The vegan suite at Hilton London Bankside
Hilton envisions properties in dense city neighborhoods where guests don ’ t mind smaller rooms for the tradeoff of being near top restaurants and attractions , says Motto head Tripp McLaughlin .
Like Bode , key elements include a bar and café , work tables and seating . Owners will add their own bells and whistles such as a rooftop bar or basement restaurant , he says .
No hotels are open yet , but the first ones are under development , including a 100- key property in Marylebone , London , with U . K . developer Dominvs Group . Motto is eyeing several dozen markets in North and South America , Europe and the Middle East , and expects to open five to 10 a year for a total of more than 200 . Like Bode , two to five rooms , of about 163 square feet each , can be linked to accommodate groups ( kitchens aren ’ t part of the mix ).
The communal “ Commons ” will be the unifying element , McLaughlin says , “ to create the feel of a neighborhood .”— J . C .
Faux furnishings ,
GENUINE HOSPITALITY
At vegan luxury resort PlantLife , in the works for Koh Phangan island in Thailand , faux leather for furniture will be derived from the fibers of pineapple leaves . Pillows will be filled with soft bamboo fiber and chairs will be upholstered with fabric made from soybeans .
PlantLife , whose owners are raising money through a crowdfunding campaign , is part of a new wave of vegetarian hospitality that goes beyond black bean burgers and quinoa bowls and embraces design from furnishings and flooring to cleaning products . “ A standard hotel room is littered with cruelty ,” co-founder Joanna Hellier says . “ We want to show that vegan alternatives equal the quality of their outdated , inhumane counterparts .”
PlantLife aims to use products from sustainable materials and eliminate waste , so toiletries and cleaning supplies are sourced from local , plant-based and chemical-free suppliers , Hellier says . Solar energy will power the 23 villas .
Hilton London Bankside this year opened an all-vegan suite , with bedroom , bath and living room free of leather , wool , feathers and other animal products . Pillows are filled with buckwheat hulls or millet husks . The floors are made of bamboo , the curtains from soybean material . Rates for a mid-June stay range from £ 474 to £ 769 ( US $ 617 TO US $ 1,000 ) per night .
There ’ s variety in how hoteliers interpret vegan . Some focus on being more broadly environmentally friendly . “ Our mattresses might be made with wool , but the important thing about our linens , mattresses and furniture is that they are eco-friendly and handmade ,” says director Megan Albets , who with her partner , Joel Llurda , opened the seven-room Casa Albets in the Catalan city of Lleida almost two years ago . The facility is heated with a biomass boiler using locally sourced wood pellets , but partners plan to switch to solar panels .
The 34-room Vegan Lodge in Turkey ’ s resort city of Antalya opened in March . Complementing the rooms free of animal traces are traditional trappings of a resort : gym , yoga room and two pools . “ You don ’ t have to compromise comfort ,” says owner Emre Dilek .— J . C .
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