Great party at ARC The Hotel

I'm really happy I got a chance to attend the Rapture Ball last week to celebrate the North American launch of THANN all-natural hair, skin and body care, as well as 10th anniversary of ARC The.Hotel. There was a great turnout. Over 400 people (according to THANN's blog) including TV personalities such as David Clemmer from Style by Jury,Shannon Kook-Chun and Cory Lee from Degrassi, as well as R&B Singer JDiggz.


The menu prepared by the ARC's executive chef Jason Duffy was Thai-inspired as a nod to the product line. It's too bad I didn't get to try everything, but the mango salad and the soup shooter were really good :) There were also delicious mini cupcakes from Thimble Cakes and plenty of signature cocktails inspired by the THANN collection. Live models were wearing THANN clothing sold in their high-end boutique in Asia.



The event was presented by Blackbook Lifestyle and sponsored by Porter Airlines, Effen Vodka, Bombay Sapphire, Alize, Bacardi, The Small Winemakers of Ontario, Steam Whiltle Brewies, VOSS Water, Angie's Models and Talent, Models International Management, BODE Spa. Consequently the gift bag had awesome items and gift certificates!


I was happily surprised with this event and am planning to check out the ARC's Lounge during their Thursday Grey Goose Cocktail Hour at some point. Hopefully the DJ will be back, I really liked his set.



Check out more photos of the event here, here and here.

Bringing the spark back into Spark street - Sneak Peak

Hotel Lobby

Sparks street is in great need of a makeover: something exciting to bring some life back into this area. Fortunately, there's a new project coming up that will hopefully inspire more people to improve this area of town and make it shine. Re Hotel is a new boutique hotel and residences pioneered by David Choo of Ashcroft Urban Developments and designed by architect Roderick Lahey of Roderick Lahey Architects and by interior design firm Cecconi Simone.



6th Floor lounge

An exclusive launch will take place this Wednesday on Spark Street. Amongst other things, guests will be able to see the floor plans and a fully decorated model suite. I believe David Choo, the visionary behind the project, who also recently started his own blog. Other Ottawa personalities will also attend this event. Based on these renderings, it will look really nice!


Residential lobby


Sky lounge

renderings : designtor

Try a little bit harder... in hotels too!

I read an interesting post on Girl About Otown on the state of many restaurants in Ottawa and it made me want to expand on that subject. I think hotels, motels and B&Bs in Ottawa should also try a little bit harder. Here's the thing: Ottawa is the nation's capital of one of the most prosperous countries in the world, and with year-round tourism activities, the city should have some of the best hotels in the world. Of course not every hotel has to be an expensive luxury hotel, but most of them need an identity and more personality. (Seriously, how many clone rooms with boring beige furniture and faded flower bedspreads do we need in Ottawa?) Take a look at places such as the CitizenM or Motel One for example. They offer something unique, without being too expensive. Unfortunately, when you look at some of the most popular and original hotels around the world, it seems like Ottawa is far behind.

Did you know that there was Jail-Themed Hostel in Ottawa? It's called Hi-Ottawa Jail Hostel. It's a beautiful building with a lot of great potential but it's just not up to par when you compare it with the Alcatraz Hotel in Kaiserslautern, which is also a prison-themed hotel.

See for yourself:

Entrance
It's a bit difficult to judge the entrances because you don't get the same perspective. These pictures were taken straight from their website. Still, which one looks more enticing?

Entrance of Hi-Ottawa (source: HI-Ottawa)Entrance of AlcatraZ (source: AlcatraZ Hotel)

Rooms

There is a huge difference when it comes to the look of the rooms. In Ottawa the rooms look tired. There is no clear personality and consistency in the rooms so they don't necessarily look like they are from the same building. In fact it's hard to see the "prison" theme in the rooms.

Source: HI-Ottawa

On the other hand in Kaiserslautern, there is a clear common thread between the different rooms. There's definitely a bit more attention to detail in the design and decoration of the room. They look clean and fresh. The prison theme is there without forgetting that it's still a hotel. Can you guess what they did to convey the prison-feeling into their rooms?

Source: AlcatraZ Hotel and Flickr (Christinamh)

Common Areas

When it comes to the common areas like the lounges and the cafeteria, hands down, AlcatraZ did a much better job. It's simple, clean and original. For HI-Ottawa, it looks more like an afterthought, specially the cafeteria. Also, some beautiful architectural aspects of the room have been "ignored", which is a shame really.

Source : AlcatraZ Hotel

Source : Trip Advisor, HI-Ottawa

Of course, the jail-hotel in Ottawa has great bones. I love the corridor with the round vaulted ceiling, the natural light coming through and the rhythm created by the column next to each door. It's just that the spaces need a bit of tweaking, some rearrranging, better furniture, appropriate accessories and a main concept throughout the building. I think with the help of professionals, they can definitely take this place to the next level and make it more of a landmark in Ottawa. A place that can compete with the likes of AlcatraZ Hotel.

Source : Trip Advisor

What do you think?