Luckily for us punters, there’s been an intriguing movement in hospitality of late. Perhaps it started with Andre Balazs’ Hotel QT in New York – now part of the Spanish RoomMate chain – but with our favourite cheap-chic London hotel, The Hoxton, the wonderful Malmaison chain, and 2008’s opening of the über-budget citizenM at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport enrolling in the trend, staying in decidedly cool properties at decidedly reasonable rates is certainly the hotel world’s most welcome progression. Which, of course, brings us to Glasgow and Scotland’s first foray into the world of cheap-chic, courtesy of citizenM and their rapidly expanding chain of budget/luxury hotels. Factory-built modular rooms ensure that construction costs are kept terribly low, but with design from Amsterdam’s award-winning Concrete, your own personal ‘MoodPad’ controlling everything in your room, a lobby chock full of iconic Vitra furniture, a super-cool ‘grab-and-go’ canteen and an iMac stocked lounge, you know immediately that this is no other budget hotel…
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Suitcase Stickers by The Cheeky
get yourself detained at customs for only $15 each....
August 11th, 2010
Enjoy the rush of being pulled up at customs, the tedium of hours in a cold room being interrogated by someone who doesn’t speak a word of your language? We’ve got just the thing for you! Perhaps better in concept than reality, Vancouver’s ‘The Cheeky‘ – headed by chief lunatic Colin Hart, whose life’s work is to collect “ideas that mock convention and challenge pointlessness” – have produced these rather witty luggage identifiers that, if we were remotely serious and dour, we’d probably advise you against using. But, we’re not – so go ahead, have fun, but just maybe not if you’re flying into Dubai…..
Desert Indoors by Alvaro Sanchez-Montañes
Spanish photographer's desolate yet beautiful images....
August 3rd, 2010
Upon reading of Namibia’s abandoned diamond mines, Lanzarote/Barcelona-based photographer Alvaro Sanchez-Montañes, set himself on one day documenting the ghost towns and disused properties that had been, over time, ravaged by the unforgiving Namib desert. The otherworldly images that he finally captured look part art-installation, part post-apocalyptic, yet the beauty of the starkness encapsulated within these images manages to portray desolation and loneliness as magical and mysterious. Sanchez-Montañes’ breathtaking photographs are as inspirational as they are intriguing…..
LUXE City Guides White Tiger Chest
exquisite collaboration with luxury Chinese brand....
August 2nd, 2010
We already love LUXE City Guides’ super-cool and straight to the point pocket-sized travel companions, so, we’re understandably blown away by this utterly opulent celebration of the Year of The Tiger courtesy of an exclusive collaboration between über-chic Chinese brand, Shanghai Tang, and LUXE. Limited to 70 individually numbered and engraved boxes, which are “handmade in maple and ebony veneer maquetry, lined in ultra-elegant kumquat silk” and packed with 30 LUXE City Guides, it’ll set you back around £900 – but, if you’re looking for wallet-draining restaurants, boutiques and hotels in the likes of Phuket, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Dubai and Los Angeles then this may well not pose a problem….
Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class Suite
our Virgin Upper Class New York press trip, volume two....
July 30th, 2010
So, last week we gave you the lowdown on Virgin’s spectacular Heathrow Clubhouse – and promised you more details on our recent New York press trip. Well, here’s our next update, this time shamelessly boasting about filling you in on one of the world’s premier first class cabins…..
Virgin Atlantic Heathrow Clubhouse
our Virgin Upper Class New York press trip, volume one....
July 20th, 2010
If you follow us on Twitter, then you may well have noticed that a few weeks ago yours truly was whisked off to New York, courtesy of Virgin Atlantic’s internationally renowned Upper Class service. Now, to Virgin, first class doesn’t just mean turning left when you board the plane, jumping queues, or even a swanky lounge with serve yourself drinks and snacks…. no, Virgin’s take on first class is extending the full VIP treatment – and coming immediately after 6 days in a field in Somerset, this was going to be some well needed luxury……
Hoxton Hotel’s New Rooms
designers let loose on new rooms at luxury budget hotel.....
July 19th, 2010
Shoreditch’s unique luxury-budget – yes, it appears the two can sit side by side – hotel, runs a similar price structure to that of budget airlines, with a low rate available for those booking well in advance and prices increasing as the arrival date nears. It’s a simple but effective concept, and along with super-cool interiors, a bustling bar and restaurant and their sensationally popular £1 room sales, it’s a concept which has brought the Hoxton Hotel huge success. Not content with standing still however, the hotel has recently tasked 3 designers – namely Project Orange, Suzy Hoodless and Adrian Kilby – to work their magic on 3 new rooms, all with ‘East London’ as a theme. The results are predictably outstanding, and each of the new rooms look staggeringly stylish. We’re hoping to get inside them very soon and bring you a more detailed report on the rooms and their designers, until then, here’s some cracking, hot off the press photographs to whet your appetite….
Corona ‘Save the Beach’ Hotel
German artist's central Rome hotel is, quite literally, rubbish.....
June 8th, 2010
Last week saw the launch of a pop-up hotel concept by German artist HA Schult – most famous for his ‘Trash Men’ – for Corona Extra Beer’s ‘Corona Save The Beach‘ initiative. The hotel, a conceptual look at how we can expect to see our beaches if dramatic changes are not made sooner rather than later, is constructed almost entirely of garbage and rather amazingly had a supermodel guest as it’s first, and by all accounts she braved an evening – in support of World Environment Day – on one of it’s 2 floors……
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Gracefully juxtaposing reality with sophisticated surrealism, Alex Roulette has a propensity to add a touch of the absurd to often the most mundane of American scenarios…
From Banksy inspired stencil work, through innovative fly posting right up to ‘Guerrilla Knitting’ – yep you heard it right – we were suitably impressed by the quality of street art in Berlin…
Bright and bold colours, a crisp, contemporary type treatment and brilliant images... Dowling Duncan’s US banknote redesign is sophisticated, powerful and so very fit for purpose…
Australian twins Andrew and Mark Moffitt produce – under the name of Moffitt.Moffitt – a dazzling array of obscenely good work for clients, along with a number of beautiful self initiated projects...
With an elegant lo-fi illustrative style, predominantly featuring ink, pencil and felt-tips, Niki Pilkington has an endearing brand of voyeurism that's both charming and unique...
With an intriguing passion for all that sparkles, a fascination with ‘hookers’ and a fanatical obsession for cute Japanese toys, Natalia Fabia is a unique proposition, a ridiculously talented, photo-realistic painter with a devilish punk-rock attitude...
We’re loving these typography illustrations and whilst we may unequivocally agree that pizza cannot be consumed without the aid of beer, we’re stumped on the peanut butter and jelly one….
This rather lovely new book, from London based illustration agency, CIA is chock full of the very best in illustration along with an interesting insight into the company’s history…..
Mr Bingo is an illustrator that certainly doesn’t take himself too seriously – and that makes him the perfect choice for clients after top notch illustrations with a wonderfully punk attitude.
Brilliant images from FriendsWithYou's Toronto takeover...
Alex Roulette
Berlin Street Art
US Bank Note Concept
Moffitt.Moffitt
Niki Pilkington
Natalia Fabia
Ampersand Food Groups
License To Inspire
Mr Bingo
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