Make a reservation at Palafitte

Palafitte is unique because it is the only five star hotel in Europe built on water, located on the lake of Neuchâtel.

The Hôtel Palafitte was built as a temporary structure for Expo 02, a Swiss exhibition that took place in 2002. It was financed by the Sandoz Family Foundation and designed by architect Kurt Hoffman. The goal was to create a state-of-the-art, 21st Century hotel using “sustainable architecture” that would allow the hotel’s components to be rebuilt or recycled after Expo.02. In the end, the hotel was such a hit that the Swiss government granted permission for it to stay open despite laws that normally forbid structures over public lakes.
Besides having an aquatic setting, the Hôtel Palafitte makes use of environmentally friendly features such as solar panels for hot water and electricity, heating with biogas from kitchen waste, and rainwater collection for toilet flushing.

The Palafitte has  forty luxury pavilions with breathtaking views of the lake and the Alps, twenty four of them are built directly on the lake. Each pavilion is 68m2 and is equipped with private terrace, with direct access to the lake. The ‘Le Colvert’ restaurant invites you on a marvelous culinary journey whilst ‘Le Bar’ is an elegant and cosy area where intimate conversations take over in a magic atmosphere around the fire.
For a Maldive-type experience on a Swiss lake…

Make a reservation at Palafitte

Make a reservation at Cooper Square

The Cooper Square Hotel is located in the heart of downtown New York, along Cooper Square on the new vibrant, hip  Bowery  This 21-story, downtown’s  new construction was designed by Carlos Zapata Studio with interiors by designer Antonio Citterio. The structure of sculptural fritted glass offers breathtaking views of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, downtown Manhattan and the Hudson River.’

The  145 guestrooms and suites combine European with New York City style and all have floor to ceiling windows .Faustina at The Cooper Square Hotel reflects Chef Scott Conant’s simple, soulful approach to Italian cuisine coupled with his knack for pairing the casual with the refined.

With its  great views, a modern yet warm library and fireplace, great outdoor restaurant Cooper Square hotel is one of the best choices of Manhattan.

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Make a reservation at Donovan House

Donovan House is the first  Thompson Hotel property, opened in Washington DC. The hotel was designed by Studio Gaia ; a combination of deep purple. Throughout the property, colors in olive green, deep purple, and burgundy are paired with clean architectural materials like alabaster, limestone and dark teak wood to create a modernized version of Washington D.C

 In the lobby, platform seating with glowing alabaster panels, custom hanging egg chairs and Studio Gaia’s interpretation of the “club chair,” create intimate conversation areas for patrons waiting to dine in the hotel’s destination restaurant Zentan or head upstairs to their guest room. Corridors leading to the hotel’s 193 rooms feature dark aubergine walls, white doors and ceilings, and long horizontal mirrors with chrome accents.  A modern palate of clean white walls and dark woods with accents in deep reds, beiges and purples add to the room’s seductiveness.  The centerpiece of each room is a custom chocolate leather canopy bed, flanked by a round writing desk on the side and the club chair at the foot of the bed.

All rooms and suites feature custom made 400 thread count linens and spa products by Kiehls.  The room design breaks away from the traditional bathroom and bedroom layout by connecting the two rooms with a special cocoon spiral shower. A very new style of hotel for DC.

Make a reservation at Donovan House

For Dover Street Market Rei Kawakubo said “I want to create a kind of market where various creators from various fields gather together and encounter each other in an ongoing atmosphere of beautiful chaos: the mixing up and coming together of different kindred souls who all share a strong personal vision.” . This is absolutely true and each year Dover Street Market is getting more and more interesting.

Dover Street Market is a multilevel fashion retail store created by Rei Kawakubo of Japanese fashion label Comme des Garçons, located in Mayfair London . This is a department store which combines street market feel with a cutting edge design in a minimalist, cool decor. Even you don’t buy anything,  walking around this 4 floor store is very rewarding.

Founded in 1864 as the Imperial and Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry, the MAK has pursued a continued commitment to combining practice and theory, art and industry, production and reproduction. The School of Applied Arts, originally an outgrowth of the Museum, was later developed into an independent institution, known today as the University of Applied Arts.
With an extraordinary collection of applied and contemporary art, the MAK serves a dual purpose as a conservator of significant art objects and as a center for the scientific research of art with a special emphasis on its production, preservation, and reorientation. The MAK regards itself as a laboratory of artistic production and a research center of social awareness. The powerful ideas created here today will serve as models for tomorrow.

Photos: Gerald Zugmann/MAK

Make a reservation at Opposite House

The name comes from the guest house which sits on the opposite side of a traditional courtyard style home. Also inside the Opposite House there is a balanced mix of old and new.

In the heart of Beijing the hotel greets you with emerald glass exterior. The inside space is very seamless. The house is a mix of modern and traditional. At the center there is a large atrium, where the conventional boundaries of hotel parts are blurred. There is a contemporary art gallery on the ground floor of the hotel represent the Chinese artists.

The hotel’s cool bars and restaurants represent food from all over the world and are always full of beautiful people..

Opposite house brings a new sense of hotel approach to Beijing.

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Make a reservation at The Hotel

The Hotel is French Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel’s masterpiece.  It offers spirituality and elegance in fusion of contemporary design.

No two guest rooms are alike – and each has a tale to tell. The idea behind the 7-storey building with its clearly laid out 25 studios and suites is something that cannot be easily categorized, but provides guests with an exciting and memorable experience. It combines spirituality with elegance and timeless design. This is not merely a matter of decor but of lifestyle and the feeling of a momentous experience. The Hotel describes a new way of communicating with people and makes its own statement about tomorrow’s world Jean Nouvel’s inner concept is intended to give people outside the impression of being inside, and those inside of being outside. The barriers between outside and inside have been skilfully eliminated. Jean Nouvel’s restrained interplay with the clever technique of mirrors removes the barriers between ground floor and basement.

Ceiling designs of each room are from the film scenes  of 25 films like Pedro Almadovar’s Mathador, David Lynch’s Lost Highway, Bernardo Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky, from Jean Nouvel’s personal background. Jean Nouvel is a personal friend of many of the film-makers and actors..He  aims to provoke and stimulate interactivity at the same time. He excites the senses and surprises the guests who can enjoy an unforgettable stay. Each room is different. The Parisian color specialist and Nouvel advisor Alain Bony has created unique color compositions.
Viewed from the outside at night, the discreetly illuminated ceiling photos enhance the hotel’s façade with a mosaic of colors and a fascinating light. The lounge floats almost magically above Bamboo restaurant and ground floor. Opened in 2000, the hotel is still one of the sexiest and charming hotels in the world.

Make a reservation at The Hotel

Photos by Jean Nouvel, Serge Brison

Founded by musician, artist, tea-master and trend-setter JinR, GREEN T. HOUSE “Living” is a must visit when you are in Beijing.

It takes the brand further with a unique and spacious lifestyle destination that includes fine dining, art and a cultural events space as well as The Bath House Residence, a new bath and residence component which takes the GREEN T. HOUSE brand for the first time beyond tea houses and restaurants into the wider arena of spa and hospitality.

Situated on the outskirts of Beijing GREEN T. HOUSE Living occupies a bold, pavilion rising gracefully from expansive, terraced courtyards of white stone set in a vast 15,000 square metre complex in the high-end Wen Yu River quarter . The chic dining destination is famed for “T-cuisine” and embraces cutting-edge music performances, art exhibits, tea presentations and ceremonies, and creative events.

Named as one of the world’s hottest new venues GREEN T. HOUSE Living has built on the established success of Beijing’s landmark GREEN T. HOUSE, which opened in 1997. Attracting an eclectic mix of artists, celebrities and prominent local and international guests, GREEN T. HOUSE Living aims to revitalize the senses and sooth spirits, drawing on the traditions of Chinese architecture, history, philosophy and the ‘way of tea’ combined with modern elegance and simplicity.

With open views across the surrounding countryside, the monumental T. House pavilion features elegant and innovative interiors including a huge white chimney floating over a long, slim fireplace, community tables and a polished ground white stone and crystal floor.

Pekin olimpiyatları için tasarlanıp, Herzog & de Meuron firmasının kurucusu mimarlar Jacques Herzog ve Pierre de Meuron ile, Çinli sanatçı Ai Weiwei’nin ortak girişimi olarak inşa edilen Beijing Ulusal Stadyumu, dünyanın en büyük çelik yapısıdır. Özel tasarımı nedeniyle, “kuş yuvası” olarak da isimlendirilmektedir.

2008 Yaz Olimpiyatlarının açılış ve kapanış seremonilerinin yanı sıra, atletizm yarışmalarına ve futbol finaline ev sahipliği yapan stadyum, ne yazık ki bugün atıl duruma düşmüş ve kullanılmıyor.

photos by Ozlem Avcioglu

798 Art District, also called Dashanzi is not only China’s but probably the world most avant-garde  and exciting art district. The graffiti covered Bauhaus style buildings, huge sculptures on the street and the tree lines streets are home to the biggest collection of galleries, studios and contemporary art  in China.

Built in 1950’s by the East Germans, this neighborhood was designed as a complex of factories.. At the beginning of 2000’s the whole area has started to be the mecca for the contemporary art and design scene. Apart from the most extravagant galleries like Red Gate, 798 Red Space, 798 Photo gallery, Beijing Commune, there are also cafes and restaurants and bookstores. Timezone 8 Editions is a combination of gallery, restaurant and cafe and is a must visit space.

photos by Ozlem Avcioglu

Kuum is an innovative concept for boutique lifestyle and hotels and designed by Gokhan Avcioglu and GAD.  The architecture for KUUM was inspired by the regional beauty, resources and historical legacy of southwestern Turkey and the Aegean Sea.  GAD’s aim was to design the units in harmony with their natural setting so they blend in and do not harm the environment or call for any trees to be destroyed. Each unit of the hotel is modeled and designed with the flexibility to have the beautiful view of the bay..The rooms are designed as S, M, L and XL and even the Small room is 30 square meter and each room has either a terrace or private garden.

Photos by Leo Fabrizio