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The Limes Hotel by Argentinian designer Alexander Lotersztain opened at the end of last month in Brisbane, Australia.

The hotel incorporates a roof-top bar and cinema and is the first Australian hotel to join the Design Hotels organisation.

Here’s some info from the hotel:

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First Australian member of Design Hotels opens

Designed by award-winning designer, Alexander Lotersztain, the first Australian member of Design Hotels, the Limes Hotel, opened June 27 in Brisbane.

Located in Fortitude Valley, the hub of Brisbane’s nightlife, also known for its trendy cafes, shops, bars and restaurants, in keeping with this vibrant neighbourhood, Limes has been created to include a completely open air roof top bar and roof top cinema (in hibernation until Spring).

Drawing inspiration from a lifetime of international travel, with countless hours spent in aeroplanes and hotel rooms, Alexander concentrated his design focus on the 21 rooms to cater for the independent traveller, rejecting the 5-star norms and opting to focus on guests’ primary travel requirements through unique design solutions in styled lodgings.

“Attention to detail is reflected in my design choices, which are understated yet buzzing with the contemporary energy of Brisbane and the Valley surrounds,” Alexander said.

The rooms feature custom Corian (by Dupont) kitchen benches and toilette vanities, Blackbutt timber bed heads, custom powder coat aluminium door handles, splash-back and floating bedside tables, Luna Textiles curtains and bathroom wall tiles by Bisazza. Each room has an individually hand painted feature wall created by using a mineral coating technique (Julien Fantone, Idea Creations).

“The Limes concept is an emphasis on the essentials to make a pleasing and at times novel experience, whether staying for a night, a drink, a movie or all of the above,” Alexander said.

Where design permitted, mundane items such as rubbish bins and cables are minimised or completely hidden. This not only makes the room look cleaner and visually clearer, but also from a practical aspect, makes the servicing of the room more efficient.

“I wanted to make Limes a design experience, however stripped of the associated design ideals of something unattainable. I shifted the design focus to make the guest feel special, yet not afraid of jumping into the bed like it was their own.”

Limes is a stunning yet simple urban retreat, and throughout all facets of the hotel from the rooms to the roof top bar and cinema, Alexander has created a modern and warm atmosphere unencumbered by excessive ornamentation.

“I decided to view the hotel in its absolute entirety – considering the intended look and feel, and paying heavy attention to the interiors, furniture, surfaces and finishes, as well as extending my design influence to Limes’ music and drinks list. I went on to give the Limes a “face” by tangibly branding the hotel through its facade – an extension of the Limes logo on a gross scale. By leaving no facet of the hotel to chance, one feels what I can only describe as the “spirit” of Limes when in its presence. A strong feeling within the doors of Limes and a residual impact realised on returning home.”

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Posted by Rose Etherington

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 12:19 am and is filed under Architecture, all. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.