Philippe Starck’s transformed hotel industry journey

With over 10,000 completed or forthcoming creations, Starck is renowned for his diverse spectrum of styles, which span from speakers to chandeliers, motorcycles to mega-yachts.

Since his earliest hotel designs in the 1980s, Starck has not stopped reinventing the rules of the hotel industry.

Along with American hotelier and entrepreneur Ian Schrager, Starck offered a new approach and standards to hotel conception, beginning with the Royalton in New York.

The Delano in Miami followed in 1995, then the Mondrian in Los Angeles, Saint Martin’s Lane in London in 1999, the Sanderson in 2000, the Hudson in New York in 1999, and The Clift in San Francisco in 2001.

The hotel and resort spaces designed by Starck have become classics, symbols of elegance, sophistication, and hospitality.

Philippe Starck, a famed French designer. Photo by Starck.com

Starck has made his mark on hotel design with these original creations. Each hotel and resort designed by him is a destination that evokes emotions and experiences.

Many of the hotels he created have won awards for being the greatest and are frequently commended for their ambiance and design by well-known travel publications like Wallpaper* and Conde Nast Traveller.

Another revolution in the hotel business began in the 2000s. In North America, Starck’s first hotel resort was The SLS Beverly Hills (2007). This partnership with the Sam Nazarian-owned hotel chain is still going strong today.

New SLS hotels opened in South Beach, Miami (2012) with the same level of popularity, and there were plans to open similar establishments in New York, Miami Brickell (2016), Philadelphia, Seattle, and other cities (2017).

The SLS Hotel Beverly Hills. Photo by Starck.com

More than 60 awards from Conde Nast Traveller, Wallpaper*, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times have been bestowed upon the SLS hotels since the SLS Beverly Hills opened.

The opening of the Lily of the Valley in 2019 made a big impact on the French Riviera and in the world of exceptional establishments.

Its architecture, entirely imagined by Starck, is inspired by both Californian villas and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and its original concept combines the French art de Vivre with a wellness village.

One of the spaces designed by Philippe Starck in Lily of the Valley. Photo by Starck.com

The five-star La Reserve Eden au Lac in Zurich is Starck’s most recent venture. He totally revamped it, and it debuted in January 2020.

Starck’s vision

Starck is of the opinion that creation, in whatever form, must enhance the lives of as many people as possible, particularly in a service sector as demanding and full of complicated standards as hospitality.

A free spirit, he is renowned for the depth and breadth of his talent.

“The hotels I create are like a movie of which I am the director. I imagine the coming and going of people, what they are going to experience, and what they will feel.

I create stories borrowed from love, humor, poetry, tenderness, surrealism, and art,” said Starck about his creative approach to hotel projects.

Starck’s minimalist and chic design at La Reserve Eden au Lac. Photo by Starck.com

In 1999, Starck founded the YOO brand with renowned real estate developer John Hitchcox.

With more than 85 projects in 36 countries after more than 20 years of growth, YOO is now one of the most well-known residential and hotel design brands worldwide.

In particular, Starck’s design label at YOO Inspired by Starck is well-known around the world. He often ignores “signature” housing conventions by offering apartments with modern configurations, in line with the expectations of tribe members.

A YOO Inspired by Starck resort, Philippe Starck’s first project in Vietnam, is reportedly set to debut later this year.