Future Forum 2010 is over…

It came and went like a flash of light through the desert night…  FUTURE FORUM 2010!  Though still recovering from the fantastic events, food, demonstrations, lectures, networking, partying, etc… I can easily say that this was my best FF experience ever.



I am going to be posting video clips, images, and presentations from the entire event over the next days and weeks but first wanted to thank all of our member hotels from around the world who made the trip!

As well, thanks to our presenters who were all amazing.  Check them out here…

Finally, Future Forum would not have been possible without the support of our event partners…

LAPP & FAO
Bremen | Germany
DMY
Berlin | Germany
BAUHAUS LIVE
Berlin | Germany
APOLLINARIS
Berlin | Germany
LAVAZZA
Torino | Italy
OMNIHOTEL.DE
Berlin | Germany
BULTHAUP
Bodenkirchen | Germany
ERCO
Lüdenscheid | Germany
ARCHITONIC
Zurich | Switzerland
MAGINWULF
Berlin/Mannheim | Germany
EGGERSSOHN
Bremen | Germany
SCHOTTEN & HANSEN
Munich/Peiting | Germany
VELTINS
Meschede-Grevenstein | Germany
FRANCE 24
Issy-les-Moulineaux | France
BMW
Munich | Germany
DE SEDE
Klingnau | Switzerland
LAURENT-PERRIER
Tours sur-Marne | France

A few impressions…

(beautiful sofas from De Sede and Apollinaris and Lapp and Fau in the background)

(Gala dinner at the Collectors Room in Berlin)

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Future Forum 2010, Berlin

The Design Hotels™ Future Forum 2010 will focus on „Hybrid Thinking“ in the context of hospitality. Hybrid thinking requires much more than a multidisciplinary team – it requires a team of multidisciplinary people. Hybrid thinkers blend different skills and fields of thought to develop innovative concepts. Their ideas have the ability to shape entire industries from automotive to hospitality. Like-minded, visionary hoteliers around the globe have started to create hybrid properties that go far beyond the original purpose of simply providing a bed.

Multidimensional hotel concepts focusing on authentic experiences are on the rise, combining elements from galleries, hospitals or film theatres with the classic idea of hospitality. Find out more at this year`s Design Hotels™ Future Forum.

Get more details here…

Check out some highlights from FF2008

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Now Showing at Hotel Cinematheque…

Visitors to Hotel Cinematheque will receive a special treat these next two weeks…   The Auteurs has just received exclusive online rights for the fantastic film LOVE EXPOSURE and anybody booking COSMO HOTEL BERLIN MITTE will be treated to a private viewing from their very own computer…  Read about this fascinating flick.

Teenager Yu Honda (Takahiro Nishijima) never expected to live the life of a peeping tom – his pious Catholic existence consisted of good works and good deeds. That all changed the day his father, a newly appointed Catholic priest, fell in love with the most promiscuous member of his church. Once this woman abandons the priest, he becomes increasingly severe, demanding that his son confess his every sin. To reconnect with his father through the act of confession, Yu embraces a life of sin. Swiftly, he progresses from committing such terrible crimes as stepping on some ants to leading a gang of thugs around Tokyo to snap panty shots of unsuspecting girls. In his determined effort to become ever more sinful, the ever faithful Yu gains the moniker, “The King of the Perverts.” During his escapades, the master voyeur falls in love with his ideal Virgin Mary, Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima). Much to the delight of the wide-eyed Yu, the thought of the beautiful Yoko sparks his first erection. Unfortunately, the presence of the malevolent Christian cult Zero Church, coupled with Yoko’s love for Yu’s transvestite alter ego Madame Scorpion, stand in the way of his true and pure romance!

VISIT HOTEL CINEMATHEQUE

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(These guys should be ) Friends with You

The Miami-based design group Friends with You has always inspired Design Hotels.  As speakers in our 2008 Future Forum and a continuous source of fun and happy spirituality, we were thrilled to see the result of their recent work for Match.com…  Check it out as well as Friends with You´s new website.

 Check out the Standard Spa, Miami.

“Better Together” for Match.com from FriendsWithYou on Vimeo.

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Design Hotels Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 22

Turquoise waters, fine white sandy beaches, rejuvenation and tranquillity are all waiting in abundance for you at the Alila Villas Soori, Hadahaa and Uluwatu on the tropical paradise islands of the Maldives and Bali. Both destinations offer luxury villas with stunning views and unadulterated privacy all of which have been designed to integrate into their surrounding environments with a strong focus on sustainability.

CHECK OUT THE ALILA VILLAS HADAHAA

CHECK OUT THE ALILA VILLAS ULUWATU

CHECK OUT THE ALILA VILLAS SOORI

Today we are raffling three great prizes in three different amazing hotels!

Prize 1: Two night stay at the Alila Villas Hadahaa in the Maldives.

Prize 2: Two night stay at the Alila Villas in Uluwatu, Bali.

Prize 3: Two night stay at the Alila Villas Soori, Bali.

Register to win here!

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Design Hotels Advent Calendar Giveaway… Day 4

Today´s giveaway is…

A luxurious bathrobe by Frette and an erotic toy set to heat up your long winter nights!   Courtesy of the hottest hotel in Frankfurt, Roomers.

ENTER HERE

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Jingle bells, jingle bells… Santa is on his way!

Pre-registration has begun for the first annual Design Hotels Advent Calendar!

In keeping with the holiday spirit, we are announcing our first annual Design Hotels™ Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 through December 24, we will recommend a holiday hotel and give away a fantastic prize ranging from hotel vouchers valued up to €2000 each, to Raf Simons bags, to exclusive spa products.

By pre-registering here to enter our first giveaway, which will take place December 1, you will also receive the Design Hotels™ Escape E- newsletter.

Don´t miss the opportunity to also register to receive regular updates from Urban Junkies- London-based specialists in restaurants, entertainment, culture, and lifestyle.

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

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Kaffeeklatsch at Do You Read Me?!

Berlin über magazine shop, Do You Read Me?! will be hosting a “kaffeeklatsch” (coffee and snacks) this Sunday morning with the team from Apartamento magazine who is celebrating the release of their fourth issue.  From 1:00pm through 5:00 pm feel free to bring the kiddies and browse what can easily be considered one of the best collections of glossy international art, design, fashion, culture, and lifestyle titles around.

Augustrstasse 28

Berlin, Mitte 10117

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Powershop 2 by Gestalten and Frame

Design junkies, retail/shopping freaks, and coffetable book fetishists rejoice!  The new edition of Powershop has arrived courtesy of Berlin-based publisher Gestalten and Frame Magazine.  Powershop 2 is a collection and study of some of the top interior designs in retail environments from around the world including projects by Marcel Wanders, Wonderwall, 20|20 Limited, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Karim Rashid, Mattheo Thun, Tokujin Yoshioka and Ippolito Fleitz, to name a few.

As a close brand friend, we at Design Hotels are always thrilled to see the latest products coming from Gestalten, but this book was especially anticipated around the office.  The massive monolith of a book (actually two books) comes in a striking pink case that attracts everybody who walks by it and would be perfect as a design piece in itself!  The two books inside the case are divided between “Fashion” and “Anything (but Fashion)” and include images, descriptions of the interior, descriptions of the brands, stats, floorplans, and in some examples budget details.  The stores include some of the biggest names in retail naturally.

One aspect of the book which is really great is the fact that the stores are not limited to ultra-exclusive ones.  That is, the book goes a long way to show how great design can be found in a variety of segments, and that it is not only something which can be appreciated by wealthy.

As we typically focus on hotel concept and design, looking at retail interiors is very interesting for me personally.  I find that retail offers many of the same opportunities as a hotel environment does in terms of experience, interface, interaction, customer flow, etc.  In some way, the retail industry acts as an incubator for developments in the hotel design world as it is less cost-intensive and generally faster.  For this, some could say that looking into the pages of Powershop 2 is like looking into the future of the hotel industry.

For anybody interested in design, in the planning stage of building a store, or somebody purely interested in impressing guests with a beautiful book, we highly recommend Powershop 2.

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Private cinemas for everyone!

As the first step in our burgeoning partnership with online cinema phenom, The Auteurs, we are giving away one complimentary movie for every member of the Design Hotels Club!

The movies in The Auteurs are among the very best from around the world and include festival winners, cult favorirtes, and quirky shorts that are sure to keep you entertained in airports, foreign hotels, or in your very own bed.

I recommend “Mister Lonely” which I just watched last night and enjoyed…

Sign up for the Design Hotels Club here and enjoy the show! 

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