HOTEL JOSEF
Where? Prague.
When? It opened last June, closed during the flood, then opened again in October.
What? The city of the moment now has a hotel to match — hip, affordable and bull’s-eye central.
Why? Josef’s location in the old Jewish quarter, five minutes from the Charles Bridge and Wenceslas and Old Town squares, is irresistible. The hotel consists of a pair of new buildings surrounding a tranquil courtyard garden, with bright, light and minimalist interiors awoken by splashes of intense colour. Rooms come with ISDN, DVD, CD, AC and other postgraduate hotel qualifications, as well as stone-clad bathrooms with tubs and rainfall showers.
What’s missing? There is no restaurant, and the gym is hardly worth mentioning, but that’s not a disaster — you’re on holiday.
Rooms: 110.
Price: from £100.
Details: 00 420 2 2170 0111, www.hoteljosef.com. You can also book through Design Hotels (see Hotel Miró, above).
HH CAMPOMANES
Where? Madrid.
When? It opened just over a year ago.
What? HH Campomanes is an elegant terrace of a building on a quietish cobbled street, within easy strolling distance of the Opera House, Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace.
Why? Go for the three Cs — this hotel is chic, cheap and central.
What’s missing? Service. Campomanes has no restaurant (beyond the self-service breakfast buffet), and apart from the receptionist, there are few signs of other staff on your case, either literally or metaphorically. But the prices are remarkable, especially for its excellent location.
Rooms: 30 — neat and trim, with easy-to-read numbers that occupy the full height of the doors.
Price: £60.
Details: 00 34 91 548 8548, www.hhcampomanes.com.
KU’DAMM 101
Where? Berlin.
When? It opened this January.
What? This is a hotel that proves big doesn’t have to mean brutal.
Why? The views from the top floors are spectacular, taking in a vast slice of the Berlin skyline. The rooms are equipped with wooden TV cabinets, Arne Jacobsen chairs, comfy beds with de rigueur oversized bedheads and dazzling white bathrooms. Some are equipped for the blind, some for the disabled, others for allergy sufferers.
What’s missing? Room service and minibars. There are vending machines, or you can buy drinks at the bar and take them back to your room — where mineral water is provided free.
Rooms: 170.
Price: from £75.
Details: 00 49 30 520 0550, www.kudamm101.com (in German only at the moment — an English version is on its way).
HOTEL RIALTO
Where? Warsaw.
When? Any day now.
What? This is being billed as Warsaw’s first designer hotel, which puts it about 15 years too late to jump on that particular square-wheeled bandwagon.
Why? It isn’t a clever-clever Starckish design — instead, it leans heavily on the current fashion for all things art deco, with each room having a selection of originals from the 1920s and 1930s, while the public areas feature contemporary reinterpretations of the style. Where it mainly aims to please is on personalised service of the kind normally only found in flashy Ritz-Carltons or Four Seasons. For instance, you can request your choice of in-room CDs and DVDs before you arrive, and custom-stock the minibar to ensure that just the right brand of water is there.
What’s missing? Beats us. It even has a cigar room, a gym, a culinary academy (cookery school to you) and 24-hour room service.
Rooms: 45.
Price: from £100.
Details: book through Design Hotels (see Hotel Miró, above).
TOWNHOUSE
Where? Miami Beach, Florida.
When? An old-timer: it was fully functioning at the beginning of 2001.
What? This was one of the first hotels in Miami to kick against the more-is-more-is- better ethos. The owners stated that having a good time wasn’t just about having lots of cash to throw around (although that’s nice too).
Why? This is not a place for the faint-hearted — the designer India Mahdavi took Schrager’s concept of re-creating the lobby as social centre and expanded it to include every public space, even the corridors. Every floor has an exercise machine and areas where you can pick up comics and magazines, while the current top tunes are played on strict rotation. The other focal point is the roof terrace, with its huge water beds. Think The Standard, with its LA attitude, and you get the picture.
What’s missing? No pool, but the beach is a block away, and the terrace is frequently doused with water jets from the glow-in-the-dark water tower. It’s that kind of place.
Rooms: 71.
Price: from £75.
Details: 00 1 305 534 3800.
HOTEL MAYET
Where? Paris.
When? It opened in mid-2001.
What? A hotel that claims to be a “cheap, chic Paris bolt hole of bright colours and fresh modern design” — and pretty much delivers.
Why? Although it shares owners with the Artus, a hotel with a great location on the Left Bank, its rooms go for almost half the price. Located between Rue du Cherche Midi and Rue de Sèvres, the Mayet’s has smallrooms, but they are decorated in such startling shades, and fitted with such quirky accessories, that it doesn’t really matter. Okay, some of them look a little like Pee-wee’s Playhouse, but it just might appeal to your inner child. Oh, and it’s cheap, and breakfast is included in the price.
What’s missing? A minibar, a laundry service, satellite TV.
Rooms: 23.
Price: from £62.50.
Details: 00 33 1 47 83 21 35, www.mayet.com.
HART’S HOTEL
Where? Nottingham.
When? It opened in March.
What? From the same stable as the Relais & Châteaux Hambleton Hall, but aiming at a more contemporary, less opulent feel — for instance, nearly all the accessories in the bathrooms are by The White Company, every monochromatist’s favourite.
Why? The designers have eschewed minimalism and aimed for a warmer, more homely atmosphere. Twenty-four of the bedrooms come with a view of the city, and if you haven’t got one, you can take it in from the garden (six of the rooms have French windows that open onto it). It is also astonishingly well equipped, with high-tech gear in each of the rooms — Bose products, widescreen satellite TVs, direct-dial phones, voicemail and so on. All this and 24-hour room service, too.
What’s missing? Not much, to be honest — mostly the grander aspects (such as the final bill) of the Relais & Châteaux mothership. There’s no pool, but the hotel does have a small fitness room.
Rooms: 32.
Price: a touch over our upper limit, with rates starting at £112 a double (we blame that 24-hour room service).
Details: 0115 988 1900, www.hartshotel.co.uk.
AND COMING SOON ...
Liverpool has not one but two promising newcomers in the wings. Hope Street, opposite the concert hall, will be housed in a former warehouse — albeit a very grand one. Rack rates are expected to be about £110, although initial rates should be cheaper when it opens its doors next month.
Somewhat greedily, Scousers will have another smart hotel option any month now. Ropewalks will be the next Alias hotel to come on stream after Brighton, and is part of the £110m regeneration of the Ropewalks district, which should become a cultural hub. Rooms will cost less than £100 a night, with good-value weekend breaks; details at www.aliasropewalks.com.
Finally, there are new Columbus hotels on the way in Paris and Lisbon. The new offspring of Ken McCulloch’s Monaco property should emerge bonny and bouncing next year (the Portuguese one earlier than the Parisian). Room rates have yet to be announced.
