Around the World in Seven Beds: How to Bring Hotel-Worthy Design Home
It’s normal to end a trip with a suitcase a little heavier than it was when you left. But of all the discoveries you’ve acquired, the stuff you really want to take home, particularly after checking out of a chic boutique hotel, tends to be harder to transport: maybe those sleek 1920s-inspired side tables or the thick velvet curtains with intricately braided trim or the handmade ceramics that feel like instant heirlooms. That’s why we talked with the designers responsible for the looks (and vibes) of seven of our favorite small hotels around the world about their childhood vacations, sunlight patterns, and city parks that inspired them to create spaces worth visiting. Plus, we recommend a few things that will bring the experience home.
Todos Santos Boutique Hotel in Baja California, Mexico
To recreate the moody, romantic interiors she dreamed up for the new 10-room Baja California Sur getaway, designer Alejandra Sarmiento Legorreta recommends sturdy walnut side tables, plush throw pillows, brass fixtures, and more.
The founder of eponymous design studio Mariette Sans-Rival’s decor picks highlight some of the modernist furniture and textural decor you’ll find in the bright, airy interiors she crafted for the 48-room Athens design hotel.
Norm Architects designed the interiors of this Tokyo hotel with nods to traditional Japanese design techniques and Scandinavian furniture shapes. Here, they share some items to channel their curation. Think: low, deep armchairs with braided detailing inspired by woven tatami mats.
The duo behind Marrakech-based lifestyle brand Lrnc highlight a selection of ceramics, textiles, and other decor that represent the aesthetic they devised for the intimate five-room riad: a playful, postmodern spin on the iconography of the ancient Mediterranean.
The creative director of this 1960s-era Côte d’Azur–inspired hotel with its own James Turrell installation shares some furniture you can buy to recreate the beachy, vintage vibe of its interiors.
Shannon Maldonado, the arbiter of cool behind the boutique hotel she opened above her buzzy design shop, lists some of the paint colors, fixtures, and furniture she picked to make the 13 guest rooms feel like "a cool friend’s apartment."
Designer Irina Kromayer shares how she designed the interiors of this 93-room hotel with references to the rich history of its building, using Art Nouveau tiles and brass hardware, as well as lush, upholstered seating and wooden bed frames you can buy for your own home.
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