Now Booking / Martin Margiela’s Suite Hereafter

By Christine Muhlke

Before stepping down from Maison Martin Margiela this month, the Belgian designer was looking within. Not only did he launch a collection of furniture and “white objects” for the home, like this beautiful embroidered calendar, he also designed the Suite Ile aux Oiseaux at Les Sources de Caudalie near Bordeaux.

The hotel and spa, opened 10 years ago in the Smith Haut-Lafitte château by the winemaking family and its entrepreneurial offspring (who knew that grape seeds were the fountain of youth?), tapped Maison Martin Margiela to design its signature suite, which re-opened last week. The freestanding cabana, perched on a pond, is now a world apart from the French country charm of the rooms in the château.

For 650 euros a night and up (a special package includes “a gift signed by Maison Martin Margiela” — perhaps one of the Maison’s new wine-bottle lamps?), guests can retreat to the avant-garde chambre between spa treatments and bottles of premier cru at the hotel’s La Grand’Vigne restaurant. (In keeping with the spa theme, the restaurant offers a calorie-conscious menu amid the foie gras.)

The suite’s décor is classic Margiela, with its white-on-white-on-gray palette and trompe l’oeil playfulness: overlapping white calfskin rugs cover the bedroom floor, 12 white pillows are stitched to a white wall to form a headboard. The wallpaper in the sitting room is printed to look like the ghostly walls of a Haussmanian apartment, while the bathroom floor “tiles” are photo-printed pebbles. The only shock of color among the slip-covered 1950s chairs and mirrored cubes comes from a red hot-lips sofa. The effect is as calming as it is subtly disarming. The only question is: will room service bring you red wine?

Les Sources de Caudalie, Chemin de Smith Haut-Lafitte, Bordeaux-Martillac; 011-33-5-57-83-83-83.

© by T Magazine

WISA Wooden Design Hotel, Helsinki

Perched on the edge of a rocky outcrop in Helsinki Harbour, overlooking the gothic spires of the Finnish capital, a new, swooping structure has recently taken residence. Titled the Wooden Design Hotel, this unexpected guest offers an elegant lesson in what best to do with wood.

Despite its deceptive title, the undulating wooden structure is in fact not really a hotel. More of a temporary housing prototype able to hold the occasional guest, the woody monument has been designed by Interior architect Pieta-Linda Auttila for timber merchants WISA, as part of a commission to reassert the architectural benefits of the material.

Constructed in Finnish pine, birch and spruce, the 'hotel' constitutes an angular wood-decked tube, which expands flatulently in the centre - curling off into billowing shapes before returning to uniformity at each end.

With two separate living quarters situated at both ends, and a central, shared atrium in the centre – everything from the benches to the beds are constructed in the ever-present Finnish pine, whilst walls and ceilings come coated in ethereal shades of Birch.

Rising out of the sea on its dark, stony island - the structure, in place until the end of September, is not designed to blend with the scenery. Built to bring wood back to the drawing board - we're wondering where it will end up next, any takers?

INFORMATION

Website
http://www.wisa24.com

Telephone
35.82 0414 7021

Address
WISA Wooden Design Hotel
Valkosaari
Helsinki
Finland

Ace Hotel Palm Springs

Set in the desert outpost of Palm Springs just east of LA, the Ace Palm Springs is a sprawling, high-design 1970’s throwback – recently renovated from a 1965 Howard Johnson motor Lodge.

Entirely solar-powered (thanks to the 354 days of sunshine the Springs receive per year), the hotel is a lot more than just a sepia-toned, rough and ready take on the design hotel.
With spongy, tanned-leather seating, a rope-festooned lobby from costumier Michael Schmidt, a giant Swim Club pool, and rooms replete with vintage vinyl and Americana aplenty - the Ace could happily accommodate everyone from Tarrantino to Thelma and Louise.

Best known for visits from sun-seeking West Coasters, Palm Springs offers no shortage of extra-curricular indulgences. Not willing to miss a trick, the Ace Palm Springs Spa comes complete with several expansive, cedar-lined treatment rooms.

Offering a range of massages including the ‘Good Together’ couples experience; Mama Goodness - for those of pregnant disposition, and even massages in an external Mongolian Yurt – Ace Palm Springs is a surreal slice of American hospitality, in the middle of the desert.

























INFORMATION

Website
http://www.acehotel.com/palmsprings

Telephone
1.76 0325 9900

Address
701 E. Palm Canon DRPalm SpringsCA 92264

W South Beach, Miami

The blue rinse brigade is little more than a distant memory on Miami’s 22nd street. Located in one of the city’s most prestigious neighbourhoods, the art deco lined strip has just received a conspicuous new resident.

Pulled together by a crack team of some of the biggest names in design, including award-winning designers Yab u Pushelberg and Studio B, Architect Costas Kondylis, photographer Danny Clinch and ‘conceptual garden artist’ Paula Hayes - the W South Beach is a lesson in the unadulterated luxe of the Miami lifestyle.

Featuring a sprawling eco-friendly beachfront garden; 408 guestrooms spread over 20 storeys; private plunge pools; two restaurants - including celebrity haunt Mr Chow and Mediterranean eatery Solea - and a signature Wall nightclub - when it comes to entertainment, the W South Beach has every corner covered.

Guestrooms start at a staggering 574 sq ft, and with all 408 commanding faultless views of the ocean, even those pulling in the proverbial purse strings can take advantage of the penthouse experience

Global influences abound, with Japanese soaking tubs studding the bathrooms, Italian sofas sprawling in guestrooms, and glided bronze light fixtures from Swiss firm Studio Atelier OI, dangling leisurely in the lounge.

Should the compulsion to trim down or tone up prevail, the W South Beach’s two pools, tennis court, basketball courts, beachside yoga and signature Bliss spa are there to lend a helping hand.















INFORMATION

Website
http://www.Whotels.com/SouthBeach

Telephone
1.30 5938 3000

Address
2201 Collins AvenueMiami BeachFL 33139United States Bookmark

Stockholm For Free

Elvine and ‘Scandic Malmen’ aim to enhance the cities cultural quota by offering free accommodation to the travelling creative.

Text by Martina Randles

Elvine, the functional Swedish clothing brand have collaborated with Scandic Malmen hotel to offer the traveling creative somewhere to rest their heads for free. The concept of Creators Inn began in Gothenburg; moving north to Stockholm is the first time the project has spread from its founding city and creating a hotel-within-a-hotel. The space at Scandic Malmen has been customised to accommodate the traveling creative, and comes complete with luxurious Creators Inn branded toiletries, bathrobes and slippers. The hotel can be found in Sodermalm, great for tapping into the live music scene and immersing yourself in everything Stockholm has to offer.

If you are wondering where the catch lies? Spaces are extremely limited - the room only being available between 13 August and 1 September 2009, to be considered you must apply online with an explanation of why you fit the brief. The project hopes to further enhance the cities cultural interplay by drawing creatives to the area, creating a hotbed for musicians, artists, writers and designers.

For more information on applying to stay click here.

Story Hotel, Stockholm

Stylish, serene and incredibly cool, Stockholm remains the city we can never bring ourselves to leave. Its newest stopover spot, the Story Hotel, is a brand new inter-city refuge that makes this act just that bit harder again.

With design from the Swedish supremos at Koncept , Story is an amalgamation of heritage sophistication and contemporary innovation. Adapting original features from the period building, Koncept have maintained Story’s historical integrity, whilst expertly mingling bespoke design pieces throughout.

Filled with original wallpapers and wooden flooring, eclectic contemporary pieces dotted with artistic abandon and an understated tertiary pallet - Story is the ideal mix between comforting and cutting edge.

As well as hotel, there are several bars, a restaurant, caf¨¦ and one-of-a-kind designer boutique at the hands of nightspot trendsetters Meshmesh Nildalen, Story is an urban sanctuary for native Stockholmers and city-hoppers alike.

INFORMATION

Website
http://www.storyhotels.com

Telephone
46.8 5450 3940

Address
Story Hotel
Riddargatan 6
Stockholm
Sweden

Pretty Beach House - Sydney

Text by Bill Tikos




How do you create a powerful experience that leaves a mark on your customers? It's an important question that drives large brands and companies to seminar after seminar about experiential marketing and purchasing. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes, despite substantial financial investment, they don't. Which is why we love it when we stumbled on a small, independent that has nailed it. In the crowded market of luxury/boutique travel emerges Pretty Beach House, an exclusive food-lovers Hamptons-esque private beach house resort just outside of Sydney that takes the concept of 'weekend' getaway to a new level.

The resort is made up of three private pavilions; relaxed, non-pretencious and homely beach villas nestled discreetly into a landscape full of hundreds of old gum trees which stand there like living art sculptures. A sense of peace and quiet descends upon you as soon as you arrive, ushering you into instant relaxation-mode. The villas interiors are luxurious but not over the top and feature raw, natural materials which blend in with the more 'designer' elements. Privacy is paramount which is why, we guess, each villa also has its own private swimming pool. There are no TVs in the villas, just a Bose Soundock with iPod and wireless internet (for online-junkies) so there's nothing else to do but slide from day bed to pool and back again in a haze of sedation, facilitated by attentive staff who materialise at your every whim.

The setting may be beautiful but the real thrill begins when it's time to eat. Renowned Sydney chef Steve Manfredi is in charge of the kitchen and largely responsible for the best part of the trip, exporting sophisticated, city fine dining into this laid-back environment. Manfredi often serves guests himself. If anything, the trip to Pretty Beach House is worth it just for this. Where else can you experience one of Sydney's top chefs cooking just for you and a tiny handful of others?

Aside from sleeping (in extraordinary beds, we must note), lazing, eating and drinking, you can wander down to Tallow Beach for a swim and a dose of dolphin watching. Or if you're in search of a slice of adventure you hop into the Pretty Beach House boat or take out a helicopter ride over the area.

For more information check out the site prettybeachhouse.com.au.