Deluxe Suite, Tub Views
Boutique Hotels Tear Down Wall
Between Bed and Bathroom;
Case of the Ill-Timed Omelet
Hotels have added a new place to see and be seen: the bathroom.
Embracing a phenomenon that started in Europe, some boutique-hotel designers are exposing a corner of the room long deemed private -- plopping tubs down next to the bed, installing glass walls between the bathroom and sleeping area, even removing parts of the dividing walls altogether.
The new Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, Ariz., where prices start at $289, features bathtubs in the middle of some of its bedrooms. After renovations are completed in April, the Sofitel in Los Angeles will reopen with bed and bath areas separated by nothing more than long glass panels. At New York's Hotel on Rivington, which opened last year, many showers not only can be seen from the bedroom, but have sweeping windows that let bathers peer at the city, and vice versa. At the newest W hotel, in Montreal, the only thing that comes between the bed and bath areas is a curtain, and it's transparent. The W also lets guests peek into the bathroom from each room's private entryway, thanks to a peephole in the wall.
The smattering of properties that are experimenting with the designs are typically newer, boutique-style hotels in downtown city areas. In part, these hotels say, they're seeking ways to make small rooms appear more spacious, and some are picking up on an open plan that has already appeared in some European hotels. But it's also, more simply, a bid for attention: After a decade-long boutique-hotel boom, properties in this competitive field are hoping for notice by going to extremes. "We're being deliberately provocative," says Colum McCartan, designer of the new Hotel Vitale in San Francisco, where suites have tubs in the sleeping area, pressed against floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook San Francisco Bay. "It's a little cheeky. We know everyone won't want to take a bath in the middle of the room."
A studio guest room -- bathtub included -- at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The peek-a-boo bath was a bit unsettling for Meredith Burn. Seeking some privacy during her stay at the Vitale, where a standard room goes for $329, she waited until her husband dozed off and then dimmed the lights before slipping into the tub. "It's a little uncomfortable for someone my age," says the 55-year-old from Melbourne, Australia. Her husband, Richard Burn, wondered why the hotel went to all the trouble. "Places spend a lot on fancy bathrooms but they might as well spend it elsewhere," he says. "As long as you have good ventilation and a shower that works, basically it doesn't matter to me."
Open bathrooms are cropping up now as hotels across the industry make a broader push to play up their washrooms. Some guests are buying into the bathroom experience, as hotels continue to add touches like rain-forest shower heads and bottles of sugar scrub and moisturizing body butter. One sign of visitors' bathroom preoccupation: Retail sales of bath-related products tripled last year at the W hotel chain, while non-bath product sales doubled, says Stephen Werther, president of W's retail business. "Five years ago, all you got was a bar of soap," says Joe McInerney, president of the American Hospitality and Lodging Association.
Hotels are also playing up bathrooms as they run out of new ways to highlight their other big focus, the bed. Hotels have been offering sleep upgrades for years, adding bigger mattresses and importing feather pillows and down comforters from Europe. Five years ago, Westin introduced its Heavenly Bed -- with a pillow-top mattress, 250-thread-count sheets and a European-style duvet -- followed by efforts such as Hilton's Serenity Bed (with "Super Topper" mattress pad) and Radisson's Sleep Number Bed (with a mattress that adjusts from soft to firm).
'Not on Their Honeymoon'
Opening up the bathrooms, some psychologists venture, let hotels extend the bathroom vibe -- the feeling of private reflection and pampering -- to other, more public areas. But they also say the idea has its risks. "The bathroom signals sex," says Toby F. Israel, author of "Some Place Like Home: Using Design Psychology to Create Ideal Places." "But hotels need to reality-test -- not everyone is on their honeymoon."
A bathtub with a view of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in a suite at the Hotel Vitale.
Andrew MacLane got his own reality check at the Mandarin Oriental in Miami. The six-year-old hotel was one of the first U.S. properties to meld bed and bath, and Mr. MacLane's room featured a 10-by-12-foot sink and tub area set off by a curtain but no doors. The 40-year-old private investor from Portland, Ore., liked his $625-a-night room so much, in fact, that he stayed for four extra nights. But there was a moment of panic when room service arrived while his partner was taking a bath. "They barged in with the omelets before we could figure out how to close the drape," he says.
Some hotels say they're hoping to use voyeurism as a marketing tool. "There's definitely an unwitting voyeuristic element about living in Manhattan -- it's a bit alarming sometimes, but we wanted to give visitors to New York the opportunity to partake," says Matt Grzywinski, co-designer of the Hotel on Rivington, which stocks binoculars on top of its minibars. He adds that the risks of being seen aren't so great, however: The hotel is taller than most neighboring buildings on New York's Lower East Side, so many windows are out of close view. "Unless someone's concentrating on you with a telescope [from a few miles away] in Midtown, you're probably okay."
Many properties say they aren't going to be adding open bathrooms anytime soon. Big chains from Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Fairmont to Holiday Inn say they wouldn't consider such a design because it might alienate their more traditional customers. And even most hotels that are flirting with edgy bathrooms say they also offer cover-up strategies for bashful guests. The glass dividers in the Los Angeles Sofitel's new rooms, for example, are filled with liquid crystal that turns opaque at the flip of a switch. At the Standard in Miami, which opened in December, the $325-a-night rooms come with tubs on the Biscayne Bay-view terraces, but also include more- private showers.
Montreal's W, however, offers little escape from prying eyes. The peephole in the wall between the entryway and bathroom isn't equipped with a cover, and the curtain between the open-plan bathroom and bedroom is transparent. "You can see right through," says front-desk worker Antoine Leblonde. "But there's nothing we can do. That's how the hotel was designed." Adds Aaron Richter, the design director for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s W chain: "The philosophy is that the rooms are not divided. We believe that the functions of the hotel room have become less defined. The curtains act more to soften the difference between the two spaces."
Lack of Definition
Open-plan rooms go back further in Europe, where hotel designers have long sought ways to make small spaces seem bigger. The continent has a longer history of design-focused hotels, too, and new properties there continue to push the boundaries. At Madrid's Hotel Puerta America, which opened last year, each floor is designed by a different top architect -- including Ron Arad and Marc Newson -- and many include open bathrooms. Rooms on the floor designed by Norman Foster, for example, feature wall-to-wall slabs of white onyx that serve as both bathroom sink and bedroom desk. French designer Philippe Starck, meanwhile, recently worked on the Faena Hotel and Universe in Buenos Aires, which includes see-through bathrooms. (Guests can pull red velvet drapes across the glass for more privacy.)
Greater transparency: Street-view showers at New York's The Hotel on Rivington
Yet some groundbreaking hotels have discovered that it's possible to go too far. In 2002, the Hotel Josef in Prague added 35 superior rooms, starting at about $225 a night, with glass-wall bathrooms. But it won't be adding any more. "Many people will tell us after they check in that they appreciate the design but just don't feel comfortable," says Milena Findeis, the hotel's head of marketing. One or two guests a month ask to switch down a category to a standard room, with a standard bathroom.
On these shores, at least there's one area that still affords some privacy: Most of the new bathrooms place the toilet in a separate cabin, with a traditional door. But even in this regard, the case is not always open and shut. Bathrooms in the Hotel Vitale, for one, are equipped with sliding panels that obscure that toilet and sink from the bedroom area -- but still leave open gaps at each side. Mr. McCartan, the designer, says that a real door would intrude on the guest's sense of space.
But frequent Vitale guest Patty Garcia says that while she loves the hotel's location and the room's general look, she doesn't like the idea of a stall that won't close all the way. The 55-year-old attorney from Sacramento, Calif., says she's even called the hotel to request rooms with normal doors. "It's not very private," Mrs. Garcia says.
精致客房，浴室风景
如今的酒店多了一样很有看头的地方：那就是浴室。
时下，在一股来自欧洲的潮流影响下，一些时尚精致酒店的设计师纷纷把客房一向私秘的角落－－浴室－－搬到了卧室的床旁边，中间仅隔著一扇玻璃，连起到分隔作用的墙都拆掉了。
在亚利桑那州Scottsdale新建的时尚精致酒店Hotel Valley Ho，一些房间里的浴盆就安在卧室的中间。这家酒店的最低入住价为289美元。洛杉矶的Sofitel酒店将于今年4月完成翻修，届时卧室区和沐浴区之间除了长长的玻璃板之外什么也没有。去年开张的纽约酒店Hotel on Rivington更有意思，许多房间浴室里安装的整块玻璃不仅能让入浴者一览卧室，而且还能眺望整个城市，反之亦然，浴室也暴露在光天化日之下。作为蒙特利尔最新的酒店，W酒店里卧室和浴室的唯一阻隔就是一块透明的帘子。通过墙上的窥视孔，W酒店的客人在每个房间的入口处就可以看到浴室。
尝试上述新兴设计理念的酒店通常是那些坐落在市中心的时尚精致酒店。这些酒店表示，它们在不断探索，力求使小房间看上去宽敞些。其中一些酒店还接受了出现在欧洲酒店中的开放思潮。不过，更直接地说，此举就是为了赢得大众的关注：在经历了长达十年的繁荣之后，竞争激烈的精品酒店业希望采取极端手法来获取人们的注意力。“我们就是要引起人们争议和兴趣，”位于旧金山的新建酒店Hotel Vitale的设计师科勒姆?麦卡顿(Colum McCartan)表示。在那里，套房里的浴盆是放在卧室区的，中间隔著一整块落地窗，可以俯瞰旧金山湾。“这种设计的确很前卫。我们当然知道没有人想在卧室中间洗澡。”
这种像躲猫猫游戏似的沐浴设计让梅瑞狄斯?本恩(Meredith Burn)感到有些不安。她和丈夫住在Vitale酒店，这里的标准间价格是329美元。为了保留一点隐私，她总是等到丈夫睡著的时候把灯光调暗，然后再轻手轻脚地溜进浴盆。“那种开放的设计让我这个年纪的人感到不自在，”现年55岁的本恩太太说。这对夫妇来自澳大利亚的墨尔本。她的丈夫理查德?本恩(Richard Burn)也纳闷这家酒店为什么要费神多次一举。“酒店花很多心思在浴室上面，但它们最好把心思放在别的地方，”他说。“只要房间通风不错，沐浴设备完好，就行了。”
随著全美酒店业在卫生间上下的工夫越来越大，开放式浴室也如雨后春笋般冒了出来。酒店还提供了一些新颖的产品，如热带雨林花洒、蜜糖磨砂膏和润身油等，于是一些客人也逐渐接受了这种新设计。斯蒂芬?维特(Stephen Werther)是W连锁酒店负责零售业务的总裁。他指出，去年该酒店沐浴相关产品的零售额增长了两倍，而其他产品的销售额翻了一倍，酒店客人对浴室的偏爱由此可见一斑。“五年前，沐浴产品就是一块香皂，”美国酒店管理协会(American Hospitality and Lodging Association)的主席乔?麦克纳利(Joe McInerney)说。
床曾是酒店业关注的一大重点，如今上面也翻不出什么新花样了，因此他们又把注意力转移到了浴室上。多年来，美国的酒店一直致力于提高睡眠的舒适度，如添加大床垫、从欧洲进口羽绒枕头和羽绒被等等。五年前，Westin酒店推出了一种“天梦之床”(Heavenly Bed)，它有四边线结构床垫、250支纱床单和一个欧式睡袋。Hilton酒店和Radisson酒店紧随其后，分别推出了“恬静之床”(Serenity Bed)和“安睡之床”(Sleep Number Bed)。
一些心理学家指出，酒店开放浴室的举动把那种隐秘的冥想和舒展的感觉引入了公共区域，不过这样做也有风险。“浴室象征著性，”特比?伊莎雷(Toby F. Israel)说。她是《布置得像家那样：运用设计心理学创造理想场所》(Some Place Like Home: Using Design Psychology to Create Ideal Places)一书的作者。“然而酒店必须接受现实的考验－－并非每个人都能欣然接受。”
安德鲁?麦克莱恩(Andrew MacLane)是在迈阿密的Mandarin Oriental酒店接受现实检验的。这家有六年历史的酒店率先把浴室和卧室混在了一起，而麦克莱恩入住的房间有一个长12英尺、宽10英尺的沐浴区，中间只隔著一块帘子，没有门。这位现年40岁、来自俄勒冈州波特兰的个人投资者非常喜欢这个625美元一晚的房间，结果他多待了四个晚上。不过，在客房服务的时候出现了一点慌乱，当时他的同屋正在洗澡。“我们还来不及拉帘子呢，他们就推了煎蛋饼进来了，”麦克莱恩说。
一些酒店表示希望利用窥阴癖行为作为行销手段。“居住在曼哈顿总是难免会遭遇喜欢窥阴的事情，听上去有点吓人，不过我们希望来纽约的游客能有机会体验一下，”Hotel on Rivington的设计师之一麦特?格温斯基(Matt Grzywinski)说。该酒店的小酒吧里还安装了双筒望远镜。他还补充说，被偷窥的几率没那么大。由于在纽约下东区这家酒店比附近的建筑都高，因此外人根本看不清许多房间里的情景。“除非有人在市中心用望远镜盯著你看，否则问题不大。”
许多酒店表示，它们不会很快添加开放式的浴室。Ritz-Carlton、Four Seasons、Fairmont和Holiday Inn等大型连锁酒店均表示不会考虑上述设计，因为这样做可能会与老客户疏远。而大多数尝试新设计的酒店也表示会为那些比较害羞的客人推出遮掩措施。例如，洛杉矶Sofitel酒店新客房的玻璃隔断就填满了液晶，只要轻轻一拧开关，就可以使透明玻璃变得模糊起来。迈阿密的Standard酒店于去年12月开业，在325美元一晚的房间里，浴盆放在了可以看到Biscayne湾的露台上，不过也配备了比较隐秘的沐浴区。
相比之下，蒙特利尔的W酒店实在是很开放了。房间入口和浴室之间的墙上有一个无盖的窥视孔，而开放式浴室和卧室之间的帘子也是透明的。“你可以一览无余，”前台工作人员安托万?勒布朗特(Antoine Leblonde)说。“不过我们也没什么办法，酒店就是这样设计的。”阿伦?理查特(Aaron Richter)补充说，“我们的设计理念是房间内部没有分隔。我们认为酒店房间的各项功能不像以前那么泾渭分明了。帘子更能起到淡化两个功能区之间差异的作用。”理查特是仕达屋(Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.)旗下W酒店的设计总监。
开放式客房在欧洲的历史更长，当地酒店设计师长期以来一直在寻求扩展房间空间的方法。此外，欧洲大陆的酒店拥有重视设计的传统，新兴酒店也在不断地突破创新。在马德里去年开业的Hotel Puerta America，每层楼面都由一位顶尖设计师设计，其中包括伦?阿纳德(Ron Arad)和马克?纽森(Marc Newson)，里面有许多开放式的浴室。例如，在诺曼?福斯特(Norman Foster)设计的楼层，房间里整块的白色缟玛瑙台板既可以充当浴室的水槽，也可以用作卧室的桌子。法国设计师菲利普?斯塔克(Philippe Starck)最近也为布宜诺斯艾利斯的Faena Hotel and Universe酒店进行了设计，其中就有全透明的浴室。（当然，客人也可以拉上安在玻璃上的红色天鹅绒帘子。）
然而，一些前卫的酒店发现，他们不能走得太远。2002年，布拉格的Hotel Josef酒店新添了35套高级客房，浴室其实就是玻璃墙，一晚的最低房价大约是225美元。但该酒店不会再增加这样的房间了。“许多客人在入住后告诉我们，他们很欣赏这样的设计，但就是觉得不舒服，”酒店的行销经理米娜?费德斯(Milena Findeis)说。每个月都会有一两位客人要求把房间等级下调至标准间，那里配备了标准的浴室。
尽管如此，浴室设计中还是有一处保留了一些个人隐私：大多数新建的浴室都把厕所另外单设，外面还有门，不过也是有一些弹性的。例如，Hotel Vitale的浴室里有移动门，把厕所和水槽与卧室区分隔开来，但仍在两侧留了一些开放空间。设计师麦卡顿表示，若是换上真的门，就会造成空间上的突兀感。
然而，该酒店的常客帕蒂?加西亚(Patty Garcia)说，虽然她喜欢酒店的地理位置和房间的整体风格，她却一点也不喜欢不够封闭的隔间。这位现年55岁的律师来自加利福尼亚州萨克拉门托，她表示自己甚至打电话到酒店，要求房间里换上普通的门。“那样不够隐秘，”加西亚说。
