Great hotel designers: Philippe Starck.

The red lips sofa in The Sanderson typifies Philippe Starck

Back in the 1990s, Philippe Starck virtually reinvented the boutique hotel with his work on the Delano in Miami and the Royalton in New York.  In London, he has put his imprint on St Martin’s Lane and the Sanderson.

He’s not just a hotel designer; he also designs watches, underwear, toothbrushes and juicers.  In a Starck hotel you may find that the taps, lighting and furniture are all designed by Starck; all contribute to the sleek look.  Starck takes a modern, minimalist style and infuses it with fun and funky notes: so there’s a sense of space, a no-chintz vibe – but then you’ll also find fun features like a big red lips sofa and luridly-coloured glass curtains: it’s a heady mix of modern and baroque.

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At St. Martin's Lane you'll feel the same sense of excitement as if you were at an art gallery

One of the things Starck does that I like is mixing soft and hard – he might take crushed velvet for the furnishings and mix it with glass tabletops for instance.  His work is full of contrasts; hot and cool colours (red against subdued green), light and dark, ancient and modern.  It’s quite theatrical and witty; one thing it certainly isn’t is self-effacing – you notice it, and you’re meant to notice it.  Starck doesn’t really do subtle.

Sometimes the Starck style reminds me of the “cabinets of curiosities” that were fashionable in the Renaissance – you might find a super-sized Louis XVI armoire next to an African mask, or a TV screen playing modern art films.  It’s a bit like being in the Saatchi Gallery!

But if this makes his hotels sound rather forbiddingly artsy, I should also note that Starck is quite sensitive to the difference between public and private space.  At the Sanderson, for instance, colour and drama are limited to the bars and lobbies, while the bedrooms are all white; not the flat white of an unimaginative Ikea-bought room but white shot through with interesting textures, with hints of grey and cream.

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The bedrooms at the Sanderson are white, subtle, spacey, and have an intimate, non-flashy atmosphere.

At St Martin’s Lane, Starck created a symphony in different colours of stained glass for the lobby – orange, purple, emerald blue.  The colours are strong and vibrant, the gold tooth chairs are witty and outrageous.  But on the other hand, the rooms are spacious and restful - in white and serving as a refuge from the riot of colour outside.

I’m not entirely sure I feel comfortable in Starck’s hotels; I always feel a trifle underdressed.  But they’re always fun.  And his trademark irreverence makes you feel that despite the drama and designer vibe, you don’t have to take them all that seriously: his hotels’ luxury is not intimidating but rather welcoming and engaging.  Above all, when you’re staying in a Starck-designed hotel, you are constantly reminded that you are somewhere extraordinary – you are experiencing a different world instead of the same-old same-old functional hotel room you might have come to expect.

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The St. Martin's Lane's gold tooth chairs are rather cheeky, much like the Dali-esque red lips at The Sanderson.

But has the world moved on?  Ian Schrager, who created the Sanderson and St Martin’s Lane, is now working on the Berners Hotel for the Marriott Editions brand – and he’s not working with Philippe Starck.  Instead, the Editions brand features a more stripped-down, unassuming aesthetic – moving from provocative and edgy to comfortable and easy.  Or you might say from absinthe lollipops to bedtime Ovaltine – from excitement to sobriety.  The jury’s out on whether that would be a good thing.

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Photo credit:  The Sanderson Hotel, The St. Martin’s Lane Hotel.

Tagged as: Sanderson Hotel, St Martin's Lane Hotel