“Snow-white” and the 7 designers The world’s first glass-hotel (almost) broke my heart In some fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, snow stands symbolically for clarity and they very often use the figure seven as their magic number. Stories like `The Seven Ravens´, `Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs´ etc. are corresponding to 7 days a week not by accident. Anyway, why do I start a portrait of a hotel like this? Glass stands for clarity. And the dwarfs or rather 7 designers decorated the interior of the “Kosta Boda Art Hotel” that is behind a seemingly endless forest in the wonderful “Kingdom of Glass”. It is situated in the breathtakingly beautiful Småland of Southern Sweden.
A feast for the eyes You haven’t seen anything like that! The hotel is a fantastic symbiosis of glass and stone. Entering the reception, you can already see works of art on the walls and a giant chandelier which looks like a balloon. And that is filled again with dozens of smaller balloons. In the sky-viewing hallway, called “Atrium”, a long-tailed figment shows me somehow whether I´m going up- or downstairs;
of course made of mouth-blown glass, too. Each floor is different and the rooms have their own charm. For your comfort you will find for instant a bar built entirely of glass – wonderfully enlightened during nighttime - and a pool with underwater exhibition. In the restaurant I had always a long breakfast as I am being addicted to herring and salmon. All the plates and glasses are made out of (pretty thick) glass – almost no china. It does not only look nice it also feels extraordinary. My fears to break something waned quickly.
All around In the immediate vicinity I could walk to Kosta Boda’s glass factory, where guided tours are possible. Here you can find art exhibitions, a Museum of glass and a few outlets. The designer outlets are on 20,000 sqm with more than 200 international brands. Carry-problems can be solved by direct shipping from the relevant shop to your domicile. Even “Snow-white” could have pleasant trips into the "Kingdom of Crystal", for example, to Kosta’s sister company Orrefors or other smaller glass works. But then you would probably need a car as there are seven glass mills to see …
For sure a place to come back – with a white VOLVO of course! Text&Photos: Wolfgang G. Külper © 2012 Video on: www.lifestlyle-tv.com/KostaHotel
www.kostabodaarthotel.se
www.glasriket.se