Zerotwonine

You know that 029 loves everything travel & lifestyle related. And we go weak in the knees for exceptionally designed hotels. That is why we wanted to share with you this excellent article, courtesy of The Frog & Princess - about their favourite design hotels.

Because when it comes to jet-setting around the world and staying in exquisite hotels, well Mrs. Princess and Mr. Frog have quite some expert experience under their Gucci belts, or maybe Hermès?

Without further ado…The Frog & Princess’ favourite design hotels from two very stylish individual.

My Favorite Design Boutique Hotels.

Definition: boutique hotel = a small, luxury hotel offering premium services, often located in a fashionable location.

Etymology: from boutique ’small, exclusive shop’.

Hotel Keppler

PZ loves boutique hotels. So does her Frog. I drool over the gorgeous modern designs, charming ambiance and cool high-tech facilities. The small number of rooms also mean better client attention and less likely to bump into troops of noisy children.

Boutique hotels have mushroomed all over the world, in answer to travelers looking for small, luxury, intimate accommodations, the alternative to the large mass-market chain hotels. Boutique hotels are the fastest-growing niche market in many cities with individual, chic hotels quickly ascertaining its presence as THE place to be.

They tend to be life-style focused, brand-marketed and intent on creating a dream and not just of practicality for providing a place to sleep. The origins of boutique hotel I’d say started with Blakes Hotel, London by hotelier designer Anouska Hempel. Each of the 51 rooms carries its own unique individual design, earning its reputation as “The Couture Hotel.” Although I’ve been lucky to dine there, I have stayed at the sister hotel Blakes in Amsterdam (now The Dylan) and I can most certainly say if Amsterdam wasn’t so beautiful, I’d be happy to stay in the red oriental bedroom all day.

Blakes, Amsterdam

So here I’d like to share with you some PZ favourites – old classics and new – just to spread the joy. There’s so many of course that it’s a really tough selection!! So note there will be further posts on this topic. Please do share your must-stay boutique hotels wherever it may be and I’ll add them with your mention in future posts.

Paris:

L’Hotel

- L’Hotel (Oscar Wilde’s haunt on the Left Bank). Winner of the best urban hotel in the world 2008, Harper’s Bazaar. 20 rooms individually decorated.

Hotel Keppler

- Hotel Keppler by Pierre-Yves Rochon. 39 divine rooms. New.

London:

Haymarket Hotel

-The Haymarket Hotel by Tim and Kip Kent. A landmark building by the
legendary John Nash.  50 rooms.

The Sanderson

- The Sanderson hotel by Philippe Starck.

Barcelona:

Casa Fuster

- Casa Fuster. Restored Landmark building in the modernist style (like Gaudi.)

Hotel Omm

- Hotel Omm by architect Juli Capella and interior designers Sandra Tarruella and Isabel López. 91 rooms.

Singapore:

New Majestic Hotel

- New Majestic Hotel. 30 individually designed rooms, mixing vintage and designer.

Hong Kong:

Abeo

- Abeo. 52 rooms. State of the art technology and architecture

Lang Kwai Wang Hotel

- Lang Kwai Wang Hotel. Boutique hotel style but 162 rooms (pretty typical in HK). Gorgeous though with fantastic panoramic views.

PZ.

http://frogandprincess.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/my-favorite-design-boutique-hotels/

029 was lucky enough to be in Barcelona this past weekend, where the weather was perfect, the food spot on and the city was as sexy and appealing as always. 029 was also lucky enough to have stayed at the W Barcelona, the 3 week old beachside property which calls the chic Barceloneta district home.

The sail shape building is easily and prominently visible from both land and sea and the W is the first beachfront hotel in Barcelona. Thankfully our plane had to do a go-around due to traffic at Barcelona’s airport so I was able to get an excellent view of what awaited me down by the sea.

Double takes are necessary, as are strolls along Barceloneta during the morning, afternoon and evening to see how the changing light reflects off the window-ful W.

First impressions are everything and in this respect the W does it right. Note to other hotels - staff the front of your hotel with incredibly attractive Spanish bellboys to make an appealing first impression. And I am not just saying this because I am female.

If you want your hotel to be seen as a temple of cool, image is everything. And image includes those guys who open the door for me, welcome me to the hotel and take my suitcase off my hands. (Side note - I can only speak for the guys at the door on Friday morning at around 11:00).

Check-in was easy and breezy, much like the Barcelona atmosphere. We were escorted to our Fabulous room on the 12th floor and given a mini-tour on how to work the various controls in the room. But to be honest, we were not paying attention, how could we? Have you seen our view? It was Fabulous and corresponded perfectly with the Fabulous room category. One of the benefits of having a hotel all the way at the end of the beach on its own mini-peninsula is uninterrupted, unparalleled views of the city, beach and sea (in our case).

Let’s get down to basics - because that is what you are all interested in anyway. Super soft bed sheets that retain their coldness (you know what I’m talking about), pillows and comforters that encourage you to stay in bed and take in the views, rainfall shower (a must in my book) and excellent bliss amenities. With a name like bliss, you know you are in good hands.

And in case the enormous windows didn’t offer enough opportunity to gaze at Barcelona, channel your inner lifeguard and watch out over the beach, or look down at those walking by wishing they were at the W, they provided a handy little telescope (first pic, blue & silver microphone looking piece) to improve your vision.

In my expert opinion, the best part of the room was the couch-like piece of furniture that extended the entire length of the massive windows (did I mention that already?) so that you could lay (or is it lie?) pretty much on the window while gazing at Barcelona, channelling your inner lifeguard etc… Nice touch. Possibly not so nice if you are scared of heights.

The pool area was very chill, with white loungers that were über-comfortable, plush violet-coloured towels (that I will be purchasing when they become available), cabanas, loungers built into the pool, sexy lounge music (what else would you have expected?).

I actually dedicated 3.5 hours of my time at the pool, which is pretty impressive considering the city of Barcelona with its to-die-for shopping and dining was constantly beckoning me. And if you find yourself lounging away the day at the pool, order the crab and shrimp in rice paper. Yum.

I also gave their spa, bliss, a try, because all that trekking around Barcelona looking for sexy Spanish fashion and sampling the city’s tapas and cava can take a toll on your feet. It is a very cool and hip spa - as they themselves say, they don’t play “whale music,” no waves, tree frogs or sounds of nature - and the spa is adorned in playful and calming bluish tones and not in every colour of beige under the sun. And I did fall in love with their cheeky marketing of their products and services - who would have thought that reading the back of body lotion would have you laughing?

So all in all, even though the W just opened and there was a bit of refining and finishing touches going on, the hotel will quickly become the place to be in Barcelona, if it isn’t already. From the building, to the views and not to mention some of the staff, it is definitely a hotel with a view.

Last added bonus, for some reason there were fireworks on Saturday night in celebration of something - I didn’t know that that many people realised I was going to be staying there (joking). But the symphony of colour exploded right in front of our window and it was perfect ending to a perfect Barcelona weekend.