For years, all the hot news in the hotel business has been about luxury and excess. Hardly a week has gone by, it seems, without a swanky new place trumpeting its 24-hour butler service, complimentary limo, oriental spa or Odeon-sized plasma televisions.
Now all that is changing. The latest spate of openings shows a definite step back from the bank-breaking brink, as hoteliers set out to prove that the perfect stay doesn’t have to sting us for £200 a night.
The new trend has, perhaps, been inspired by a couple of big successes. The excellent Columbus hotel in Monaco took chic but affordable comfort direct to the mothership of conspicuous consumption — and won. And André Balazs’s The Standard, on Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, pitched itself at young business travellers without the backing of bottomless expense accounts and duly hit the jackpot.
Result: the new generation of hotels seems to be paring back the extras — and some of the quirkier design excesses of yore — and instead concentrating on delivering value for money without sacrificing an iota of style.
Ken McCulloch, the man behind both Columbus and the ground-breaking Malmaison chain, is convinced that the midspending guest was the one most in need of attention: “What the hotel market offers is often very cynical. I hear people say: ‘What do customers expect for £80 or £90 a night?’ Well, I happen to think that it is a lot of money, especially if it is coming out of your own pocket. People should expect a lot.”
McCulloch will be rolling out more Columbus hotels in the future — but also a new chain (the name is still under wraps) that will debut in the UK next year. This will feature well-designed modern buildings with large rooms, big beds, 32in plasma TVs, trendy toiletries, good food and a decent glass of wine — all the things people have a right to expect for their money. How much money? “We reckon about £80 a night,” McCulloch says.
However, you don’t have to wait until this secret Brand X rolls out. There is already a bevy of newish hotels where, for £100 a room or less, you can expect something more friendly and stylish than a mere bed for the night. Here is our guide to 12 of the best.
Unless stated, all prices are based on two people sharing a double and include breakfast
SEATTLE
Where? Brighton.
When? Opened February 2003.
What? Part of the burgeoning Alias chain — and the group’s best hotel yet — this sleek modern building has breathed a sudden blast of robust life into the long moribund marina on the east side of town.
Why? Go for the great outdoor decks in both the second-floor Saloon (tea, coffee, wine) and the third-floor B&W bar (sundowners); and for the sea-view rooms. You can spend hours watching all the messing about in boats.
What’s missing? Seattle offers no bathrobes, no spa and no minibars. We can certainly live without the last of these. If only they’d lose the “wacky” mannequins that occupy the public spaces as well.
Rooms: 71.
Price: doubles from £95. Two nights for two at the weekend cost £245, including continental breakfast and £40 off at Cafe Paradiso, the hotel’s restaurant (but book a table before you go — it’s already very popular).
Details: 01273 679799, www.aliashotels.com.
MIRO HOTEL
Where? Bilbao.
When? Opened October 2002.
What? A hotel with a big-name designer — Antonio Miró, the Spanish fashion star — but without the commensurate price tag.
Why? Go for the interiors — clean and simple, black and white, with a sudden injection of colour in the bar area. The rooms are equally stripped- back, but with rich, black marble bathrooms. Oh, and the Miró is yards from the Guggenheim — probably the main reason you came to Bilbao to begin with. It has a small gym, a spa and a massage room in the basement.
What’s missing? Bad attitude — such name-designer hotels usually come with smug (and useless) staff. Not here. Also breakfast, which costs an extra £8.70 (but is very good).
Rooms: 50.
Price: £75 for a standard room, £150 for a “demi-suite”.
Details: for reservations from the UK, call 0800 169 8817 or visit www.designhotels.com; in Spain, 00 34 902 117777 or www.mirohotelbilbao.com.
HI HOTEL
Where? Nice.
When? The first five floors were opened this February; three more are due to be unveiled on June 27.
What? Hi Hôtel is steeped in the kind of design babble we thought had gone out with the 1990s: “If we are not prisoners of the decor, trapped in a status associated with it, we do not have to play the usual role we play in a luxury hotel.” But behind the hype is a well-executed concept featuring nine kinds of room, with names including Monospace, Indoor Terrace, Happy and Up & Down. The designer, Matali Crasset, is a Starck acolyte, and it shows — but in the best sense. The themed rooms are “based on different forms of spatial organisation”, all with original touches — the Technocorner room’s dressing screen is also a huge TV.
Why? The hotel has a hammam, a roof terrace with a pool and views over the Med and to the Alps, and a groovy bar with new music each month from DJ Laurent Garnier’s record label. The whole confection is just 200 yards from the Promenade des Anglais.
What’s missing? Waiters or waitresses. The restaurant is 24-hour self-service, with food served in bento box-style Link dishes. And instead of minibars, there are automatic dispensing stations on each floor, providing everything from water to champagne.
Rooms: 38.
Price: from £90 for a double, although there are some soft opening offers at £65.
Details: 00 33 4 97 07 26 26, www.hi-hotel.net.
HOTEL J
Where? Stockholm.
When? It opened quietly two years ago — and is still little known among visitors.
What? A maritime treat, as close to being a boat as is poss-ible without actually setting sail. The “J” refers to a class of 1930s America’s Cup yachts, which are still reckoned to be the coolest ever made, and the hotel’s design is appropriately nautical. The original 1912 brick building has been given a contemporary maritime makeover, with a more than nodding acquaintance to summer houses in Cape Cod and Newport, Rhode Island.
Why? The hotel has lots of white wooden boards, cotton drapes and oak furniture, as well as superb views across to the island of Djurgarden, with picturesque sailing boats heading for the archipelago in between. It has its own marina and a fish and seafood restaurant.
What’s missing? Doorstep convenience — the hotel is a 15-minute boat ride from Nybroviken, in the city centre (you can also go by bus or taxi, but that somehow misses the point). And the hotel has conference facilities, so there may be lots of suits on board.
Rooms: 45.
Price: from £75.
Details: 00 46 8 601 3000, www.hotelj.com. You can also book through Design Hotels (see Hotel Miró, above).
HOTEL GREIF
Where? Bolzano, Italy.
When? The shell of this hotel is an ancient listed tavern with a career in hospitality that dates back to medieval times. It has belonged to the same family for 200 years, but only recently got “the treatment”.
What? Greif, which means griffin, is a marriage of past and future, Italy and Middle Europe, designed by an Austrian as “a pleasure for your eyes”. The foyer sets the tone — all steel and glass, but featuring the hotel’s original wooden portal and an occasional carefully chosen antique.
Why? The hotel promises “a place of refuge and intellect”, no less, which translates into extra-long beds, silk fabrics and rooms with a natural look. Some have their own steam bath or hot tub; all have cable TV and a laptop with free internet access. Each room is furnished in unique style and embellished with a painting, sculpture or conceptual work by one of 33 artists — you’ll need to stay for more than a month to see them all.
What’s missing? Pretension. Bolzano, the riverside capital of the Alto Adige province since the Middle Ages, is a popular base for visiting the mountains, which means you’ll feel more comfortable in clumpy boots than in Campers, an anorak rather than Armani. Friday night is jazz night in the bar, but otherwise the town has little by way of post-supper action. It’s a place that lives for the outdoors.
Rooms: 33.
Price: from £80 for a double, including breakfast, based on a minimum of two nights.
Details: 00 39 0471 318000, www.greif.it.
