Dawson Design Associates, Inc. unveiled recently the intended design for the Hotel Rouge, owned by LaSalle Hotel Properties and managed by Kimpton Hotels. Minutes away from major city attractions such as the Smithsonian, the National Mall, the Washington Monument, and Union Station, the hotel is centrally located in the heart of Washington DC. Having long been a favorite hotel by the locals, both for its flamboyantly-styled guestrooms and public spaces, it quickly became “the cool hangout scene” when it was opened in the winter of 2002. The owner’s, LaSalle Hotels, desire was to maintain the core identity and attitude of the hotel, but to update the Hotel Rouge to renew its shine and luster as well as capture today’s new guests.
The Hotel Rouge is billed as the “living embodiment of ‘glam’” and was designed originally by Michael Moore as an escape from the ordinary in a town that is filled with tradition and blue suits and power ties. The new Bar Rouge will “up” its chic and glamour factor by a few levels, showcasing a really high-fashion look. “We wanted to create a really dynamic focal point by adding a strong ceiling graphic that plays with the hotels identity,” said Crystal Mazzali, lead concept designer on the project. The original ceiling mural was designed to capture a modern-day ‘noir-graphic novel’. The Bar Rouge and the appropriately named Darkroom will lure new patrons along with the hotel’s familiar clientele.
Andrea Dawson Sheehan, President of Dawson Design Associates, Inc. says that she finds that DDA’s clients are now strategically following through on renovations that were put on hold due to the recession. “Although we’ve worked very closely with LaSalle, Kimpton, and the Hotel Rouge over the past few years maintaining the hotel’s integrity of quality, we did so with the plan that as soon as it was feasible we would be able to follow-through and implement the ultimate goal of the renovation that the Hotel Rouge needed and deserved. We feel that we’ve achieved this quality in design not just creatively, but in a very smart and economical kind of way,” remarks Sheehan.
