HILTON - Pattaya 21.4.2011

The newly-opened 302-room Hilton Pattaya is set to wow both guests and visitors with its sensational interior design. The ultra-modern, highly contemporary hotel challenges traditional notions of hotel design and has been designed to reflect its stunning beachside location overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Thailand.

The hotel's striking lobbies (one on the ground floor and one on the 16th floor), the Lobby Bar (Drift), the all-day dining restaurant (Edge) and the specialty restaurant (Flare), were all designed by the award-winning Thai-based architectural and interior design firm "Department of Architecture Co Ltd." The company specializes in hospitality projects and their recent work includes the Six Senses Hideaway Samui, the Sala Phuket Resort and the Zeavola Resort on Phi Phi Island.

Upon entering the hotel lobby lounge on level 16, visitors are immediately immersed in the world of the sea. The lobby's interior design was designed to complement, but never overshadow, the spectacular views over Pattaya Bay. Full of natural light and boasting floor to ceiling glass windows, the lobby features a spectacular, curved, fabric ceiling designed to look like sand at the beach. At night, strategically-placed strip lights enhance the ceiling's rippling sand dune-like effect.

"In designing the lobby areas of the hotel we were inspired by the sea and by beaches. We wanted guests entering the lobby to experience the feeling of tranquillity and freedom they feel at the beach. Specifically, we were inspired by the idea of a person standing in shallow water and looking up at the sky towards the light, with the sand and pebbles beneath their feet. When choosing a colour scheme we opted for soft, pale colours to reflect the neutral tones of sand, wood and pebbles. The aim was to replicate within the lobby the feeling of walking along the beach," said Amata Luphaiboon, principal, Department of Architecture Co Ltd.

Hotel common areas have been designed to reflect the sparkling of the sea world and seating in both the indoor and outdoor areas of the hotel, as well as in the guest rooms, is curved in shape to reflect the gorgeous stones of the deep sea. The striking, large, chaise-lounge chairs in the outside seating area of the Drift Lobby Lounge look exactly like giant pebbles and are strategically placed in a series of very shallow, rectangular water ponds. The undersea theme has also been extended to the design of the Hotel's food and beverage outlets.

"In the design of the hotel's fine dining restaurant, Flare, we took our inspiration from the dark reaches of the deep sea, using fine transparent fabrics to create defined and private dining spaces within the restaurant," Amata added.

The interior design of the Meetings and Conference rooms, including the Seaboard Ballroom, guest rooms and Executive Lounge, was done by August Design Consultant Co, a full-service Bangkok-based interior design firm headed by the highly talented Pongthep Sagulku.

The hotel's spectacular 635sqm Seaboard Ballroom features breathtaking, shimmering crystal chandeliers, designed to re-enact the gentle movement of beach breezes and the soft bubbling of the sea. The custom-made carpet on the floor of the Ballroom has been designed and patterned to look like soft sand. The sea world theme even extends to the walls of the corridors leading to the meeting rooms which feature large fan-coral motifs. The contemporary lighting fixtures were also selected to reflect the warmth and feel of the sun's rays on the visitor's skin as they arrive at the beach.

The vibrant theme of life underneath the sea is also reflected in the interior design of the hotel guest rooms. Guest rooms feature a large circular ball which opens up into a vanity unit. In-room hotel work desks feature smooth, curved edges as do the sofas and seating in the rooms. Guest rooms are painted in soft, neutral tones and feature soft lighting and many of the walls are slightly curved to reflect gentle sea waves.

Hilton Pattaya is the fifth Hilton Worldwide property in Thailand joining Millennium Hilton Bangkok, Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa, Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa and Conrad Bangkok. Conrad Koh Samui is scheduled to open in June 2011.