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Patrick O’Hare, Partner
Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa
Rob Shen, Partner
Asia and Oceania
EDG Public Relations Department
In this week's Boutique Design, Mary Scoviak features Westdrift Manhattan Beach and Headlands Coastal Lodge + Spa as "fresh luxury lifestyle concepts from sports-centric escapes for high-spend, fitness-loving travelers to cool urban hotels that lure locals with game rooms and coworking spaces which are causing seismic shifts in a sector that hasn't exactly been known for its nimbleness and innovation".
"Embrace a broader definition of luxe. When Jennifer Johanson, ceo and president, EDG Interior Architecture + Design, and her team began designing Headlands Coastal Lodge & Spa on the rugged Oregon coast, they realized that most luxury brands in the area didn’t speak to travelers wanting to embrace the active lifestyle this region is known for. “We were assessing some of the competitive properties with our clients and overheard a guest at one hotel ask the concierge, ‘Where can I walk so I don’t get my shoes wet?’ I told Headlands’ owners, ‘That’s not your guest.’”
That opened both the hotel owners’ and EDG’s eyes to a different breed of affluent traveler. “We were watching executives with custom M55 bikes coming to explore Oregon or climb sand dunes during the day, but who still wanted to come back to a true 5-star hotel for a relaxing massage, a great meal and an aspirational guest room afterward.”
Johanson stresses the importance of using the guest’s filter to weigh what luxury means. In this case, it included special storage facilities that allow travelers to bring equipment inside. “Who’d want to leave a $5,000 bike clipped to their car?” she observes.
The materials palette also has to evolve into a fun but functional luxury lexicon to retain top-quality levels of maintenance and housekeeping despite the challenges of sun, sand and water damage.
Johanson says layering has replaced opulence as the ultimate design tool for high-end hotels. Surfaces have more texture. There’s a sculptural feel to art and sense-of-place elements from libraries and eclectic displays of local crafts to references to neighboring businesses and much-loved landmarks."
For more information, visit Boutique Design.