With a location in Montparnasse it was natural for the Apostrophe to pay homage to the area’s links with literature and writers, but with subtle design and artistry

Architect: Vincent Bastie
Designer: Sandrine Alouf
Painter/artist: Catherine Feff

The Montparnasse area of Paris’s Left Bank carries a reputation laden with literary and art heavyweights: Hemingway and Fitzgerald, Picasso and Rousseau and, of course, the requisite intellects, political exiles and socialites such areas attract. It is no surprise then that the neighbourhood has inspired a ‘poem hotel’. (continue reading…)

The best of classic high style meets contemporary flair interior

Designer: Christopher Ash, Project Orange
Architect: Halliday Ramsay

Adjacent to the Opera House in the heart of bustling Belfast stands the new Fitzwilliam Hotel - one of the first design-led hotels in Northern Ireland.

London-based design practice Project Orange worked on the scheme, along with local architect Halliday Ramsay. Project Orange director Christopher Ash had substantial input into the internal configuration of the spaces creating a double-height lobby, among other key features. (continue reading…)

Claire Craig joined interior design practice WA International, London, in 1994 and launched the design studio for the Dubai office in 1996. She honed her skills in Canada, Saudi Arabia, the USA and Egypt before working for the architecture practice Scott Brownrigg & Turner (now Scott  Brownrigg) for five years then hospitality specialist Wilson Gregory Aeberhard, Spence Harris Hogan and Wrenn Associates in London. Craig has worked on numerous high-profile hotel developments. (continue reading…)

Natural surfaces, opulent furnishings and bespoke art by international artists makes this one of the best addressed hotels

Designer: WA International
Architect: Atkins Dubai

Next to the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Dubai, The Address has stiff competition in the design stakes. But once inside, the hotel’s own distinctive character shines through.

Design firm WA International worked with the scale of the architecture and the unusual form of the building (from certain angles it resembles a dazzling, high-tech lipstick case) to conceive truly unique and opulent designs. It’s no surprise the designers have scooped up two design awards for the hotel so far. (continue reading…)

Rabih Hage trained as both an architect and interior designer, graduating from Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1991. He worked in France for several years before moving to London where he began to concentrate on interiors and new-build architecture schemes. Hage runs his own studio and gallery showcasing work by established designers and new talent. Rough Luxe is one of his most recent interior projects. (continue reading…)

The refurbishment of this Victorian townhouse hotel in King’s Cross has preserved the past to collide and blend with modern art and the designer’s ‘anti-luxury’ philosophy

Designer: Rabih Hage

Leave your preconceptions of luxury hotels at the door of one of London’s latest establishments, Rough Luxe, the creation of celebrated designer and gallery curator Rabih Hage and a novel approach in the business of hospitality.

Forget the sterile atmosphere of air conditioning, marbled flooring, polished finishes and neutral colour palettes. Rough Luxe is the complete antithesis.

‘Beauty is subjective,’ declares Hage. ‘Perfection doesn’t mean beauty. It’s not important. What makes a place great to stay is the location, the welcome you get and how well you are looked after.’ (continue reading…)

Fantastic design elements and spectacular views combine to make the Mondrian South Beach a destination experience

Interior designer: Marcel Wanders

Following the revolution in hotel design brought about by Delano Miami, Royalton New York, and Sanderson London is Mondrian South Beach Hotel Residences, the latest offering from the Morgans Hotel Group.

Conceived by award-winning Dutch design guru Marcel Wanders as Sleeping Beauty’s castle, Modrian South Beach is indeed a living fantasy for guests. The designer has turned traditional design elements on their heads to create dramatic spaces, which he has furnished with original pieces from his studio where he produces lighting, flooring, chairs, tables and sofas. (continue reading…)

The Limes Hotel adds a design flourish inside and out to the thriving nightlife hub that is its Brisbane location

Designer: Alexander Lothersztain

At the hub of Brisbane’s nightlife, with its trendy and exciting bars, cafes and clubs, Limes Hotel fits right in. Even from the outside, the arriving guest knows they are in for a design treat, with the facade of the building capped with a huge patterned stencil, giving a 3D effect.

With its modern aesthetic, hip interiors, fashionable bar and in-house designer cinema, the Limes Hotel is the latest work from award-winning Brisbane designer Alexander Lotersztain.
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The idea of healing ‘energies’ informs the interior design of this picturesque 18th century Palladian mansion set in the Cotswolds

Interior designer: Marchella de Angelis

Approaching through the traditional but beautiful countryside in Gloucestershire, there is nothing remarkable about the outside of the hotel. In fact it lulls you into anticipating paneled walls, chintz and Georgian armchairs. Its elegant Grade II facade suggests a country manor house that blends in with the rest of the quaint village of Painswick. But as soon as you walk in, the place makes you giggle. (continue reading…)

The bold use of colour, graphics and textures at W Hong Kong breaks the mould

Designer: Yasimuchi Morita, Glamorous Corp; Nicholas Graham, G+A

A glittering new waterfront skyscraper in the heart of Hong Kong’s vibrant new entertainment, cultural and commercial district is providing an urban oasis for travellers.

W Hong Kong is the latest offering from owner Starwood Hotels & Resorts, with 393 luxuriously appointed guest rooms and speciality suites and boasting the city’s most elevated swimming pool, sitting as it does on the roof of the world’s third tallest building. (continue reading…)