Hotel Icon in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hong Kong, yesterday unveiled a new suite by renowned fashion designer and an icon of the city itself, Vivienne Tam.
The suite, one of the hotel’s 262 guestrooms, sits on the 27th floor and enjoys its best view and location. Costing HK$20,000 (US$2,577) a night, the 80-sqm product vows to provide the same functionality as any other room, but in an empowering, energising and harmonic setting that spurs creativity and innovation.
Expansive views of the harbour are maximised by foregoing the blinds, and the rest of the space maintains a similarly minimalist yet natural style. The complimentary minibar is discrete and integrated into the wall and the desk is an organically shaped piece of Japanese cherry wood with a box on top for stationary, complemented by a simple wooden chair.
“I find that in a lot of hotels there are so many angles and that’s not functional. There is so much wasteful furniture and cost – why bother?” said Tam, who during the interview, sat on a huge, bright-red sofa.
Tam has created an immense feeling of space with sliding doors reaching all the way to the ceiling and ergonomic, smooth wood furnishings. But this simplicity is not at the cost of technological advantages: the room is equipped with free wifi, interactive IPTV with express check-out functions, a BOSE iPhone sound dock, a three-in-one printer, wifi phone, online radio frequency identification key card and more.
This is what sets the room apart, Tam said, adding that occupants can enjoy all these amenities while being surrounded by a variety of wood types, potted trees, hand-picked art pieces from New York and vibrant furnishings.
“I want people who experience my designs to feel great, special and empowered,” she said.
Although she had to overcome some differences in opinion with the hotel management in the design process, she is happy to have created something unique: a natural, spacious and elegant suite, free from plastic, concrete and clutter.
“Being a designer you always have to fight for what you want to do, then you can achieve good things. You have to be strong in your statements and really believe in your concept and convince the people you are working with,” she explained.
She hoped the suite will do the same: inspire its guests to be bold, open and unconventional.
Hotel Icon opened early last year (see story here) built as a training and research facility for the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which Vivienne Tam is an alumnus of, having studied fashion design there. For a Tried and Tested of the hotel, click here.
Visit www.hotel-icon.com/ for more information
Alex Andersson
