the RAIC Gold Medal-winning Shim-Sutcliffe Architects.
    The 123-room Ace Hotel Toronto features a facade of red brick laid in various patterns and an elevated lobby suspended from huge concrete arches.
    Original artworks by primarily Canadian artists feature throughout the hotel rooms and common areas, including a three-storey installation by Shim-Sutcliffe co-founder Howard Sutcliffe.
    Find out more about Ace Hotel Toronto ›
    Photo by Xun ZhengFloating Cloud Township Villa, China, by More Design Office
    Chinese studio More Design Office (MDO) renovated six traditional rammed-earth houses to create these contemporary guesthouses in the village of Qinglongwu, in Zhejiang Province.
    The properties were upgraded with new windows, partition screens and furniture, which offer a contemporary contrast to the rough-textured earth walls, and the original doors and window shutters.
    The vacation homes form part of newly established tourist destination, the Fangyukongxiangsu Cultural and Creative Complex. They are joined by two new concrete buildings that contain a bar and lounge.
    Find out more about Floating Cloud Township Villa ›
    Photo by Lizzet Ortiz and DesliorHotel Flavia, Mexico, by RootStudio
    Mexican architecture firm RootStudio delivered this 27-room hotel in Oaxaca without drawing up any plans.
    Located on a steep site, the building was commissioned in stages, as a “habitable sculpture”, so most of the design details were worked out on site.
    The result is a building organised around a courtyard filled with endemic vegetation. Visitors enter from the top level and make their way down toward the hotel’s rooms and amenities.
    Find out more about Hotel Flavia ›
    Photo by Pol ViladomsArtchimboldi Menorca, Spain, by Emma Martí
    This former girls’ school in Menorca is now home to a different type of workspace – hospitality company Artchimboldi and architect Emma Martí have turned it into a work retreat.
    The building features design-focused spaces where businesses can host meetings or team-building sessions, plus wooden “pods” that serve as bedrooms.
    Find out more about Artchimboldi Menorca ›

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    Concrete creates art-oriented space for CitizenM's first Miami hotel

    Dutch hotel group CitizenM has opened a hotel in Downtown Miami in a high-rise building with multiple terraces that was designed to be a “3D art piece”.

    For the 277-foot-tall (84-metre-tall) building in Downtown Miami, Amsterdam-based architecture studio Concrete worked with Gensler as the local architect to carry out the design of the tower.
    Concrete worked with Gensler to create a CitizenM hotel in MiamiThe envelope features large swathes of concrete and glass organised in a series of discreet boxes that break up the massing of the facade.
    Since construction, much of the facade has been dedicated to a massive mural by American artist Jen Stark.
    The hotel was designed to showcase local artists”The architecture is considered as a 3D art piece with large colorful murals by Jenny Stark on every side of the building; by this the building is recognizable among all the other buildings,” said Concrete.

    “By using twisted boxes, you can experience the art from all sides.”
    Vitra supplied most of the hotel’s furnitureInside, a glass-lined entryway is meant to act as an “art gallery” as visitors access the set of elevators that go up to the lobby level on the second floor.
    The lobby space features a number of modular couches, workstations and plenty of light, with exposed concrete beams supporting a ceiling with wood accents.

    Kengo Kuma and Edition hotels create “oasis at the heart of the city” in Tokyo

    Also on the second floor is the canteen area, which features a black-and-white checkered floor and a wraparound bar with a black marble countertop and wood panelling topped with a hanging bar cage that holds a number of plants.
    The 20-storey building has 252 rooms, as well as a series of meeting rooms on the third floor. The rooms are mostly micro-suites, with some of the smallest clocking in at less than 200 square feet (60 metres).
    The second storey includes workspaces and terracesDespite the small size, most of the rooms have an extra large bed that sits under the window with storage space underneath.
    The bathrooms are tucked across from a compact sink and wrapped in polycarbonate that has been outfitted with LED lights. These can be controlled through a tablet that manages most of the room’s functions, including the blinds, television and room services.
    Throughout the property, most of the furniture was sourced from Swiss furniture company Vitra, with whom the hotel chain has a long-standing relationship.
    The hotel features a series of micro-suitesFor decoration, the hotel held a competition that selected local artists. CitizenM Miami Brickell is also the first location to have a rooftop pool for the brand.
    Since its inception in 2008, the hotel chain has expanded internationally with 27 hotels, and the hotel plans to open two more in Miami.
    Earlier this year, CitizenM announced a project that aimed to make it the first hospitality company to have a hotel in the digital space known as the Metaverse.

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    Kengo Kuma and Edition hotels create “oasis at the heart of the city” in Tokyo

    Hospitality brand Edition has teamed up with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma to create a luxury hotel filled with plants in the Toranomon district of Tokyo, Japan.

    Occupying the upper floors of a high-rise building in the Tokyo business district of Toranomon, the 206-room hotel is the first outpost in Japan for the Edition brand, which partnered with architect Kuma on the interior design.
    The Tokyo Edition, Toranomon, features a lobby filled with plantsThe heart of the hotel is a two-storey lobby space bursting with plants, which guests arrive at after taking the elevator up to the 31st floor.
    “I wanted to prove that it was possible to create a real oasis at the heart of the big city,” Kuma told Dezeen.
    The hotel lobby features large beams covered with wooden slatsThe large, open atrium, which draws from the layout of Buddhist temples, contains a bar, restaurant and numerous different seating areas.

    The double-height space is broken up by several large beams covered with wooden slats, which also adorn the ceiling of the space.
    Wood is used throughout the hotel suites”The beams are primarily parts of the structure, but we didn’t treat them in a way that might disturb the interior,” Kuma said.
    “Rather, we took advantage of the beams, covered them with wooden louvres and elevated their existence to a symbol of the hotel.”
    Sliding partitions separate sleeping and living areas in the bedrooms and suitesThe abundant use of wood continues throughout the hotel, including the bedrooms and 22 suites, where Kuma also introduced sliding screens.
    “In traditional Japanese houses, movable partitions are often applied to enhance flexibility in the interior, and we extended the idea to the rooms at Edition,” he said.
    The Blue Room restaurant features deep blue upholsteryThe hotel largely sticks to the neutral colour palette and natural materials such as marble and wood that are characteristic of the Edition brand.
    Vibrant pops of colour have been introduced in the two restaurants, which are helmed by Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens.
    The Jade Room restaurant features green upholsteryThe aptly named Blue Room, which occupies one side of the lobby space, features upholstery in deep hues of sapphire.
    The Jade Room, which adjoins the lobby, swaps the blue for vibrant shades of green and opens onto a verdant terrace overlooking the red-and-white Tokyo Tower landmark.
    A terrace overlooks the Tokyo Tower”It’s unusual to provide a green terrace on top of a high-rise building, but we dared to do so in order to connect the indoor and outdoor in a most natural way,” Kuma said.
    Other hotel amenities include a swimming pool, spa and conference spaces.
    The less aptly named Gold Bar, which is situated on the ground floor of the building that houses the hotel, combines black walls, floors, curtains and furniture with a white vaulted ceiling. An artwork hung above a fireplace on one side of the room is the only significant golden addition to the space.
    The Gold Bar features black walls and a white vaulted ceilingThe hotel, which opened last year, is the first of two Edition hotels planned for Tokyo, with a second hotel in the Ginza district of the city set to open soon.
    Previous Edition hotels include the West Hollywood Edition in Los Angeles designed in partnership with John Pawson and the Times Square Edition in New York City created with Yabu Pushelberg. Both hotels feature similarly plant-filled spaces.

    West Hollywood Edition Hotel by Ian Schrager and John Pawson opens in Los Angeles

    The Edition brand is a partnership between Marriot International and renowned hotelier Ian Schrager, who is best known for co-founding the infamous nightclub Studio 54 in New York City in the late 1970s and 1980s.
    “I became acquainted with Ian in the 80s when I was studying in New York, and have admired his philosophy and sensitivity ever since,” Kuma said. “I believe our chemistry worked well and we could work together without much talking.”
    Black furniture and gold decorations feature in the Gold BarWhile the Tokyo Edition in Toranomon is the first Edition hotel in Japan, Japanese design has had a significant influence on Schrager’s work, according to the hotelier.
    “I have always had a spiritual connection with the approach and aesthetics of Japan,” Schrager said. “Their rationality, their simplicity, and their restraint has been the foundation of everything I’ve done.”
    “They are truly original thinkers but execute their ideas in such a humble and modest fashion,” he continued. “The end results are bold yet refined and shouts in a quiet way. It’s a sweet spot that is completely seductive for me.”

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    Michaelis Boyd captures “the spirit of the absurd” in Moxy Lower East Side

    Hotel brand Moxy has opened its fifth venue in New York City, with an eclectic design that includes a rooftop bar filled with plants and a piano room lined in blue velvet.

    Architecture and design studio Michaelis Boyd spearheaded the interior design of Moxy Lower East Side, while Rockwell Group designed two of its restaurants and Stonehill Taylor oversaw the architectural works.
    The ambition was to push the playful design of the Moxy brand even further than its sister venues, reflecting the vibrancy of the Bowery, where the Lower East Side meets SoHo.
    The Highlight Room is a rooftop bar with a palm tree at its centreThe 303-room hotel brings together different styles and narratives to create a “spirit of the absurd”.
    “We wanted to create a quirky yet stylish play on the absurd,” said Rina Kukaj, NY director at Michaelis Boyd.

    “The goal was a design that’s up to date but nods to the Bowery’s past, with a good dose of Moxy’s trademark whimsy and elements of surprise,” she told Dezeen.
    Silver Linings is a piano lounge furnished with blue velvet banquettes and curtainsMoxy is a subsidiary of hotel chain Marriott International, aimed at a younger market more focused on modern lifestyle experiences than traditional forms of luxury.
    Developed by real-estate company Lightstone, the hotel features four restaurant and bar venues, a lobby lounge with a bar and all-day cafe, and three studios that can be used for meetings, co-working or hospitality.
    Plants hang from the ceiling in the lobby”The Lower East Side has always been iconically cool,” said Mitchell Hochberg, president of Lightstone. “We saw it as the next logical frontier for Moxy.”
    “People come to the neighbourhood to indulge their thirst for discovery, and they’ll get that at the Moxy too.”
    The lobby lounge is brought to life by “hipster animals”In the lobby, a mix of seating types create opportunities for lounging, working or socialising, dotted amongst details that include game tables, overhead plants, “hipster animals” and chandeliers featuring 3D-printed pin-up girls.
    “We wanted to create a contemporary, leafy oasis,” said Michaelis Boyd co-founder, Alex Michaelis.

    Rockwell Group and Yabu Pushelberg team up for Moxy Chelsea hotel

    “As you walk through the lobby, wherever your eye takes you, you’ll see things happening,” he told Dezeen.
    “Hanging plantings overhead, a circular pattern on the terrazzo floor, and dome light fixtures that shine very softly down towards you. Guests are almost the artist at play, the focal point of the experience.”
    An all-day cafe, The Fix, can be found within the lobbySilver Lining is a lobby-adjacent piano lounge, furnished with blue velvet banquettes and curtains, and featuring imagery that references the life and work of Bowery’s one-time resident, Andy Warhol.
    “Silver Lining is sumptuous and sophisticated; it feels really intimate,” said Kukaj.
    Sake No Hana features Kimono-inspired tapestries and lantern-like pendantsRockwell Group took charge of Sake No Hana, a Japanese restaurant that combines references to New York’s 1980s punk scene and Japanese street culture.
    Kimono-inspired tapestries and lantern-like pendants light hang from the ceiling, while a pair of symmetric curving staircases wrap a blue-tiled bar.
    Loosie’s is a basement bar and club with an “exploded disco ball” chandelierLoosie’s – a basement bar and club – is Rockwell Group’s other contribution. This dark, atmospheric space centres around an “exploded disco ball” chandelier.
    On the 16th floor, Michaelis Boyd designed The Highlight Room to feel like a 19th-century pleasure garden. A palm tree is at the centre of this rooftop bar.
    Studios can be used for meetings, co-working or hospitality”We wanted to recreate this sense of a hidden garden amidst the rooftops,” said Kukaj.
    “Hanging plants and fabric lanterns sway from the ceiling above the bar, foliage springs from hidden corners and, at the centre, a majestic tree spreads its branches towards all four corners of the room.”
    The hotel has 303 bedrooms, with details including coloured glass screensMoxy Lower East Side is completed by simple and pared-back guest rooms. There are only a few design flourishes here – like the Hollywood-style lighting and coloured glass screens.
    The Moxy brand has been in New York since 2018, when it opened the Yabu Pushelberg-designed Moxy Times Square.
    Rockwell Group has created restaurants for all four New York venues and oversaw the entire design of Moxy East Village.
    Bedrooms feature Hollywood-style lighting and lava stone sinksFor Michaelis Boyd, Moxy Lower East Side is its first completed collaboration with the brand. The London and New York-based studio has previously created interiors for Soho House and The Williamsburg Hotel.
    “We’re known for our work with Soho House and although the communal spaces of the hotel are open to the public, in places we wanted to create the intimate feel of a member’s club,” added Kukaj.
    Moxy Lower East Side is the brand’s fourth hotel in New York”As for the guest rooms, they are designed as the quiet moment within the hotel, a step back from all the activity,” she added.
    Moxy Lower East Side opened in October and was the venue for Heidi Klum’s 2022 Halloween Party – where the supermodel memorably dressed in a head-to-toe worm costume.
    The photography is by Michael Kleinberg.

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    Jaqui Seerman updates interiors of LA bank building for Hotel Per La

    A new hotel occupies 1920s bank headquarters in Downtown LA, where Jaqui Seerman refreshed public spaces to include a botanical-themed lounge and a mirror-lined arched gallery.

    Hotel Per La is housed in the neoclassical Giannini Building, built in 1922 as the headquarters for the Bank of Italy, and takes the place of the NoMad Los Angeles which closed its doors in March 2021.
    Hotel Per La replaces the Nomad Los Angeles in the 1920s bank headquartersIts 10,000 square feet (930 square metres) of public and event spaces have been refreshed by local interior designer Jaqui Seerman, who used the 12-storey property’s Italian connection to inform her updates.
    “A nod to the building’s storied beginning as a bank for the people, the ‘Per La’ name translates to ‘for the’ in Italian,” said the hotel.
    “[The bank’s] founder, Amadeo Pietro Giannini, believed in the dignity and abilities of those commonly overlooked, signifying the hotel’s inclusive spirit and name, essentially meaning ‘for Los Angeles, and people like you’.”

    A mirror-lined arched gallery opens into the main lobbyDemarcated by a pale blue awning, the hotel’s entrance has been relocated from 7th Street to Olive Street, leaving the doric columns across the grand facade fully visible.
    Through the doors, guests find themselves in a double-height lounge filled with plants and comfy chairs covered in botanical patterns.
    The custom front desk is by Voila Creative Studio and the hand-painted tapestry behind is by Jessalyn BrooksAn arched gallery lined with mirrors leads to the lobby, situated in what was once the main banking hall.
    In the reception area, a custom-made curved plaster front desk influenced by linen fabric was designed by Voila Creative Studio, while a hand-painted tapestry that hangs in the niches behind was produced by LA muralist Jessalyn Brooks.
    A purple games room features commissioned art and furniture from local artisansA rich purple lounge features a new game cabinet, as well as commissioned art and furniture sourced from local artisans.
    Event spaces range from a second-floor courtyard for private outdoor dinners, to larger spaces for up to 850 people.
    A second-floor courtyard hosts private outdoor dinnersDining options within the hotel include Per L’Ora, which serves Italian cuisine and features a light colour palette across curvaceous design elements influenced by the early 2000s.
    “The bar of the restaurant acts as a dramatic centerpiece, with a custom-made marble top in shades of green, grey, and white, and globe-shaped light fixtures, while custom white plasterwork on the front of the bar offers a new sense of texture,” said the hotel operators.

    Kelly Wearstler makes “bold and eclectic choices” for Downtown LA Proper hotel

    Adjacent to the restaurant is a casual cafe modelled on a Venetian coffee shop, serving beverages, pastries and snacks.
    On the rooftop, Bar Clara offers cocktails for poolside lounging and hosts live performances with the LA skyline as a backdrop.
    Guest rooms are decorated to echo the ornate blue and gold ceiling in lobbyThe 241 guest rooms and suites have retained much of the aesthetic created by French architect Jacques Garcia for the NoMad, referencing the restored gold and blue ceiling in the lobby.
    Downtown LA, the city’s most walkable neighbourhood, has experienced a cultural renaissance over the past decade.
    The hotel occupies the neoclassical Giannini Building in Downtown LAThe area is now home to several design-forward hotels including Kelly Wearstler’s Proper – which was just named hotel and short-stay interior of the year at the 2022 Dezeen Awards – a Soho House, and an Ace Hotel.
    Per La is the latest hotel in the US to open in a converted bank building, following the likes of The Durham in North Carolina and The Quoin in Wilmington, Delaware.
    The photography is by The Ingalls.

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