My husband and I are planning a home remodel in the coming months.
I am often inspired by design ideas that I see in the hotels I inspect for my groups as I travel around the world. However, most of these will NOT be showing up anywhere in our home!
At the Andaz in Amsterdam, this is the stuff of nightmares: Would you want this fish hanging on the wall over your pillow? (at least it’s not on the ceiling!)
I stayed at the aptly-named art’otel in Amsterdam on a site inspection recently … and found some rather interesting pieces prominently displayed in their pubic (oops! I mean public) spaces.
Spotted in a hotel lounge: Slightly obscured by a silver ice bucket, this lamp is, indeed, as suggestively phallic as it looks!
This is an art installation in an atrium of the same hotel . . . honestly don’t know what to say about this!
In case you’re wondering, I did not choose either of these hotels for my group . . . even though the latter property did have a cool lighting feature in the guest room corridors:
I wasn’t a fan of the art in the public spaces, but there were a number of design elements I did appreciate – like the clever corridor lighting.
I didn’t have time or the inclination to play with the “mood” lights in my room, but I was intrigued with the one called “Peekaboo.”
“Design hotels” are a brand and a concept for many hip, trendy boutique hotels. They’re not for everyone though.
My employee, Whitney, went to Seville, Spain on her honeymoon this past May. She and James got room #125 at the Grand Melia Colon Hotel (and no, James didn’t intentionally copy Jesus’ shirt):
What would Jesus do?
I guess there’s a design theme with the Melia hotel chain. Here’s another one from my experience of a few years ago:
I took this photo from the upstairs loft at the Melia in Rome – looking down at my husband in bed with his iPad. (Obviously not on our honeymoon!) When I showed him this photo, he SWEARS he never noticed the mural!
Hotel designers like to place tubs in the middle of the bedroom. Now THIS is a tempting soak:
Guest room at the Utopia Resort in Mykonos. I wouldn’t want to live in this room – but wouldn’t mind staying here for awhile!
The Utopia Resort has a very unique style. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with your kids’ old plastic zoo animals, simply paint them white and affix them to the banister of your stairs!
These stairs are definitely not OSHA-approved!
We’ve got to sell a program at Utopia … the art is truly a WOW!
Simple – but effective use of bunnies!
And I would definitely hang one of these chairs anywhere in my home! . . .
Isn’t this inviting??
And then there’s outdoor art. Animals are a popular trend:
Pure white penguins grace the pool deck at the Avaton, Mykonos.
Unforgettable red poodle in the garden at the Duke’s Palace Hotel in Bruges, Belgium. (I’m a cat person, myself …)
Unicorn and lion sculptures grace the lawns of the Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria in Rome.
And then there are those times when something was probably an earnest attempt to add something beautiful … as in this floor lamp at a (not-5-star) hotel in Mandalay, Myanmar:
… it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase!
Do you have a memorable hotel design feature to share from your travels?
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7 Comments
Jane Halsey July 31, 2015 at 4:02pm
Loved this! I hate, yes hate, tubs and for that matter any bathroom elements as a part of my sleeping room at a hotel, but I love, love outdoor art, especially in gardens.
Kathleen Barry July 31, 2015 at 4:19pm
Very good article … Did u send Shelley a copy of the red poodle photo??
Love,
K
Ellen July 31, 2015 at 4:46pm
Designers can have the most … er… interesting ideas. 🙂 I loved the tub in the bedroom tho… that room looked so relaxing! Loved the bunnies!
Marilyn July 31, 2015 at 9:04pm
Ellen, you’re a bird person! Did you not LOVE the peacock lamp?? 🙂
Kimberly August 2, 2015 at 2:56pm
I’ve stolen many a hotel design when we re-modeled our home including the floors from Raffles Singapore, the bookcases from Viceroy Santa Monica etc….but I can’t say as I would steal any of the ideas here! Thanks for sharing, fun post!
Marilyn August 6, 2015 at 11:25pm
Can I see pics? I’m still carrying images in my head of amazing floor tiles I saw in Myanmar!
Bob Ricks August 11, 2015 at 4:26am
You remember some hotels. Betty and I booked a Paris hotel through the USO when I was in the Army in Germany. The lobby was great. The location was good. The room was fine. The BED!……………….it had a vast canyon in the middle of the well worn matress. We both ended up there all night. You had to crawl out of that canyon. That was 1971. If I still mention that trip to Betty today she says…..the one with the bed?
Another place was Geneva, 1971 also. The room rate was great. The lobby was magnificent. We could see the lake. We checked in and rode the elevator to the 3rd floor and entered the twilight zone. The room was out of Motel 6. Sleezy and last remodeled during WWII. They faked us out with the lobby. This is the trip where we learned to ask to see our room prior to checking in to the hotel as Europe expects you to do this unless you are a US rookie.