My word, the interiors of this hotel are different! With each of the 26 guest rooms taking a letter instead of a number, and that letter referring to a famous author whose work is hand-stencilled on to the walls, it’s possible to lie in bed and have a good read with-out even opening a book…

Interior Designer : Didier Benderli

One of Paris’s latest additions to its portfolio of chic and characterful hotels, Le Pavillon Des Lettres is an expondent of the luxury boutique hotel, but with a novel concept.

Designer Didier Benderli from Parisian practice Kerylos Intérieurs has used the letters of the alphabet and great authors and poets as inspiration for the hotel’s 26 guest rooms.

There are no room numbers at Le Pavillon Des Lettres, just a letter on each door, and each room takes inspiration from a famous author – from Hans Christian Andersen to Émile Zola – featuring quotes from French and international authors written on the walls in French.

‘The design and decor can be thought of as similar to the syntax of a sentence or a story, with rhymes, chapters, pauses, acceleration – a short story being told,’ says Benderli.

(continue reading…)

Paris-born Didier Benderli studied architecture at UP8 and History of Art at the Sorbonne. After his studies, he left for South America where he worked on a number of projects, mostly in Brazil. In 1989 he joined Agence Jacques Garcia, where he worked as artistic director for 12 years. In 2001 he set up his own business, Agence Kerylos Interieurs. Le Pavillon Des Lettres is the fifth hotel in the practice’s portfolio, which also includes furniture and lighting designs.

With so many legendary writers to chose from, how did you reach the final 26?
It was a combination of my own personal taste and wanting to cover the global literary landscape by choosing international writers. And the ones we chose had to evoke our themes, which are dreams, travels and the night. Also the extracts we chose had to physically sit well on the walls and spaces available – lines from a poem, play or text are an integral part of the design in every room – they are hand-stencilled above the bed. (continue reading…)

A proven appreciation of architectural and cultural heritage and a seasoned eye for contemporary design has seen MKV design help Bern’ s iconic schweizerhof hotel move gracefully into the 21st century

Interior designer: Maria Vafiadis, MKV Design

Nearly 100 years after the Schweizerhof opened as Bern’s first luxury hotel, it has undergone a multimillion pound refurbishment and redesign and has re-emerged to reclaim its crown with contemporary design complementing the traditional splendour of this world-famous hotel. (continue reading…)

MKV is one of the most respected companies providing world-class interior design to the international hospitality sector. Its portfolio of projects reflects a wide diversity of design talent encompassing chic urban hotels, grand historic establishments, revitalised businesses and leisure hotels and large-scale, new-build resorts. It has a commitment of originality and integrity, understanding and respecting local architectural and cultural inheritance while reinterpreting them afresh to meet each client’s objectives. The company was founded in 1999 by Maria Vafiadis, who had previously studied architecture in Milan and worked there as well as in Vienna and Athens before moving to London. One of the most widely travelled and cosmopolitan hotel designers working out of London today, she is fluent in five European languages.

How did MKV Design secure this project? Bruno Schoepfer who heads the Qatari Diar division for Switzerland (Qatari Diar is the hotel owner) was staying at a lifestyle city centre hotel that we had recently designed in Vienna at the time he was planning the renovation of his hotel. He liked it! (continue reading…)

Contemporary design, modern art and intriguing installations meet red, the traditional Chinese symbol of luck and happiness, in this striking hotel design

Interior Designer: GA Design International

As guests arrive at W Taipei they cannot fail to notice the mirror-finished, stainless-steel sculpture, appropriately named The Chain ‘holding’ the hotel to the ground. Stepping inside the hotel, which has been designed by London-based architecture practice GA Design International, more intriguing artwork is on display, this time an interactive light installation called You Fade to Light, by rAndom International.

W Taipei’s 405 guest rooms and suites are designed with warm-coloured stone, burnished wood and floral carpeting, a contrast with modern, subtle lighting inspired by Chinese lantern boxes. The rooms feature interior balconies or ‘playpads’ as they are called by the design team, plus modern white workstations with ergonomically sound task chairs in leather. Oversized vacation-style islander tubs can be found in the bathrooms, set against red or chartreuse-coloured, subway-inspired, wall tiles and a wooden partition. (continue reading…)

Turkish tradition meets contemporary design aesthetics in the latest instalment of the edition story, creatively directed by American hotelier and inventor of the boutique-hotel concept Ian Schrager

Architect & Interior designer: Gabellini Sheppard Associates
Creative adviser: Ian Schrager

Following the instant success of The Waikiki Edition, new luxury lifestyle hotel brand Edition has made its European debut in Istanbul. As the first European Edition hotel, The Istanbul Edition could not be more different from its Waikiki sister, while at the same time continuing to demonstrate the brand’s unexpected and refreshing collection of individual hotels that aim to be the antithesis of an institutional ‘hotel chain’.

New York-based design consultancy Gabellini Sheppard Associates was commissioned to design The Istanbul Edition in a branded collaboration between hotelier Ian Schrager and Marriott International that represents the next generation of international boutique hotels. (continue reading…)