Boutique Design - September 2014 - 10

THE BUZZ

EVENT REVIEW: HOSPITALITY MATCH

DREAM DOWNTOWN SUITE
UNDERGOING $1M UPDATE
The Dream Downtown hotel will take the wraps off its newly renovated, two-floor Presidential Suite this month. Overseeing the $1
million makeover of the 2,000-sq.-ft. space atop the New York hotel
is Josh Held Designs.
The suite's distinctive features will include a spacious garden
terrace and glass-bottom Jacuzzi. "We were inspired by everything
from mid-century modern to classic penthouse designs, and then
deconstructed and married various elements to create something
edgy, bold, new and unrivaled," says Held.
Some noteworthy elements within the space include: A first-floor
living room whose centerpiece is a petrified wood bar backed by gold
sliding doors that open to a kitchenette; a master bedroom that's home
to what designers describe as "a Carrie Bradshaw-worthy walk-in
closet" and a Murphy bed concealed behind a millwork bookcase that
complements the room's California king-size bed; and two spiral staircases that lead to an upper-level private garden terrace featuring a
glass-bottom Jacuzzi that can be seen from the living room below.
10

boutiquedesign.com SEPTEMBER 2014

THOMPSON FLAG TO FLY
IN SEATTLE AND NASHVILLE
Commune Hotels & Resorts is taking its Thompson Hotels brand to the northwest and mid-south. In early August, Commune said it is teaming with its
parent company, private equity firm Geolo Capital, and real estate developer
Touchstone to create the 159-key Thompson Seattle in a mixed-use tower in the
city's downtown. Just a couple of weeks later, the hotelier announced plans to
develop a 224-key Thompson property in Nashville in partnership with MarketStreet Enterprises, AJ Capital Partners and The Berger Co.
Slated to open in spring 2016, the Thompson Seattle (shown) is being visually conceptualized by architectural teams from at Olson Kundig and Jensen
Fey, with interiors by Munge Leung under the direction of Commune's in-house
team. The Nashville locale, meantime, is scheduled to open in summer 2016 in
a mixed-use development known as The Gulch. It will feature architecture by
Hastings Architecture Associates LLC and interiors by Parts and Labor Design.
The two new Thompson flags are part of an ongoing growth spurt by the
New York-based flag, which recently opened properties in Chicago, Toronto
and London. Next up for this international lifestyle brand will be hotels
opening in Miami Beach, Los Cabos and Playa del Carmen.

Investing in African hotel
projects "is not for the fainthearted, but returns available
can compensate for the risks."
- HVS DIRECTOR TIM SMITH, CO-AUTHOR OF
THE CONSULTING FIRM'S FIRST-EVER
AFRICAN HOTEL VALUATION INDEX REPORT

G K P H O T O G R A P H Y ( H O S P I TA L I T Y M AT C H ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F D R E A M D O W N T O W N ( D R E A M S U I T E ) ;
C O U R T E S Y O F H V S ( S M I T H ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F C O M M U N E H O T E L S & R E S O R T S ( T H O M P S O N S E AT T L E )

More than 100 buyers and vendors gathered in June at New Orleans'
Hotel Monteleone for Boutique Design's ninth annual Hospitality
Match. The "speed-meeting" event, which connects suppliers of
hospitality products with designers and purchasing agents, included
a cooking challenge/team-building exercise at the New Orleans
School of Cooking (a group photo from that event is shown).
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Boutique Design - September 2014

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