Hotels

A special 25th year anniversary edition of The Design Hotels™ Book presents an in-depth look at 25 boutique properties around the world that are changing the way we think about hospitality. For a quarter century, Design Hotels™ has been at the forefront of a movement in hospitality, curating a global collection of independent, design-driven hotels that function as social hubs and platforms for extraordinary experiences. In celebration of this benchmark, Design Hotels™ sent some of the world’s leading editorial and lifestyle photographers around the world to capture the unique character of 25 hotels at the vanguard of their hand-selected collection. Each hotel tells a story, rich with emotion and steeped in the history, culture, and nature of its local environment. The new, special edition of the brand’s wildly popular annual brings these stories to life through evocative photo essays and reportage. This edition of The Design Hotels™ Book is a distillation of a quarter century of pioneering design and original experiences, as well as a must-have for a worldwide community of travelers, likeminded in their pursuit of singular aesthetic environments, genuine local culture, and transformative, boundary-pushing travel experiences that defy conventional notions of luxury.

Who minds sleeping under a mosquito net when it's royally draped over the bed in a lush Kenyan, open-walled hut, fashioned from tree trunks and shielded from the sun by a sumptuous thatched roof? This selection of the most-splendid getaway havens nestled throughout the African continent is sure to please even the most finicky would-be voyagers. Photos.

From its beginnings as the humble inn, the hotel has undergone enormous changes over the centuries. Elaine Denby charts the development of the Grand Hotel and how it has kept pace with technological innovations.

From the palace hotels of the elite to cheap lodging houses, residential hotels have been an element of American urban life for nearly two hundred years. Since 1870, however, they have been the target of an official war led by people whose concept of home does not include the hotel. Do these residences constitute an essential housing resource, or are they, as charged, a public nuisance? Living Downtown, the first comprehensive social and cultural history of life in American residential hotels, adds a much-needed historical perspective to this ongoing debate. Creatively combining evidence from biographies, buildings and urban neighborhoods, workplace records, and housing policies, Paul Groth provides a definitive analysis of life in four price-differentiated types of downtown residence. He demonstrates that these hotels have played a valuable socioeconomic role as home to both long-term residents and temporary laborers. Also, the convenience of hotels has made them the residence of choice for a surprising number of Americans, from hobo author Boxcar Bertha to Calvin Coolidge. Groth examines the social and cultural objections to hotel households and the increasing efforts to eliminate them, which have led to the seemingly irrational destruction of millions of such housing units since 1960. He argues convincingly that these efforts have been a leading contributor to urban homelessness. This highly original and timely work aims to expand the concept of the American home and to recast accepted notions about the relationships among urban life, architecture, and the public management of residential environments.

What if you could live the luxury hotel experience at home, every day? Hotels to Home answers that question by creating a new lifestyle template that bridges the gap between your fondest hotel memories and everyday living. Imagine stepping into your entryway with the eager anticipation as when entering your favorite hotel lobby, defining your family’s hotel brand as a lifestyle strategy, finely orchestrating room service for your household, or celebrating the end of each day with personalized turndown service. Taking what might have once been considered ordinary homelife and making your address a highly coveted destination. Less memoir, more guidebook. Peek into the author’s travel essays and enjoy prompts to excavate your own vacation preferences that reveal a holiday lifestyle at home. Welcome to the Hotels to Home lifestyle!

When George Washington embarked on his presidential tours of 1789-91, the rudimentary inns and taverns of the day suddenly seemed dismally inadequate. But within a decade, Americans had built the first hotels--large and elegant structures that boasted private bedchambers and grand public ballrooms. This book recounts the enthralling history of the hotel in America--a saga in which politicians and prostitutes, tourists and tramps, conventioneers and confidence men, celebrities and salesmen all rub elbows. Hotel explores why the hotel was invented, how its architecture developed, and the many ways it influenced the course of United States history. The volume also presents a beautiful collection of more than 120 illustrations, many in full color, of hotel life in every era. Hotel explores these topics and more: · What it was like to sleep, eat, and socialize at a hotel in the mid-1800s · How hotelkeepers dealt with the illicit activities of adulterers, thieves, and violent guests · The stories behind America’s greatest hotels, including the Waldorf-Astoria, the Plaza, the Willard, the Blackstone, and the Fairmont · Why Confederate spies plotted to burn down thirteen hotels in New York City during the Civil War · How the development of steamboats and locomotives helped create a nationwide network of hotels · How hotels became architectural models for apartment buildings · The pivotal role of hotels in the civil rights movement

If the best things come in small packages, then these 40 tiny hotels from around the world are sure to provide an exceptional experience. These days getting away from it all also means escaping the mundane atmosphere of big resorts and cookie-cutter experiences. Whether you are searching for a truly unique getaway in a beautiful corner of the world or looking for inspiration when designing your own home, this book is bursting with stunning ideas and locales. The 40 hotels profiled have only a few rooms and you won't find them in traditional travel guides. The breathtaking photography captures the hotel's character, its architectural features, and the surrounding landscape. There are wilderness retreats such as Pumphouse Point in the middle of a Tasmanian lake and Mediterranean escapes such as Tainaron Blue, a stone tower in the Peloponnesian Islands. There are hidden gems in busy cities--Ottantotto Firenze in Florence, the Trunk House in Tokyo, and Los Angeles's Hotel Covell; edge-of-the-world experiences like Deplar Farm in Iceland and Sheldon Chalet in Alaska; and peaceful desert solitude at Amangiri in Utah and Namibia's Shipwreck Lodge. This volume also features architectural splendors such as the cedar and adobe huts of Punta Caliza in Isla Holbox, Mexico, and Free Spirit Spheres, a group of circular treehouses in a forest on Vancouver Island. A valuable resource for the discriminating traveler, as well as a source book for designers and architects, this collection of one-of-a-kind hotels offers relief to anyone overwhelmed by our busy and crowded world.

The World Boutique Hotels Awards showcases the finest luxury boutique hotels around the world, and is distributed internationally to the rooms of every member hotel and other luxury locations. Building on the highly successful and internationally recognized World Boutique Hotel Awards, this unique coffee table-style book not only promotes the extraordinary hotels but also tells the fascinating stories of the people behind them: the owner's journey, their business ethos, and their vision to create truly unique experiences.

The author brings to life some of Italy's most amazing landscapes, such as Venice, Lake Como, Florence, the Amalfi Coast and the Aeolian Islands. She explores legendary hotels in which novels have been set, movies made and love stories consummated.

Author of the first book in the series, Love Hate Hotels, Founder of Love Hate Hotels, Inc., and Administrator of @LoveHateHotels, Tony Matthews II now has over eleven years of experience in the hotel industry. Take a journey through his continued experience in the business, and enjoy some more great stories and comedy, with less advice this go round.