A 1940s mansion in the Mexican city of Guadalajara has been transformed into the city's first design-led hotel, Casa Fayette.
Casa Fayette sits in Guadalajara’s booming Lafayette district. It comprises of a new nine-floor modernist tower – which houses a rooftop spa and the hotel's 37 rooms and suites – and the original mansion's Art Deco structure. The latter contains a retro-inspired bar and restaurant.
The hotel was designed by the Mexican architect Vanessa López from local firm Estudio5. She sought to reflect the mansion's original façade by using concrete, steel and drywall for the exteriors, with iron, marble, wood and brass finishes.
Milanese architects Dimore Studio were responsible for the interior design and chose to combine a classical European aesthetic with more colourful Mexican influences. Locally-sourced textiles and ceramics were used, alongside hand-blown glass lighting.
Grupo Habita, which has opened 14 hotels in Mexico and the US, is behind the US$4.5m (€3.9m, £2.9m) project. Two of the company's leading hoteliers, Carlos Couturier and Moisés Micha, intend the hotel to provide high-end accommodation for locals and visitors travelling to enjoy the city's famed cuisine and its vibrant art scene. The city, Mexico's second most densely-populated, is home to the Curro y Poncho and Travesia Cuatro museums, which showcase contemporary Latin American art.
"Guadalajara is reinventing itself through a high dose of contemporary art, and gastronomy," Couturier told
CLAD. "Home to quintessential Mexican elements like tequila and mariachi, this city has a unique lifestyle that has not been reproduced in other parts of Mexico. It is a large city with the rhythm of a small town and there is a uniquely human aspect to this big metropolis.
"Even though it has its tradition and its past, the younger generations are globally-minded and creative... All this mix makes the city appealing for a Grupo Habita hotel."
Casa Fayette, which opened in mid-September, is a member of the Design Hotels group, which represents 280 independent hotels in more than 50 countries worldwide.
