hospitalitystyle.com

(July 2008) posted on Fri Jul 25, 2008 EDT

Mark Zeff fashions new looks for grown-ups who want glamour and a few surprises.

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By Mary Scoviak

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Clients like Morgans Hotel Group (MHG) and Vikram Chatwal Hotels (VCH) don't come to Mark Zeff for G-rated interior design. They want sexy hotels for adults who work smart and play hard, and they demand design solutions that do the same. It's the New York-based designer's ability to fuse the sensual with the sensible that has grown Zeff Design's portfolio to more than 500 projects over 24 years and taught guests that business and pleasure mix well-especially when shaken, not stirred.

Zeff has no qualms about saying that his career goal is to design the world's sexiest hotel (or restaurant, ship or spa). Some people contend that he already has. VCH's Zeff-designed Night Hotel in New York would be a strong contender with its black-and-chrome beds illuminated from beneath. Its slice-of-nirvana sister, Dream, would get a good portion of the escapist vote. Sur-reality starts in the lobby with a massive, gilded sculptural group dominated by an image of Catherine the Great.

For millennial Bright Young Things, there's the sumptuous redo that introduced Moroccan tables and the Velvet Room to the club at restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow's Social Hollywood. Then, there's his design for Vikram Chatwal's new yacht, Fathom. Chatwal launched his Dream Voyager brand last year with this  luxury vessel that's all ebony-stained mahogany and white silk-upholstered bulkheads. But the hottest of them all may be two projects still on the firm's drawing boards: the repositioning, rebranding and expansion of MHG's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, slated for completion in 2009, and a fledgling brand concept for a chain that will be marketed to gay/lesbian travelers.

Uncovering what makes a property or project sexy is what keeps Zeff from decamping to a secluded spot in his native South Africa or holing up with his family at their home in The Hamptons. True, Zeff Design has its staples: dark floors, a fearless use of black and decadent color, and a predilection for sultry artwork. But Zeff and his 50-member staff are breaking into new territory with inventive combinations of technology and new or repurposed materials.

 

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