Image via Complex Original
Summer is coming to a close, but that doesn't you can't plan your next unique vacation. Although we would like to think that travelling is all about the tourism and exploring new cultures, we forget that our accommodations can affect how we look back on our trips. Remember that one time you had to stay at Motel 6 on the way to that music festival? We do, and it was gross. In the past decade there has been a new hotel phenomenon called the "design hotel" which focuses on the aesthetics of the hotel to make sure that your stay is enjoyable for all five senses. Some are designed with themes while some are just ultra-modern and sleek. Either way, The 30 Coolest Design Hotels are way cooler than your boring Four Seasons.
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30. Inntel Hotels Amsterdam Zaandam
Location: Amsterdam
Price per night: 80 EUR
Architect: WAM architecten
This hotel is the most affordable accomodation we have on the list. The interior design of the building isn't as stunning as the building itself, but you're not traveling to stay in a room all day anyways. The hotel's green façade is inspired by the houses in the Zaan region of Amsterdam, while the hotel rooms refer to their typical products, such as mustard, cheese, and biscuits.
29. Kube Hotel
Location: Paris
Price per night: 189 EUR
Architect: Raymond Morel and Christiane Derory
Every accommodation in Paris has to be up to par to the City of Light's architectural beauty. Hotel Kube does not fail. Hidden on a quiet street in Montmartre, the futuristic interior is inspired by "coolness and transparency," which gives the illusion that you have been transported to the year 3013. It's a great contrast to the traditional architecture you find on the streets of Paris.
Website
28. 101 Hotel
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Price per night: 35900 ISK
Architect: Ingibjörg S. Pálmadóttir
Owner and designer Ingibjörg S. Pálmadóttir has created 101 Hotel, located in the most historic district in Iceland's capital, out of a 1930s office building that once hosted the Icelandic Social Democratic Party. To match with the purity of Iceland's natural landscape, they went with a minimal and monochromatic design scheme. They even have their own contemporary art gallery.
27. The Cullen
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Price per night: 185 AUD
Architect: Asian Pacific Building
At The Cullen, each deluxe studio suite has a personalised stamp left behind from an internationally acclaimed artist after their stay at the hotel. Every room has a splash of street art, making your stay that much more interesting. They also have gourmet Chinese food and a deli on their ground floor, so you don't even need to leave the building for delicious food. We would, however, recommend that you leave your hotel room for the glorious street art that Melbourne has to offer.
26. Zhero-Ischgl/Kappl
Location: Kappl, Austria
Price per night: 185 EUR
Architect: Manfred Jager
Don't even ask us how to pronounce this name. All we know is that this hotel is a great escape after a long, cold day in the Alps. The hotel combines smart contemporary design with the comfort of being at home. They use local materials such as stone, fur, and wood, and the interior surfaces are inspired by the hotel's natural surroundings. The in-house boutique also sells expensive Italian labels like Botega Venneta and Minotti.
25. The Swatch Art Peace Hotel
Location: Shanghai, China
Price per night: CNY 2,817.50
Architect: P & T Architects Limited
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel's innovative operational concept blends a retail environment with an artist residency where artists live and work, so you always feel a raw, artistic atmosphere. They also appointed a design agency to develop a design for the hotel interiors that respected the heritage and historical importance of the building. They also have a rooftop bar that offers a great view of the river.
24. STAY Copenhagen
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Price per night: 1,700 DK
Architect: Carsten Holgaard
Scandinavia wins once again with STAY Copenhagen. While this place might not be ideal for a comfy night in with your family, this hotel definitely makes up for it in its aesthetics. All of their rooms have a black and white color scheme and scarce, minimalistic design á la Malevitch. This is the perfect bachelor pad to bring the ladies back to.
23. The Mira Hong Kong
Location: Tsim Sha Sui, Hong Kong
Price per night: 1900 HKD
Architect: Colin Cowie and Charles Allem
This is the hotel we imagine that the Jetsons would love. The design landscape changes on every floor, but the futuristic flamboyance remains consistent throughout. The bedrooms have offset personalized color schemes and handpicked modernist furnishings with 40-inch LCD TVs and a "My Mira" service that puts you in touch with a concierge at the touch of a button. Rosie Jetson would approve.
22. Gladstone Hotel
Location: Toronto, Canada
Price per night: $169
Architect: George Miller
The Gladstone Hotel is a renovated Victorian building in Toronto that was transformed to a personalized and artistic hotel. Local Canadian artists have come together to transform the Gladstone's 37 hotel rooms into "experimental, alternative works of art." Each room has a Samsung Galaxy Tablet with a digital concierge system and a browser for free Internet surfing, too.
21. London Town Hall
Location: London, England
Price per night: 180 GBP
Architect: Rare and Makemei
London Town Hall is a recently restored establishment that incorporates contemporary interiors into an elegant period property. With Edwardian entrances and Art Deco details, this hotel perfectly balances many different design styles without seeming kitsch. Businessmen take note, they offer super cool conference rooms that can fit up to 80 people.
20. Limes Hotel
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Price per night: 229 AUD
Architect: Kevin Hayes Architects & TONIC DESIGN
Located in the epicenter of Brisbane's night life, Limes fits in perfectly. Its award-winning local designer Alexander Lotersztain mastered the ability to make a minimal and modernist look also seem comfortable, so the weary traveller can feel at home without having to sacrifice good design.
19. Luna2 Studios
Location: Bali, Indonesia
Price per night: $450
Architect: Melanie Hall
While some might go to Bali for the traditional Indonesian experience, others might prefer to go all out with Luna2 Studios. The designer Melanie Hall focused on modernist design from the '60s in conversation with details from contemporary futuristic designs. This place would be great for art history nerds because each room is inspired by a different artist from the modernist era.
18. Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Price per night: $217
Architect: Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture
Abu Dhabi does not lack in swanky hotels, but the Viceroy looks more like a sports stadium than a resort. It has 499 elegant rooms and suites, 12 innovative dining venues and lounges, and a marina. You think that's big enough? They also have a waterpark, a Formula 1 racetrack, and a gorgeous white sand beach. It's a great place to get in touch with your simple and down-to-earth side.
17. Hotel Unique
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Price per night: BRL 870
Architect: Ruy Ohtake and João Armentano
You would think that the ultra-modern architecture of Hotel Unique would clash with Brazil's overgrown tropical forests, but they work together harmoniously to create this clean and organic atmosphere. Each room is designed with intertwining circles, squares, and ellipses that give it a great modernist feel. They also have a great view of São Paulo.
16. Casa de la Flora
Location: Phuket, Thailand
Price per night: 1200 THB
Architect: VaSLab Architects
Casa de la Flora, a 36-villa resort, is "an ode to the angular geometries of Brutalist architecture, while simultaneously paying tribute to the surrounding environment." Some people may feel guilty about living in lavish, over-the-top accommodations when they are staying in beach-towns, but this resort offers minimal and effortless accommodations that simplify your life. That's why you came to the beach, right?
15. The Standard (Hollywood)
Location: Los Angeles
Price per night: $175
Architect: Shawn Hausman
The Standard is the epitome of cool design hotels. Warhol Poppy printed curtains and a 24-hour restaurant are just two examples of its coolness. André Balazs collaborated with Hollywood set designer Shawn Hausman to create the 139-guestroom hotel within the building's 1963 frame. We love when people mix the old with the new succesfully.
14. 25Hours Hotel
Location: Vienna, Austria
Price per night: 130 EUR
Architect: BWM Architekten und Patner and Dreimeta
Finally, a hotel where the adjectives "minimal" and "ultra-modern" don't need to come into play. 25Hours, in the historical city of Vienna, is great because of its quirky and kitsch interior design that sets it apart from its sleek competitors. The designers drew design inspiration from the early 20th century's golden age of the circus, which is apparent the moment one walks in.
13. Wiesergut
Location: Wiesergut, Austria
Price per night: 150 EUR
Architect: Monika Gogl, Gogl & Partners Architekten
Don't mind the title, we're sure it means something more pleasant in Austria, but we digress. The hotel makes sure that its surrounding nature, the gorgeous snow mountain range, is the star of the show. They strip down the design to its essentials, yet they add a contemporary twist to traditional materials so we don't feel like scruffy lumberjacks. They also conducted a "sun study" to maximize light throughout the building, so the garden suites have higher ceilings and the rooftop is covered in wild herbs.
12. The Standard (Highline)
Location: New York
Price per night: $266
Architect: Polshek Partnership Architects, Roman and Williams, and Shawn Hausman
Situated inside Manhattan's Meatpacking District, The Standard hosts New York's art, fashion and media elite every day and night. The interior design explains the type of frequenters to the hotel—its modern yet eclectic aesthetic is pleasing on the eyes. Since it is on the High Line, you get a grand view of the West river.
11. 12 Decades
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Price per night: R620
Architect: Enrico D'Alfonseca
The 12 Decades Johannesburg Art Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa is unique in that all of its rooms are designed and conceptualized by a variety of South Africa's "most celebrated artists and designers." Our favorite room is the Mini Bauhaus, designed by Katy Taplin and Adriaan Hugo, which transports us back to the days of the De Stijl and Modernism Bauhaus movement. Ah, the good ol' days.
10. Playa Vik José Igancio
Location: Faro José Ignacio, Uruguay
Price per night: $630
Architect: Carlos Ott
Playa Vik seems to be the ideal vacation spot. Despite the modern hotel design, it fits perfectly within the hills on the beautiful Uruguayan coastline. The most impressive aspect of their hotel is the 75-foot granite Nero pool, which extends beyond the hotel. It looks over the beach garden below and provides a great view of the beach. The pool also lights it up at night like sporadic stars. Seems like people wouldn't be taking advantage of Uruguay's beaches...
9. 21c Hotel
Location: Louisville, KY
Price per night: $269
Architect: Deborah Berke
When it comes to design hotels, most wouldn't believe that one of America's coolest design hotels is not in one of the country's swanky metropolises. Let us introduce you to 21c Hotel which is situated in Louisville, Kentucky, a hotel dedicated to making "contemporary art a part of more peoples' daily lives." You can even live in an art piece like Asleep in the Cyclone by New York-based artists Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, which is a site-specific sculptural installation that is also a functional hotel room.
8. Amangiri
Location: Canyon Point, UT
Price per night: $1100
Architect: Wendell Burnette Architects
Amangiri is a gem of the resort world hidden away in Southern Utah. This place literally sticks you inside the grand canyons of the West, reminding you how insignificant you truly are in comparison to Mother Nature's gifts. The resort continues to make your life more surreal with its swimming pool that surrounds with a giant desert rock, a magnificent spa, and open-air lounges.
Website
7. Nordic Light Hotel
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Price per night: 1270 SEK
Architect: Lars Pihl, Jan Söder and Rolf Löfvenberg
All people want to see when they go up north are the Northern Lights, right? Now one doesn't need to leave their hotel room to get spectacular lighting. At Nordic Light Hotel, their sleek and minimal design is offset by the comforting lights that come in an array of colors. Since Stockholm gets only about five hours of light during the day in the winter, the hotel's lighting aesthetically manages to lift moods during the gloomy months.
6. Au Vieux Panier
Location: Marseilles, France
Price per night: 105 EUR
Architect: A rotation of artists like Tilt and Demolition Arty
Forget Paris, everyone is saying that the second largest city in France, Marseilles, is the new center for everything cool. This hotel is in a building that dates back from the 17th century, and it used to be a Corsican grocery store. It only has 5 bedrooms, and they are curated by different talented designers that change every year. You get to immerse yourself into a work of modern art that also has historical significance.
Website
5. Hotel Skeppssholmen
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Price per night: SEK 36000
Architect: Claesson Koivisto Rune
The Swedes have design down pat, so you can only imagine how great their design hotels turn out. Hotel Skeppsholmen is in a building that dates back to 1699 on an island off of Stockholm. It has ultra-modern and Eco-friendly interiors and an artistic theme, chosen by Claesson Koivist, which is inspired by fog. The hotel's soft color scheme reportedly has a relaxing effect on the visitors.
4. Treehotel
Location: Harads, Sweden
Price per night: $3300
Architect: Martin Videgård and Bolle Tham
It's hard to believe that people actually sleep in this tree-house mirrored hotel room, but let's face the facts: it's 2013 and we can do just about anything we want these days. A 12-meter-long bridge leads up to the the Mirrorcube, which accommodates two people with a double bed, bathroom, lounge, and a rooftop terrace. This hotel gives you the opportunity to immerse yourself in nature without losing the comfort of living in a home, rather than an ratty old tent.
3. Hotel Benesse House
Location: Naoshima, Japan
Price per night: 30,000Y
Architect: Tadao Ando
The Benesse Hotel is a special hotel found in Naoshima, Japan. Located on site with the Benesse Art Museum, their suites each feature a mural painted by Richard Long and David Tremlett from the times they visited Naoshima. They also have a room with an authentic Keith Hering mural. Each room has expansive views of the Inland Sea, but our favorite part is the underground pool with an oval open-air ceiling that opens up to the grassy hills above.
Website
2. Propeller Island City
Location: Berlin
Price per night: 115 EUR
Architect: Lars Stroschen
Propeller Island City Lodge is an extremely affordable way to immerse yourself in Berlin's artistic community. Each room they have has a different theme designed by artist Lars Stroschen, from coffins to topsy-turvy, that are able to "more or less alter your perspective of reality—according to your taste and sense of adventure." (Seriously, one of their rooms has armories on the ceiling). Oh yeah, each room also comes with instructions for use.
1. The Oberoi Amarvilas
Location: Agra, India
Price per night: $197
Architect: Prabhat Patki
No other hotel will be able to give you a direct view of the Taj Mahal and the royal treatment at the same time. That is why The Oberoi Amarvilas is superior to other hotels in such touristic spots. Knowing that most visit Agra to visit the spectacular monument, the designers of the hotel decided to make the Taj Mahal its focus, but that does not mean that it lacks in aesthetic prowess. It is grand and understated at the same time.
