HOTEL REVIEW


The sale of two of Morgans Hotel Group’s


original New York properties – Morgans and The Royalton – to an affiliate of FelCor Lodging Trust for $140 million in April 2011 followed by the sale of its two London properties for $300 million to Middle East investor Capital Hill Hotels Limited, has seen Morgans Hotel Group begin its journey down a path well trodden by larger hotel groups. It is divesting its ownership of hotels in order to concentrate on hotel management, branding and operations. And in this transition Morgans Hotel Group is focusing its efforts on rolling out its Delano and Mondrian brands. Mondrian is already established in LA, Miami and Scottsdale Arizona, with properties in London, Doha and Nassau also in the pipeline. For the Soho property, Cape Advisors and Morgans engaged Barry Rice Architects and H. Thomas O’Hara Architects to realise a delicate vision for the building itself – a classically proportioned modern glass tower with themed, eclectic interiors that would sits comfortably on a city block cornering Crosby and Grand Streets.


Benjamin Noriega Ortiz, who previously designed the Mondrians in Los Angeles and Scottsdale for Morgans, was commissioned to create Mondrian Soho in collaboration with the company’s in-house design team. His design draws inspiration from Jean Coucteau’s 1946 French fantasy film ‘La Belle et la Bête’, an adaptation of two French fairy tales. Noriega’s vision was to “awaken the imagination and invite guests into a fantasy that will offer them an escape into a light and simply pleasant state of captivation.” The fantasy feel, which will be familiar to


anyone who experienced Philippe Starck’s earlier work for Ian Schrager, begins as guests enter Mondrian through a lush green garden topiary façade on Crosby Street. The story of ‘La Belle et la Bête’ begins to unfold in the lobby, where a powdery French blue colour palette unifies a series of seating vignettes over a pale oak floor. Casual and eclectic seating groups, featuring custom furniture designed by Noriega, echo the whimsical environments of other properties within the group. Restaurant Imperial No. Nine, located just off the lobby, sees Chef Sam Talbot


060 MARCH / APRIL 2012 WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM


ABOVE: The 1,170ft2


penthouse suite at Mondrian Soho offers


stunning views of the surrounding skyline and has two terraces, one facing north, the other south


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