Nestled atop Cortez Hill stands the historic ‘El Cortez’, San Diego’s leading landmark since its grand opening in 1927. From its opening through the 1950s, it was the most glamorous apartment-hotel in San Diego, hosting multiple U.S. Presidents such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Gerald Ford, as well as entertainers like Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley. Today, the historically significant ‘El Cortez’ combines a contemporary high-rise lifestyle with the lure and attraction of old world charm.

While the building’s exterior is Spanish Renaissance style, owner Sasha Favelukis of Sequoian Investment Inc. considered modern Australian design team Pauly De Bartolo and Ivan Rimanic of De Bartolo + Rimanic Design Studio (DBRDS) a natural choice for the remodel of his 600 square foot condominium. To maximize space in the 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom small home, an ‘Australian-inspired’ custom kitchen was designed to provide additional depth of storage as well as a linear bench which runs the length of the kitchen, dining and living area to maximize storage and provide window seating.

The kitchen is clad in white oak to impart a textural balance between the dark wood floors and the white walls and features. A white modern interior allows the space to evolve from bright and clean during the day to evocative and golden in the evening, capturing the dynamic view of the San Diego skyline at night.

To reflect upon the history of the space in an otherwise modern interior, a wall featuring period-style moulding and a soft grey color was designed for the bedroom.  All of the design elements were hand selected to provide a cohesive, relaxing and unique feel for this modern living space. The only original elements are the bathtub and bathroom floor. To make his design vision a reality, De Bartolo reached out to the team at Hold It Contemporary Home to supply all of the furniture, artwork and accessories.

Through minor, non-load bearing interior modifications to the converted hotel rooms, DBRDS transformed the feel of the condominium into an open floor plan, allowing for flowing space and more natural light. The General Contractor on the project was Alan Loghman of Pacific Design & Construction. Read more …

Discarded shipping containers are proving to be convenient building blocks for everything from classrooms to houses to hotels. Container hotels, such as the Snoozebox, have especially popularized the idea of a “pop-up” structure that can be easily assembled in a short amount of time. But while the Snoozebox offers a low-cost alternative to a full-sized hotel, the Belgium-based Sleeping Around container hotel acts more like a portable bed and breakfast, providing guests with a comfortable place to rest in much more intimate locations.

Sleeping Around is currently located at the Rijnkaai port, right on the Scheldt river in Antwerp. Each room starts at €149 per night, which includes breakfast, and can be booked online through the website.

Source: Gizmag

Designed to blend into its surroundings so as not to ruin the view, Treehotel in Sweden is now making its glassed tree-top hotel room, Mirrorcube, available for mail order purchase. Treehotel offers a unique hotel experience: treerooms with contemporary design in the middle of unspoiled nature. Here you can forget about the time constraints of everyday life, enjoy the serenity, and rejuvenate in a sophisticated yet familiar environment.

The Mirrorcube is an exciting hide-out among the trees, camouflaged by mirrored walls that reflect their surroundings.The base consists of an aluminum frame around the tree trunk and the walls are covered with reflective glass. To prevent birds from flying into the mirrored walls, they have been clad with infrared film. The colour is invisible to humans, but visible to the birds.

Source: Springwise

Eight Japanese and eight Dutch designers created themed rooms for the pop up LLove hotel in Tokyo. ‘Llove hotel’ is the realization of architect Jo Nagasaka and Suzanne Xenaar, director of the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam. Although the exhibit has ended, the installations continue to inspire international designers.

Room 308, designed by Pieke Bergmans is a love nest with an eight-meter long mattress that curls into the room like a wave.

Visitors to Lisbon can now spend the night in the former Swiss Ambassador’s luxe mansion — on the cheap! The Independente Hostel and Suites transformed the historic Bairro Alto estate into an affordable dormitory suitable for travelers of all ages and budgets. A seamless combination of historic architecture and interiors with thrifty travel, this is one European hot spot not to be missed. The Independente gives travelers on a budget a unique taste of both worlds, with the luxurious atmosphere of a palace but at hostel prices.

Source: Inhabitat

Talk about greenery! WHOA Architects have created a skyscraper that will boast over 15,000 square feet of green space that encompasses high end offices and a hotel. The building will be completely overrun by green pathways, water features, leafy terraces and vertical gardens. They truly have redefined what it means to have a garden outside of your window.

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Want to experience the ultimate island life? The Real Madrid Resort Island located in the Emirates may just be the ideal place! Complete with exclusive villas, a 5-star hotel, amusement park, a club museum and the world’s first stadium with one side open to the sea, it will cater to all of your vacation needs! Said to attract around one million visitors in 2015, hurry and book your trip now! Designed by J+H Boiffils. Read more …

The Tubohotel just outside Mexico City gives everything away in its name. It is a hotel made of large drainage tubes. Each of the stacked tubes contained a queen-sized bed, curtains and lighting for an extremely cozy stay. For only $50 US Dollars a night, you can enjoy the unique hotel in a beautiful part of Mexico.

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The city of Huaxi in China just unveiled a 1,076 foot high skyscraper in the center of the city to celebrate the city’s 50th anniversary. The massive tower represents the areas rise to power and wealth in the last 50 years. The building cost more than 3 billion yuan (or $472 million US) to build and stands at 74 stories high.

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Long layovers are often exhausting and annoying. But what if during your multiple hours in the airport, you could take a nap, surf the internet or read a book, all in the comfort of your own little room. Well, that is the idea behind the SleepBox. The mini-motel room offers a space to re-energize during airport layovers. It was designed by Russian architects from the Arch Group and the Sleepbox is now available in Moscow’s airport. Simply rent the box out for a quick catnap or a full night of sleep.

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