What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 4 May 2015

Welcome to another week! We love discovering new hotels and venues worldwide here at Cloud 9 and it seems that in 2015 there is an explosion of new hotels globally. Whilst in the past few years it seemed that all of the major new chains were setting their sights on China and India as well as other parts of Asia, there is a huge resurgence in Europe and also in the States. Additionally Dubai is also expanding at a huge rate, as if any more hotels could be squeezed in!

In the US there is and has been a huge amount of activity especially in New York, Miami, and Chicago, but also in areas like Boston and in the South. Additionally Africa is also seeing an upturn with three new hotels in Marrakech, and one each in Cassablanc and Zanzibar.

But which are the ones to watch? Well we've picked some of our favourites that have either opened in the last couple of month or are about to welcome their first guests...

Built in 1906 by John Jacob Astor IV, scion of one of America’s wealthiest families, The Knickerbocker played host to the world’s biggest names in entertainment, politics, culture and high society in the earliest years of the 20th century. Its iconic Beaux-Arts design, glamorous European luxury, and welcoming American hospitality made it “the” place to be for glitterati and dignitaries, while its legendary barroom became known as “The 42nd Street Country Club.”

Open for just fifteen years, The Knickerbocker was one of three entities—along with the subway and the New York Times—whose arrival at the crossroads of 42nd Street and Broadway transformed sleepy Times Square into New York City’s biggest tourist destination. The onset of Prohibition marked the beginning of the end for the hotel renowned for its lavish parties and nightlife, and in 1921 the property was converted into offices. Designated as a New York City Landmark in 1988, The Knickerbocker is reborn today as a Manhattan’s premier luxury lifestyle hotel, and it looks great!

Staying in New York,  the Baccarat Hotel & Residences  is a contemporary Manhattan take on a classically elegant Parisian hôtel particulier. It blends influences past and present to create sumptuous spaces, both grand and intimate that inspire wonder with their enchanting surprises and carefully considered details. 

Sought after Paris-based design duo Gilles & Boissier created nearly every piece of furniture for the hotel’s soaring salon-style public spaces, as well as the 114 light-filled rooms and suites of the hotel. Weaving artisanal Baccarat crystal elements throughout, they lavished attention on each surface, be it a sparkling mica-covered vaulted ceiling, silver-leafed wood paneling, pleated-silk walls or a monumental marble table. New York design masters Tony Ingrao and Stephen Sills, respectively, handled the 60 residences and the ground-level contemporary French restaurant, Chevalier.  The skyline-shaping international architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, meanwhile, designed the soaring state-of-the-art tower itself, creating a prismatic glass façade — directly across the street from the Museum of Modern Art — that recalls the radiance of Baccarat crystal and subtly reflects and refracts light up and down its 50 stories.

Over in LA you'll love the new Mama Shelter Hotel which is fun, funky and very very quirky!  

Design and comfortable rooms rates are at the heart of the Mama Shelter brand, and with its warm bars & restaurants, lively look and feel, free wifi and free movies, its certainly one of the ones on our hit list!

Over in Canada  we suggest you discover more than just the new Element Hotel in Vancouver Metrotown. Nearby are Metropolis at Metrotown—a mall with hundreds of shopping, dining, and entertainment options—and Metrotown Station, which is 20 minutes from downtown Vancouver by SkyTrain. Energize in a smarter space. Their open-flow guest rooms are designed to meet all your needs, with fully-equipped kitchens, the signature Heavenly Bed®, and more, all thoughtfully arranged to rejuvenate you for work or play.

Inspired by Westin^® Hotels & Resorts, Element Hotels promotes balance through flowing, multi-purpose spaces. Influenced by nature, the smart, environmentally-friendly design maximizes space and enables you to use each area in multiple ways.

Starwood, who is the brand behind Westin is also opening an Element Hotel in Amsterdam and also a  W Amsterdam, both later this year. The 160-room Element Amsterdam will move into a former office building located inside the Gelderlandplein shopping center. A win-win for everyone and a seemingly perfect fit, so to speak, for Element.The new Element will have the core "elements" of the brand, including studio style rooms with signature Heavenly bed, energy efficient kitchens, and large flexible work spaces. There will be a 24-hour fitness center and "grab and go" gourmet pantry, flexible meeting spaces and 24-hour business center, and free WiFi everywhere you are.

 A little closer to home, Manchester's newest five star hotel is now open on King Street - the seriously stylish Hotel Gotham. The old Midland Bank Building is now one of the "sexiest hotels in Europe”. With its name inspired by Batman’s fictional American home city, Hotel Gotham takes its design inspiration from the landmark Art Deco building in Manchester designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1928. 

It has been painstakingly restored and transformed from its banking past into a 60-room hotel, with what they describe as a "nostalgic and decadent design". It includes a 6th floor restaurant called Honey and a 7th floor private members bar called Club Brass. The restaurant, open to non-residents, will boast fabulous views across the city through original arched windows, and the main reception will also be located on the 6th floor.

Meanwhile the swanky Club Brass offers an exclusive rooftop retreat for VIPs, with sleek leather booths and intriguing design features with a nod to its banking past - including leather satchel light fittings, bowler hat displays, green glass and bankers’ lamps. We'll certainly be giving it a try the next time we are in Manchester!

That's it for now, have a great week and we'll see you soon!