Fashion is strutting its stuff in some of Europe’s most innovative hotels. All that space means an enormous showcase and, in some cases shop, for the brand. For the hotel, there’s instant cachet and branding. The thinking goes that if you book into a hotel designed by a jeans company, it’s fairly safe to assume that you’ll be getting easygoing comfort.
Frankfurt
25HOURS TAILORED BY LEVI’S
Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of blue at this Levi’s-inspired hotel, located in Frankfurt am Main, next door to the German HQ of Levi Strauss. 76 guest rooms and suites are in every hue, from indigo to brightest cobalt, fusing a look that designers Delphine Buhro and Michael Dreher say is “as timeless and familiar as a well-worn pair of jeans”. Each of the six floors showcases a different 20th-century decade: expect Pop Art prints, photos of Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles, and appropriate muzak. Rooms are M, L or XL, and the hotel exterior looks like a cardboard box, down to its ‘Handle with Care’ and signature red Levi’s stamps. The Red Tab restaurant offers healthy, organic food. Singles from €90, room only. 25hours-hotels.com
Barcelona
CASA CAMPER
This isn’t quite a hotel for free-wheelin’, espadrille wearing types, but bear in mind that Camper shoes are designed for comfort, and were originally created out of rope and tyre offcuts. Environmentally, Casa Camper follows a similar policy — you can hire Wabi bikes, made from certifiable wood, for €20 a day, and bathroom water is recycled. The hotel has just 25 rooms, each with a separate sitting room (reached across a corridor, rather adjoining), with sofa, table and widescreen TV, plus hammock. Bedrooms all face away from the street. The 24-hour buffet bar is a useful touch in a city where 4am finishes are the norm. The two meeting spaces, Cam and Per, have access from the street, and can be joined to host up to 100. Singles from €166, b&b, including 24-hour buffet bar. camper.com.
Edinburgh
HOTEL MISSONI
The idea of combining Missoni’s signature trademark bright, bright zig-zags with Scottish tartan is potentially headache inducing. But Missoni’s first hotel (others are slated for Oman, Cape Town and Kuwait) manages to pull off a colourful look without having to hand out free sunglasses ro guests. The main shades are black and white, punctuated with classic Missoni prints cast into frames. Rooms are groovy baby — silver headboards, aubergine walls, swivelling chairs. The Cucina restaurant was created by Giorgio Locatelli and Rosita Missoni, and it serves good, seasonal Italian staples — even if some of them clash on the Missoni-patterned plates. The bar is a hit, full of gobstopper brights, from the chairs to the cocktails. From £210, b&b, which includes two laundry items, WiFi, minibar, free local calls and films on demand. hotelmissoni.com
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