The Royal Copenhagen Lodge by Arne Jacobsen
When Arne Jacobsen—considered just one of the fathers of Danish modernism—was hired by Scandinavian Airline Units (SAS) to style a hotel in central Copenhagen, no depth went unnoticed. Opened in 1960, the lodge is Jacobsen’s Gesamtkunstwerk—total function of art—for which he developed all the things suitable down to the silverware in the cafe. Certainly, his well known Swan, Egg, and Fall chairs ended up made especially for the resort. It’s now operated by Radisson as the Radisson Assortment Royal Resort, and was refreshed by Place Copenhagen in 2018.
The newly renovated Radisson Collection Royal Resort was at first designed by Arne Jacobsen.
Image: Rickard L. ErikssonMorgans Lodge by Andrée Putman
Boutique hotels are ubiquitous now, but Morgans Lodge in New York City ushered in the craze for smaller, design-ahead hotels in stylish city neighborhoods when it opened in 1984. Dreamed up by Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, who tapped French designer Andrée Putman for the interiors, Morgans epitomized pared-down elegance with a contact of the unconventional (think about the black-and-white checkerboard bathrooms). The resort shut in 2017 and was transformed into micro-flats.
Andrée Putman, who built the Morgans Resort in 1984, refreshed the place in 2008.
Picture: Billy CunninghamDelano South Beach by Philippe Starck
Also conceived by Ian Schrager, the Delano in South Beach opened in 1995 with an *Alice in Wonderland–*encouraged style and design by Philippe Starck. In contrast to the fairly sober Morgans, the Delano’s design is all about playful fashion that borders on the surreal. Acquire the oversized Starck sofa and crystal piano in the lobby, the gold Leda chair sculpted with large-heeled toes by Salvador Dalí, and the picket Calvet armchair by Antoni Gaudí as evidence. In distinction, the rooms bear a monochromatic white-on-white plan.
The rooftop terrace at the Agua Bathhouse Spa at the Delano. The resort manufactured a splash when it opened in the mid-1990s.
Photo: Jonathan Dann