Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts' founder and long-time ceo Isadore Sharp has always had an innate understanding of the importance of hotel design. Before he launched the luxury chain, most five-star hospitality interiors were stiff, stuffy, intimidating. Although he wasn't exactly the herald of in-your-face boutique design, he ushered in an approachable kind of elegance and good breeding that made for a kind of lifestyle hotel design many travelers wished they could live in permanently. He knew how to maintain consistent design standards without standardized design.
Sharp was very much about matching the vision to the project and the location--whether inviting
I.M. Pei to design the seminal Four Seasons Hotel New York, a project (much maligned for its budget) that really did deliver a new sophistication to urban hotel aesthetics or turning to hospitality industry veterans such as
HBA Design,
Cheryl Rowley Design,
Frank Nicholson and
Pierre-Yves Rochon to wow the world from Paris to Mumbai.
So, it was fitting that, when Sharp announced that he would transition out of the ceo's role and pass the reins to Kathleen Taylor, he emphasized that he would retain oversight and direction of the design and aesthetics of new and existing hotels "in the manner I have always done."
HBA Design's work on the
Qin Spa at the Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai is just one of the latest examples of what that "manner" is:
There's no question that Taylor gets his vision, thanks to 21 years with the company and the opportunity to work closely with him since being named president and coo in 2007. Hopefully, she'll have his eye for contemporary hotel design as well.
On most Mondays, Hospitality Style's managing editor Matt Hall and I are reporting on or blogging about hospitality design newsmakers around the world. Today, we just had to walk down the hall. Our parent company, ST Media Group, made headlines with this morning's announcement that it has acquired Boutique Media Group along with boutique DESIGN magazine and its ancillary events.
Why now? Simple. It's a matter of opportunity and synergy. Boutique DESIGN carved out its niche with innovative coverage of the people who create hospitality design 
trends. Hospitality Style is the idea book that shows how their ideas come to life with projects that wow. Each brand will continue to do what it does best, but the combination will give you access to information on the people, places and spaces that are changing what we expect when we travel, dine out or go to a spa.
Boutique Media Group president, Michael Schneider, has done a great job building the magazine and its brand into a leading industry force in just five years. We're looking forward to working with him in his new role as ST Media's Publisher of Hospitality Brands--and to talking about what's next while we're at HD Expo. Stop by the ST Media Group booth, #6728, to learn more.
The current issue of Fortune magazine contains a thought-provoking featured entitle
d, “25 Green Myths Debunked.” Some samples: “Myth: Fluorescent bulbs are bad because they contain mercury/Reality: Yes, but not using them will pour even more mercury into our ecosystem”; and “Myth: Paper grocery bags are better than plastic bags/Reality: Plastics, young man, plastics... paper bags require four times more energy to manufacture than plastic ones.”
In honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, we want to hear from the design industry about the common myths surrounding the incorporation of eco-friendly features into projects across the hospitality spectrum, including boutique design, casino design, cruise ship design, contemporary hotel design, restaurant design and spa design. For instance, is local sourcing of materials really as earth-friendly as thought, 
or does it have some unforeseen environmental consequences? And is it true that green design and luxe environments don’t mix? We want to hear from you – share your insights by clicking on the comments button below.
And to see some examples of cutting-edge sustainable hospitality designs, go to Hospitality Style’s Green Spotlight. Also, be sure to check out our upcoming Fall 2010 print issue, which will include a Green Guide.
Four new examples of contemporary hotel design will open their doors in coming months in Toronto. First up is the Thompson Toronto Hotel (shown at left), which is slated to open this spring. In addition to 102 luxury guestrooms, the property will feature a rooftop bar lounge, swimming pool with private cabanas. Then, in August, the Le Germain Maple Leaf Square hotelwill open. Located adjacent to the Air Canada Centre, a major-league sports and concert venue, the eight-story luxury boutique-hotel will have 171 guest rooms, 5,000 square feet of meeting space, 8,000 square feet of fitness facilities and a 2,000-square-foot hotel café.
Slated to open in the fall is the five-star the Ritz-Carlton, Toronto (rendering at bottom left), that flag’s only locale in Canada. This 53-story property will feature 267 rooms and 159 condominium residences. Finally, next year will bring the Donald’s first Canadian venture, when the 60-story Trump International Hotel and Tower is slated to open in Toronto’s financial district.
These new hotels are part of an overall building boom in Toronto that will also add 4 million square feet of office space and 15,000 condo units in the city’s core. All those projects follow a sustainability guideline developed by the Toronto Green Standard for New Construction. Those guidelines set out environmentally-friendly construction practices and ways to increase the energy efficiency of new buildings.
One opportunity to see all this development firsthand is by attending this year’s International Retail Design Conference, which is run by Hospitality Style’s sister publication, VMSD. That event will take place October 13-15 at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle. And be sure to check out other examples of modern hotel designs and hospitality interiors in cities around the globe by visiting Hospitality Style and get a copy of the relaunched print edition. While you're there be sure to sign up for a Hospitality Style subscription.
You don't have to reinvent the wheel to say something new about hotel guestroom design.
For inspiration, check out the new Hotel Le Germain Calgary. Lemay Michaud Architecture Design, Montreal, design and project architect for this urban boutique hotel, and Christiane Germain, Groupe Germain's co-president, envisioned the 143 guest rooms as "wooden treasure chests" clad in warm, natural wood. Inside, there's a trove of clever touches for both guests and the hospitality design industry at large.
Here are some of the hospitality design trends that can make even a standard bay memorable.
For example, a trio of task lights adds an edgy industrial chic to an otherwise natural guestroom environment:
Another idea likely to set hospitality design trends is the flip-down night table shown below:
As in residential design, most utilitarian items are being putting on display. For this property, that includes drinks and glasses that usually would be stored in a minibar--a nice way to merchandise products that drive in-room sales:
Even luggage storage gets "designed" thanks to the impact of a textured wall covering and the cleanly angular casegoods:
Check here for more hotel design ideas.
Photos: Michael Alberstat, Toronto
Showing us how modern hotel design can lead the way to environmental sustainability, Yountville, California's Bardessono Hotel has become only the third hotel to achieve LEED Platinum status, the highest level of certification. The year-old boutique property employs innovations such as geothermal heating and cooling, reused materials and—especially critical in California—low water use, and it also happens to be beautifully designed. Get more details and see a slideshow
here.
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