Design & Architecture USA & Canada External Articles

December 11, 2010

Boutique Hotels? No, Hotel Boutiques! | Lobby stores are raising the bar on their merchandise | wsj.com

"We call it 'the invisible store,' " said Luke Ives Pontifell, founder of Thornwillow Press, the bespoke stationer now in bed, figuratively, with the St. Regis Hotel in New York. Mr. Ives Pontifell was referring to the new stand-alone Thornwillow at the St. Regis shop, a wainscotted drawing room showcasing the company's engraved wares and leather-bound books. "There's no cash register, no counter—it's more like being inside someone's home."

WSJ

United States

External Article

November 29, 2010

A Designer Boom Amid the Bust in NYC | newsweek.com

Every street corner in New York these days, it seems, has a dry cleaner, pizza joint, dive bar, and neighborhood designer hotel. New York has hundreds of hotels, including at least 50 luxury properties. So why, over the past year, has the city suddenly given rise to a slew of new high-end designer properties? After all, this is where the global financial crisis started

newsweek.com

New York, New York, United States

External Article

November 12, 2010

15 Hottest Hotel Lobbies in New York City | huffingtonpost.com

I remember the days when New York City hospitality was defined by such institutions as the Plaza Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria. These hotels were regal, comfortable, and elegant. Today, there are new criteria on the table. The best hotels are about concept, creating a culture that incorporates glitz, fantasy, escapism and often social-decadence.

huffingtonpost.com

New York, New York, United States

External Article

September 27, 2010

Pod hotels in a bid to take New York by storm | afp.com

Size doesn't matter. At least that's what a handful of hotels in New York hope lodgers will think when they stay in their small, yet functional and affordable rooms. At The Jane, a tiny red-brick hotel overlooking the Hudson River in West Village, Manhattan's ultra-bohemian neighborhood, space is at a premium. "In my room, I can turn around, and that's about it," said Kai Neuhaus, 33, of Germany. With their wood paneling, velvet benches and Oriental carpets, most of the 150 rooms occupy just 50 square feet (4.6 square meters) and recalls boat cabins. A large mirror hangs on the wall to counter any claustrophobic feelings.

New York, New York, United States

External Article

March 29, 2010

High end hotel stresses creativity | Interview with Matt Greene, GM at San Diego Hard Rock Hotel

Matt Greene likes to joke that he’s a short, middle-aged businessman and not especially cool, hardly the profile of someone you’d expect to be running one of the hippest hotels in town. But that hasn’t been a liability in Greene’s quest to ensure that the Hard Rock Hotel remains one of San Diego’s most inviting, swank and, yes, hip hotels

signonsandiego.com

San Diego, California, United States

External Article

February 18, 2010

Gansevoort founders unhappy about new management | miamiherald.com

The Gansevoort South hotel in Miami Beach is under new management -- and the founders aren't happy. William and Michael Achenbaum, the father-and-son New York developers who opened the Gansevoort in 2008, lost the 334-room hotel to the lender three weeks ago.

miamiherald.com

Miami, Florida, United States

External Article

February 4, 2010

W Hotels to Name a 'Fashion Director' | wsj.com

Putting a new spin on the term "designer hotel," boutique chain W Hotels is hiring a fashion director to amp up its style credentials and its profile within the fashion industry. After a two-year search, the chain is planning to announce next week—on Feb. 11, the opening day of New York Fashion Week—that it has hired stylist Amanda Ross in what is very likely a first for the hotel industry. W Hotels, which operates 36 properties worldwide, is a unit of Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

WSJ

United States

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January 22, 2010

Checking Into the New Andaz NYC | The New Middle | nytimes.com

Andaz Wall Street, Hyatt’s first New York boutique hotel, opened this week (with a Midtown location to follow this spring), and if I’m reading the tea leaves about what this means for many of the nearly 50 hotels that will open in New York this year, one theme emerges: recession luxe. The Andaz property, part of an entirely new brand for Hyatt, is a far cry from last year’s extremes of old-school opulence and flophouse chic. In June, the unabashedly luxurious Pierre Hotel reopened, flaunting a $100 million renovation and posting room rates of the “if you have to ask …” variety. Then the Crosby Hotel opened, with each of the 86 rooms awash in bespoke fabric and art, and priced to match. Conversely, the aggressively gritty Ace and Jane Hotels, the latter featuring communal bathrooms, promised hipster cred on the cheap.

nytimes.com

New York, New York, United States

External Article

January 15, 2010

Starwood makes new allegations against Hilton in corporate spying case | usatoday.com

Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta sends a message to "team members" about Starwood's new claims. (See below.) As the hotel industry continues to struggle in a weak market, Starwood Hotels just upped the ante in its fight against rival hotel giant Hilton Worldwide. Starwood filed additional charges in a new court filing against Hilton yesterday in the U.S. Southern District of New York. The new filing claims that top Hilton officials - including Hilton Worldwide CEO Christopher Nassetta, Hilton's global development chief Steven Goldman and "at least five of the 10 members" of Hilton's executive committee - knew that Hilton possessed Starwood's confidential material.

USA TODAY

United States

External Article

January 7, 2010

Ace Hotel Group: From economy to extravagant | hotelnewsnow.com

The U.S. hotel industry has lost more than just rate premiums, according to Alex Calderwood. It’s lost a sense of personality as well. Calderwood should know something about individualism personified in brick and mortar. He, along with his fellow co-founders, started Ace Hotel Group, which manages and partly owns a four-property portfolio of boutique hotels that is brimming with as much character as a big-budget acting ensemble.

HotelNewsNow

Oregon, United States

External Article

October 12, 2009

Loews upgrading Miami Beach resort hotel | miamiherald.com

Jonathan Tisch walked into the hotel room at the Loews Miami Beach, looked down, and saw too much taupe. Tisch, CEO of Loews Hotels, had approved the carpet months earlier at a design meeting for a major renovation of the oceanfront resort. But after seeing the fabric in a model room, Tisch ordered more blues and greens. ``He felt it was a little drab,'' recalled top designer Greg Walton, of RTKL Associates in Coral Gables. ``He really wanted that Miami feel in the room.'' Tisch, 55, hasn't delegated many decisions when it comes to the first major remake of the most profitable hotel in the Loews chain.

miamiherald.com

Miami Beach, Florida, United States

External Article

October 5, 2009

Hotel Review: The Wit in Chicago | nytimes.com

Even in a city filled with striking architecture, the Wit makes a powerful impression — a green-tinted glass box with an angled roof and a yellow lightning bolt shooting down its State Street facade. But there’s much more to the Wit than its design. The hotel, which opened in May, has a superb location in downtown Chicago, bright rooms with mesmerizing views and an eager-to-please staff. During my recent visit, the hotel — the first in a new chain from Doubletree (itself a division of Hilton) — managed to be all things to all people; business travelers, vacationing families and trend-seeking 20-somethings all seemed to love the place.

nytimes.com

Chicago, Illinois, United States

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Mews

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October 1, 2009

At W Hotel, Steal the Ideas, Not the Robes | washingtonpost.com

All those fashionistas rushing through the new W Hotel lobby to make the scene at the rooftop bar may be missing the splashy design details that could soon end up in bedrooms, baths and living rooms across the region. The $90 million makeover of Washington's former Hotel Washington, which reopened in July, rebooted the dated lobby chandeliers by plugging in LED lights and dressed up bathrooms with bronze vessel sinks. In the bedrooms, the headboard for the 11-inch thick, plush-top mattresses is a built-in niche, backlit with amber light.

washingtonpost.com

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

External Article

September 16, 2009

Las Vegas hotel suites take luxury to a new level | usatoday.com

A 10,000-square-foot suite that includes a basketball halfcourt rents for $25,000 a night at Palms Casino Resort. At MGM Grand's Skylofts, you'll find a bathtub that fizzes with tiny champagne-like massage bubbles, TVs in the mirrors and airport pickup in a $400,000 car. If you're worried about your mortgage and your job, such luxuries might sound downright obscene. But Las Vegas has always specialized in turning fantasy into reality — for a price. Several Vegas hotels offer suites with futuristic amenities, audacious themes, enough room to hold a wedding along with the honeymoon, and pricetags to match.

USA TODAY