Hospitality Design - June 2017 - 89

Anvil Hotel's lobby doubles as a café and mercantile with a retail shop

Cozy seating surrounds a central fireplace in Scribner's Catskill Lodge
Photos by READ MCKENDREE and NICOLE FRANZEN

doing the brand in-house in tandem with
the architectural and design components,"
explains Smith. "You get to think about the
entire concept: why should this hotel even
exist in this world?" Adds Salem: "The
overall concept of the space is a powerful
image but for most of us, the beauty in design
and architecture is found at the scale of
the hand, where materiality, detailing, and
execution surprise and invite curiosity. The
edge detail of a table can resonate and reward
as much as a unique building massing."
That rings true in Casa Bonay in
Barcelona, the owner of which was a former
colleague of Chou's. Together, they infused
an old house with inviting and unexpected
elements, "an outside perspective on what
Barcelona is and what a Barcelona hotel
should be," says Chou, adding that they
brought in Spanish details often overlooked
Casa Bonay's Libertine lounge
exudes an Old World richness

by residents, such as the beautiful
cobblestone sidewalk patterning.
But they've made their mark in
reimagining small inns, motels, and lodges
into immersive, modern experiences that
also speak to a nostalgic yesteryear through
a handcrafted feel that is easier said than
done. "There's a new type of guest who
doesn't really care about points; they want to
stay in a place that has a sense of its locale
and has character," explains Chou. Salem
says it's "a real challenge" to reinvent these
places to "feel clean and new but also keep
the [original] character. There are hundreds
of pages of photographs marked up because
there's so many unique conditions."
Take the 49-room Anvil Hotel in
Jackson, Wyoming, a redo of two 1950s
motels into a refined but rugged retreat
where the lobby does double duty as a
café and mercantile with a retail shop;
the relaxed, weekend-getaway vibe of
the 38-room Scribner's Catskill Lodge in
New York (complete with a grotto in the
basement) with its whitewashed walls,
terracotta bathrooms, and wood-clad
spaces (done in maple and pinewood); or
the 12-room Brentwood Hotel in Saratoga
Springs, New York-within walking
distance of the town's horse track-that
they own and operate, where they turned
a 13th room into a small lobby bar, which
Caldwell built by hand. "When we look
at development projects we always ask,
'Could this be recreated somewhere
else?' We're interested if the answer is no,"
explains Caldwell. "The location was so
spectacular that we were able to overlook
a decrepit building to see the potential for
creating a unique hospitality experience.
The property has given us the chance to
learn about hospitality from a new angle."
Chou says they invest in other properties as

well when their scope dictates flexing their
relationships. In addition, they also own
passion project Public Supply, a notebook
company that gives 25 percent of its profits
to high-need public schools to fund creative
arts programs.
Their projects are successful in part
thanks to the various collaborators they seek
out to bring additional character, voices, and
levels to the design. "We consider ourselves
generalists in a lot of ways and would rather
work with specialists, the artisans, allowing
us to build relationships and make the
design more interesting," says Chou. Adds
Smith: "We know where pieces have come
from and these people really care about the
product because they are putting their name
on it-it's not just another piece of furniture
to them."
However, their biggest challenge is time.
"All of our work is research-based," explains
Chou. "Rarely are our ideas manufactured
out of thin air, whether it's cognizant or not,
so the more time we can have in the process,
the better."
Their secret: fighting for the ideas they
love. "It's not that our ideas are great or
good," says Smith. "It's just knowing what
you know and what you like and standing
behind it."
Select Past and Future Projects
Dogfish Inn, Lewes, Delaware
Casa Bonay, Barcelona
Tilden Hotel, San Francisco
Coachman Hotel, South Lake Tahoe, California
Scribner's Catskill Lodge, Hunter, New York
Brentwood Hotel, Saratoga Springs, New York
Anvil Hotel, Jackson, Wyoming
Grove Hotel, Portland
Soundview Inn, Greenport, New York

Photo by MERITXELL ARJALAGUER

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