This week Aled and Leah go to see three hotels in three countries – The Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland.
The Lute Suites are in an old gunpowder factory in Amsterdam. The chef, peter Lute opened his restaurant here in 2003.
The bedrooms or suites are in seven houses. The designer is Marcel Wanders.
This is one of the suites. They are on three floors – lounge/kitchen on the ground floor, then the bathroom and then the bedroom. Shapes and colours are important to the design.
This is the Carbon Hotel in Genk, Belgium. It is a very modern hotel in the old coal mining area. The black of the coal is through the building – outside and inside.
This is the entrance area on the ground floor. On this floor too there is the bar and the restaurant. Stairs go upstairs to reception.
This is reception and there is a lot of red and black here. The architect and designer was Peter Cornoedus.
There are 60 bedrooms in the hotel and this one of them. There is a tv, iPod and minibar in each room. In this room the bed, desk and bath are together!
This is the restaurant. Here there are Moroccan tiles on the ceiling and lamps that are like bells. This restaurant has won a European competition for the best restaurant design in a hotel.
This is the Ice House on the banks of the River Moy in Ballina, Ireland. The hotel is a Victorian house with modern extensions. The “ice house” is where they kept fish cold in ice.
This is the entrance area. There’s a lot of light green and black here and one red chair.
This is reception. Here the walls and ceiling are white. There’s a hole in the floor into the room where they kept the fish in ice.
This is the Victorian parlour in the old house. The style and the colour in this room are very traditional.
This is the Moy Suite that looks over the river. There’s gold on the wallpaper and the furniture in the lounge and in the bedroom there’s a mirror in the fireplace.
This is the restaurant. There are tables in the modern extension, tables in the “ice house” and tables outside on the riverside. Every part is different – the furniture, the colours and the atmosphere.
