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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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  • Birch hotel by Red Deer takes over an 18th-century English mansion

    Architecture studio Red Deer carried out an understated overhaul of a centuries-old mansion near Hertfordshire, England to form the Birch hotel, which is designed to challenge the idea of luxury.Birch is set on a 55-acre estate in the English town of Cheshunt, occupying a heritage-listed brick mansion that dates back to 1763.

    Red Deer has designed the Birch hotel in Cheshunt with slightly stripped back guest rooms
    The 140-room hotel is the brainchild of entrepreneur Chris King and former managing director of London’s Ace Hotel, Chris Penn, with interiors by architecture studio Red Deer.

    While respecting the grandiose nature of the mansion, the studio wanted Birch to shift perceptions of luxury hotels.

    Each bedroom contains a bespoke valet stand. Photo by Fergus Coyle
    “[We] consider the term ‘luxury’ as degraded through overuse, and the parameters of what constitutes a ‘luxury hotel’ can be tricky to define,” said Red Deer.
    “For [us], luxury comes from the creation of a meaningful emotional connection between the hotel guest and the space they inhabit.”

    The cinema room has striped deck chairs
    “As the landscape for luxury hospitality has evolved, the onus is now focused on creating a unique and personalised one-to-one experience for guests,” it continued.
    “Hotels aren’t just bedrooms with smart technology, but memory-making experiences that create value and loyalty.”

    Birch has a spacious coworking area
    The guest rooms of the Birch hotel are therefore slightly stripped back in appearance, finished with white-painted walls, exposed-wire lights and simple rattan headboards.
    TVs and work desks have also been purposefully omitted so that guests can completely detach from the stresses of everyday life.

    The coworking space has patchy plaster walls
    Each room includes a bespoke valet stand that Red Deer commissioned London-based designer Jan Hendzel to make alongside designer Charlotte Kidger, ceramicist Emma Louise Payne and metalsmith Lucie Naujalis.
    The stands are anchored by colourful orb or pill-shaped bases that Kidger has crafted from waste plastic, held in by sycamore and ash wood frames made by Hendzel.

    Red Deer commissioned local artists to create a series of unique spaces
    Spokes of the frame extend up to form clothes hooks, balance flower vases by Payne or support hand-beaten copper bowls by Naujalis that can hold knick-knacks like keys or cash.

    Red Deer and Jan Hendzel Studio combine ceramics, beaten copper and recycled plastic for hotel valet stands

    “It felt crucial to bring local artists and makers on-board to work on the interior projects and create some truly unique pieces to be enjoyed by the guests, challenging the idea that uniformity was essential for large batch runs of furniture,” added the studio.

    Original details were retained in the hotel where possible
    Throughout the rest of the hotel Red Deer has tried to “only intervene where it counted”, contradicting the typical “wastefulness” associated with luxury spaces.
    Several spaces still boast the building’s original panelled walls and ornate cornicing. This includes the mint-green cinema room, where guests are invited to sit and watch the latest films or documentaries from striped deck chairs.

    The communal spaces contain original panelling
    The spacious coworking area has patchy plaster walls, while the reception room features elaborate wooden boiserie and floorboards marked with white-painted numbers left behind by builders from the building’s last renovation.
    Rather than trying to cover them up, Red Deer instead decided to keep them as a quirky design feature.
    The central concierge desk, which has a faceted blue-metal base, brings a modern touch to the room.

    The Gun Room is a private dining area
    “We wanted to take a light touch on the existing features and celebrate the Georgian building,” said ​Ciarán O’Brien, co-founder of Red Deer. ​
    “The building created a really strong backdrop, so we looked at each space from the point of what already existed,” he continued. “Any intervention within a space needed to work with that, and once you build that design story it allows us to imagine how that room will operate.”

    The Zebra Riding Club is one of three restaurants
    Other on-site experiences that guests can enjoy include an interactive bakery, a pottery workshop, fitness studios and an open-air swimming pool.
    There are also three restaurants: Zebra Riding Club, which will serve “unfussy” dishes made with ingredients from Birch’s farm, The Gun Room, a wood-lined private dining room that seats just eight guests and Valeries, an all-day eatery that features sky-blue walls and chandeliers dangling from the ceiling.
    Red Deer is based between London and Barcelona and was founded by Lionel Real de Azúa, Ciarán O’Brien and Lucas Che Tizard.
    Previous projects by the studio include a pastel-green pasta restaurant and a virtual reality arcade which has neon interiors inspired by the work of artist James Turrell.
    Photography is by Adam Firman unless stated otherwise.

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  • Decada Muebles spotlights local craft inside Mexico's Escondido Oaxaca Hotel

    Interiors studio Decada Muebles has filled this boutique hotel in Oaxaca City, Mexico with pieces made by the region’s artisans.A majority of the Escondido Oaxaca Hotel takes over a former family home that dates back to the 19th century.
    Inside are four of the hotel’s total 12 guest rooms – the last eight are located just beyond the house within a more contemporary concrete tower erected by architect Alberto Kalach.

    The Escondido Oaxaca Hotel lobby. Top image: a bedroom in the concrete tower
    This mixture of old and new influenced Decada Muebles’ design of the hotel, which has been almost exclusively decked out with pieces crafted by local craft makers.

    “We wanted to create a feeling of timelessness inside an authentic Oaxacan house, where the guests could feel the presence of a craftsman’s hand through their work in every nook and cranny,” the interior design studio told Dezeen.
    “With a mix of minimalism and clean lines in our furniture choices, and the lush landscaping and garden design, we aimed to maximize the possibility of relaxation and sense of serenity as the underlying state while at the hotel.”

    The hotel restaurant features green cement tiles
    Guests enter the hotel via the old house, walking through a spacious lobby that’s dotted with oversized terracotta plant pots.
    Red bricks run across the floor, while the walls are loosely rendered with stucco – faded patches of paint left behind from the house’s old fit-out are still visible.
    These rustic walls continue through into the restaurant, which serves up a menu of Mexican fusion food.

    The split-level culture room features stucco walls
    Local craftsmen have used Sabino, a Mexican wood, to make the tables and chairs that appear throughout the room. They complement a gridded timber shelving unit that openly displays liquor bottles and glassware.
    The floor here is clad with locally sourced green-cement tiles – the colour was specifically chosen in a subtle nod to Cantera, a green-hued volcanic rock that’s native to Oaxaca and used to build several of its buildings and roads.

    The concrete facade of the new tower
    When they’re not relaxing around the pool, which is up on the roof, guests can head to the split-level “culture room”.
    It includes a small library and a cosy sofa area decorated with earth-tone vases.

    Bedrooms feature sabino wood furniture
    Guest rooms in the old house and the concrete tower have been finished in the same material palette that’s been applied throughout Escondido Oaxaca Hotel’s communal spaces.

    Monte Uzulu is a boutique hotel in the Oaxacan jungle by Taller Lu’um and At-te

    Green-tinted cement tiles cover surfaces in the en-suite bathrooms and sabino wood has been used to create the rooms’ side tables, bed frames and shutters, which can be pushed back to reveal balconies or foliage-filled patios.
    Details like the woven palm leaf headboards were also custom made in Oaxaca.

    A bedroom opening onto a courtyard
    Escondido Oaxaca Hotel is longlisted in the hotel and short-stay category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
    It will compete against the likes of Trunk House, a boutique hotel in Tokyo that includes a miniature disco, and Casa Palerm, a guest villa in Mallorca which is fronted by a huge cinema screen-like window.
    Photography is by Undine Pröhl.

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  • The Wayfinder hotel designed to “feel as if you were staying with friends” in Rhode Island

    New York design practice Reunion Goods & Services has renovated this hotel in Rhode Island to be reminiscent of a colourful home with a fireplace and cosy seating nooks.Formerly the Mainstay Hotel, The Wayfinder property is located in Newport and was refurbished by Reunion Goods & Services for developer Dovetail + Co. It includes 197 suites, a restaurant, lounge, patio and outdoor swimming pool.

    Reunion Goods & Services designed the hotel to be evocative of a house rather than a hotel and sought to optimise the amount of natural light. White walls are enlivened with a variety of colours like burnt red, blue, green and mustard.

    “The goal of this project was to freshen the spaces and bring as much light into the rooms as possible,” the team said. “The intent was always for the rooms to feel as if you were staying with friends or at a summer house.”

    The rest of the interior design is a combination of existing details, like stone and terrazzo floors with wood-panelled walls, alongside woven and wooden furniture pieces for a relaxed yet playful feel.
    The lobby features its original white terrazzo flooring with a new dark blue ceiling for contrast, while a free-standing fireplace in mustard with a glass enclosure is the focal point. It is surrounded by a custom white sofa in a U-shape.

    The hotel rooms have a paler palette reflective of the hotel’s beach location with off-white walls and chair railing in soft blue and green tones.

    Tourists hotel in The Berkshires takes cues from classic American motor lodges

    Continuing the relaxed, residential aesthetic is a lounge area with couches, pouffes, indoor plants, chairs, woven roller shades and woven cane dining chairs. Colourful fabrics enliven the space with its stone floors, while window trim is teal.

    The sitting area joins the hotel restaurant Nomi Park, which has bolder colours like red-tiled walls, burnt orange leather banquettes, a bar clad in light blue tiles and dining benches upholstered in a cheetah print.
    The wood dining chairs in dark blue are made locally by O & G Studio that is one of the emerging studios based in Rhode Island.

    Art by more local artists rounds out the interiors, including a piece in the restaurant by Mea Duke and a mural outside in the patio near the swimming pool by Sean Spellman. Others artists whose work is displayed are Catherine Druken, Jenn Shore, Jenny Brown and Liz Kelley.

    In addition to the Wayfinder hotel, other boutique accommodations in small towns and rural areas of the Northeastern United States are Tourists hotel in Massachusetts’ Berkshires region, Scribner’s Catskill Lodge, Sound View on Long Island and Troutbeck hotel by Champalimaud.
    Photography is by Read McKendree.

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