When it comes to hotels, interior design is key. Hotels all across the United States have to match their brand and price point with interior design atmospheres like luxurious, relaxing, business, modern, chic, and much more. It is a constantly moving target as consumer tastes change on a continual basis. One of the hardest trends to hit upon is “modern”. The reason that modern is so hard is because it isn’t actually a style. Colonial is a style. Boho chic is a style. Gothic is a style. Modern is more of a continual trend to try and hit. Despite the challenges that face someone designing for modern, most designer are adept at creating wonderful works of interior design.
However, other designers may have taken “modern” to a whole new level.
Hotel Americano – New York, New York
Let’s start with the building facade because that is the most noticeable building on the block. While this may technically be exterior design, it really can’t go without mentioning. The idea behind the building’s exterior structure is pretty ingenious. The execution is probably spot on to what was proposed. The result is a little too modern. Old conveyor belts were reused to create the hotel’s mesh encasement. Going green and building out of recycled materials is great but the exterior just looks like a giant tilted over their industrial kitchen prep slab.
The rooms themselves were designed to appeal to the high-end, fashionistas of the world. We’re talking the runway clothing that you would never end up wearing yourself. The rooms are extremely simple studios which under most circumstances would be fine. However, the rooms have an odd mix of midcentury-modern and this-century-modern. It makes for a delightfully odd pairing of brightly colored furniture and stainless steel and granite finishes.
Shinjuku Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel – Tokyo, Japan
We have to leave the states for this one hotel and head to Tokyo, Japan. This hotel might not entirely be categorized so much as “modern” as it is “futuristic”. If you are looking for something that might be modern in 100 years when overpopulation has forced our hand, you should check out the Shinjuku Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel. Yes, it is exactly what it implies. There are shared facilities within the property such as a bath, sauna, and lockers. Your room is actually a tiny sleeping pod that can be compared to something out of a space travel movie.
Granados 83 – Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, Spain is home to one heck of a gothic quarter. It is also home to Granados 83, a hotel that may have taken modern design a little bit far. The interior of Granados 83 bar is a tad dark. Black tables are surrounded by black chairs which are located in a black walled bar with a black ceiling. It is no secret that black matches with virtually every color and happens to be a color used in a lot of modern design. Unfortunately the key is to match other colors with black to help bring out some accents.
The Park – New Delhi, India
India is a vibrant country with a rich history of festivals, food, and design. Typically you’ll see more traditional Indian design in most of their hotels and other public places. However, India is also a vastly growing technological power, meaning modern design in the American sense is creating roots there.
And like all mimic designs, not every single one is going to hit the nail on the head. The Park Hotel in New Delhi seemed to mix some modern design with Indian flair making for a design that looked like something a Disney teen pop star imagined. Stark white walls and floors with rounded surfaces create a nice modern design. Then throw in some semi-transparent dangling partitions, magenta furniture, and hot pink accent lighting and you have yourself modern design that went too far.
25hours Hotel – Hamburg, Germany
Even from the outside, you know that the 25hours Hotel in Hamburg, Germany is going for the modern look. The hotel has a multi-layered faced that features different textures, materials, and colors all designed to scream modern. Exteriorly speaking, they do a great job of this.
The interior design is a little much. The lobby features some seating choices that you would consider modern or mid-century modern. Think of a pin cushion with the top cut off and replaced with a plastic seat. The overhead lighting is a nice modern touch but where they go wrong is in the use of mirrors. Mirrors are used in design to help add depth to the walls and make rooms seem larger. When the entire wall is made up of mirrors separated by about six inches, it makes for more a “fun house” feel.
