Hotelier Rami Zeidan ventures to Denver’s Lower Highlands to create a neighbourhood hotel deeply rooted in the locale, writes Ayesha Khan.
Named by Forbes as one of the top hipster neighbourhoods in the USA, Denver’s trendy Lower Highlands – or LoHi as it is simply referred to by locals – is a haven of microbreweries, artisan coffee houses and plant-based eateries. So it was fitting that Rami Zeidan, founder of the emerging lifestyle brand Life House – with outposts in Miami’s Little Havana and an upcoming opening in Brooklyn – chose it as the home of his latest hotel. A happenstance meeting with prominent local developers, who remained closely involved throughout the design process, kickstarted the venture and resulted in a shared vision of locally-rooted hospitality. “John Reilly and Carmelo Paglialunga have been key to the growth of the up-and-coming Lower Highlands community over the past decade,” Zeidan explains. “Working with owners who truly understand the context of the neighbourhood has been key to building something authentic and responsive to the community that already exists.”
For the interiors, Life House’s Vice President of Design Jenny Bukovec looked to Victorian-era industrialism, the contextual 1800s design movement that defined the area, and the natural landscape of the Wild West. “We drew the Victorian inspiration from the history of the neighbourhood, which is where many industrialists built homes in the late 1800s,” she explains. “The goal was to pay homage to the styles of the past while ensuring we respect the context of modern architecture and frontier design detailing that has evolved over time. It made for an interesting and sometimes challenging dichotomy.”
Occupying a contemporary shell that nods to the industrialists that built the city, Life House Lower Highlands layers rich materials with dusty florals across guestrooms and public spaces, which include a bar, restaurant and café collectively known as Wildflower. The aesthetic is immediately apparent in the living room, where low-slung seating in leather and Victorian florals sits atop cowhide rugs and warm timber flooring. In one corner, a statement fringed lampshade is juxtaposed with a raw concrete check-in desk, while cacti line a window wall that bathes the space in natural light. In the adjacent bar, an illustration by Lei Xing, a member of the in-house design team, tells the tale of a sweeping Western landscape; his artistic prowess is once again displayed in a hand-drawn mural that lines the walls of an outdoor courtyard.
Victorian archways are a subtle reminder of the theme and lead to Wildflower’s dining room, where ebonised walnut and brass panelling create an intimate space with a range of seating options. Booths make for a cosy spot to one side, while a communal table in the centre is ideal for sharing the tapas-style cuisine that highlights locally-sourced ingredients and seasonal fare. The beverage programme also celebrates native flavours, and true to the restaurant’s name, serves a variety of floral cocktails featuring ingredients foraged from the proprietary garden.
Naturally, wildflowers are ever-present in the design scheme too. “Details throughout the space reflect the spirit of our muse,” confirms Bukovec. “Vintage club chairs with wild flora velvet flank a rust-tone leather wraparound sofa; Victorian candlestick holders are filled with local dried flowers; William Morris prints glow on vintage brass lamps; and custom-made and vintage seating displays tones of cacti and bluebonnet from the natural landscape of Colorado.”
One of the elements that really sets this hotel apart is its solution to guestrooms, which are designed to accommodate larger parties. In a bold move, Bukovec and her team capitalised on the high ceilings to create banks of handsome bunkbeds. There’s a host of room types to choose from; some feature a standalone king-sized bed and bank of four bunks, others have four sets of double bunks as well as a lounge, sizeable bathroom and storage lockers for each of the eight guests. “This solution stemmed from the problems we saw in group travel, particularly for the luxury boutique consumer,” Bukovec explains. “There are plenty of hostel-style shared room options at economy to midscale hotels, but hardly any in the luxury sector. We saw the opportunity to create something that is more desirable for adults travelling together.”
Along with being rooted in the locale, a key element of Life House hotels are the brand partnerships. In Lower Highlands, all rooms feature Le Labo bath products, Marshall speakers and Revival linens, though it’s the local partners that capture the attention. Here, Bukovec collaborated with artists who frequent the district just a stone’s throw from the hotel. “The art programme at each Life House is about sourcing local artists because they help us tell the history of the location in an authentic way,” she notes. “When looking for creatives to feature in our seasonally rotating gallery, we serendipitously found Georgia Amar; the partnership was quite organic, and now four of her large-scale prints are displayed in Wildflower’s dining room.”
The group has also embarked on creating its own line of room fragrances and candles in a variety of infusions aligned to the locations of the hotels, and there’s plenty more to come. Two more properties are in the works in Miami, and there’s the conversion of a Beaux Arts train terminal in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a collection of Pullman carriages will be transformed into suites. International expansion is also on the cards with plans for outposts in Mexico and Bali. In keeping with Zeidan’s mission, each will be designed bespoke with a focus on the unique nuances of the location and, as Zeidan says: “These are the nuances that transform our Houses from a place to stay into a community of travellers who value authenticity, meaning and wellbeing above all else.”
