Samuel Heath’s Powermatic controlled, concealed door closers have been used by the Rocco Forte group to retain the high-end aesthetics of rooms and suites at Brown’s Hotel, one of London’s most elegant boutique residences.
Opened in 1837, Brown’s Hotel is made of eleven Georgian houses on Albermarle Street in the heart of London’s exclusive Mayfair. Famed for its decorative style and impeccable service, the hotel has been home to presidents, prime ministers, royalty and writers, with Rudyard Kipling among its most famous guests.
The hotel believes that Kipling wrote The Jungle Book while staying there and has named a newly created suite in his honour. The Kipling Suite is the hotel’s largest guest accommodation and is the first of the ‘Forte Suites’ to be created by Rocco Forte Hotels as part of the Rocco Forte Suite Experience.
The suite comprises an impressive living area, two bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms and large walk-in wardrobe, providing guests with the ultimate in comfort and luxury. Access to the suite is via a double-door entrance which leads onto a central foyer, connecting the lounge and bedrooms.
Led by Olga Polizzi, director of design at Rocco Forte Hotels, The Kipling Suite renovation took three months to complete. It makes extensive use of English wallpapers, fabrics and furnishings to deliver a contemporary feel whilst remaining true to the hotel’s heritage and the era of Kipling.
Commenting on the project, Ms Polizzi says, “We designed the Kipling so that you can feel you are in London. This will be a grand classical suite of great comfort, with a combination of antique pieces and contemporary designer items. The English theme carries on and is maintained, as in all our rooms at Brown's Hotel, with English wallpaper, fabrics, colours and objects.”
Retaining the aesthetics and ambience of the new suite, and other rooms throughout Brown’s Hotel, is vital to assuring the comfort and enjoyment of guests. It is for this reason that the hotel’s chief engineer, David Rozmetov, selected Powermatic concealed door closers.
Mr Rozmetov states, “We did not want to use surface-mounted door closers because they would spoil the appearance of our exquisite interiors. We also needed something that would be easy to install, reliable and require minimal maintenance.
“After considering and testing a number of alternatives, we chose Powermatic. The door closer meets all of the relevant performance standards and is totally hidden when the doors are closed. This means that the rooms will look exactly as the designer intended and that we can create a more homely, comfortable experience for our guests.”
The Kipling Suite is one of 75 rooms at Brown’s Hotel to be fitted with Powermatics. Just like the hotel, the door closers share a fine heritage for British design, quality and faultless service. In all, 80 door closers have been used on suites, junior suites and deluxe rooms throughout the hotel.
Powermatic concealed door closers have long been admired by designers and managers of hotels for the fact that they are invisible when the door is closed. In addition to impressive fire and accessibility credentials and maintenance-free service, enhanced aesthetics play a large part in the door closers’ appeal.
There are, however, additional benefits for hotel projects that come from this concealment and Powermatic’s installation; With minimal exposed surfaces and being fitted at a relatively low position in the door, the door closer is easier to clean and inspect. Being jamb-mounted, it is also much more convenient for use where there is limited headroom above the door or where 90-degree reveals are present. It has even been proved to contribute towards the retention of sound insulation properties of guestroom doors. Additionally, total concealment reduces the risk of the door closer being tampered with, thereby enhancing reliability and assuring guest safety.
