Project
Branding & Website
Client
1 Hotels
Deliverables
  • – Brand Development
  • – Website
The brand redefined luxury hotels. The site changed the industry.

‘The King of Hotels’ Barry Sternlicht wanted to introduce a new boutique chain with the same market-changing impact made by his previous luxury juggernaut, W Hotels. He wanted a brand interwoven with the fabric of its environment, where each property is an integral part of the local culture.

So I worked with teams at POSSIBLE and Mother New York to brand 1 Hotels as a hospitality concept encompassing not just rooms but the natural spaces, flavors and neighborhoods that surround them. 

We extended this concept to the 1 Hotels site by enabling guests to explore locally before they even arrive at their destination. The site revolutionizes the booking experience by enabling guests to add on- and off-property amenities, activities and events to their trip, a first in the hospitality industry. Whether reserving an immersive urban nature walk, a visit to a clandestine speakeasy or a pop-up taco tour, each guest discovers their own unique location experience. 

By changing a rote online transaction into a content-driven trip builder, 1 Hotels does something more than sell rooms. The brand is a curator and concierge using elements of nature and place to provide adventures that surpass mere tourism.

The 1 Hotels site is drenched in nature and the unique character of each of the brand’s property locations.
As visitors drill down, neighborhood-specific amenities, content and add-ons are included by categories
built around the senses — taste, touch and so on.
Just as each 1 Hotel location incorporates native elements in its design — recycled staves from rooftop water tanks at Brooklyn Bridge Park, for example —
each location-specific subsite reflects that location’s nature and surroundings.
Indulging the senses with lush photography and evocative narrative, we made the landscape come alive.
Even in the rooms themselves, we focused on natural textures and surfaces, emphasizing the tactile over the practical.