URBAN MOUNTAIN CHIC

The alpine resort town of Engelberg is an institution of sorts among tourists coming to Switzerland – albeit slightly outdated. Slightly outdated is also what best describes the hotel industry here. Enter Hotel Bellevue! On the outside it is quite unassuming really with its classical Belle Époque façade and it only takes a few steps up to the entrance before guests stop dead speechless in their tracks.

Modern, cheeky, comical and tending towards shabby chic; excessive rather than imposing; are the kind of adjectives that come to mind when you step inside Hotel Bellevue. Large colourful carpets alternate with contemporary furnishings. The high Belle Époque windows literally flood the hall with its old-style parquet floor with light. A space where you can breathe; a place that puts you in a good mood, a new-look Engelberg hotel at last!

Design concept Rough Style

This is the new-look hotel’s design concept of choice: a large chandelier over here, a marble pillar over there, the stucco of the high ceilings creating a sense of freedom; the walls have deliberately not been plastered, everything coming across as raw and urban – a feeling of London in the heart of the Alps. There is something cosy about the eclectic style of the interior design; guests immediately feel at home. The lobby on the first floor is an all-time favourite relaxation spot with its dining area and a comfy couch set taking up the corner of the adjoining lounge – a distinctive piece of furniture by Bullfrog, the brand that does its rounds throughout the hotel.

Allusion to the Belle Époque

In the bedrooms it is the bed that is the pièce de résistance specially developed for Hotel Bellevue. Its design is ultra-modern, almost creating the impression that it is floating. What’s special about it is that in a few easy movements it can be turned from a double bed into two single beds, inclusive of the wooden shelf in the middle and on both sides. Matching the state-ofthe-art bed is a luggage rack that should be par for the course for any hotel. The headboards are an allusion to the Belle Époque at the start of the twentieth century and are made from velour velvet and embellished with button rows. In some of the rooms you’ll find a rocking chair that is so compact that it does not even look like one – also by Bullfrog distinctive for the high back. Three colour ranges stand out throughout the hotel: dark-blue petrol green; dark-blue mustard and pink-red orange.

Anticipatory design

If you look at the furnishings in Hotel Bellevue you get the feeling they are one step ahead of their time – just like the hotel façade which in turn showcases the past. This can be ascribed to Bullfrog founder Kurt Beier and designer Kati Quinger’s intrinsic and unapologetic understanding of design. In Kurt Beier’s words: “When it comes down to it, design is essentially something that is anticipatory.” It anticipates needs that people don’t even know yet that they have. This is why a design studio likes to involve itself with things that don’t exist as yet. And this works best when one has the luxury of time to invest in such design processes. “The most beautiful moment in the design process is when you create something and six weeks later you’re looking at it whilst having a coffee and think to yourself that you still like it.”

WWW.BELLEVUE-TERMINUS.CH

HOTEL BELLEVUE-TERMINUS | 6390 ENGELBERG | SWITZERLAND

WWW.BULLFROG-DESIGN.DE

KATI QUINGER & KURT BEIER | 96247 MICHELAU | GERMANY