Hospitality Design - November 2009 - 36

news Dream Big “Our brief for the hotel was to create an environment with a timeless, contemporary aesthetic, richly layered with an opulent interior, without ostentatious presentations,” explains Jeffery Copolov, interior design director of Melbourne-based Bates Smart, of the Crown Towers, part of the City of Dreams in Macau. With that in mind, Copolov and his team infused water and Chinese motifs and references to Macau’s Portuguese heritage throughout. In the lobby, a massive screen made of a double layer of suspended colored metal cylinders runs the length of the space. “The undulating array of color and wave-like effect of acrylic blocks combine to create a ‘kinetic’ effect,” says Copolov, adding that the stone floor of the lobby is laid out in a traditional Macanese pattern. “At the Western end of the lobby, the upper level of rods encircle a massive sphere of lit crystals suspended dramatically over the lobby bar. At the eastern end, the rods form a dense spiral of rods hovering over a light marble ‘pool’ of stone.” Upstairs, the 286 rooms are outfitted with Chinoise-inspired furniture, including a blossom fabric screen and a jewelry box-inspired over- Rock Out The 17-story Paradise Tower at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has recently opened, with an attitude. “The inspiration was really all about the reinvention of the Hard Rock hotel brand in Las Vegas. It’s biker girl meets fantasy yet completely rock ‘n’ roll,” says New York designer Mark Zeff, who worked on the tower with owner Morgans Hotel Group. The tone is set at the beginning with its modern blue glass curtain wall façade, which is physically connected to the existing renovated casino tower. Inside, the 490 rooms, including one mega penthouse suite (above) and four pool suites, are done in two color variations: burgundy and brown, or gray, blue, and black, and outf itted with velvet, hot-rolled steel, leather and ebonized wood, and tapestry-style wallpaper. Locally based Mark Tracy of Chemical Spaces also created six differently themed avante-garde pool suites. “The rooms are young at heart with elegant bones with the edge that embraces the Hard Rock,” says Zeff, who also did the casino tower renovation, which Recreating an Icon After bringing him in to design many of his restaurants like Aureole Las Vegas and his namesake in Dallas, it made sense that Charlie Palmer turned to Adam D. Tihany once again for Aureole’s new location in New York. “Aureole was an Upper East Side landmark for 20 years and Charlie Palmer is a dear friend, so recreating the space was especially meaningful,” says the designer. Located in the Bank of America Tower, Aureole is divided into three rooms: bar, dining, and private dining. “The bar room is our modern addition for the 21st century guest,” explains Tihany. “Its design is open and lofty, and it provides a slightly more casual setting.” Highlights include a café au lait-colored marble floor, columns wrapped in oak, high-gloss solid walnut top tables with metallic bases, and leather chairs done in three shades of brown. On one side of the room, stands the 18-seat bar fronted with backlit etched glass topped with a brushed zinc surface and edged in a padded leather armrest. And where Aureole Las Vegas has the infamous wine tower, here Tihany created a glass-enclosed wine mezzanine 40 feet-by-10 feet that cantilevers over the bar and stores up to 3,500 bottles. “While the wine tower and wine angels are a perfect metaphor for scaled minibar done in lacquer. There’s a teakwood burnt orange onyx stone wall that anchors each room and does double duty as a headboard on one side, and on the other, a dramatic backdrop to twin vanity basins. And in the Crystal Club (the VIP lounge for guests) pebbled pools create the illusion of “walking over bridges into floating pavilions,” Copolov says. The Crown Towers is one of three hotels that make up the City of Dreams. There’s also the Gettys-designed Hard Rock as well as the recently opened Grand Hyatt by HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates. www.batessmart.com.au; www.cityofdreamsmacau.com includes public spaces, guestrooms, and crossracing star Carey Hart’s new nightclub Wasted Space. “I developed a look that transcends the Las Vegas hotel room feel by bringing the world of tattoo and an old manor house all together.” Next up: Zeff is in the midst of completing the new all-suite VIP tower set to open in December with its own private entrance, spa, casino, nightclub, meeting and convention space, and 3.5 acre pool expansion. “We have developed the HRH Tower by design to provide a feeling of true quality but really sexy, our mandate was to create the sexiest hotel experience in Vegas,” he says. “This we have achieved mission accomplished.” www.zeffdesign.com; www.hardrockhotel.com hospitalitydesign www.hdmag.com
http://www.batessmart.com.au http://www.cityofdreamsmacau.com http://www.zeffdesign.com http://www.hardrockhotel.com http://www.hdmag.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - November 2009
