Drawing the Baths Out

Create a luxury bathroom at home just like the five star hotels and use 100% Turkish cotton bathrobes and towels.

Article from HotelsMag.com 3/1/2009
Designers balance need for privacy with a desire for free-flowing spaces. By Adam Kirby, Associate Editor The Fire Suite at Raffles Dubai features a Jacuzzi atop a marble steps, dramatically overlooking the Dubai skyline.

Thanks in large part to the emergence of the spa as a featured hotel amenity, baths are no longer an afterthought in the guestroom design process. By incorporating natural light and experimenting with alternative placement of baths and fixtures, designers are helping previously claustrophobic, opaque hotel bathrooms give way to cleansing spaces that are bright, airy and open. In some cases, the bathroom has even become the very centerpiece of the guestroom.

In designing the bathrooms at Park Hyatt Istanbul, Randy Gerner of GKV Architects took inspiration from Turkish hammams, creating a variety of guestroom bathing experiences encompassed in an oversized "wet room." By tiling the entire space and giving the floors proper drainage, the wet room includes a splash tub, an Asian basin, a heated stone seat, rainshower and steam shower. A wall of windows brings a natural atmosphere to the bathing area. Muted, therapeutic colored lights complete the space.

Other standard bathroom features—vanity, sink, toilet, bidet—are excluded from the wet room entirely. "We normally only put those things in the same room (as the bath) for the sake of convenience," Gerner says. Taking them away from the wet room elevates the elegance of the entire bathing experience, Gerner says.

In creating the bathroom of the Fire Suite at Raffles Dubai, Pia Lakshmi Sen of LW Design Group, Dubai, placed the Jacuzzi tub—elevated atop inviting marble steps—in front of a window overlooking the Dubai skyline, giving the space a feel of airy openness. Sen embraced an aesthetic of over-the-top luxury, with 24-karat gold and marble throughout. The 50-sq. m (538-sq. ft.) bathroom features Asian design influences, infused with touches of red that evoke a fiery theme.

Taking full advantage of its geography, The Regent Bal Harbour, Florida, positions free-standing tubs and rainforest showers alongside floor-to-ceiling windows, providing a magnificent view of the beach and the Atlantic Ocean below. Wall-length vanities with multiple washbasins help the bathrooms maintain the feeling of openness begun by the exterior oceanscape.

As part of the recent US$10 million renovation of Seattle's Alexis Hotel, Dawson Design Associates set out to create guestroom bathrooms that marry the look of a Europe salon with a relaxed and tranquil atmosphere. Spa suites include elevated two-seat, deep-jetted tubs, set beneath sunlit skylights. Resting near the gleaming white tub is a long, gallery-style bench, selected for its strength and shape. Its artisan style is enhanced by the clean lines of black marble countertops and modern pendant lighting.

Pininfarina Extra, the Turin, Italy-based division of the design firm behind Ferrari automobiles, created the visually electrifying Morphosis Jacuzzi that dominates the Imperiale Suite at The Keating Hotel, San Diego. As much artwork as bath, the Morphosis sits in the living room area of the suite, allowing for views of the San Diego skyline. The two-seat tub features a wall mirror and six chromatherapy LED lights, with the design intended to reflect a womb shape.

At The St. Regis Bali Resort, Philippines-based design firm Manny Samson + Associates focused on merging opulent luxury with the bathroom's sense of ritual. Bathroom windows and doors open up to lush greenery, allowing guests to bathe in the morning sunlight in deep-soaking tubs built for two. Floors and walls made of beige marble culled from nearby mountains are acid-washed to achieve a mellow matte finish, while other locally harvested materials—decorative white limestone and Bangkerai timber—give the space a clean yet rugged appearance.

Not all designers favor placing baths literally alongside windows, of course. For the US$400 million Trump Ocean Club, set to open later this year in Panama City, designer Betsy Hughes took on the challenge of creating free-flowing bathrooms that open onto the rest of the guestroom without compromising "emotional barriers" tied to guest privacy.

"We kept the private areas private, so the showers and WC are enclosed," says Hughes, an associate with Atlanta-based HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates. "They're translucent spaces but not transparent spaces." Hughes placed the bathtub in the center of the bathroom, situated to give guests a direct view of the guestroom, plus the bay and city beyond, while maintaining the essence of separateness.