Save | Email | Print | Most Popular | Reprints | 
RSS
By Stacy Shoemaker Rauen
Photography by Roger Méndez
After seeing his work on the luxurious, yet modern Urban Hotel in Madrid, hotelier Alberto Torres called on designer Jordi Cuenca to put his masterful touch on his newest: Aguas de Ibiza Spa & Resort in Spain's Balearic Islands. "We blended the charming character of a rural finca [country estate] with all the services, atmosphere, and style of a contemporary hotel like one would find in New York," Torres says, who developed the hotel with his family. "We see ourselves as hosts welcoming friends to our wonderful island. My children and I were born in Ibiza. The island has given so much to us and we felt it was time to give something back."
Cuenca didn't have to look hard for inspiration—he took it from the hotel's scenic waterfront location in Santa Eulalia Bay marina. "We wanted [guests] to feel the Mediterranean—the light, the water," says Cuenca, owner of Barcelona-based Triade Studio with partner Kim Castells. "On the other hand, the character of the island, its rural architecture, was an important influence. It had to be modern, but comfortable."
Inside the striking white and stone facade by local architect Juan de los Rios, guests enter the dramatic, multi-story lobby, with its glowing reception desk and curved travertine walls, which Cuenca admits is one of his favorite spaces within the hotel. Meanwhile, the 112 guestrooms boast floor-to-ceiling windows, private terraces, and spa-like bathrooms that can open up to the bedrooms decked out in marble, limestone, and shimmery glass tiles ("They seem like water," Cuenca says). In rooms on floors one through three, a white, blue, and gray color palette prevails. But for another level of luxury, there's exclusive club Cloud 9. Housed on the fourth floor, the "hotel within a hotel" features its own check-in desk, concierge, and services, as well as 18 expansive loft-like suites and one 1,300-square-foot presidential loft. Here, rooms have a warmer feeling thanks to earth tones (think beige and brown), reforested oak parquet floors, and wood accent walls.
And the hotel's entire design—throughout the rooftop bar Air Ibiza, lobby lounge Alabastro, Scuba bar, two restaurants, Revival Wellness Club, conference space, and three pools (the one on the rooftop is done in golden tiles)—is based on feng shui principles and the five elements: wood, fire, water, metal, and land. The most evident example: the lit spiral on the guestroom ceilings, representing good energy.
But giving back to his homeland meant more than just building a hotel to Torres—it meant preserving the beauty of the island. To that end, the "eco-luxurious" hotel, as he describes it, features rapidly renewable materials like bamboo for furniture and natural stone for room walls, and lighting and energy programs (like solar) that reduce energy usage by more than 35 percent in comparison to other luxury hotels. "It is a matter of responsibility with existing and future generations," Cuenca says of green design, adding that he was excited to work with materials that could be recycled easily. "On the other hand, today's market is really concerned about these issues and we can't go backwards on behavior that is everyday more and more important."
triadestudio.com; www.aguasdeibiza.com
Aguas de Ibiza Spa & Resort, Ibiza, Spain
Owner/Contractor: The Torres family
Architect: Juan de los Rios, Ibiza
Architecture and Interior Design Firm: Triade Studio, Barcelona
Architecture and Interior Design Project Team: Jordi Cuenca and Kim Castells
Marketing: Design Hotels
Lighting: LEDS-C4
Engineering: 2pir
Landscape: Joan Rigol
Suites
Dining Chair/Barstool/Seat Backing/Seat Cushion Fabric: Plynyl
Glass Tile Murals: Bisazza and Sicis
Televisions: Bang & Olufsen
Paintings: Antonio Villanueva
Bathroom Accessories: Arquitect and Vitra
Save | Email | Print | Most Popular | Reprints | RSS
RSS
Homeward Bound
April 7, 2009Photography by Roger Méndez
After seeing his work on the luxurious, yet modern Urban Hotel in Madrid, hotelier Alberto Torres called on designer Jordi Cuenca to put his masterful touch on his newest: Aguas de Ibiza Spa & Resort in Spain's Balearic Islands. "We blended the charming character of a rural finca [country estate] with all the services, atmosphere, and style of a contemporary hotel like one would find in New York," Torres says, who developed the hotel with his family. "We see ourselves as hosts welcoming friends to our wonderful island. My children and I were born in Ibiza. The island has given so much to us and we felt it was time to give something back."
But giving back to his homeland meant more than just building a hotel to Torres—it meant preserving the beauty of the island. To that end, the "eco-luxurious" hotel, as he describes it, features rapidly renewable materials like bamboo for furniture and natural stone for room walls, and lighting and energy programs (like solar) that reduce energy usage by more than 35 percent in comparison to other luxury hotels. "It is a matter of responsibility with existing and future generations," Cuenca says of green design, adding that he was excited to work with materials that could be recycled easily. "On the other hand, today's market is really concerned about these issues and we can't go backwards on behavior that is everyday more and more important."
triadestudio.com; www.aguasdeibiza.com
Owner/Contractor: The Torres family
Architect: Juan de los Rios, Ibiza
Architecture and Interior Design Firm: Triade Studio, Barcelona
Architecture and Interior Design Project Team: Jordi Cuenca and Kim Castells
Marketing: Design Hotels
Lighting: LEDS-C4
Engineering: 2pir
Landscape: Joan Rigol
Suites
Dining Chair/Barstool/Seat Backing/Seat Cushion Fabric: Plynyl
Glass Tile Murals: Bisazza and Sicis
Televisions: Bang & Olufsen
Paintings: Antonio Villanueva
Bathroom Accessories: Arquitect and Vitra
Save | Email | Print | Most Popular | Reprints |
RSS
