The New Look of the St. Regis

The Saint Regis, owned by the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (a hospitality organization) is known as one of the top luxury hotels. It was opened to the public on September 4th 1904, on 55th and 5th Avenue in New York City. Still referred to as the "oldest luxury hotel", the Saint Regis has recently had some work done to “brighten up the interior”. A design team, lead by Stephan Sills and James Huniford were hired for the job. This job was the team’s first job on distinctively-a hotel (Sills and Huniford specialized in designing private household interiors). They were hired by the hotel manager due to their impressive residential interiors due to the fact that management wanted their hotel to feel like their guests were entering an elegant apartment, rather than a soulless hotel. With a team on seven, the work began on the Saint Regis.

One goal of the team was specifically focused around Maxfield Parrish’s Old King Cole mural. Sills and Huniford re-designed the dining room so that a clear view of the mural was attainable, and additionally, the mural itself went through a six-week restoration as it had been dulled by tobacco smoke in the bar area. With new fabric and chairs in many rooms, and new chandlers the St. Regis look as impressive as it had in 1904.

The hotel’s founder, John Jacob Astor IV, would be proud of the hotel’s restored Beaux Arts design. Hopefully the guests of the Saint Regis will as well as they have ranged from Merilyn Monroe to Salvador Dali.

http://www.stregis.com/

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/
Architectural Digest (November 2007) pg. 128