hospitalitystyle.com

Hotel Ahoy! A new seaside hotel is awash in classic and contemporary motifs.

By Matthew Hall

Newport, the iconic summer resort best known for its mansions, jazz festival and yachting events, is now home to a new nautically themed hotel, complete with its own marina. Dubbed Forty 1˚ North – a reference to its locale at 41 degrees 29 minutes north latitude and 71 degrees 29 minutes longitude west – the 28-key, new-build hotel was designed by Philadelphia-based DAS Architects and integrates visual references to Newport's rich history with a variety contemporary design features.

Hence, the hotel's exterior features framing, windows, porches and sidings that reference the town's “grand dame” hotels and mansions. “But we also wanted to convey a new era of Newport hospitality within the hotel – and we wanted to convey that from the moment the guest enters the property,” says DAS founding partner Susan Davidson.

In keeping with that goal, one of the first things guests entering the hotel see is a 9-ft.-by-9.-ft. indigenous abalone shell sculpture by artist Blott Kerr-Wilson. (The hotel's other major shell-festooned feature is a three-story capiz chandelier.)

Throughout the rest of the property, DAS used a “mashing technique” that involved intermixing distinctive features and finishes, such as semi-precious stones, marble, onyx and platinum glass tile, on such surfaces as fireplaces, bars and columns. “The mashing gives the hotel a uniquely modern look,” says Davidson.

The property is also on trend as a LEED-registered property, with a variety of eco-friendly features, including guest rooms equipped with operable sliding doors and windows that lessen the need for using air conditioning, energy-efficient lighting and low-flow plumbing. The rooms also come with their own iPads, which provide guests with directories, menus, maps – and daily newspapers – all in paperless form.