Interiors & Designs

Reconstructing practical luxury

Making hotel one’s home is not an easy task. But how a property is designed can make all the difference. By Reza Kabul

There was a time when hospitality designs were in almost perfect anonymity, when hotels were either ornately grand or simply functional and restaurants as predictable as the food they were serving ,the bland leading the bland, few took notice of the names behind the projects since so many of them looked alike

Now, travel and leisure activity consumes more of a sophisticated public time, people have come to expect a certain level of excellence when they dine out, go on vacation or travel for business. The word hotel signifies an escape from the responsibility of ownership. Staying in a hotel provides for an artificial form of community living that simultaneously provides for the individual and eccentricities of the sociable. Security is confirmed by the status of the resident, the provision of safe deposit facilities and the chance meetings is provided by allowing public non-resident access to café, bars, spas and nightclubs. Today's customers demand value comfort and convenience, and hoteliers are learning to be responsive to families arriving for weekend stays after business meetings, women travelling on business and corporate travellers trying to save money. The combination of an artefact and climate combined to help the visitor to forget the mundane pace of life, and live for a few days in a cosmetic world of princes and thieves.

The new trend tends to be less towards the anonymous chain hotels and more towards personalised hotel at the upper end of the market. The unique challenges of hospitality design are met time and again with a seemingly inexhaustible spring of innovation.

Radisson Resort, Mauritius

Understanding clients' requirements, some of which are not directly expressed, to get the complete design brief is an important aspect of an architectural practice. For the Radisson Plaza Beach Resort, it was realised that no matter what the shape of the plot, it was imperative to have a sea view as soon as one entered a resort or hotel anywhere in Mauritius. This was one of the USPs of any property in the tourist-friendly country.

The plot assigned for the Radisson was a narrow stretch of land measuring nearly one kilometre, but it had the advantage of a maximum sea-facing edge. The design therefore, evolved as a linear one, with a central public zone.

The driveway leads up to a first level entrance podium, opening onto the reception area. From here, one gets a step down view to the sea across a reflector pool set lower down.

There are no shutters cutting the sea from the reception area, to avoid the roof being lifted off by gale force winds, common in this geographical zone. The pitched roof too, is specially designed to resist the same. The resort has been designed without any elevators, as the three-storey guest rooms are accessed from the first level walkway, leading up or down a level to the other floors.

There are three blocks on either side of the main block, which are designed as typical hotel rooms arranged along a singly loaded corridor. Here, advantage has been taken of the site linearity, as each room gets a view and way to access the sea front.

Host 2007 Design

Host 2007 Design zone awards were awarded to the best design for the mock up business hotel rooms in two categories - economy and luxury.

Luxury business hotel room

In the luxury business hotel room, movement, transparency and open spaces were kept as the characteristic elements of the design. The objective is to grant the visitor a restful and comfortable ambience in spaces with a distinct minimal slant. The room is provided with a spacious bathroom, mini bar, versatile work table, entertainment, seating and a lavish bed.

As this is a business hotel, the bathroom is designed with spaces carved out especially for a separate WC cubicle and shower cubicle for the convenience of two people staying in the same room with effective time usage. Also from the bathtub one can delight the luxurious view of the plasma television. Frosted glass cubicles in the bathroom, instill the modernistic ambience which is light as well as grants privacy to the user

The diaphanous spaces and warm combinations of the forms and colours of the furniture, endow it with a sense of relaxation and harmony. Purity and discreet elegance is the basis of the design. The ambience is complemented by effective lighting system that affords privacy and relaxation.

Despite the modernistic design, the guest room is instilled with an atmosphere of warmth. Furniture designed is modern and stylish, with materials like veneer, glass, steel, etc. The entire room is lighted with power saving l.e.d lights. Wall papers are adorning the walls of the room and the wooden flooring adds the warmth.

Economy business hotel room

The theme here is contemporary with a spacious room stylishly done with modern furniture designs. In spite of this theoretical division, the bathroom instead of being a separate room appears as an extension of the sleeping area itself. This makes the room look more spacious.

The ambience is complemented by effective lighting system that affords privacy and relaxation. Materials used are veneer, glass, steel, vitrified tiles for flooring and paint finish /wall paper for wall finishes.

The optimum use of stupendously finished materials replicating the user's personality, demarcates the lavishness and grandeur of the room.

But the cardinal rule can not be played around with. How much the trends might change and however innovatively a designer uses materials and designs, comfort of a guest is of the utmost importance, not only for the guest himself but for the hotel as well.