NH HOTELS

At NH Hoteles we believe that leadership, talent management, motivation, and teamwork are some of the most important aspects of our corporate culture. For that reason we are very excited to announce that NH Hoteles will be the Main Sponsor for StartUp Bus Europe. This competition, involving 150 entrepreneurs traveling in six different buses, will get going in major European capitals on 26th of October and cross the finish line in Vienna on 30th of October. 

Designed to encourage entrepreneurship, the  StartUp Bus initiative was born in Silicon Valley in 2008. In this round nearly 2,000 applications to participate were submitted, from which only 150 contestants were selected. The lucky participants will be divided between the six buses. The buses will depart from Barcelona, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rome, London and Paris, and will travel to Vienna. During the tour, the contestants will be given the opportunity to conceive, design and launch a start-up, before they reach the Austrian capital.   

Innovative futuristic designs

Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay are the inspiration for Sky-Terra hotel in the air

Tourism is currently the third biggest industry -second after food one if you dismiss illegal businesses- and is projected to keep on growing steadily as our interest to discover our amazing world keeps rising.

Planes the size of a skyscraper will soon be getting us from here to there, but what about hotels? How is futuristic architecture going to affect accommodation? Is Dubai craziness setting the trend? 

Meet Elisabetta Scantamburlo, Art Director at nhow Milano

Elisabetta Scantamburlo, Art Director nhow Milano

The nhow Milano is a unique combination of design and originality, its a fusion between fashion, original design, and elegance. A dynamic combination of a hotel, an art gallery and a gateway: a treasure trove of unique and ever-changing experiences to discover and live. The constantly renewed exhibition centers are developed around a spatial design concept which creates an ever changing guest experience. Today we have the honor of introducing you to Elisabetta Scantamburlo, the mind behind everything that involves art and design inside this unique hotel. 

You studied Japanese Language and Literature. How and when did your career path turn to art?

I actually studied Japanese Language and Literature with a major in art, so my interest in art from the beginning went together with an interest for languages and countries quite different from my own. I must say that design came later though, and it has turned out to be a very interesting field to explore and delve into.  

NH Designers

Designer Karim Rashid

Have you ever wondered who are the masterminds behind some of our aesthetically pleasing interior designs? These unique creations are not only easy on the eyes, they are evidence of the creativity and hard work put into making your next stay with us unforgettable. Meet some of our very own NH designers! 

Karim Rashid 

Acclaimed New York designer Karim Rashid was chosen for the interior design of the nhow Berlin.His visionary style strikes a perfect chord with the building’s exterior, designed by star architect Sergei Tchoban – making the nhow Berlin one of the capital’s modern architectural and design highlights

Recycled art can give stuff a second chance

Waste is beautiful: recycled art by Kyle Bean

In the beginning, recycling was only something a few of us would do, but nowadays no one can possibly deny the need to take part. Among us, there are people who do more than putting every kind of waste where it belongs. They give the old I-don’t-like-you-anymore objects a second chance; and we are so grateful for their awesome work that we decide to call it recycled art.

Here you are in you thirties, remembering the good old times and tricking your mind again into thinking the 90s where ten years ago. There you are, with a bunch of things you keep stored away without realizing they can become awesome new pieces, totally useful for grown-up life. Check the coolest ideas here to turn your old skateboard into party seats or the old Mac into Whiskers’ new fav home.  

The High-Tech Hotel on The Horizon

ITH Room Xperience

In the last 10 years we have witnessed many exciting technological revolutions that have changed the way we interact with the world, changes in the tourism industry in general where hotels in particular have embraced it with varying degrees of enthusiasm. But for any organization, innovation is sometimes a fuzzy concept, which creates uncertainty and confusion. But in tourism, the change is in the DNA of the industry, although companies sometimes find it hard to accept it. 

Translate these changes to the hotel language greatly facilitates the process of adopting new technology in hotel management, and allows the client to experience different things, simpler and more striking. Reducing this “lost in translation”effect, in which the technical terminology disguises the true utility of each tool is the challenge working with many hotels in our country, large and small, and something in which we have also embarked on at the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH) through the HotelGen3 program. 

Get your vintage style on

No complaints about modern cool designs but let’s face it, classic will always rule, and vintage can only make them even better.

Hipster considerations aside, retro and vintage stuff rocks; they are usually from a time when things were hand-made, whether totally or partially, and you can feel that unique touch in every piece, that hardly ever looks exactly same.

One of the best favors you could do to your wardrobe is visiting a flea market to be the proud possessor of any vintage clothing item. Paris is a pretty good location for vintage shopping and the right place to get yourself a state-of-the-art, prêt à porter jacket from the 50s. London is the market you really want to visit if you think you deserve to wear the 60s and 70s out. 

Modern living: innovative and fun furniture designs

When cardboard meets design brings fun furniture into life

Setting up a new apartment can be exhausting but also extremely fun, even more if you choose some of these innovative and fun furniture ideas. And just admit it, a shelf made out of concrete blocks and used timber is no furniture after you graduated.

You can opt for an intricate branch as the perfect base for a glass top table to add character to it, like Korean designer Chul An Kwak proposes, but it’s totally legit to make one on your own. You can set your good taste in style in stone by building up a table using a rock base instead.

The boldest designers are proposing actual trees for you living-room, but if that’s simply too much, have a look at these cute bonsai top tables before rolling your eyes. 

Top destinations for modern architecture aficionados

West Central Park in New York, a must for every architecture lover

Some will travel the world to see their favorite music star playing live or to get a tasteful hint of a famous Michelin starred chef, but monuments and cool buildings are as legit as those, so get ready to learn about the top destinations for architecture and design aficionados. 

New York. While the World Center Complex construction keeps on moving forward, the tower number one, aka Freedom Tower, is almost finished. The grand opening is projected to happen at the end of 2013 or early 2014, and the celebrations are expected to be huge; an event that will unleash the 4th tallest building in the world (541, 3 m or 1776 ft). 

Lower Manhattan is full of glass and steel skyscrapers but today we are focusing on the beautiful art deco buildings next to Central Park.  

NH Hoteles new and dynamic designs

Palacio de Tepa, Madrid

This month’s theme wouldn’t be complete without a post dedicated to some of our very own dynamic designs. We think design is a fundamental part of your stay with us and making you feel good whenever you are traveling is our most important task. Sit back, relax and enjoy these NH Hoteles interior designs! 

Palacio de Tepa 

NH Palacio de Tepa is an incredibly renovated 19th-century aristocratic mansion in the heart of Madrid’s Barrio de las Letras district in Madrid. The interior design is an ambitious restoration project that turned a neoclassical mansion into a luxurious five-star hotel. The creation of this design jewel lies in the hands of Jorge Durán and Juan de Villanueva, who won the European Hotel Design Awards in Londonwithin the category of ‘Best building renovation for hotel use in 2011′. These prestigious awards valued the detailed refurbishment plan that has been able to preserve the building’s original vaults, its characteristic balconies and the water tank and galleries which once traversed the site of today´s Palace to supply the city of Madrid.