19 Feb Hospitality Interiors

We are pleased to have been interviewed and profiled for Hospitality interiors Magazine this month. Read the interview below:

What would you say are the top three trends influencing guest room interiors at present?

I feel the trends that are influencing the design of guest rooms are a return to colour and in small amounts, pattern. Design of the furniture is being heavily influenced by the best of the 50s and 60s. Copper and brass are making a return in the bathroom and retro lighting styles. Wood is returning and I am not talking about laminates but solid either in heavier distressed form or ercol style.

The advantage of this return is that with careful use the rooms can either look eclectic if styles are mixed or modern and new if paired down.

What, for you, is the most critical element of effective guest room design?

I think they should have a certain style that makes you want to visit, I would call it a hook. When I am looking to stay at a hotel I spend an enormous amount of time looking on line at photos taken by the owners but also by guests, I am I know very fussy but is very important to me that I enjoy the stay and I think in that regard I am not that different to anyone else. I want to look at pictures of the room and think wow, I would like to stay there and that means the owners have put some effort into making the room look good, I hate bland corporate rooms without soul, I like rooms where someone has lavished a little love and care into its creation. Mind you that goes for the complete Hotel and I am not talking about throwing money at it.

How do you ensure your projects stand out in such a fast-paced and heavily populated sector?

By being different and making an effort, going for the wow factor. Bland is not an option. I know that not everyone wants to stay in a room that is a riot of colour but we all want an experience that lifts our soul and the most memorable rooms th

at I have stayed in do this, I have stayed at the hotel Costes in Paris several times and I would say it is one of my favorites from the moment you walk in it has everything that is wonderful from the perfume of the scented candles to the most amazing floral display and interior design By Jacque Garcia. The Guest rooms exude a feeling of warmth and style that makes staying a memorable experience. This hotel is wonderfully maintained and that is another important part of standing out, for guests to return the initial impression has to follow through.

What would you say is the most memorable/ unusual guest room you’ve worked on, and why?

One of the most memorable guest rooms I have worked on was in a listed Georgian building and was one of my first major projects the client wanted to use the whole of the house and grounds for entertaining and the brief was that the rooms and en-suite bathrooms had to have the wow factor but in a period, if the Georgians had had fully functioning bathrooms as of today that would be the style, the rooms were to have period four poster beds and period furniture throughout. I had the opportunity to design a lot of the details including the elaborate tie backs and matching fringing for the bed and curtain treatments and I must say it was a real privilege to work with the artisans that made them and to visit their workshops to watch a process that was still carried out in the same way as would have been during the period.