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Throughout all the apartments it is the use of colour and the careful choice of furniture and drapes that give them the strong sense of style. The colour palette has been carefully balanced with secondary colours providing a warm background to primaries. Contrasts are supplied by simple devices such as a box of matches with a bright red label on the grey mantelpiece in one suite, or the bold brass of the sunburst mirror in another set against the cool neutral tones of fabrics. Again this is not a pastiche of a previous period but a step forward with a modern colour sensibility allied to high tech equipment in TV’s, sound systems, bathroom and kitchens. It may appear somewhat Victorian to us, but would be unrecognisable to a Victorian sensibility.
The result is a set of rooms in each suite that are harmonious. Set pieces are subtly created using lamps and candles to create drama with symmetry. Carefully placed cushions or books, odd pieces of objet d’art balanced against chrome or brass, windows framed by drapes and dimmable lights used to enhance or create mood. A sense of their being a history is created without there being a real history, but it sustains the illusion of another era with a slower pace.
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| Development Team
Design: Guido and Irene van den Elshout
Decorateur: Martin de Boer, Breda
for bookings go to www.haagschesuites.nl
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The public areas are small but succeed in feeling larger. There is a small lift but the dominant feature is the sharply rising staircase. Light fittings are fretted to give patterns of light that make the space more involving and larger in feel than it actually is. Contrasts of colour are sometimes very contemporary, such as the red in the entrance lobby set against white lanterns, or harking back to another era such as the use of faux painted wood effects on the staircase
That past era is reflected in the service which is personal, friendly but unobtrusive. It is a full five star experience in facilities and the care with which the B&B experience is fostered. This may be the owner’s home too, but they create an experience for the guest that is missing in many mass market ‘branded’ hotels. In design and style there are lessons here, but the lessons of service have been learned and applied to create a small scale suite hotel that stands comparison favourably with many a more famous an establishment.
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