Looking Sharp at the Chamberlain

Before I start sharing my #BlogTourLA sponsor posts, I need to set the stage. Veronika Miller of Modenus put us bloggers up at a trendy boutique hotel, the Chamberlain West Hollywood. It was designed based on the Kelly Wearstler aesthetic, which was fitting as she was on our agenda of people to meet while in Los Angeles! Graphic patterns, high contrasts, and sharp edges were a recurring theme ...

The Chamberlain lobby: our meeting spot during #BlogTourLA

Cloth and Kind design duo Tami Ramsay and

Krista Nye Schwartz in the hotel lobby

#Blogger19 alumni on #BlogTourLA: Ronique Gibson,

Veronika Miller, Cheryl Kees Clendendon and Susan Serra

Our suites were spacious and energetic with lots of cool

marble pieces that had an art-deco-like edge.

I really loved the chevron pattern on the sofa. We were gifted a handsome lavender sachet in charcoal gray flannel from Platner and Company that matched it beautifully! 

The look of the suite bedroom was appropriately more restful and subdued, while the bathroom floor kicked it up a notch with a pinwheel patterned black and white tiled floor.

Loose stripes pair well with the tightly dotted pattern on the headboard

A black grasscloth like wallpaper covered the walls in the bath (which was well appointed and appreciated!) The same charcoal paper was repeated in an upstairs sitting area adjacent to the rooftop pool.

waves of triangles and a little watery blue

the rooftop pool at the end of the day

the poolside cabana had a bit more color than elsewhere,

making it a different kind of inviting

I have to say my absolute favorite spot at the Chamberlain was the Bistro lounge on the lower level of the hotel. I adore these watery greens and the space was very pretty and soft with the exception of a collection of sharp ocean corals displayed on decorative wall sconce shelves. The leather banquet and tiled floor shared a diamond pattern, keeping the space inline with the graphic look seen throughout the Chamberlain.

Visiting hotels is a great way to explore design continuity in public and private spaces. Where have you enjoyed great design in your travels?

More from #BlogTourLA to come!

NY Hotel Design: Yotel // #Blogfest2013 part 1

For our first evening in New York, Linda Holt and I put on our most colorful outfits from our suitcases to attend the #Blogfest2013 kick-off party at the Jonathan Adler showroom on Madison Avenue. We asked a lobby attendant at our lodging, Yotel on 10th, to snap our photo before we went back out into the rain (we had just trekked from our Manhattan bus stop to our hotel in a not-so-welcoming downpour). We weren’t sure why the guy taking our photo insisted on standing so far away from us when recording the moment on my iPhone, but after seeing his framed point of view we realized the bike hanging over our heads certainly deserved to be part of our scenery shot.

The bathroom in our hotel room, or pod as we called it, with a large Electric Mirror

(we sell them at Designer Bath) that lights up around the bordered edge.

I am fascinated with hotel design lately. Since I rarely travel, just staying away from home is an experience in itself. A trip to a concept hotel, however, is a valuable lesson in public and private space planning. Yotel was designed to be uber-efficient, making the most of every inch of space. There are no extras at Yotel, like room service and mini-bars, but it is clean and neat, and if we had watched the 2-minute video on their website we may have had more of a clue on what to expect from our hotel stay. As it was, we didn’t even realize that we had drawers for our clothing in our room, as they were tucked away near the cabin door, which we noticed as we wheeled our luggage out on the last day.

Amenities like towel warmers were a nice touch,

although ours was not heated for some reason.

For me, I prefer a warmer environment, with more textures and personality, plus design that is a little more intuitive. When you only have a short amount of time to get to know a space, the last thing you want to do is spend 15 minutes at the end of the night trying to figure out how to make the head of the bed go down flat (one of our Blogfest friends actually slept sitting up!)

Linda’s pashmina was about the size of the room.

Automated luggage storage in the lobby.

An orchid that I saw on our visit to the ICFF (I liked the lucite rods)

vaguely reminded me of our Yotel lobby luggage bot. 

I sent this photo home to my lego-loving boys. 

No concierge in our lobby. Just touch screens. Although a couple of

actual humans were on-hand for those of us who looked bewildered.

Saint Germaine with muddled cucumber and vodka at the lounge

The Yotel terrace is the largest outdoor hotel space in New York

photo credit: Yotel website

I can’t show you one of the most interesting design elements that we discovered at Yotel. On the first night we heard a lot of noise coming from the lounge area. It sounded like we were in a market place or staying at a youth hostel! We were tired after our first night out meeting the other design bloggers (more on that later) and didn’t want to deal with hotel crowds, so we skipped the lounge and went to our room. The next morning we woke up and we heard chirping when we entered the lobby. No birds in sight. In the afternoon, we heard relaxing caribbean-like music. They were piping in ambient music at different times of day to set the mood! Genius!

photo credit: Yotel website

For more on the Yotel experience click here.



More from #Blogfest2013 to come ...

New York Look Book

For my last Brizo post, I want to share some visual bits from the Eventi Hotel and the city outside its doors. We spent a lot of time in the conference room above, although it was arranged for meetings at the time. The color palette in this suite was punctuated with creamy white, mixed with cinnamon papaya, pomegranate red, and watery blue. 

A multiple panel image of a young couple swimming fully dressed underwater forms an intriguing art installation outside of the restrooms.

Medallions were repeated throughout the hotel. From wallpaper patterns to ornate mirrors to decorative embellishments on the boutique-like furnishings. 

The guest rooms featured simple line art drawings, luxurious robes trimmed with zebra prints, textured wallcoverings, and fabrics etched with NY cityscapes. 

Outside my window, a roof top garden is blanketed with fresh snow. The streets are quiet on this mid-winter morning.

In the hotel lobby, a mystery closet beckons with its brightly colored jungle wall paper. Yes, a few of us did explore inside.

Filigreed shutters mimic the dappled leaves in the ceiling art. 

A cyclist prepares to ride.

On this Saturday morning after the previous day’s fashion marathon, a few of us met in the lobby – in our comfortable clothes – to brave the elements and head outside the building to grab some breakfast. What I thought was going to be a short walk ended up being 16 blocks, but it was actually nice to get some fresh air and travel the city on foot with camera in hand.

Our enthusiastic tour guide, Judd Lord of Brizo, brought Donna and I to a small coffeehouse, The Grey Dog, favored for its casual ambience and delicious servings. We probably talked more than we ate, but the food was definitely worth the trek through city slush to discover this hidden gem.  

Industrial chic decor, the perfect setting for design enthusiasts!

After breakfast window shopping.

The souvenir I wanted to take home.

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing for my Sunday departure, and checking on the family back home, but I was happy to meet up with the last remaining Brizo bloggers for dinner and drinks early that evening.

Marilyn and I enjoying dinner AND a movie ...

Movies play on a super sized flat screen on the adjacent building.

Laura Brooks of Brizo stopping by for a final farewell.

After dinner we took over the Eventi lounge, which is a cozy mix of modern decor and retro chic. Barbara was the first to join us, then Donna stopped by for a bit. We may have gotten a little carried away on Instagram that evening, but we shared a lot of laughs and an equal amount of Prosecco with Saint Germaine (our signature cocktail!)

The golden ram was declared our Brizo-adventure mascot!

Or was the waiter our official mascot?

{Our last day}

The next morning we enjoyed one last meal as the final four!

After breakfast, it was just Barbara and I until our flight to Boston was scheduled to leave in the early afternoon. We spent our free time on a self-guided tour of the hotel to record favorite details and stunning views.

A super-sexy green velvet tufted bench on the top floor.

A unique way to reflect light in a long hallway.

A second ram.

Leaving our beloved mascot behind!

Our trusty driver delivered us to the airport where we were informed at check-in that the only seats available together were in first-class and would we be willing to upgrade for $50 each? Seriously? Barbara and I looked at each other and practically burst out laughing! Good thing we decided to splurge (we thought about it for about a milli-second before jumping at the chance) because my luggage ended up being beyond the weight limit by 3 pounds and I would have had to pay over $100 to check my bag had we flown coach! What a delightful ending to our Brizo-in-New York getaway : )

It was so much more fun flying home with a friend!

The view from my window seat to show my boys.

Landing in Boston right on schedule ...

What I missed while I was gone!

While this marks the end of our trip, it’s just the beginning of our new friendships as Brizo #Blogger19 Alum! It was so nice to connect in person with other design professionals from across the country, to share our stories about work and life, while learning about the Brizo brand, and having a LOT of fun! Thanks again, Brizo, for the extremely generous invitation and for being the Best Host Ever!