When it comes to stylish and romantic tourist destinations, Italy is always at the top of the list. Archi-living.com Travel brings you weekend getaway ideas in the form of two design hotels.
SILENA – the Soulful Hotel in Vals – South Tyrol meets Southeast Asia in the Soulful guest rooms with nature-inspired wallpapers, canopied beds, velvet chairs, and patterned screens.
Elizabeth Unique Hotel in Rome – 17th-century palazzo in the heart of the Italian capital’s historic center, designed with contemporary furnishings and couture fabrics.
SILENA – the Soulful Hotel in Vals, Italy
Crafted as a visual and spiritual oasis amid the enveloping mountains of South Tyrol, Silena the Soulful Hotel, member of Design Hotels™, sits 1,354 meters above sea level and immerses guests in the breathtaking natural beauty of meadows, forests, moors, and peaks. Combining South Tyrolean culture with a Southeast Asian style philosophy and a Feng Shui design concept, this 34-room/8-suite glass-encased Italian hospitality wonder – set in Vals near Meransen, beside the ski lift of the Alpine Gitschberg Jochtal – offers up a wealth of sublime experiences and romantic ideas.
For wellness lovers, there’s a rooftop spa with endless views of the beauty of mountain nature, an expansive terrace, and the Asian wisdom of healing through energy, while a Finnish sauna, an extensive yoga program, Qi Gong, an exercise room, guided meditation, and an outdoor pool set in a flowering garden round out the sublime sense of escape and relaxation that this lovely hotel provides.
Food and wine lovers will enjoy the pleasure of a special room devoted to regional cheeses, as well as to the collection of 400 international and South Tyrolean wines on hand and expert-led cheese and wine tastings. The hotel’s restaurant, meanwhile, presents fresh, local ingredients infused with a Southeast Asian flare. Lovers of serenity through reading will also appreciate Silena’s creative heart – the hotel has a library of 1,000 handpicked books available either in its Reading Lounge next to a Tea Library or by a personalized delivery to your room via a book trolley. Immerse yourself in the world of stories, thoughts, and adventures – relax by reading books. As its name implies, Silena is truly an escape for the soul and a feast for the heart.
Architecture and Interior Design by NOA* – Network of Architecture
Adhering to a hotel design concept defined as “an oasis in the fields”, the architects have created an innovative building whose earth-colored, aluminum-panel façade resembles the shapes of the plants of the moor. As a result, greenery and branches seem to completely envelop the hotel complex.
Even before entering Silena, one appreciates the architects’ desire to honor this Italian area’s mountain and moor landscape by merging the architecture with its natural surroundings. Marsh-tinted, organically staggered, and fully integrated into its setting, the hotel literally seems to grow out of the rolling ground upon which it sits. Large roof windows connect indoors with the outdoors, creating a sense of tranquility and strength, while the spa floor appears to organically curve towards nature. One can gaze at the stars from the roof balcony or a bed with a skylight, and should the mood strike, the spa is right there.
For NOA* – Network of Architecture, who played the role of both – architect and interior designer, the challenge, masterfully met, was to present an Asian aura without distancing from the authenticity of the South Tyrolean region.
Inspired by the Feng Shui design concept, the hotel’s interior shows the wealth of nature motifs, as well as image and form elements from Southeast Asia. Wallpaper in the rooms depicts bamboo and the dragonflies of the moor, while a color palette of blue and beige creates a sense of lightness that is subtly contrasted by a prevalence of “grounding” materials like velvet, smoked oak, stone, and iron.
Four-poster beds with white duvets and green-and-blue covers underline a romantic touch. The lobby, meanwhile, is awash in nature motifs, serving as the welcoming heart of the hotel, a gathering place for homemade cakes and coffee each afternoon.
Elizabeth Unique Hotel in Rome, Italy
Reminding of a cultural travel attraction on a grand Old World tour of Italy, Elizabeth Unique Hotel, member of Design Hotels™, marries the Rome of yesterday with the finely appointed, art-filled luxury of today. Set in a gloriously restored 17th-century palazzo in the heart of the Italian capital’s historic center amid the picturesque and pedestrianized Via del Corso area, the 33-room stylish townhouse is a hive of sophisticated design and international allure, with plenty of arched walls, lacquered wooden panels, reproduced antique wallpaper prints, canopy beds, couture fabrics, and carefully curated artwork setting the hotel design stage.
Through a private entrance on Via delle Colonnette, just a few minutes from the famous Spanish steps and adjacent to Rome’s top restaurants and boutiques, guests are greeted by a majestic double-height entrance that leads to a refined lobby and reading room warmed by an open fireplace. Inviting public spaces also include a bar and bistro that open onto a terrace made of stone and wood, a magical urban garden filled with the scent of jasmine – offering up the best gourmet breakfast in Rome thanks to an exquisitely researched menu that includes local and international delicacies. Traditional yet contemporary, private yet in the heart of it all, Elizabeth Unique Hotel presents travelers with the perfect setting for the romantic Roman travel experience.
Architecture and Interior Design by Studio Marincola Architects
With its main façade overlooking the central Via del Corso and the 17th-century Palazzo Pulieri Ginetti, Elizabeth Unique has been designed to both celebrate its ancient surroundings and augment them.
Adjacent to Frezza Street, which is abundant in top restaurants and boutiques, the hotel has been artfully positioned so the guests access through a small, secluded, and historic side street. Elizabeth Unique’s majestic double-height entranceway leads to a stylish lobby and a comfortable reading room with a fireplace that evokes the feeling of a private home. The front of the hotel’s restaurant opens onto a welcoming terrace made of stone and wood, while arched walls with lacquered wood paneling offer a contemporary reference to traditional Roman architectural concepts.
A historic wallpaper design and wood panels complemented by contemporary furnishings and couture fabrics create a sense of timeless elegance. Stunningly cast in neutral tones – whites and grays with artwork and antique prints of the Roman countryside, the hotel’s interior looks sophisticated with just a hint of grandeur.
Canopy beds in guest rooms showcase historic designs, while arched walls, couture fabrics, modular doors, and small details evoking the Rome of yesterday make for sublimely intimate settings.
This hotel room is situated in a separate building with a private entrance located just ten meters from the main entrance. The tapestries choose fine fabrics, in which the neutral palette – grays and the classic black and white pied-de-poule pattern prevail, perfectly in balance with the furniture and the golden decorative details. The two-person Turkish bath and the spacious jacuzzi bath add to the romantic charm of the Elizabeth Unique Hotel experience.
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