I’ve recently been invited to be involved in the redesign a space inside one of Cape Town’s prominent landmark hotels. The idea is to convert an old, disused restaurant into an open plan kitchen with a chefs table for VIP sittings and other events.
Ever since exploring the Casa Camper Hotel in Berlin a year ago I’ve been fascinated and inspired by the concept of branded and specialized hotels.
It’s not surprising to me that hotels have to innovate, given the growth of individualistic and specialized restaurants (of which there are many very good ones in Cape Town). Today larger hotels and their in-house restaurants face a real challenge when it comes to remaining competitive.
I was taken aback by the level of detail the Casa Camper’s design team incorporated and how these related to the designer shoes the brand is known for.
Examples of this include out-of-the-box details like cladding the columns in felt and then stitching the seams with shoe laces as a visual reminder of the Camper shoe detailing. The rooms have contemporary furnishing, vibrant colours and of course branded slippers.
Casa Camper Hotel complimentary slippers
The Pantone Hotel in Brussels is another that’s setting the trend with its bright colour pallets applied to every room.
Pantone Hotel bedroom in shades of white and green
Pantone Hotel seating area
A great concept has also begun in Hiroshima, Japan. The Onomichi U2 complex has been hailed by Remodelista as the hotel for cyclists – something I’m very excited about as a cyclist myself. An old warehouse has been converted into a minimalist-industrial style cycle bed and breakfast. Check it out, I absolutely love this idea:
Image courtesy of Remodelista
Bicycle Cafe Restaurant – Image courtesy of Remodelista
Onomichi U2 complex bedroom – Image courtesy of Remodelista
