W Hotels Worldwide will mark its debut in France on February 14, 2012 with the new W Paris – Opéra hotel. 

Owned by Barcelona-based Meridia Capital, the hotel is set inside an elegant 1870s Haussman-era heritage building. W Paris – Opera has been designed jointly by W Global Brand Design and Rockwell Group Europe (RGe) led by Diego Gronda, its Managing and Creative Director. RGe is the Madrid office of New York-based Rockwell Group, founded by David Rockwell over 25 years ago. Known for iconic design projects including the 81st and 82nd Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, the Juana Manso complex in Buenos Aires and Wasabi by Morimoto restaurant in Mumbai, Rockwell Group’s projects around the world demonstrate the company’s capacity to understand global brands while creating immersive, experiential, locally relevant environments. Design has been at the forefront of W Hotels since 1998 with the launch of the first W hotel, W New York, which was designed by Rockwell Group.

“Through the opening of W Paris – Opéra, fashionistas and global jetsetters can now be on the runway with W from New York to London and Paris. Unique lifestyle programming within a cutting-edge designed environment will bring a new and distinctive experience to Paris and the Parisians alike.”

Situated across the street from the renowned Opéra Garnier, W Paris – Opéra is certain to become a buzzing landmark in the city. Inspired by the creative idea of “The Spark”, the hotel was conceptualised to create a dynamic dialogue between the following: the historic façade of the building, Paris as the “City of Light” and W’s DNA by infusing a sense of energy into the quintessential Parisian neighbourhood. This approach results in a stimulating fusion of New York’s dynamism and its never-ending energy with the sophistication and culture of Paris.

“Taking the W brand into Paris, a global fashion capital, if not the global fashion capital, will mark a true milestone in W’s global expansion into the world’s most exciting and vibrant destinations”, comments Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels Worldwide and Le Méridien. “Through the opening of W Paris – Opéra, fashionistas and global jetsetters can now be on the runway with W from New York to London and Paris. Unique lifestyle programming within a cutting-edge designed environment will bring a new and distinctive experience to Paris and the Parisians alike.”

Elaborating on the design concept, RGe’s Diego Gronda comments, “For the first W Hotel in Paris, we wanted to provide guests with an unforgettable experience of the light and sophistication present all over this amazing city. Our design feeds off the elegance, richness and radiance of Paris, “La Ville Lumière”, while layering in the contemporary cool and free-spirited energy of New York. Our goal is to transform this historic building into a W Hotel that literally shines with innovative and unexpected details, materials and technology.”

The hotel design revolves around an oversized backlit digital undulating wall that defines the central core of the building and weaves through the public and private spaces. The “spark” will appear as a dotted pattern that forms abstract clouds. This wall will be set at various tempos to create different moods to match the season, event, time of day, and location within the hotel, bringing the historic building to life with a glowing vibrancy. The elevators, DJ booth and staircases will be cloaked in red to give the illusion of being inside an epicentre of energy.

Historic features of the 19^th-century building, such as ornamented columns, vaulted ceilings, marble staircases and fireplaces, have been partially restored, celebrated and often juxtaposed against contemporary elements. The original stained glass windows and mosaic flooring on the second floor will be protected to reflect the building’s heritage.

Commenting on the new W Paris – Opéra, David Rockwell says, “I am thrilled at this fantastic opportunity for Rockwell Group Europe to showcase their extraordinary talent in creating transformative and evocative spatial experiences for W Hotels’ debut in Paris.”

The five-storey hotel will have 91 stylish guest rooms, including 20 suites and two Extreme WOW Suites (W’s interpretation of the Presidential Suite). With soaring ceilings up to three and a half metres in height, the guest rooms and suites offer a contemporary, spacious design and stunning views of Opéra Garnier and the Parisian streets. The Extreme WOW Suites feature a shower that is concealed behind two huge, classical Parisian doors creating an alluring effect within the suite. This will be complemented by an oversized three-metre circular bed set in the middle of the suite.

The vibrancy of the space goes beyond the illuminated wall, and into patterns and features throughout the hotel. In the guest rooms, unexpected elements such as a backlit bridge that wraps the entrance corridor with white patterned lights, a sculptural faucet, and molding that breaks into different pieces complement the design concept. Paris-based artists have been commissioned to add cutting-edge artistic interventions to the rooms.

W Paris – Opéra will offer a signature restaurant and destination bar, as well as a SWEAT^® fitness centre. Guests will enjoy spectacular views of the Opéra Garnier from the hotel’s ground level and mezzanine floors, including the Living Room, a stylish social space where visitors can mingle and relax. At the hotel’s grand entrance, “The Spark” takes the form of a black resin bar shaped like a molten sculpture and other customised furnishings that demonstrate the energy from the spark wall.

Meridia Capital was advised in this project by GCA Architects, a renowned architecture and interior design firm with global experience. The firm was very committed and proactive in the initial design phases of the hotel based on RGe’s concept. GCA also played a key role in the development of the implementation project.

W Paris – Opéra is located at 4 rue Meyerbeer, 75009 Paris, France, across the street from Opéra Garnier, and near Galeries Lafayette and Place Vendome in the 9th Arrondissement. The area contains many places of cultural, historical and architectural interest, and is a key business centre in Paris.

The opening of W Paris – Opéra will mark a significant milestone in the W brand’s global expansion, following the debuts of W London – Leicester Square, W St. Petersburg, W Taipei and W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak in 2011.

W Paris – Opéra is now accepting reservations. Rooms start from EUR340 ($474) per room per night plus VAT.

Radical UK-based hotel concept brings affordable luxury to New York.

YOTEL will launch its brand in the United States in June 2011, with the opening of Yotel New York located on West 42nd Street and 10th Avenue at Times Square West. Featuring 669 stylish cabins, this will be the brand’s first opening outside of its current international airport locations and the largest hotel opening in New York in 2011.

Check in – Guests check in at airline style kiosks.

Yobot – The world’s first luggage robot is a radical approach to storing left luggage; it’s fun, it’s efficient and it is only the beginning of baggage management.

YOTEL’s Premium cabins come with:

• motorised moving beds for saving space
• monsoon shower
• technowall with TV, music and power services
• workstation
• free super strength WiFi
• complimentary breakfast

In fact, everything you might find in a luxury hotel in under 200 sqft.

Eighteen First Class Cabins and 3 VIP 2 Cabin Suites, come with private outdoor terraces and hot tubs.

YOTEL New York will also feature 18,000 square feet of flexible work and entertainment space:

• Dohyo restaurant, Japanese word for the Sumo wrestling platform and descriptive of YOTEL’s original table sharing concept. Tables lower and raise for Japanese style seating and a performance entertainment area out of dining hours;
• Club Lounge with individual Club Cabins for meetings and private parties, bar and a DJ booth;
• Studiyo for meetings, yoga, cinema, events and parties;
• The Terrace, New York’s largest outdoor hotel space features two bars, pagodas, fire, and blankets for autumn evenings

YOTEL, designed in collaboration by Rockwell Group and Softroom, was originally conceived by founder of YO! Simon Woodroffe OBE and realised by YOTEL CEO Gerard Greene.

Simon Woodroffe, entrepreneur, creator of the restaurant phenomenon YO! Sushi and ‘dragon’ from the UK BBC’s popular series ‘The Dragons Den’ said, “I was lucky enough to be upgraded to First class on British Airways. I went to sleep with the conundrum of how to create a flexible and convenient hotel experience at an affordable price. The YOTEL brand is launching its first city centre hotel, I expect YOTEL to be in the world’s top ten hotel brands in the next ten years. YOTEL totally fulfills the holy grail of retailing, a top end product at a below expectation cost.”

“A solution to expensive and boring hotels, I wanted YOTEL to use innovative radical design to create a mixture of luxury, fun, comfort and excitement at an affordable price, turning the hotel industry on its head,” said Gerard Greene CEO YOTEL.

IFA Hotel Investments, a subsidiary of international resort and residential developer IFA Hotels & Resorts, oversees the investment in the YOTEL brand. “We’re very excited about the opening of YOTEL in New York,” said Joe Sita, President of IFA Hotel Investments. “YOTEL is different from other investments we have in the hotel sector and we truly believe it represents the future of the hotel industry. It is a brand that is sure to grow exponentially over the next few years.”

YOTEL was created by YO! founder Simon Woodroffe and YOTEL CEO Gerard Greene. The idea was conceived by Simon after he was upgraded to first class on a flight. He decided to translate the language of luxury airline travel and Japanese capsule hotels into a small but luxurious cabin. YOTEL launched as a revolutionary hotel concept in the summer of 2007, with its first location inside London’s Gatwick South terminal.  In December 2007, the brand opened its second airport location inside London’s Heathrow Airport Terminal 4, followed by its third location in the airside transit area at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam in September of 2008. Supported by IFA Hotels and Resorts, YOTEL’s CEO, Gerard Greene, leads an experienced executive team bringing together expertise from the hotel, travel and leisure industries across the private and public sectors.

Spectacular ocean-front property located on Mokapu Beach in Maui, Hawaii

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) and an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, a leading global private investment firm focused on real estate, announced today that affiliates of Hyatt and Starwood Capital Group have formed a joint venture to acquire an existing property (currently the closed Renaissance Resort) and redevelop it into Andaz Wailea Resort and Residences, an ocean front resort on Mokapu Beach in Maui, Hawaii, within the premier master planned resort of Wailea. Hyatt anticipates that its investment in the project will be approximately $90 million.

Slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2012, Andaz Wailea Resort and Residences will mark the expansion of Hyatt’s Andaz brand into a key resort market. Andaz Wailea Resort and Residences will be located along 600 feet of Mokapu Beach in one of the most sought after leisure and resort destinations in North America. The Wailea master plan includes a 1.2 mile-long oceanfront beach path connecting all of its world class beaches, a premier shopping center, distinguished restaurants and a 54-hole golf club and a tennis club.

Andaz Wailea will feature 255 rooms and 35 suites ranging from 456 to 2,321 square-feet, as well as six four-bedroom villas averaging approximately 3,500 square-feet. The property will include a variety of amenities including a three-meal specialty restaurant, cascading outdoor pools with an adjacent bar and specialty restaurant, a 15,000 square-foot spa, gym, lobby lounge, and meeting space. The hotel will be the second Andaz hotel designed by internationally acclaimed architect and designer David Rockwell of Rockwell Group, following the January 2010 debut of Andaz Wall Street in New York City.

“The opportunity to develop a world-class resort along one of Hawaii’s most desirable beaches is unique, and we are delighted to partner with Starwood Capital, a company with a long history of designing and building world-class hotel and resort properties,” said Hyatt Hotels Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Mark S. Hoplamazian. “Andaz Wailea will be a great addition to Hyatt’s resort portfolio and an important new market for Andaz.”

“Wailea is truly one of the world’s great treasures and we are very pleased to deepen our relationship with Hyatt through this partnership and create a unique destination resort there,” said Barry S. Sternlicht, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Capital Group. “The burgeoning Andaz brand is a perfect fit for this vibrant community and the partnership structure with Hyatt ensures we will bring the best of both companies together to create a stunning property. Having been intimately involved in the design of the asset, it will be exciting to see it come to life as the Andaz Wailea.”

Personal and uncomplicated, Andaz is a new hotel experience that blends fresh, engaging hospitality and stylish, vibrant settings, created with simplicity and locality in mind. Andaz Wailea will join Andaz Liverpool Street London, Andaz West Hollywood, Andaz Wall Street, Andaz San Diego and Andaz 5th Avenue. Additional Andaz hotels under development include Andaz Amsterdam, Andaz Delhi, India; Andaz Papagayo, Costa Rica; Andaz Sanya Sunny Bay, China; and Andaz Turks and Caicos.

YO! Founder Simon Woodroffe OBE and YOTEL CEO Gerard Greene conceived the innovative YOTEL cabins to provide a flexible and convenient ‘first class’ hotel experience at affordable prices. Inspired by first-class airline cabins YOTEL Times Square, located at 42nd Street and 10th Avenue will be part of Related Company’s 1.2 million square foot, 60 storey LEED-Silver complex which will include residential units and the Frank Gehry designed Signature Theatre. The flagship YOTEL property is being co-designed by The Rockwell Group and Softroom and will feature a restaurant, bar, meeting rooms, a Club Lounge and the largest hotel outside terrace space of any hotel in New York.

Simon Woodroffe, Founder of YO!, said of the New York launch: “YOTEL will bring a unique mix of fun, excitement and luxury to New York and all at an affordable price. YOTEL has a fantastic energy about it which New York’s 44 million visitors a year will love”

Achingly cool and chillingly efficient YOTEL will offer customers a perfectly designed 16sqm (170sqft) of private space in which to relax, refresh, connect and sleep, a true haven of calm. Luxury bedding, rejuvenating monsoon rain showers, relaxing purple mood lighting and YOTEL’s ‘techno wall’ with flat screen TV, and complimentary WiFi will now soon be on offer to those visiting the Big Apple.

YOTEL CEO, Gerard Greene stated: “A solution to boring and expensive hotels YOTEL uses radical design to offer the customer an exciting product and better value for money. Not satisfied with airports we are now transferring a successful brand to city centres across the globe.

Following a major investment by partners IFA Hotel’s & Resorts and openings at Heathrow, Gatwick and Schiphol, Amsterdam airports, YOTEL has established itself in the hearts of international travellers and media alike by collecting industry awards and rave Trip Advisor ratings. Last year, YOTEL won the prestigious Business Accommodation of the Year at the Business Travel World Awards.

“We’re very excited with the opening of YOTEL New York as this is our fourth property to open. YOTEL is different from other investments we have in the hotel sector and we truly believe it represents the future. It is a brand that is going to grow exponentially in the next few years” said Joe Sita, President of IFA Hotel Investment.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announced that the Minneapolis-based Chambers has joined Le Méridien, the Paris-born hotel brand with an international presence of 105 hotels and resorts.

See the Le Meridien Chambers on stylehotelsweb

The addition of Chambers has increased the brand’s footprint to 10 hotels in North America. Opened in 2006 by prominent art collector Ralph Burnet, Chambers is considered one of the world’s top art hotels, featuring more than 250 original artworks by such noted artists as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Gavin Turk. The hotel has been renamed Le Méridien Chambers Minneapolis.
“Le Méridien shares with its guests a passion for style, art, architecture, design, and cuisine, all focal points of Chambers and owner Ralph Burnet,” said Eva Ziegler, global brand leader, Le Méridien and W Hotels Worldwide. “Chambers will serve as a flagship for Le Méridien’s North American portfolio, and a perfect example of its new direction as a creative hub in vibrant cities around the world.”

“For the last year and a half, I’ve seen firsthand the benefits the Starwood organization brings to a hotel property,” said Burnet, referring to W Minneapolis – The Foshay, his other hotel property which opened in late 2008. “Le Méridien embraces contemporary art and cuisine the way that the W brand revels in fashion and music. Chambers is clearly all about great art, food and service – which makes this a tremendous fit.”

Le Méridien Chambers was designed for those individuals who recognize and are inspired by contemporary art and cuisine combined with great service. Behind the hotel’s distinctive mahogany double doors, guests are greeted with an eclectic mix of original, contemporary art by internationally renowned artists. Video monitors line the guestroom corridors with a constant display of award-winning video art, and during their stays, in-the-know guests take the stairs whenever possible to enjoy, Elemental, the five-story mural that runs the entire height of the hotel’s main stairwell. In the hotel’s Burnet Gallery, guests may purchase works by international, national and local artists.

Designed by Rockwell Group (Kodak Theatre, Nobu, among others), Le Méridien Chambers’ timeless, chic design provides an ideal backdrop to its contemporary art collection. The hotel wraps around Eden, an open-air, grotto-style lounge courtyard that is open year round and features a large, sleek, 10-foot square gas fire pit. During the winter months a portion of Eden transforms into, Ice Chamber, a 256-foot bar created from 12,000 pounds of crystal clear ice. A fifth floor lounge offers dramatic 360-degree vistas of the downtown Minneapolis skyline via floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a surrounding balcony. D’Amico Kitchen, the hotel’s restaurant offers critically acclaimed creative, contemporary Italian fare by the Twin Cities’ legendary restaurateurs, Larry and Richard D’Amico. Live streaming video of the restaurant’s behind-the-scenes activity is projected nightly on a massive screen on one of Eden’s courtyard walls.

Le Méridien Chambers features 60 guestrooms, including six suites and nine junior suites. All the guestrooms feature original artwork and are furnished with contemporary furniture, platform beds with custom mattresses and 400-thread-count, Egyptian cotton bed linens. Rooms are equipped with all the necessities that satisfy a contemporary lifestyle, including 42″ plasma TVs, complimentary high-speed and WI-FI Internet access, and iPod docking stations, alarm clocks. Spacious closets and wardrobes in each guestroom are ideal for long-term stays.

Since being acquired by Starwood in November 2005, Le Méridien has become known for creating a curated art-driven experience that engages its guests from the moment of arrival. Le Méridien’s newly introduced arrival experiences have been designed to transform the guest experience from functional and transactional to one that emotionally connects with guests and resets their minds, leaving the outside world behind for the world of Le Méridien brand.

Curated by international arts provocateur Jérôme Sans, Le Méridien’s cultural curator since 2006, and developed together with members of the LM100, Le Méridien’s family of cultural innovators, elements of Le Méridien’s arrival experience include: a Transitional Portal, which is a visual and audio “wall” of sound and art that engulfs each guest; Sensory Experience, illustrated through Le Méridien’s signature scent, sound and use of light; UNLOCK ART programme that includes an artist designed key card that offers access to the guestroom and to the hotel’s affiliated local arts organization; and lastly, the Elevated Experience, created especially for Le Méridien by French music composer and producer Henri Scars Struck that transforms the event of riding an elevator into an “elevating experience” through sound. In November 2009, Le Méridien arrival experience was awarded “Most Innovative Concept in the Upscale Hotel Industry” at the 10th annual Worldwide Hospitality Awards in Paris.

Le Méridien signature scent has been designed in collaboration with Le Labo founders and LM100 members Fabrice Penot and Eddie Roshi, while coffee is served throughout the day at the lobby bar as part of Le Méridien coffeehouse atmosphere. Guests of Le Méridien Chambers will notice that some of these Le Méridien brand elements will go into effect immediately, while others will be introduced over the coming months.

Located in the heart of the Twin Cities’ cultural, business and social scenes, Le Méridien Chambers is just a block from the center of the city’s business, financial and shopping districts. Patrons may stroll across the street to world-class theater and concerts at the historic Orpheum, Pantages and State Theatres. The critically acclaimed Guthrie Theatre, Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Institute of Arts are all within five minutes by taxi. Nightclubs, bars, restaurants and art galleries that fill the city’s Warehouse District are within easy walking distance.

See the Le Meridien Chambers on stylehotelsweb

Rockwell Group Europe has teamed up with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to design the W Paris-Opéra, W Hotels’ debut in France. Diego Gronda, Managing and Creative Director of RGe, the Madrid satellite office of New York’s Rockwell Group founded by David Rockwell, is leading the design team on this innovative project scheduled to open in 2011.
Owned by Barcelona-based Meridia Capital, the hotel occupies an elegant 1870s Haussman-era building located across the street from the famous Opéra Garnier and near Galeries Lafayette and Place Vendome in the 9th Arrondissement. Taking the inspiration from combining New York’s energy, where the W brand began in 1998, and Paris, the ‘City of Light,’ RGe is flooding the new W Hotel with illumination and color.

‘Taking the W brand into Paris, the European capital of fashion, will mark a true milestone in W’s global expansion into the world’s most exciting and vibrant destinations,’ said Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels Worldwide and Le Méridien. ‘Through W Paris-Opéra, we will further demonstrate our passion for fashion as well as our leadership in cutting-edge design, setting the stage for W’s unique lifestyle programming, which will make W Paris the coolest place in the city.’

The 19th century building with a striking original neo-classical interior will be re-invented by a contemporary cool sparkle of luminosity and brilliant energy in the quintessential Parisian neighborhood, infusing light and mutating color. The ground level and mezzanine floors have spectacular views of the Opéra and provide the perfect setting for a signature W Living Room where guests and locals are invited to mix, mingle and relax in a stylish social atmosphere. Along with a new modern concept restaurant, W Paris-Opéra will feature a destination bar, a state-of-the-art fitness facility and 90 stylish guest rooms.

Elaborating on their design concept, Mr. Gronda adds, ‘For the first W Hotel in Paris, we wanted to give guests an unforgettable experience of the light and energy emanating from this incredible city. Our design feeds off the elegance, history, richness and radiance of the city, while layering in the contemporary cool and light-hearted approach of the W brand. Our goal was to transform this historic building into a W Hotel that literally shines with innovative and unexpected details, materials and technology.’

An oversized undulating wall of light is the central design feature that defines the building from the inside and from the street as it weaves through the public spaces, secret corners of DJ booths and martini bars, through the corridors and finally into each guest room. This programmable wall of light can transform based on season, event or time of day to create a festive and celebratory atmosphere, bringing the historic building to life with sophistication and a glowing vibrancy. This central feature initiates a dynamic dialogue with the street, introducing people to the magic of the W Hotel before they enter and are dazzled by the dramatic vaulted ceiling supported by ornate Corinthian columns. To invite guests and locals to the W brand’s world of WOW, RGe will add life to this historic space with an innovative installation of projected images from nature upon arrival that will change throughout the day.

Guest rooms and suites, including W Hotels’ renowned WOW suites and Extreme WOW suites (W Hotels’ take on the traditional Presidential Suite), feature three-meter ceiling height and breathtaking views of the Opéra. All W suites will boast an existing fireplace, white marble bathrooms and oversized dressing rooms, the perfect place for guests to prepare for a night out in Europe’s fashion capital.

According to David Rockwell, Founder and CEO of Rockwell Group, ‘I am thrilled at this fantastic opportunity for Rockwell Group Europe – their knowledge of and experience in creating transformative and evocative spatial experiences will be a perfect fit for this new W Hotel in Paris.

You can see all current W Hotels on http://www.stylehotelsweb.com