Hospitality Design - February 2017 - 87

globetrotting

europe

In recent years an increasing number of tourists have been
falling for the bohemian charms of Hungary's capital.
Development started to ramp up in 2015, with the arrival of
the luxe Aria Hotel-part of the New York-based Library
Hotel Collection, and the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham
Palace welcomed newcomer Kollázs Brasserie & Bar
by EDG Interior Architecture + Design. Last year, Le
Meridién was transformed into a Ritz-Carlton, courtesy of
the G.A Group's local office, with F&B venues by London's
B3 Designers.
The Art Deco-inspired Hotel Moments Budapest, a 99room former palace made its debut on a fashionable street
that will also be home to the 162-room W Budapest, slated
to open in 2020. Ibis Styles introduced its economically
minded brand with a duo of playful properties designed by
Wroclaw- and Warsaw-based Tremend Architektura. (A
third, Ibis Styles Budapest Airport, is under construction.)
Small-scale entrants include the 10-room PestBuda by Budapest's Somlai Design Studio, adjoining an
eponymously named bistro in a 1696-era building; and the
new 38-room Hotel Rum by local designers Zsuzsa Kertész,
Bara Design Studio, and Position Collective will soon
unveil a rooftop bar.

Photo by MATTHEW SHAW

Budapest

The lounge at the Ritz-Carlton Budapest from G.A Group

Croatia

A rendering of the Cinchona bar at 25hours Hotel Zürich Langstrasse

Zürich

While a September 2016 HVS report
acknowledges Zürich's hotel room count is
small compared to other European cities of
its size, the Swiss metropolis holds a robust
pipeline given its existing stock, with 16 projects
and 2,630 rooms either under construction or
newly opened, according to Zürich Tourism,
including the 87-room Placid Hotel by locally
based E2A Architects, located in former
warehouse district Altstetten. In the hotel, part
of a mixed-use program, "The concrete shell
is juxtaposed with raw aluminium window
frames, cement tiles, and oak panels," explains
co-founder Piet Eckert.

"Zürich is generally an attractive market
and-good for us-it is dominated by a very
traditional hotel industry," says Bruno Marti,
chief brand officer for 25hours Hotel Company,
which is debuting its second location in the
city, the 170-room 25hours Hotel Zürich
Langstrasse designed by Berlin-based Studio
Aisslinger, in April. "A dynamic and loud
product should be much appreciated." Also
upcoming: a Hyatt Place and Hyatt Regency
representing 550 rooms in the airport's mixeduse Circle project by Japanese architect Riken
Yamamoto; and the 2018-planned A-Ja Zürich,
the first city-resort from the German chain.

Brad Pitt (yes, that Brad Pitt) is the highest profile
(and most A-list) investor making waves in
Croatia. Along with Swiss-based TFI Holding,
his $1.5 billion ecologically responsible luxury
development planned for the small coastal
town of Zablace could transform the country-
known for its untouched landscape and warm
climate-into the next big resort area. Expect
luxury brands to lead the charge: the 120-room
Four Seasons Resort Hvar will open along the
Dalmatian coast in 2019 and a 130-room, 5-Star
Hyatt Regency is expected in Zadar in 2019 from
Doğuş Group.

A view of the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia

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