Hospitality Design - March/April 2016 - 68

trends historic

renovations
Photo courtesy of STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS

perspectives

3
4

Photos by TAGGART SORENSON

5
3. A view into the
updated lounge area of
the landmark Garden
Court at the Palace
Hotel.

Fairmont Empress hotel (celebrating its 100th
anniversary this year) is one of its most iconic
spaces in the hotel-the Afternoon Tea Room
and Empress dining room. "It was very precious
to them," says Polacek, "but the room needed
updating-it ended up being cluttered with
different types of furniture and getting lost in
its own on-brand identity." Working within the
existing Edwardian interiors, designers stripped
back layers of wallcoverings and padded walls to
reveal beautiful millwork wall panels. Nods to the
Garden City are included in the colors of native
flowers in fabrics and finishes.
Nestled in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta,
the circa-1888 Fairmont Banff Springs is a
"massive hotel that makes you feel safe in the
middle of the wilderness," Polacek says. Puccini
Group completed the remodel of 1888 Chop
House last year, based on the concept of railway
dining cars, with tufted leather banquettes and
old-fashioned luggage hanging on the wall.
"Because there's really no one that travels by
train like they did in the past, we wanted to help
influence the modern guest about what it was like
to get to Banff by train."
Another historic hotel celebrated its 100th

068

March/April 2016 hospitalitydesign.com

anniversary in 2015-and also joined Fairmont's
deep portfolio of historic properties. Set at the
base of the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve
overlooking the San Francisco Bay, the 276-room
Claremont Club & Spa got an extensive revamp
of its public areas, Antoinette Brasserie, and a
new lobby lounge courtesy of Los Angeles-based
KNA Design; while guestrooms and corridors
were completed by Gensler. To make the resort
feel like a refuge from the nearby city, KNA
principal Kirk Nix lightened the "heavily tooled"
interiors with bright white paint and a collection
of contemporary artwork from mostly Northern
California artists.

Hotel De Anza

Downtown San Jose, California's circa-1931 Hotel
De Anza, a Destination Hotel, debuted its revival
in January by Long Beach-based HFS Concepts
4. Referencing its Art Deco past, architectural
wall tiles create a backdrop for the front desk and
elevator bank, while carpets done in rich gold
and purple hues recall Art Deco patterns, and
furniture features fluting, grained veneers, and
high sheen finishes.
In guestrooms, a cool palette of gray and

4. Wood tones and
restored moldings
painted a crisp white
mark a presidential suite
bedroom at the Palace
Hotel.

5. St. Anthony's striking
Peacock Lane features
carpet in the hotel's
signature green and an
antique piano originally
purchased for the hotel
in 1935.

white is offset by tonal carpet, casegoods are done
in simple style with two-tone wood, veneers,
glass, and metal, and black and white imagery
recalls classic Old Hollywood. "We did not want
to over decorate the rooms, but we wanted the
design to be transcendent from their inception to
today," says principal and executive vice president
Brent Lynch.

The Palace Hotel

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, downtown San
Francisco's 1875-born Palace Hotel, part of
Starwood's Luxury Collection, received a $40
million update by Indidesign last year. At the
heart is the lobby's famed Garden Court, an
actual "landmark within the landmark," with
its own designation explains Beatrice Girelli,
a principal of the LA firm. Limited in the
architectural interventions she could undertake,
Girelli set out to distinguish the space's front
lounge from the 120-seat dining area to make it
more user-friendly. Set underneath the existing
opulent glass dome and amongst gilded Ionic
columns, Girelli placed a series of custom screens
made from solid wood veneer, two tones of
bronze, and mirrors to define the lounge-now
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - March/April 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - March/April 2016
