Winners of the 35th annual Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design were unveiled at a gala on Nov. 9 at the Waldorf Astoria New York. The event was held in conjunction with Boutique Design New York (BDNY) and HX: The Hotel Experience, formerly the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS), co-located at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Among the winners were three Canadian firms for four projects. They include:
- Best Guest Room Midscale/Budget/Focused Service went to Toronto-based +tongtong for the Drake Devonshire Inn, Wellington, Ont.;
- Best Nightclub/Lounge went to Toronto-based Studio Munge for Prohibition, in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver;
- Best Hotel Budget/Focused Service went to Toronto-based DesignAgency, for the Generator London;
- Best Hotel Midscale went to Toronto-based +tongtong for the Drake Devonshire Inn, Wellington, Ont.
The gala also honored Fox Browne Creative as Designer of the Year. The firm’s owners, designer Chris Browne and hotelier Debra Fox, accepted the award on behalf of the Johannesburg-based firm.
The 2015 Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design winners are:
Best Eco Conscious or Socially Conscious Hotel
- Fox Browne Creative, Johannesburg, Michaelis Boyd Associates, London, and Nicholas Plewman Architects, Johannesburg; Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Best Lobby Midscale/Budget/Focused Service
- EoA Inc., Coral Gables, Fla.; Amara Cay Resort, Islamorada, Fla.
Best Lobby Upscale
- CCD / Cheng Chung Design (HK) Ltd., Hong Kong; The Westin Chongqing Liberation Square, China
- Studio GAIA, New York; W Bogota, Colombia
Best Lobby Luxury
- Meyer Davis Studio, New York; 1 Hotel South Beach, Miami Beach, Fla.
Best Guest Room Midscale/Budget/Focused Service
- +tongtong, Toronto; Drake Devonshire Inn, Wellington, Ont., Canada
Best Guest Room Upscale
- NICOLEHOLLIS, San Francisco; Palladian Hotel, Seattle
Best Guest Room Luxury
- HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates, Singapore; NUO Hotel Beijing
Best Suite (co-winners)
- Wimberly Interiors, New York; Bentley Suite at The St. Regis Istanbul
- Studio GAIA, New York; Presidential Suite at W Bogota, Colombia
Best Nightclub/Lounge
- Studio Munge, Toronto; Prohibition, Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Best New Hotel Brand or Soft Brand Concept
- 1 Hotels, New York
Best Resort
- BAMO, San Francisco; Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach
Best Restaurant Casual Dining
- Stonehill & Taylor Architects, New York; The NoMad Bar, New York
Best Restaurant Fine Dining
- Gabellini Sheppard Associates, New York; The Rainbow Room, New York
Judges’ So Cool
- Fox Browne Creative, Johannesburg, Michaelis Boyd Associates, London, and Nicholas Plewman Architects, Johannesburg; Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Best Hotel Budget/Focused Service
- DesignAgency, Toronto; Generator London
Best Hotel Midscale
- +tongtong, Toronto; Drake Devonshire Inn, Wellington, Ont., Canada
Best Hotel Upscale
- Roman and Williams, New York, and Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Chicago; Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Best Hotel Luxury
- Gilles & Boissier, Paris; Baccarat New York
Sponsored by Boutique Design, the awards recognize influential and innovative design work in the hospitality industry. To be eligible, new construction, conversion or renovation work must have been completed from April 1, 2014 to June 1, 2015. Winners and finalists were determined by a panel of judges included: Stacey Greene, vice president, design and construction, Chesapeake Lodging Trust; Kemper Hyers, senior vice president, design, Starwood Capital Group/SH Hotels; Ted Jacobs, vice president of global design, Starwood Hotels & Resorts; Helen Jorgensen, vice president, design and procurement, Host Hotels & Resorts; Raul Leal, ceo, Virgin Hotels; John McMullen, senior vice president of construction, Highgate Hotels; Christine Shanahan, managing director of design, HVS Design; and Erik Warner, co-founder, Eagle Point Hotel Partners.
The 36th annual Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design will begin accepting submissions in May, 2016, for hospitality projects that are completed or renovated from April 1, 2015 to May 1, 2016. Complete submission guidelines, eligibility requirements and an official entry form will be available at bdny.com and thehotelexperience.us.
