Any choice of tiles for hotels or restaurants must factor in aesthetics, design, durability, resistance, and ease of maintenance and cleaning. The variety of available shapes, colors and textures effectively means designers can let their creativity run free in pursuit of welcoming, elegant settings suited to differing types of buildings. At the same time, designers can play with material combinations to exalt a varied array of spaces. The Varignana Palace is a luxurious restored building nestled on the hills of Castel San Pietro Terme. Paolo Castelli SpA’s refurbishment of the lounge bar foregrounded the choice of materials and furnishings, with Onici Aesthetica porcelain stoneware slabs by Ava Ceramica (160x80 cm) chosen for 300 sq. m of floor area. This material mimics the bands and patterns of onyx stone, once a favored material of the Romans when they sought an elegant cladding for their buildings. The Olympic Palace Resort Hotel & Convention Center is found on Ixia Bay, on the Greek island of Rhodes, and it was recently restyled by interior designer Rena Mania. Once again, the matching of materials was given central importance, exalted by the interesting choice of furnishings. Atlas Concorde porcelain stoneware was chosen for the wall and floor cladding, selecting from a range of collections (Etic Pro, Dwell, Mek, Kone, Arkshade, Warp) to produce differing colors and textures, including wood, resin, stone, metal and concrete. Sorano, near Grosseto in Tuscany, is the setting for Sant’Egle Organic Farm, an eco resort that has an old 17th-Century customs house at its heart. The garden, the building and each room are separate creations, characterized by the choice of objects, colors and artworks. In the guest rooms, the Ceramica Sant’Agostino Blendart and Colorart porcelain stoneware collections were used to exploit their original reinterpretation of wood. For example, Blendart recreates wood veins using a painting stripping effect that, combined with the knottiness of the material, produces an aged, used feel. On the southern coast of Iceland, the Sigló Hotel offers guests a cozy, welcoming stay. All the flooring in the hospitality areas was done with Memory Mood tiles by Panaria Ceramica, in the Dim finish in the rectified 60x60 cm format. Memory Mood draws on ideas from late 19th-Century artisan hydraulic tile production, but brings an original interpretation in which the touches of craft production merge with a refined, contemporary style. Hotel Cavour is located in a wonderful old building in the heart of Bologna. The interior restyling by Biondi Architetti focused on carefully matching the colors of the furnishings and materials, in the harmony of a very precise lighting design. The floors in the rooms were all redone by paving over the existing flooring using the Crossroad Wood collection by ABK, with its shapes and colors that recall classic wood parquet. Sydney’s Astral Tower hotel, part of The Star complex, has bathrooms with Geostone porcelain stoneware by Ceramiche Piemme. Interior designers Lombard & Jack worked with white ceramic, combining it with clever lighting and using the elegant textures that faithfully reproduce the veins of sedimentary rock. The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort sits on a small island in the Baa atoll, with 70 villas spread across the land and the sea. The design by Peia Associati placed great importance on sustainability and minimizing the environmental impact - choices that are evident in the selection of materials. The bathrooms in the villas, the restaurant and the hospitality zones were clad using Marte tiles from the Granitogres line and Antique Wood tiles from the Granitoker line by Casalgrande Padana. These reproduce colors and textures of natural materials, in different sizes, shapes and finishings.
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