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      Kelly Wearstler creates sculptural oak staircase for hotel in Austin

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      Interior designer Kelly Wearstler included eye-catching details such as vintage rugs and a white oak staircase that doubles as a ceramics display in her design for the Austin Proper Hotel and Residences.Built in 2019 by New York firm Handel Architects, the 32-storey hotel and apartments managed by McGuire Moorman Hospitality is located in Downtown Austin, Texas.
      Los Angeles-based Wearstler, who will be on the interiors panel as a Dezeen Awards 2021 judge, created the aesthetic for the 244 rooms and 99 “branded residences.”

      Panels of Shou Sugi Ban cypress clad the walls

      Her interior design for the hotel revolves around local art and textiles, with some eclectic vintage elements thrown in.
      A focal point is a sculptural staircase made of white oak wood with stepped balustrades.

      Vintage rugs are draped over the wooden stairs
      An interesting backdrop has been created by showcasing the underside of the staircase steps, while a ziggurat of plinths below is used to display a range of glazed earthenware pots and vases.
      Custom panelling along the walls of the hotel is made from cypress wood, charred using the traditional Japanese technique of Shou Sugi Ban to create a tiger-striped effect.

      Patterned tiles and rugs feature in the Peacock restaurant
      Mismatched vintage rugs run up the stairs, and a mix of chairs and armchairs upholstered in patterned fabric are scattered around the lobby.
      Tiles by Austin ceramicist Rick Van Dyke appear as inlays on furniture such as cabinets, and fibre artwork by local artist Magda Sayeg, known for her yarn bombing installations, are hung in the bedrooms alongside antique mirrors.

      Wine racks and botanical wallpaper decorate the restaurant
      The fifth floor features a pool deck clad with locally quarried travertine, where Mexican restaurant La Piscina serves small-batch tequila.
      There are three other eateries in Austin Proper Hotel and Residences including Peacock, which serves Mediterranean food against a backdrop of parquet floors covered in more vintage rugs and walls covered in Portuguese-style tiles.
      A private dining area, screened off by walls made of full wine racks, features botanical wallpaper.

      Pastel tiles decorate the Mockingbird cafe
      The interior of The Mockingbird, a coffee shop that serves Greek frozen yoghurt, was decked out in more colourful tiles by Wreastler.
      Small square tiles cover the walls and form a pattern of powder blue, seafoam green, inky navy blue and pale burnt orange colours.

      The bar has a flocked wallpaper ceiling
      Austin Proper Hotel and Residences also has a drinking establishment called Goldie’s Sunken Bar, which has a cobalt blue-painted bar, low stuffed armchairs and a high ceiling covered in opulent wallpaper.
      All over the hotel, walls are hug with art and niches are filled with ceramics. Pot plants filled with hardy desert species add splashes of greenery.

      Pot plants and mismatched furniture
      The 99 apartments attached to the hotel also have interiors designed by Kelly Wearstler. Their occupants have access to the hotel’s amenities as well as a private pool, along with dog grooming and concierge services.
      Kelly Wearstler is an interior designer based on America’s west coast. Recent collaborations for the same hotel franchise include the San Francisco Proper and the Santa Monica Proper.
      Photography is by The Ingalls.

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      AHEAD hospitality awards “means more now than it ever did” say its global winners

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      The winners of the AHEAD Global hospitality awards describe how the programme has brought the industry together during the coronavirus pandemic in this video produced by Dezeen for AHEAD.The AHEAD Global awards, which celebrate striking hospitality projects from around the world, announced its winners in a livestream that was broadcast on Dezeen in December.
      The event was the culmination of a two-year programme of events split into four different regions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia and the Americas.

      Dexamenes Seaside Hotel by K-studio, winner of the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade

      Throughout last year, the physical ceremonies that AHEAD usually hosts to announce the winners were replaced by a series of live-streamed versions broadcast on Dezeen in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
      “There’s a massive wealth of diversity within the hospitality industry across the globe,” says AHEAD’s Amy Wright in the video.
      “AHEAD global brings together the winners of all the regions from across two years to compete to be the best of the best,” she said.

      AHEAD Global ultimate winner offers “meaningful luxury” in a converted wine factory

      According to the winners, the awards programme has offered hoteliers and hotel designers a sense of community while the hospitality industry struggled in the face of the global travel restrictions put in place to combat the spread of Covid-19.
      “Ahead awards brings the industry together,” said Amar Lalvani, CEO of Standard International, whose Standard Hotel in London won the Social Scene Award.
      “In the year of the pandemic when people are so far apart, to bring industry people together and recognise the hard work that our teams do to bring projects to life means more now than it ever did,” he continued.

      The Standard Hotel in London won the Social Scene Award
      Dexamenes Seaside Hotel in Greece took home the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade, the most significant award of the event.
      The project is a conversion of an abandoned wine factory on the Peloponnese coastline by Athens-based practice K-studio, and makes use of the industrial character of the site.
      “Dexamenes is a wonderful example of the creative reuse and regeneration of a derelict building,” said Wright. “It’s a perfect example of what hoteliers can and should be doing more.”

      Dexamenes Seaside Hotel by K-studio, winner of the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade
      Amongst the other projects commended at the event was Amanyangyun, a resort hotel in Shanghai designed by Kerry Hill Architects and winner of the Regeneration Award.
      Amanyangyun incorporates 10,000 Camphor trees as well as 50 historic buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties that were transported 600 kilometres from a site where they were under threat from the construction of a new dam.
      “The ambition and foresight is special,” said Tanuj Goenka, director of Kerry Hill Architects. “This doesn’t happen very often.”

      Amanyangyun, a resort hotel in Shanghai designed by Kerry Hill Architects, won the Regeneration Award
      The Wild Coast Tented Lodge in Sri Lanka won The Gamechanger Award, an accolade given to a project that challenges established norms in the hospitality industry.
      Its dome-like dwellings were designed to mimic rocky outcrops scattered across the local landscape.
      “It celebrates the flora and fauna and culture of the area with minimal intrusion in the natural landscape,” said Olav Bruin, creative director at Nomadic Resorts.

      The Wild Coast Tented Lodge in Sri Lanka won The Gamechanger Award
      Omaanda, a boutique lodge in Namibia constructed using local building methods, took home the Rural Retreat Award.
      “We have chosen to go with the concept of rounded huts with thatched roofs the way the local Owambo tribe has been building their houses for years and years” explained Arnaud Zannier, founder of Zannier Hotels.

      The Omaanga lodge in Namibia by Zannier Hotels won the Rural Retreat Award
      Kelly Wearstler’s design for Santa Monica Proper Hotel in the USA won the project the People’s Choice Award.
      The 271-room boutique hotel makes use of natural materials, neutral colours and vintage furniture to create a sensory experience that references Santa Monica’s beachside identity.
      “Santa Monica Proper was really meant to introduce a looser kind of luxury to the city,” said Patrick Pahlke, commercial vice president of Proper Hospitality.
      “Using Santa Monica as a muse, our designer Kelly Wearstler took most of her cues from classic Santa Monica history with a design-forward sense of luxury.”

      The People’s Choice Award went to Kelly Wearstler’s Santa Monica Proper Hotel
      The Urban Award was given to Rosewood Bangkok, a 159-room, 30-floor tower with an angular form based on the Thai custom of pressing one’s hands together in greeting.
      “The atmosphere is very contemporary – timeless, I would say,” stated Michael Kaesemann, executive assistant manager of rooms at the hotel.

      Rosewood Bangkok in Thailand won the Urban Award
      The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland, a spa resort embedded amongst blue geothermal pools and moss-covered lava fields, won the Sanctuary Award.
      The hotel’s designers brought the features of its otherworldly natural surroundings into the building, using lava as a building material and prioritising views of the landscape throughout.
      “The key characteristic of The Retreat at Blue Lagoon is this relationship between the man-made, the building, the interior and exterior, the nature,” said Design Group Italia chief design officer Sigurdur Thorsteinsson.
      “The whole project evolved around how to get the feeling of nature flowing into the building.”

      The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland won the Sanctuary Award
      The Beachfront Beauty Award went to Asbury Ocean Club, a seaside hotel located 70 minutes’ drive from New York on the Jersey Shore.
      The hotel occupies the fourth floor of a residential tower, with rooms that look out over a garden sculpted to resemble sand dunes.
      “Though it is on the fourth floor of a building, we manage to make believe that this whole place is hidden in the dunes next to the ocean,” explained its designer Anda Andrei.

      Anda Andrei’s Asbury Ocean Club won the Beachfront Beauty Award
      In March last year, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Asia 2020 awards, after the physical event was called off following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
      The winners of the AHEAD Americas 2020 awards were streamed in June 2020 as part of Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival. In November, Dezeen broadcast ceremonies announcing winners of the MEA and Europe legs of the competition.
      This video was produced 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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      Grand Cayman beach hotel Palm Heights is styled like a 1970s Caribbean mansion

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      Interior designer Gabriella Khalil has created Grand Cayman’s first boutique hotel, the beachfront Palm Heights, filled with collectible design pieces like Mario Bellini sofas, Ingo Maurer lights and an Ettore Sottsass rug.Khalil is the creative director and founder of Palm Heights, located on the well-known, white sand Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman, the largest of the three Cayman Islands in the Caribbean.

      Palms Heights hotel is designed to be like a 1970s mansion
      Working with designers Sarita Posada and Courtney Applebaum, the London-based interior designer developed the design aesthetic to be like a 1970s-era mansion. The trio sourced suitable designs to decorate the property from Parisian flea markets, Los Angeles and Mexico.
      “The design concept was inspired by the idea of a 70s era Caribbean mansion featuring collectible unique design pieces from Marcel Breuer, Mario Bellini, artworks by Pierre Paulin, and Vladimir Kagan to name a few,” said the team.

      Guests rooms are decorated in an eclectic mix of materials

      A number of these can be found in the guest lounge, which is intended as the heart of the 50-bedroom hotel, including a chequered Sottsass rug hung on the wall like a piece of art and a series of Maurer’s Uchiwa wall lamps behind the curved reception desk.
      Pieces by a range of European designers and architects like Hungarian-born Marcel Breuer, French furniture designer Pierre Chapo, Italian designers Massimo and Lella Vignelli, and Italian architect and designer Mario Bellini also decorate this space.

      Each features artwork selected by Gabriella Khalil
      Khalil travelled through North Africa to research textiles for the project and has included a range of patterns and materials throughout.
      Woven fabrics with black outlines cover the walls in a sitting area, providing a contract to blush lime-green sofas running underneath. They face wooden tables and white-painted wicker chairs with green trims.
      The 50 bedroom suites are similarly decorated with unique artwork and pieces from designers including French furniture designer Pierre Paulin, American furniture designer Vladimir Kagan, Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Italian architect Gae Aulenti and Dutch jewellery and industrial designer Gijs Bakker.

      Earthy and blue hues are reminiscent of the beach
      Sandy yellows and bold blue tones, reminiscent of the beach, run throughout each room. Details include pale stone flooring sourced from Italy and pale brown sofa upholstery and curtains.

      Kasiiya Papagayo has tented guest rooms that peek from a tropical forest in Costa Rica

      The suites open onto the balconies at the rear of the property, which is designed to stagger down towards Palm Heights’ slice of the beach. Some of the suites have outdoor spaces with dining tables and sun loungers, where guests can laze and enjoy the sea views.

      A range of fabrics and materials are used throughout
      Eateries in the hotel include The Coconut Club, a casual beach bar, and the main restaurant Tillies, which has an outdoor area overlooking the sea and an indoor dining room.
      There are two swimming pools divided by green hedges to provide privacy for the guests – one of the pools is flanked by palm trees and extends towards the sea. Guests can also relax on the hotel’s sun loungers on the beach, which have yellow- and white-striped umbrellas, or play ping-pong at branded tables.

      The hotel has two swimming pools
      Khalil is currently working with architect Dong-Ping Wong, who runs New York studio Food, to complete an outdoor wellness space called The Garden Club, which is set to open later this year.
      Palm Heights is billed as the first boutique hotel in Grand Cayman.

      The building staggers down towards the beach at the rear
      Other recently completed boutique hotels in spectacular settings across the world include Kasiiya Papagayo, which has tented guest rooms that peek from a tropical forest in Costa Rica, and Casa Grande Hotel in Spain, which occupies 18th-century stone manor house.
      Photography is by Clement Pascal.

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      AHEAD Europe 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen

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      [embedded content]

      AHEAD is announcing the best new hotel designs in Europe today, in a video ceremony broadcast by Dezeen for the hospitality awards programme.

      The ceremony will be broadcast in two parts from 6:00pm UK time and can be viewed in order below. The most recent part of the ceremony is also included at the top of this story.
      The event is hosted by Sleeper Magazine’s editor-at-large Guy Dittrich and will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.

      AHEAD Middle East and Africa 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen

      The AHEAD awards celebrate striking hospitality projects from across the world and is split into four different regions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia and the Americas.
      The 2020 Europe leg of the competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the continent between June 2019 and May this year.
      Last week, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD MEA awards 2020.
      Dezeen also broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards winners 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival in June this year.
      [embedded content]

      AHEAD Europe 2020 – part one6:00pm UK time
      In the first part of the ceremony, the winners will be announced for categories including Bar, Club or Lounge, Guestrooms, Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces, Renovation & Restoration, Conversion, Resort, Spa & Wellness and Lobby & Public Spaces.
      [embedded content]

      AHEAD Europe 2020 – part two7:00pm UK time
      The second part of the ceremony will see the winners of the Newbuild,  Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps, Restaurant, Suite, Visual Identity  and New Concept categories, and the AHEAD Europe Hotel of the Year will be revealed.

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      Century-old Japanese dwelling transformed into minimalist guesthouse

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      Japanese architect Uoya Shigenori stripped back and reconfigured this 100-year-old townhouse in Kyoto to create moody and tranquil interiors for Maana Kamo guesthouse.Located in the historic Higashiyama District, the hotel was designed by Shigenori for Maana Homes, the owner of a collection of luxury retreats hidden within some of the Japanese city’s old streets.

      The main living room inside Maana Kamo guesthouse
      The goal of the renovation was to preserve and expose the dwelling’s original structure while creating a minimalist retreat for quiet contemplation.
      It has been shortlisted for the hotel and short stay interior of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2020.

      Its guestroom can be adapted into a yoga space

      “Preserving and highlighting the house’s imperfectly aged beauty is the backbone of our design philosophy,” said Maana Homes.
      “The beauty and soul of a traditional Japanese townhome is in its structural elements.”

      The kitchen has a central island covered with layers of Urushi
      Prior to the renovation, Maana Kamo was in a poor condition with unsightly vinyl wall coverings, tile ceilings and broken floorboards.
      These finishes were all removed, exposing the old house’s rough, wooden structure and original walls that are made from clay.

      A double vanity features in the new moody bathroom
      These original details have been teamed with dark, moody furnishings and subdued lighting, alongside new timber walls and floors lined with traditional straw tatami mats.
      Ornament is kept to a minimum throughout, while storage spaces for the hotel staff are disguised within the walls.

      Events space opens inside revamped century-old machiya house in Kyoto

      The lack of ornament is to ensure Maana Kamo guesthouse is “visually quiet” and free from distraction, providing occupants with space to slow down and reflect.
      It also allows rooms to be easily adapted, for example, a guest room on the second floor can be quickly converted into a space for yoga and meditation.

      The decoration is limited to a few handcrafted ornaments
      One of the biggest changes Shigenori made to the dwelling was the repositioning of the kitchen from a narrow space at the rear of the dwelling to a larger area at the front.
      This made space for a large kitchen island that is covered with layers of Urushi – a traditional Japanese lacquer made of tree sap that is water-resistant –and a wall of wooden cabinetry and shelves filled with local, handcrafted kitchenware.

      The building’s original structure clay walls are exposed throughout
      Where the old kitchen once stood, Shigenori has inserted a double-vanity bathroom with a shower that overlooks a private garden at the rear of the dwelling.
      The guesthouse is complete with an oversized Japanese-style bathtub that is accessed from the living room. It has a view out to the private garden and is intended to evoke the feeling of bathing in an onsen – a Japanese bathing facility positioned around a hot spring.

      Its old and dark wooden structure has also been revealed throughout
      In 2016, Shigenori collaborated with Masashi Koyama on the restoration of a century-old machiya house in Kyoto to create an events space. Similarly to Maana Kamo, the goal of the design was to celebrate the architecture and history of the space.
      Other projects up for short stay interior of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2020 include the small Escondido Oaxaca Hotel in Mexico by Decada and Carlos Couturier and OHLAB’s extension of a rural hotel in Mallorca.
      Photos are courtesy of Maana Homes.

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      AHEAD Middle East and Africa 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen

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      AHEAD is announcing the best new hotel designs in the Middle East and Africa region today, in a video ceremony broadcast by Dezeen for the hospitality awards programme.The ceremony will be broadcast in two parts from 2:00pm Dubai time, which is 12:00pm South Africa time and 10:00am UK time, and can be viewed in order below. The most recent part of the ceremony is also included at the top of this story.
      The event is hosted by Sleeper Magazine’s editor-at-large Guy Dittrich, and will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.

      The AHEAD awards celebrate striking hospitality projects from across the world and is split into four different regions: Middle East and Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
      The 2020 Middle East and Africa leg of the competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the continent between January 2019 and February of this year.
      In June this year, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards winners 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival.
      Dezeen also broadcast a ceremony in March announcing the winners of the Asia leg of the competition.
      [embedded content]

      AHEAD MEA 2020 – part one2:00pm Dubai time / 12:00pm South Africa time / 10:00am UK time
      In the first part of the ceremony, the winners will be announced for categories including Bar, Club or Lounge, Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces, Renovation, Restoration & Conversion, Spa & Wellness, Guestrooms, Lobby & Public Spaces, Hotel Newbuild and Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps.
      [embedded content]

      AHEAD MEA 2020 – part two3:00pm Dubai time / 1:00pm South Africa time / 11:00am UK time
      The second part of the ceremony will see the winners of the Resort, Suite, Restaurant, New Concept and Visual Identity categories, and the AHEAD MEA Hotel of the Year will be revealed.

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      AHEAD Middle East and Africa hospitality awards winners to be announced in virtual ceremony

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      The winners of the AHEAD Middle East and Africa awards will be announced on Monday in a virtual ceremony broadcast on Dezeen.The ceremony will take place from 2:00pm Dubai time, which is 12:00pm South Africa time and 10am UK time, and will be broadcast on Dezeen as well as on our YouTube channel.
      The event will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD Middle East and Africa (MEA) nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.

      You can add the event to your calendar by clicking on this link.
      The ceremony is taking place digitally rather than at a real-world event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
      Championing standout hospitality projects from around the world, the AHEAD awards focuses on four different regions: MEA, the Americas, Asia and Europe.
      The 2020 AHEAD MEA competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the region between January 2019 and February of this year.
      In June, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival.
      See the full shortlist below:
      Bar, Club or Lounge
      Archer Bar & Eatery at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaTwenty Three Rooftop Bar at Grand Plaza Mövenpick Media City, Dubai, UAESiddharta Lounge by Buddha Bar at W Muscat, OmanSt. Trop at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAE
      Guestrooms
      Four Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLekkerwater Beach Lodge, De Hoop Nature Reserve, South AfricaThe Farmstead at Royal Malewane, Hoedspruit, South AfricaThe Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAE
      Hotel Newbuild
      Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaME Dubai at Opus, UAEThe Museum Hotel Antakya, TurkeyThe Social House Nairobi, Kenya
      Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces
      Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoThe Farmstead at Royal Malewane, Hoedspruit, South AfricaThe Oberoi Marrakech, Morocco
      Lobby & Public Spaces
      Le Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoMarriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaME Dubai at Opus, UAEVida Hotel Emirates Hills, Dubai, UAE
      Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps
      Abelana River Lodge, Phalaborwa, South AfricaandBeyond Ngala Treehouse, Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South AfricaHabitas NamibiaKing’s Pool, Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, BotswanaLepogo Lodges’ Noka Camp, South AfricaPuku Ridge, South Luangwa National Park, ZambiaZannier Hotels Sonop, Namibia
      Renovation, Restoration & Conversion
      andBeyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, Namibrand Nature Reserve, NamibiaFour Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoLong Lee Manor, Shamwari Private Game Reserve, South Africa
      Resort
      Al Wathba, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Abu Dhabi, UAEAnantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaThe Oberoi Marrakech, MoroccoW Muscat, Oman
      Restaurant
      Bull & Bear at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAEKeystone at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaMina’s Kitchen at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAENammos Restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Dubai, UAE
      Restaurant
      Bull & Bear at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAEKeystone at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaMina’s Kitchen at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAENammos Restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Dubai, UAE
      Suite
      Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaFour Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoMarriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa

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      Sara Ruffin Costello fashions quirky interiors for The Chloe hotel in New Orleans

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      Inky blue walls, alligator-print carpet and grand four-poster beds appear inside The Chloe hotel in New Orleans, which has been designed by decorator Sara Ruffin Costello.The Chloe hotel comes as the latest venture from restaurateur Robert LeBlanc and is situated amongst the picturesque streets of New Orleans’s Uptown neighbourhood.
      It occupies a family mansion that was originally designed by American architect Thomas Sully in the 1860s.

      Top image: The Chloe’s entrance lobby. Above: an alligator-print carpet runner features on the stairs

      Sara Ruffin Costello, who is a native of New Orleans, was tasked with devising the interiors of the hotel.
      “Sully’s architecture is grand Southern Victorian – exceptionally tall ceilings, incredible tile work and plaster mouldings and a Byzantine layout,” Costello told Dezeen.
      “I ran with the romance of that era and played around with the notion of New Orleans being a port city, kind of that ‘what news do you bring from the outside?’,” she added.
      “To translate that into a vibe, 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.”

      Plush furniture decorates the reception lounge
      Guests enter The Chloe via a lobby that features inky-blue walls and dark wood floors. The building’s original ornate staircase is left in place but updated with a quirky, deep-red carpet runner that depicts an alligator creeping down the steps.
      “Last time I went for a kayak in the Bayou, not five minutes into my paddle two giant alligators got into a splash fight right in front of my boat – alligators are a real part of life here!” added Costello.

      Inky blue walls appear throughout the hotel
      Adjacent to this is = a reception room arranged around a large fireplace. Just in front are a couple of plush, claw-footed sofas perched on a blue floral rug, while an oversized cream lamp has been suspended overhead.
      A doorway in the corner of the room looks through to a cosy blush-pink seating nook with trellis-style walls.

      A bird-print mural is the focal point of the hotel’s salon
      The hotel’s restaurant serves signature New Orleans’ dishes with a contemporary twist. Drinks can be enjoyed in the bar and salon, where one wall has been painted to feature Egret birds fluttering amongst spindly tree boughs.
      A burnt-orange leather sofa runs along the lower half of the wall, accompanied by a handful of fringed seating poufs and tiny lamps that dimly illuminate the room.

      Guests can also enjoy dinner and drinks out on the patio
      Guests can alternatively sit with cocktails on the hotel’s porch – the floor here is clad with the tiles that date back to the 1860s.

      Maison De La Luz hotel in New Orleans is “madcap and fun” says Pamela Shamshiri

      Outdoors there’s also a swimming pool shaded by palmetto trees, a herb garden and an alfresco bar.

      Bedrooms come complete with four-poster beds
      A more pared-back design approach is taken in the bedrooms, where walls have been painted eggshell-white.
      Touches of drama are added by the four-poster beds and freestanding soaking tubs that take centre stage in the bathrooms.
      “Since The Chloe is actually a house, it feels like you are getting invited over to a local’s – which is all I ever want to do when I travel,” concluded Costello.

      The en-suite bathrooms also include freestanding tubs
      The Chloe joins a number of charming spots to stay in New Orleans, where tourists continue to flock to experience its rich history, vibrant live music scene and revered Mardi Gras parade.
      Others include The Eliza Jane, which takes over seven historic warehouses, and Maison de la Luz, which is designed as if it’s the home of a well-travelled woman that’s come to acquire several worldly souvenirs.
      Photography is by Paul Costello.

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