Home • About Our Products • HMI Awards 2010 • Hotel Design Innovation

		Hotel Design Innovation of the Year
The Boundary Freixo Palace Andel Lodz The Roomers The Vine The Dolder Grand

Boundary, in East London, opened in January 2009. Located in a converted Victorian warehouse, Boundary offers 3 restaurants and bars, 17 individually designed Rooms, a bakery and a small food store. A joint venture between Terence & Vicki Conran and Peter Prescott, Boundary has won rave reviews and a loyal following both in the UK and internationally..

The Vine Hotel comprises 79 rooms and suites and is situated in the heart of Funchal on the beautiful Island of Madeira, offering unrivalled views of the city skyline and bay.

The interior design reflects the vision of award-winning Madeiran designer Nini Andrade Silva and architecture by the renowned Ricardo Bofill. The contemporary elegant design is complemented by comfort and functionality. Each of the four accommodation floors represents a season of the year and the maturation of a grape throughout the year.

In total there are 57 rooms, 17 junior suites and five design suites, which are spacious and with open bathrooms, waterfall feature showers, free-standing bathtubs and large centrally placed beds. For the ultimate experience, in many of the rooms, the bathtub can be converted into a massage bed for in-room spa treatments. All rooms and suites are equipped with the latest technology including push button blackouts and curtains, Wi-Fi, HDTV and automatic sensors to illuminate your way in the middle of the night.

The Spa covers more than 300 square metres and is the first and only spa in Madeira offering vinetherapy as a main treatment. The rooftop features a heated open-air swimming pool, 20m Jacuzzi, panoramic bar and the gourmet restaurant Uva.

Over a period of two-and-a-half years, the Warimpex subsidiary Andels Łódz carried out renovations on the former weaving mill built by textile magnate Izrael Poznanski in 1878, transforming the historically listed building into a four-star design hotel. The hotel group Vienna International Hotelmanagement has been hired to manage the hotel operations. Behind the red-brick façade are 278 rooms and suites as well as seven flexible conference rooms and a 1,300m² glass-enclosed ballroom on the top floor. Other facilities include a 1,200m² fitness and health club with a glass-roofed pool as well as a restaurant with enough space for 340 people. The hotel’s underground parking lot features a total of 156 car parking spaces.

The Dolder Grand was originally a "Curhaus" - health spa - dating from 1899. After closing in 2004 for major restoration, the luxury-class city resort re-opened in April 2008. Leading architects Foster + Partners combined the historic main building with the innovations of modern architecture. Interior architects United Designers have shaped new living spaces. In the main building their refined, eclectic configurations instill a sense of history, while the two wings epitomise the spirit of the modern age.

A curved walkway links the three elements of the hotel - Golf Wing, Main Building and Spa Wing. The majestic Steinhalle showcases the original historic décor and dramatically juxtaposes modern additions, including the onyx concierge desk, which is internally illuminated to highlight the purity of the stone. The lobby features a resplendent hand-painted ceiling, entirely recreated from photographs of the original.

Each of the Dolder Grand's four Top Suites is an expression of individual extravagance - the Maestro Suite with conductor Herbert von Karajan as its muse, the exceptionally elegant Carezza Suite inspired by Alberto Giacometti's work, the Masina Suite reminiscent of actress Giulietta Masina, and Suite 100 as a tribute to the favourite haunt of the Rolling Stones, 'The 100 Club' in London.

Pousada do Porto, Freixo Palace Hotel is the newest Pousada de Portugal, Portugal's most important hotel chain, managed by Group Pestana since 2003, inaugurated in October 2009. Located in Oporto, it is a unique project that comprises two historical buildings, an 18th century national monument Baroque palace and a 19th century factory building, set over the Douro River bank, surrounded by Versailles gardens, totally restored and refurbished to meet 21st century demands, combining history and tradition with trendiness. The Pousada do Porto is a five-star hotel with 87 rooms, restaurant, exterior areas and meeting rooms, bar and coffee-shop, exterior pool overlooking the river and SPA with interior pool, sauna and Turkish bath.

In terms of innovative hospitality, entertainment, social networking and entrepreneurship, Micky Rosen and Alex Urseanu are the duo extraordinaire of Germany's financial capital. They established a palette of extraordinary hotels; it is a palette of hospitality properties that began in 2003 with the Bristol Hotel a conversion of a former three star average hotel to a lifestyle product. The Bristol Hotel hosts - besides the 145 rooms - is the only 24 hour bar in Frankfurt, offering excuisite drinks to sophisticated guests. Based on the principles of flowing space characteristic of lofts, Frankfurt's design hotel The Pure is a study in monochromatic relief from urban stress. More recent addition is the Gerbermühle, an expansive historical property directly on the river Main, a centrally located hotel - with a wellknown restaurant and a traditional beer garden - in a historical site that offers both classicism and modern design on the banks of the Main river. Roomers - Frankfurts first high-design boutique hotel - offers a spectacular high-end restaurant, the city's first member bar and 117 gorgeously appointed rooms and suites spread over five impeccably-designed stories. Together, the two men have not only built a hometown mini-empire but have been pioneers in terms of the city's social scene, with two ultrapopular bars, a satellite of The Pure called The Pure Basement for events, and a notorious party venue known as night crawlers. "We love new projects, we love production, we love hotels, we love service.' says Micky Rosen. "You walk in and you have to feel the soul. Just name-brand design doesn't do it.'