THE ROYALTON REDUX 05/27/08

Words :: Will Jones // Images :: The Royalton, Morgans Hotel Group

Philippe Starck is renowned for his hotel and restaurant design: think the Sanderson or St Martins Lane hotels in London, Paris’ Cafe Costes and the Hudson Hotel in New York to mention but a few. However, is his overt styling and constant use of iconic design pieces becoming passé we wonder? Morgans Hotel Group, owners of The Royalton in mid-town Manhattan, New York, has recently had a Starck interior ripped out and replaced it with slightly more refined but no less crowd-pleasing décor designed by local firm Roman & Williams and CMP: the effect, a touch of class and grandeur where once it was all glitz and glamour.
The $17.5 million renovation took only four months but the effect is startling. “Our goal was to design a space that transcends place and time,” says Robin Standefer, principal at Roman & Williams. “We wanted the Royalton to be a crossroads for an international audience; a place for travellers, performers and world leaders, a place where Kofi Annan and Iggy Pop could go.”
These are lofty ambitions but the practice seems to have pulled it off. The new public areas are dripping in high quality finishes; from the floor to ceiling mahogany front doors to hand-blown crystal pendants and a cast bronze fireplace. The lobby is all dark browns and greys, masculine to an exciting, almost intimidating degree. Thankfully the restaurant, Brassiere 44, has a lighter atmosphere, with guests seated on teak banquettes under exquisite woven rope arches. “The Royalton is an icon that we felt deserved a design that was simultaneously sophisticated and complex,” says Standefer. “We drew on influences as varied and diverse as modern Africa, mid-century Brazil and contemporary Sweden.”

For the Full Article, Pick up Issue 8 +

Pictures:

Details: