THE HOTEL ABOUT NOTHING

THE MINIMAL LANGUAGE OF THIS HOTEL DESIGN IN HUA HIN WILL LEAVE YOU WITH NOTHING BUT “A LIFE WELL SPENT”

The design of Hotel Bocage was materialized from the concept ‘A Life Well Spent’ with Duangrit Bunnag of DBALP being both the owner and architect of the project. With its location in Seenspace project in Hua Hin, which was initially designed to accommodate a community mall, not a hotel, the floor plan of Hotel Bocage that takes over the space on the fourth floor has been adjusted to correspond with the original plan of the building while accommodating the hotel-oriented program. Divided into two wings, each accommodates three hotel rooms with an elevator and moderately sized lobby in the middle. The physical characteristics of the space don’t allow for the rooms to be of equal sizes, which led to the design of three different room types: two Simply Standard rooms (45 square meters), three Very Deluxe rooms (60 square meters) and one Only Suite room (80 square meters).

Hotel Bocage, Photo by Ketsiree Wongwan

“We use only the essential elements. There’s no dramatic storyline. We just want people who want to get away from the chaos of the city life to stay, relax and feel really comfortable being here,” Bunnag explained of the approach he took for the design of the project. The layouts of the three room types are simple and share several similarities such as the main functional spaces and the use of frameless glass to divide the space and grant the rooms visual access to the sea from the private balconies. The sleeping area sees the use of neutral color tones like white and grey, combined with furniture such as a bed, closet and tables from Italy’s high-end brands, Giulio and Stefano Porro. The pieces’ modern appearances come with intricate details including Italian wood carving, bending and joinery techniques. The furniture complements Living Divani’s minimal-looking sofa all the way to Antoniolupi’s sanitaryware, from the modern yet classic freestanding tubs to the rain shower used within the restroom. These elements bear stylish contrast with the solidity and rawness of the space and help bring the presence of the hotel out from the concrete mass of the building, while the calm and serene mood and tone of the rooms’ décor feels friendly and relaxing at the same time.