Suite Dreams: W Hotels Unveils Futuristic Extreme WOW Suite

The "Extreme Wow Suite" designed by Jouin Manku, the architectural firm of Paris-based designer Patrick Jouin and his associate Sanjit Manku. To further emphasize the importance of innovation and design, W Hotels engaged Jouin Manku to design a forward-looking, innovative lifestyle experience created in a three-dimensional installation.

The W Hotels "Extreme Wow Suite" will be featured in the context of an art museum, providing a new work of art in-progress feel, as opposed to a polished model room. The installation is draft-like in that certain elements are refined and reworked to a sophisticated finish, emphasized by the use of colour, lighting, texture and materials, while others remain in development, outlined softly in white, giving the impression of a three-dimensional sketch or an evolving project in motion.

As with all of the individual objects included in "Le Paris de Patrick Jouin," these two innovators approached the W Hotels Extreme Wow Suite in a research-oriented and inquisitive way, with design as the link between guests’ aspirations and desires and reality. In their design of the suite, Jouin and Manku explored and considered how travel culture will change in the next five to ten years and how this will effect our expectations for a hotel experience. The result is a full sensory experience with elements of extreme customization. Beyond fine or hand-made design elements, which are more and more accessible all over the world, their design includes hidden details and elements of surprise that have been thought through especially for the W Hotel guest. Jouin and Manku use design as the enzyme between cultures, between moments in time and the possibilities limited by these separate moments.

W Hotels' forward-looking concept of the "Extreme Wow Suite" showcases the hotel brand's continuous pursuit of design innovation to create new ways for guests to interact with the hotel space. With this suite, Jouin explores the role design will play in mediating our desires and realities within a context of a future hotel.

Jouin explains, "the hotel room of tomorrow will integrate service quality and guest pleasure, key elements for a perfect hotel experience. For example, technology can really offer the opportunity to customize the room and integrate culture in an innovative and exploratory way. This new interpretation allows W Hotels to include fashion, design and entertainment in the guest rooms in a unique and enticing manner."

"We were extremely excited that Patrick Jouin explored this new territory together with the W brand to develop the new ‘Extreme Wow Suite’ concept and further drive innovation for the W brand," said Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels Worldwide and Le Méridien. "As W Hotels continues to regain its design leadership through a global expansion, the innovation of this suite is another proof point to support our dedication to design and innovation."

As "The Year of France in Brazil" celebrations continue this year, Jouin has been asked to exhibit his designs at the launch in Sao Paulo. The event will include a rich and diverse sample of Jouin's projects over the past ten years, including more than 150 objects from 50 different projects created in collaboration with manufacturers and designers all over the world.

"Le Paris de Patrick Jouin" will run from 29th July to 27th September 2009 at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake, a non-profit organization showcasing visual arts, architecture and design. The exhibition will then travel to soon-to-be-announced key international destinations in Europe and Asia.

W Hotels will soon debut in South America with the opening of W Santiago, slated to open this August in the heart of this bustling, richly diverse city. Developed by The Territoria Group and with interiors by renowned international designer Tony Chi, W Santiago merges cutting-edge design inspired by modern takes on the varied Chilean landscape with W's signature contemporary lifestyle programming, including Whiskey Blue, an amped-up hotspot from famed nightlife entrepreneurs Rande Gerber and Scott Gerber; signature W lounge experience; Osaka, featuring a menu of Peruvian-Asian cuisine by Chef Ciro Watanabe; NoSo and Terrasur, Mediterranean restaurants by renowned Chef Jean-Paul Bondoux; an intimate Tea Library; a lively Wine Bar; and W Hotels The Store, W’s stylish twist on the hotel gift shop. W Hotels has an existing presence in Latin America with W Mexico City, which opened in 2003 in the upscale Polanco area.