Design Hotels

Whether it’s a car, a watch, a kitchen utensil or a piece of furniture, the word « design » has been part of our vocabulary for a quarter of a century, and the artistic concept it represents has entered the world’s hotels as well. Born in Scandinavia in the 1960s, this creative movement, uniting the aesthetic with the functional, has naturally found a means of expression in the hotels’ common areas, rooms, restaurants and bathrooms, all of which provide sources of inspirations for inventive designers. The United States paved the way with the first boutique-hotels created by Ian Schrager, Philippe Starck and Andrée Putnam, followed by England with Anouska Hempel, before the trend took hold in most other countries. At present, in all of the world’s cities, as well as in regions from the banks of the Douro in Portugal to the distant Maldives islands, from the buttresses of the Great Wall of China to the plains of Namibia, it’s possible to choose a hotel with a surprising décor, where your stay becomes a sensory experience. Far from slowing down, this trend is reaching maturity today, and hotel projects associating great names in contemporary creation are countless. The hotel itself has thus become a destination, and guests can choose their vacation site based on the sensations they want to live, an experience far different from what a traditional hotel can offer.