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    Terrazzo and bronze staircase forms focal point of The Sukhothai hotel by Neri&Hu

    A dramatic staircase connects floors inside this Shanghai hotel, which Neri&Hu has designed with calming, nature-inspired rooms.The staircase can be found in the entrance lobby of The Sukhothai hotel, which is situated in Shanghai’s Jing’an district.

    A huge staircase is the focal point of The Sukhothai’s lobby. Photo is by Pedro Pegenaute
    It features a bronze balustrade and a staggered sequence of slim, grey-terrazzo steps that have been slightly set apart to create the illusion that they’re hovering.
    The entire structure is then enclosed by a gridded timber framework that “envelops” guests as they ascend to the first floor.

    Bronze has been used to make the balustrade, while the steps are grey terrazzo

    In the communal areas that lie beyond the staircase, Neri&Hu has fashioned an aesthetic that subtly celebrates the culture of both Shanghai and Bangkok – where the inaugural branch of The Sukhothai is located.
    “The challenge for Sukhothai in Shanghai was how to remain true to the spirit of the original iconic hotel in Bangkok while bringing in elements that represent the local culture and history,” the studio explained.

    Green hues reference nature and gardens. Photo is by Pedro Pegenaute
    “In the end, our guiding concept was inspired by a universal condition that defines many dense Asian metropolises such as Shanghai and Bangkok — the sense of fragility and congestion and the desire for a reconnection with nature, for room to breathe and rejuvenate,” it continued.
    “We created an urban oasis in the midst of the concrete jungle of the city, so every aspect of the hotel relates to nature.”

    The hotel’s swimming pool is also lined with green tiles. Photo is by Pedro Pegenaute
    Gardens became the main point of reference for the studio. For example, a network of columns has been installed in the restaurant as a nod to the ornate pillars that typically appear in Italian renaissance-style gardens.
    The forest-green leather chairs that surround the dining tables and the emerald-coloured tiles that line the open kitchen are also meant to evoke lush, verdant settings.

    Neri&Hu keeps time-worn details in Parisian restaurant Papi

    A medley of green tiles has also been applied mosaic-style to the hotel’s swimming pool.

    Natural materials are spotlighted in the bedrooms. Photo is by Pedro Pegenaute
    Neri&Hu have continued to use green tones and natural materials upstairs in the 201 guest bedrooms. Walls have been painted a tranquil jade hue, while the floor, headboards and writing desks are lined with wood.
    Pebble-grey Carrara marble has been used to line almost every surface in the bathrooms – including the tubs.

    Grey marble lines surfaces in the bathrooms
    A number of hotels have opened in China this year. Among them is the Intercontinental in Chongqing and Read and Rest Hotel in Beijing, which includes a small library filled with print magazines from across the world.
    For those looking to stay a bit more off the beaten track, Wiki World and Advanced Architecture Lab have also created a collection of 18 mirrored guest cabins on the forested mountainsides of Yichang in China’s Hubei province.
    Photography is by Xia Zhi unless stated otherwise.

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  • Shortlist unveiled for AHEAD Europe 2020 hospitality awards

    Dezeen promotion: a guest villa in rural Mallorca and a log-clad hotel near the Arctic circle are some of the hospitality projects to be shortlisted in this year’s AHEAD Europe awards.The AHEAD Europe awards celebrate outstanding hospitality projects that have launched, opened or reopened across the continent between June 2019 and May of this year.

    Top image: The exterior of The Standard in London, which is on the awards shortlist. Above: one of The Standard’s colourful guest rooms
    Submissions were first arranged into 15 categories, which recognise everything from a project’s guest rooms to its lobby and public spaces.
    A shortlist was then put together by a judging panel made up of hotel industry experts. As well as assessing a project’s aesthetic appeal, they also consider factors like use of budget, how well it has met the client brief and whether it captures the “theatre of hotel life”.
    Among the panel this year is Signe Bindslev Heniksen, co-founder of studio Space Copenhagen, and Ana Ortega-Miranda, director of interior design for Marriott International.

    A freezing river surrounds Arctic Bath, another one of the projects on the awards shortlist

    One of the projects to have made it to the shortlist is The Standard in London, which occupies a brutalist building opposite one of the city’s major train stations, King’s Cross.
    Guest rooms and communal areas throughout the hotel are decked out with bold colours like cherry red and cobalt blue, playfully contrasting the hotel’s heavy concrete facade.
    Also on the shortlist is a log-clad spa hotel called Arctic Bath, which floats on the icy waters of a Swedish river just 50 kilometres south of the Arctic circle.

    La Maison d’Estournel in France has also made the shortlist
    Some of the projects on the shortlist are situated in much warmer climes.
    This includes La Maison d’Estournel, a centuries-old boutique hotel in France that’s set amongst a 12-acre vineyard, and Casa Palerm, a guest villa in Mallorca that has cinematic views of the Spanish countryside.

    Casa Palerm in rural Mallorca is also competing for an award
    Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the last round of judging was executed over a series of video calls between 14 and 15 October.
    Winners will be announced on 16 November via a digital ceremony that will be broadcast on both AHEAD and Dezeen’s websites.
    See the full shortlist below:
    Bar, Club or Lounge
    40 Elephants at Great Scotland Yard Hotel, London, EnglandDouble Standard at The Standard, London, EnglandSibin at Great Scotland Yard Hotel, London, EnglandThe Lobby Bar at One Aldwych, London, EnglandThe Malt Lounge at The Prince Akatoki, London, England
    Guestrooms
    Apfelhotel, Saltusio, ItalyBirch, Cheshunt, EnglandBoho Club, Marbella, SpainDomes Zeen Chania, GreeceHotel Arlberg Lech, Austria
    Hotel Conversion
    AMERON Frankfurt Neckarvillen Boutique, GermanyCasa Popeea, Brăila, RomaniaGreat Scotland Yard Hotel, London, EnglandStock Exchange Hotel, Manchester, EnglandThe Standard, London, England
    Hotel Newbuild
    Dakota Manchester, EnglandHart Shoreditch Hotel, London, EnglandLindley Lindenberg, Frankfurt, GermanyMarket Street Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotlandnhow Amsterdam RAI, The Netherlands
    Hotel Restoration & Renovation
    Boho Club, Marbella, SpainChâteau de Vignée, Villers-sur-Lesse, BelgiumLa Maison d’Estournel, Saint-Estèphe, FranceTreehouse Hotel London, EnglandVilla Arnica, Lana, Italy
    Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces
    Apfelhotel, Saltusio, ItalyArua Private Spa Villas, Merano, ItalyDomes Zeen Chania, GreeceEkies All Senses Resort, Vourvourou, GreeceThe Newt in Somerset, England
    Lobby & Public Spaces
    Cretan Malia Park, Crete, GreeceLocke at Broken Wharf, London, EnglandParīlio, Naousa, GreeceRooms Hotel Kokhta, Bakuriani, GeorgiaThe Lobby Lounge at The Standard, London, England
    Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps
    57 Nord, Ardelve, ScotlandArctic Bath, Harads, SwedenCamp Hox, Oxfordshire, EnglandCasa Palerm, MallorcaTreehouses at Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham, England
    Resort
    Cretan Malia Park, Crete, GreeceDomes Zeen Chania, GreeceLefay Resort and Spa, Dolomites, ItalyParīlio, Naousa, GreeceQuinta da Comporta, Portugal
    Restaurant
    Decimo at The Standard, London, EnglandHélène Darroze at The Connaught, London, EnglandHelios at Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, GreeceMemories Sven Wassmer at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, SwitzerlandMouries at Cretan Malia Park, Crete, Greece
    Spa & Wellness
    Apfelhotel, Saltusio, ItalyArctic Bath, Harads, SwedenHotel Arlberg Lech, AustriaLefay Resort and Spa, Dolomites, ItalyThe Newt in Somerset, England
    Suite
    Arua Private Spa Villas, Merano, ItalyEkies All Senses Resort, Vourvourou, GreeceLincoln House at Rosewood London, EnglandNobel Suite at Grand Hotel Oslo, NorwayNobu Hotel Barcelona, Spain
    Visual Identity
    Birch, Cheshunt, EnglandBoho Club, Marbella, SpainChâteau de Vignée, Villers-sur-Lesse, BelgiumHotel Arlberg Lech, AustriaVilla Arnica, Lana, Italy

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  • Esperinos is a design-focused guesthouse in Athens

    Greek designer Stamos Michael mixed his own creations with local artworks and modern furniture classics to form the striking interior of Esperinos, a guesthouse in Athens.Esperinos is situated in the Greek capital’s Filopappos Hill area, taking over a single-storey residence that dates back to the 1930s.

    A number of Stamos Michaels’ furniture designs decorate the house’s living room
    The house used to have a traditionally domestic layout, but when local designer Stamos Michael was brought on board, he decided to knock through all the existing internal walls to form an open, gallery-style space.
    Dotted throughout is a mixture of contemporary and classic furnishings that are meant to give visitors a “new way of experiencing the cultural universe of Athens”.

    A black staircase leads up to the mezzanine

    A few of Michael’s own pieces appear in the guesthouse’s living room. This includes a pine and plywood storage cabinet that’s been handpainted to feature a black-and-white chequer pattern.
    It sits beside one of the designer’s lamps, which comprises two towering, rust-brown columns of powder-coated steel.

    The home’s kitchen is painted a plum-purple hue
    There’s also a sculptural chair by Michael that features a metal pole running through its backrest and a small stool he crafted from two blocks of stone found on a quarry in Tinos, a Greek island in the Aegean sea.
    Guests can relax on a brown-leather edition of Konstantin Grcic’s Traffic lounge chair, or on the sofa at the rear of the room which is dressed with a mismatched array of throw cushions.

    Industrial shelving displays the kitchen crockery
    A doorway looks through to the kitchen, which has been finished with emerald-coloured cabinetry and black, industrial-style shelves that display crockery.

    K-studio’s Perianth Hotel infuses neo-modernism into Athens

    Like the other rooms in the guesthouse, the kitchen has been decorated with a piece of modern art. All the works were curated by local art foundation Grace – founded by Michael in 2016 – and will be regularly changed throughout the year to spotlight different creatives working in the Greek capital.

    The bedroom sits beneath the guesthouse’s timber roof
    The bedroom sits beneath the guesthouse’s pitched wooden roof on a newly constructed mezzanine level, accessed via a set of jet-black stairs.
    Terracotta tiles, similar to those used on the balconies of Greek apartment buildings, have been used to line the staircase landing and one of the steps.
    Surfaces throughout the house have been painted moss green or a rich, plum-purple hue. Michael has also carved out small sections of the walls to reveal the property’s stone structural shell.

    Chairs by Robert Mallet-Stevens feature in the home’s outdoor space
    Guests will also have access to a private back garden that’s dotted with tubular-frame seats by French architect and designer Robert Mallet-Stevens.
    Including an outdoor space in the house was particularly important to Michael, who had heard elderly local residents talk fondly of gathering in gardens and alleyways during the 1960s to listen to music or watch football matches.
    “People were always describing images that reflected a wonderful communal openness,” he told Dezeen.

    The garden is shaded by trees
    Esperinos joins a growing number of contemporary design-focused spots to stay at in Athens, which is largely popular amongst holiday goers for its wealth of ancient landmarks.
    Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, the owner of Athens’ Carwan Gallery, recently told Dezeen in an interview that the city is emerging as a creative hub, and could even be considered “the new Berlin”.
    “It’s almost like if the city was sleeping for 10 years during the [financial] crisis and is now ready to bloom again,” he added.
    Photography is by Margarita Nikitaki.

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  • Luke Edward Hall stirs print and colour inside Hotel Les Deux Gares in Paris

    A clashing mix of pea-green walls, leopard-print furnishings and candy-striped beds feature in this hotel that British designer Luke Edward Hall has completed in Paris.Hotel Les Deux Gares is tucked down a narrow street in Paris’ 10th arrondissement, set between two of the city’s major train stations – Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est.

    The hotel’s entrance lobby. Top image: one of the hotel’s olive-green guest bedrooms
    The five-storey building had been left vacant for a number of years, but when Luke Edward Hall was brought on board to design the interiors, the focus wasn’t on making the rooms seem more contemporary.

    Hall instead set out to fashion an “anti-modern” aesthetic that nodded to a Paris of the past.

    Chintzy wallpaper and leopard-print furniture decorate the lobby
    “I love listening to stories from the past and feeling as though I’m entering another, more elegant era,” explained Hall, who is based in London.
    “I always begin my projects by leafing through old books and magazines; then, I visit galleries and museums. I allow myself the time to dream and invent stories.”

    Breakfast and coffee is also offered to guests in the lobby
    The hotel is entered via a vivid lobby, where Hall has created a riotous collision of pattern and colour. The lower half of the walls have been painted pea-green, while the upper half has been covered in chintzy, pale blue wallpaper with a maroon-coloured motif.
    Black-and-white chevron flooring runs throughout.

    Headboards have a candy-striped pattern
    Guests can sit back on the room’s plush sofas – one of which is completely upholstered in leopard print fabric, the other is cobalt blue with bright-red fringing. There’s also a couple of striped pink-satin armchairs arranged beneath a portrait that Hall painted himself.
    “I really wanted this space to feel above all joyful and welcoming and alive, classic but a little bonkers at the same time,” added Hall.

    Luke Edward Hall has added illustrations to the bedrooms’ lampshades
    This bold palette continues upstairs in the forty guest bedrooms, which have been painted sky blue, violet or olive green.
    Each room features geometric carpeting, a candy-striped headboard and a canary-yellow armchair and pouf created bespoke by Hall.
    The designer has also personalised the reading lamps above the bedside tables with sketchy doodles of martini glasses, the Eiffel tower and different French words.

    Bathrooms in the hotel are equally bright in colour
    Even the hotel’s gym boasts graphic red-and-white checkerboard flooring and floral wallpaper from Swedish homeware brand Svenskt Tenn.

    Hoy hotel is designed to be a calming refuge at the heart of Paris

    Breakfast can be enjoyed down in the lobby, or across the street from the hotel in Cafe Les Deux Gares which Hall also designed.

    The gym features floral wallpaper and checkboard flooring
    Intended to feel much like a traditional Parisian eatery, the space has been finished with stripy seating banquettes and wooden bistro chairs from Thonet.
    Vintage exhibition posters have also been mounted on the walls in a wink at the fact that the city’s cafes were once hotspots for “social and cultural exchange”.
    The cafe is topped by a tortoiseshell-effect ceiling painted by local artist Pauline Leyravaud.

    The hotel’s cafe across the road boasts a tortoiseshell-effect ceiling
    Hotel Les Deux Gares is the first large-scale interiors project by Luke Edward Hall, who set up his self-titled design studio in 2015.
    Other spots to stay around the French capital include hotel Hoy, which has TV-free rooms and an in-house yoga studio so that guests can escape the chaotic hustle and bustle of Paris’ streets.
    Photography is by Benoit Linero.

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  • Bermonds Locke hotel in London evokes sunny California deserts

    Mirage-like mirrored ceilings and cacti-filled planters are some of the features that interiors studio Holloway Li has incorporated in this hotel in London, which is meant to echo California deserts.Bermonds Locke is located at the heart of southeast London’s Bermondsey neighbourhood, just a few minutes walk from notable landmarks such as The Shard and Tower Bridge.

    Top image: a moon-like panel hovers over Bermonds Locke’s concierge desk. Above: mirrored panels line the ceiling of the reception
    Despite the hotel’s markedly urban setting, when it came to designing its communal areas and 143 guest rooms, Holloway Li took inspiration from sun-scorched places in California like the Mojave desert and Joshua Tree National Park.

    “We eschewed traditional London vernacular tropes and prevailing design trends, looking further afield for our inspirations, to create a new space that had an escapist identity,” the studio’s co-founder, Alex Holloway, told Dezeen.

    Furniture in the reception is made from reused construction materials
    The theme is subtly introduced in the hotel’s reception where mirrors have been used to line sections of the ceiling, mimicking the shiny quality of desert mirages, which are often mistaken for bodies of water.
    A white, mottled semi-circular panel has been fitted to the ceiling directly above the concierge counter, its reflection forming a huge moon-like image.

    The reception area of the hotel doubles-up as a co-working space
    Surrounding surfaces have been largely rendered with neutral materials like clay bricks and timber that the studio felt matched the desert landscape.
    This excludes a handful of walls and structural columns that are clad with passivated zinc, which boasts a rainbow-coloured surface finish.
    “Joshua Tree is known as a pilgrimage destination for the Californian hallucinogenic travellers,” said Holloway. “The iridescence effect on the metal is reminiscent of dizzying colour saturation of the psychedelic experience – the brilliant purples, yellows and pinks.”

    Surrounding walls are clad with passivated zinc
    A variety of seating areas have also been incorporated in Bermonds Locke’s reception so that it can serve as a co-working space.
    Where possible, the studio has tried to repurpose construction materials that otherwise would have been destined for landfill, influenced by the ad-hoc building methods used when creating cabins across Joshua Tree.
    For example, salvaged concrete test cubes have been used to form the base of a six-metre-long terrazzo desk. The cubes are covered with pre-used tiles, some of which are still marked with graffiti.

    Cacti-filled planters separate the hotel’s bar from the restaurant
    “Joshua Tree has been a recluse for fringe creatives escaping LA for the past 30 years,” explained Holloway. “We were particularly interested in the eccentric language of bricolage found in desert cabins dotted around Joshua Tree, composed of salvaged materials that happen to be available by chance.”
    “We were also inspired by the work of artists like Philip K Smith III and Noah Purifoy, whose ‘Outdoor Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture’ is an incredible world made of the detritus of LA,” he continued.
    “This tied back with the studio’s recent research on the circular material economy…design in this context becomes almost like a curatorial practice, about how an existing set of materials can be rearranged in a very specific way to define new uses.”

    Guest rooms come with their own kitchenettes
    In another nod to hot, arid landscapes, huge planters filled with different cacti and succulents have been added throughout the hotel’s reception and used to separate its cocktail bar from the restaurant.

    Grzywinski + Pons tailors Leman Locke hotel to make nomadic workers feel at home

    Bermonds Locke’s upper floors play host to the guest suites. Each one comes complete with its own kitchenette and laundry facilities, allowing guests to stay self-sufficiently in their rooms for longer periods of time.
    Fixtures and soft furnishings have been made in colours evocative of desert sunsets, ranging from pale blues to burnt oranges and vivid reds. The focal point of each room is the bed, which is enclosed by a bespoke black frame draped with sheets of linen.

    Colours throughout the rooms were taken from desert sunsets
    “Typical hotel room design is very codified by two functions; sleeping and washing – a Locke room adds eat, work, live into that mix, so there is a lot to fit into just one room,” added the studio’s co-founder, Na Li.
    “It was key for us to impart some separation between the areas, which we achieved by creating a sense of enclosure around the bed with the bedframes and drapes.”

    Beds in the rooms sit under linen canopies
    Holloway Li was established in 2015 and has offices in north London.
    Its Bermonds Locke project joins several hotels that the Locke hospitality group has dotted across the UK. Others include the Whitworth Locke in Manchester, where rooms have been painted different shades of grey to reflect the city’s typically overcast skies.
    There’s also the Eden Locke in Edinburgh, which takes over an 18th-century Georgian terrace house.
    Photography is by Edmund Dabney.

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  • Shaker-inspired rooms feature in Mexico City's Círculo Mexicano hotel

    Architecture studio Ambrosi Etchegaray drew upon the pared-back design ethos of the Shakers to create the minimal rooms within this hotel in Mexico City.The Círculo Mexicano hotel is located downtown of Mexico City, taking over a 19th-century building that previously accommodated private residences.

    The hotel occupies a 19th-century building
    Ambrosi Etchegaray, which is led by architects Jorge Ambrosi and Gabriela Etchegaray, undertook the task of transforming it into a more hospitable space.

    The studio has left behind some time-worn elements that hint at how long the building has been around – for example, the dramatic zigzag staircase that links together all the levels of the hotel backs onto a wall of crumbling bricks.

    A zigzag staircase links together the hotel’s different floors
    However in the 25 bedrooms, which are spread across the building’s second and third floors, the studio has taken a much more contemporary, minimal approach.

    Ryo Kan hotel blends Mexican materials and Japanese traditions

    A key point of reference was the style of the Shakers: a Christian sect founded in 1747 that has become known for their ascetic lifestyles and equally austere approach to designing their living quarters and furniture, which were completely devoid of ornamentation.
    “Originally all the design process was inspired by an ecclesiastical aesthetics,” Ambrosi told Dezeen. “With that premise, we imagined an architecture free of ornament, where the correct use of simple materials enhances the quality of the space.”

    Rooms in the hotel have simple Shaker-inspired interiors
    “When we saw the first room partially finished, we decide to invite different designers to work on the essential elements for the space, lighting, desk, chair, etc,” Ambrosi continued.
    “We had some initial talks with studio La Metropolitana to design a chair for the room and they came back with a proposal to create a group of utilitarian elements that will become part of the room,” he added.
    “Their proposal was inspired in the Shakers – they understand the value of that movement as a community that developed a refined technique working with wood.”

    Some of the rooms boast barrel-vaulted ceilings
    Círculo Mexicano’s rooms are therefore host to just a few blocky plinths, which form side tables or support wooden storage cupboards. The largest plinth is used as a base for the rooms’ beds, which are covered with plain, beige-coloured linens with exposed seams.
    Surrounding surfaces are mostly painted white, but some rooms boast barrel-vaulted ceilings clad in red tiles.

    Beds are covered in beige-coloured linens
    Decor is provided by Shaker-style peg rails, where members of the sect would typically hang clothes, hats and light pieces of furniture when not in use. In the hotel rooms, these are used to suspend mirrors, trinket boxes and wooden chairs created by La Metropolitana.
    Some rooms will also include prints by revered Mexican photographer Manuel Álvarez Bravo, who was born in the hotel building back in 1902.

    Shaker-style peg rails provide decoration
    Most of the communal spaces are situated on the hotel’s rooftop, where there is a pool and a pop-up restaurant called ONA Le Toit that serves Mexican food with a French twist. The menu will change week to week as the chef’s take on different regional dishes.
    Guests can sit around the jet-black dining tables or on the more relaxed woven-back sofa seats while taking in views of notable Mexico City attractions such as the Metropolitan Cathedral and Templo Mayor.

    The hotel includes a rooftop restaurant and pool
    While beachy parts of Mexico like Tulum and Cancun have become holiday hotspots, many also flock to the capital for its rich culinary scene, architecture and annual design week.
    Other spots to stay in Mexico City include boutique hotel Ryo Kan, which takes aesthetic cues from Japanese culture, and Hotel Carlota, which features a lush central courtyard.
    Photography is by Sergio López courtesy of Grupo Habita.

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  • Shortlist revealed for AHEAD MEA 2020 hospitality awards

    Dezeen promotion: a cluster of luxurious tents in the Namibian desert and a hotel set amongst verdant gardens in Marrakech are some of the projects shortlisted in the Middle East and Africa heats of this year’s AHEAD awards.The AHEAD MEA awards give praise to outstanding hospitality projects that have launched, opened or reopened across the Middle East and Africa between January 2019 and February of this year.

    Zannier Hotels Sonop, a group of guest tents in Namibia, is on the shortlist
    Entries were initially organised into 15 categories, which acknowledge everything from a project’s guest suites to its landscaping and outdoor spaces.

    A shortlist was then composed by a judging panel of leading experts from the hotel industry. This year it includes figures such as Leila Abdul Rahim, design director of Hilton Worldwide, and Pallavi Dean, founder of studio Roar.

    Another project on the AHEAD MEA awards shortlist this year is Dubai’s Opus hotel
    Among the projects on the shortlist is Zannier Hotels Sonop, a group of 10 tents that perch over huge granite boulders in the Namibian desert.
    Decadently designed to evoke old-world safari charm, inside the tents have been decorated with vintage maps, binoculars and telescopes.

    Also on the shortlist is The Oberoi Marrakech, which is surrounded by lush gardens
    Other projects on the shortlist include the Opus hotel in Dubai designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, which is set inside a cuboid glass building that’s punctuated by an irregularly shaped void.
    Also on the shortlist is The Farmstead at Royal Malewane, an intimate lodge that looks out over the tree canopies of a national park in South Africa, and The Oberoi Marrakech, which is nestled amongst 28 acres of Mediterranean gardens and citrus trees.

    Additionally on the AHEAD MEA 2020 shortlist is The Farmstead at Royal Malewane
    This year – due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – the final stages of judging will take place over a series of video calls between 30 September to 1 October, where those on the panel will review projects one last time before deciding on their favourites from each category.
    Winners will then be announced on 9 November at the awards’ inaugural “hybrid” event, which will involve a digital screening for overseas audience members and a localised on-the-ground ceremony for people part of the AHEAD MEA community.
    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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  • The Maker Hotel in Hudson channels “old-world bohemian glamour”

    Original decor features and vintage treasures helped Lev Glazman, Alina Roytberg and Damien Janowicz create an eclectic sense of old-world charm inside this boutique hotel in Hudson, New York.Host to just 11 rooms, The Maker Hotel is the brainchild of Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg, the co-founders of skincare brand Fresh, and hospitality specialist Damien Janowicz.

    The Maker Hotel takes over three historic buildings in Hudson
    This isn’t the first time that Glazman and Roytberg have ventured out of the beauty industry – back in 2016 they also worked with Janowicz to open the doors to Bartlett House, a bakery-cum-cafe serving seasonal dishes in the town of Ghent, New York.

    When it came to creating The Maker Hotel, Glazman wanted to focus on “celebrating the world of makers”, utilising different forms of craftsmanship to foster unique spaces for guests.

    A newly built conservatory houses the hotel’s restaurant
    “During my travels, I always felt there was an opportunity to expand the hospitality experience – one that inspires and allows you to dream,” he explained. “We knew we could execute The Maker concept in Hudson because the area was so rich with artisans, history and design, and it was the perfect location.”
    “Moving away from standardized design, The Maker fuses different periods, and builds a home where this eclectic design can exist harmoniously,” Glazman added.

    Inside The Maker Hotel are just 11 guest rooms
    Construction works were first carried out to connect the various rooms throughout the 14,000-square foot (1,300 square metres) hotel, which is composed of three different buildings – a Georgian mansion, a Greek revival-style property and a carriage house that dates back to the early 1800s.
    New structural additions were also made, including a central courtyard filled with lush greenery and a “jewel box”-like conservatory that now accommodates The Maker Hotel’s main restaurant.

    The design team worked to keep as many original features as possible throughout the rooms
    Attention was then turned to the interiors, which were largely designed by Glazman – Roytberg focused on the hotel’s branding, while Janowicz worked on refining guest experience.

    The Hoxton crosses the pond and opens hotel in Williamsburg

    Glazman and the design team sought to keep to as many original features as possible, preserving the ornate fireplaces, hand-painted ceilings, stained-glass windows and tiled mosaic flooring that already existed across the three buildings.

    One room includes bookshelves and an oak fireplace
    Over 70 per cent of the decorative pieces are antique or were made bespoke by combining salvaged objects. Some of the artworks even come from Glazman’s personal collection.
    “The result is unexpected; an old-world bohemian glamour that fuses a worldly design ethos shaped by decades of travel,” he concluded.

    Most of the decor elements are antiques
    This same eclectic style seeps through to the guest suites, of which there are five typologies: The Bedrooms, The Terrace Lofts, The Corner Studio and The Maker Studios.
    The Maker Studios are each inspired by four different creative figures – an architect, artist, gardener, writer – and have been styled accordingly. For example, The Artist room includes a vintage easel, while The Writer room sees book-lined shelves arranged around an oak fireplace.
    When not in their rooms, guests can then enjoy the hotel’s pool, cafe or intimate cocktail bar.

    The Maker Hotel also includes an intimate cocktail bar
    The Maker Hotel joins a growing number of getaway spots in New York that are situated away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. Others include The Hoxton in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which sits on the site of an old water tower.
    Photography is by Francine Zaslow.

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