The First Resorts

Words Gabrielle Mirkin

Individuality, whimsical touches and mixing and matching design eras set the scene in a new breed of exclusive luxury hotels.

From Berlin to Budapest, Paris to Arizona, every city around the world has one hotel that stands apart as the ultimate address in town. These few are for travellers who are in search of something beyond the standard ideals of luxury, who are seeking something more exclusive, quirky and imaginative in a design hotel. These hotels represent the premier accommodations in the world’s most spectacular cities – be it a historic mansion in Paris or a high-tech architectural marvel in Budapest, each one exceeds the highest standards for service, ambience and amenities for those in search of an urban escape. An interesting trend with these new design hotels is a focus on creating eclectic, uniquely designed individual rooms, each with a completely different aesthetic and often featuring whimsical elements. After all, if you’ve travelled halfway across the globe to see a new city, who wants McDonalds-like predictability in their hotel room?

Hotel Everland – Paris
www.everland.ch
Hotel Everland is a project by Swiss artist-duo L/B (Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann). L/B are known for their installations that deal with architecture and space and invite the viewer to get involved and become part of the artwork. Everland is a hotel like no other – it has only one room, which includes a king-size bed and a lounge, with a bathroom branching off to the side. The substantial space is decorated in bright Pop colours with playful details, like the written encouragement to steal the golden embroidered bath towels. But the hotel’s most unique feature is that it is constantly on the move. At the artists’ request, the transportable room can be booked for one night only, during which time you’ll be expected to drink the fully-stocked mini-bar dry (it’s included in the price), enjoy breakfast delivered to the door and try out your best dance moves to the sounds of the record collection. The travelling hotel has moved from Switzerland to Germany and is now in Paris until the end of 2008. High above the city, with a view of the Eiffel Tower, it is installed on the roof of Palais de Tokyo.
Rooms from $625.

Hotel Fasano -São Paulo, Brazil
www.fasano.com.br
With more than a century of experience in the food business behind them, the Fasano family of São Paulo turned their hand to providing a more complete guest experience. Fasano Hotel and Restaurant has resulted from a design collaboration between Isay Weinfeld and Márcio Kogan, recreating an audacious 1930s style. Elegant architecture combines contemporary design with classical wealth of detail, such as period furniture, massive leather armchairs and English red brickwork on the facade. The hotel houses two of the icons of the area: Fasano, rated South America’s best restaurant for Italian cuisine, and the Baretto Bar, a cozy space for cool music and jazz. The Fasano is one of those places you go not to hide but to be seen, and the view from the armchairs is of a constant parade of well-heeled travelers and fashionable Paulistanos flowing through reception and into Baretto. The hotel is located in the elegant neighbourhood of Jardins and is surrounded by São Paulo’s finest shops and boutiques, including Empório Armani, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Bulgari and Cartier.
Rooms from $560.

Hotel du Petit Moulin – Paris, France
www.paris-hotel-petitmoulin.com
Couturier Christian Lacroix is the name behind the interior design of the Hotel du Petit Moulin lying in the heart of Le Marais, the historic area of Paris. This 17th century building, the site of an ancient boulangerie, has been completely renovated, although the facade dating back to 1900 and the shop sign, both of which are registered as historic monuments, have been preserved. “I always loved the idea of hotels, of the journey around a room”, enthuses Lacroix; hence he has created 17 atmospheres for each of the 17 rooms at the hotel. Entering the reception area you are greeted with illustrations by Lacroix, a 17th-century wooden staircase leading to the bar, with bright 1960s armchairs, and in the lift, a rococo scene sets the tone for the individually-designed rooms. “Each of the rooms corresponds to a way of approaching this area of Paris where you don’t go downstairs by chance but rather because you are drawn by the history and the spirit of the times,” Lacroix declares. The style of the rooms varies wildly, from rustic cosiness decorated with Jouy Linen, to a more Zen and design-orientated style; from elegant classic cornices, to spaces that could almost be described as kitsch.
Rooms from $350.

Lánchíd 19 – Budapest, Hungary
www.lanchid19hotel.hu
Named after Budapest’s famed “Chain Bridge” which spans the Danube, the Lánchíd 19 is a contemporary highlight in a neighbourhood of predominately 19th century architecture. This contrast is indicative of Budapest’s evolving character, one which celebrates both past and present. The architect and design team of Péter Sugár, Lászlo Benczur and Lászlo Kara have created a moveable accordion-like glass façade, animated by the changing colours of an innovative lighting design concept. It provides unique pictures in the night, so the hotel stands as a kind of ‘lighthouse’ on the Danube riverbank. A building-high glass atrium towers above the foyer enabling natural light to flood the communal spaces and glass bridges that lead to the guestrooms. A glass and steel staircase connects the foyer with a restaurant, which is located on a gallery above. The lobby itself is equally dramatic with its transparent floor revealing Roman ruins a level below. History is well integrated into the interior design, where classical-modern design icons, such as chairs by Alvar Aalto, are mixed with custom-designed furnishings.
Rooms from $215.

Mondrian Scottsdale – Arizona, USA
www.mondrianscottsdale.com just got even hotter in Arizona with the arrival of the Mondrian Scottsdale, designed by rising international star Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz. The hotel is an inventive vision of modern glamour drawing inspiration from the Garden of Eden: the lobby features cloudlike lighting while the temptations of the Red Bar (shown here) are encapsulated by a single, oversized apple, red drapes and cherubs flying overhead. The Skybar, accessed from the gardens, is draped in decadent black gauze and furnished with black wing chairs and an enormous, luxurious bed for relaxing and star-gazing. This urban resort reflects the youthful spirit of the thriving city of Old Town Scottsdale. From the street, only walls and lush gardens are visible. Through the iconic 25-foot Mondrian “gates” (fashioned entirely from tropical bougainvillea), visitors enter the hotel via a sweeping entranceway blanketed by a virtual red carpet of stencilled leaves. The 194 rooms inspired by ‘good and evil’ are designed entirely in black and white and include Philippe Stark Louis Ghost chairs. Maybe the most tempting part of the property is the Asia de Cuba restaurant (overseen by renowned international restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow) with its references to farm life and abundance it features the designer’s taxadermic rooster as the star of the show.
Rooms from $380.

Lux 11 -Berlin, Germany
www.lux11.com
Berlin is one of UNESCO Creative Cities of design and it has a distinctive and strong creative subculture, particularly in the Mitte district, a historic area with one-of-a-kind fashion boutiques, bars, art galleries, studios and restaurants. Bang in the heart of Mitte is where you find the Lux 11, a chic 72-room apartment hotel designed by London-based architects Giuliana Salmaso and Claudio Silvestrin. The clean minimal design includes celadon walls and bleached wood furniture with a colour scheme of muted Chinese green and white. Floors are polished concrete or Scandanavian wood, but other materials are sumptuous, such as the suede headboards and taffeta bedcovers trimmed with fake fur. A huge highlight at Lux 11 is the Shiro i Shiro restaurant with its innovative cuisine (Mediterranean-Japanese), including an impressively designed sushi bar. Also on the ground floor, is the hotel’s Aveda salon and spa and Ulf Haines, a concept store that sells minimalist fashion gear. The crowd are stylish international visitors, in town to experience East Berlin’s creative art scene, shops and nightlife.
Rooms from $310.

Hotel Particulier Montmartre – Paris
www.hotel-particulier-montmartre.com
The most fabulous example of a hotel combining drama, surprise, and luxury is hiding in a secret passage in the heart of the historical, artistic and night-club area of Montmartre in Paris. The restored aristocratic mansion from the Directoire period is the project of Morgane Rousseau and Frédéric Comtet. The owners commissioned well known artists, designers and architects to create the five unique suites. One of the distinctive rooms is the “vegetable room” designed by New York-born, Paris-based contemporary artist Martine Aballéa. Aballéa hopes guests will “feel like they were in a suspended garden or in trees, to have a sensation of floating in a luminous, soft and flowered space”. From every window, residents can view the luxuriant garden created by Louis Bénech (designer of the Jardin des Tuileries). Finland-born Mats Haglund of Chanel, Colette and Paul Joe boutique fame, created the private living room, using the personality of the proprietors as his starting point and furnished the salon with classics by Arne Jacobsen, Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto.
Rooms from $730.

All prices are approximate and in New Zealand dollars.