When you step into a luxury hotel, you should feel the personal character of the host city or country, but you should also feel a bit at home – at least that’s how Tara Bernerd sees it, and she’s been tapped into lavish hotels from some of the world’s most trusted brands design.
“I’ve always traveled,” she says, “and I love the idea of these lifestyle spaces that were almost like houses from home, or [how] one hoped to arrive at a place they could name themselves. For me it was certainly something that I had always hoped to be involved in. “
Since she started Tara Bernerd & Partner 18 years ago she worked with Belmond, Rosewood, Starwood Capital, Sixty Hotels and others. From her London office, she has created divine goals across Europe, Asia and North America. She currently works with the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale and the Thompson Hotels in Hollywood.
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When their business was just starting their offices were across from the London Sheraton Belgravia.
“Every day I stared into this hotel on the corner and ‘I really hope that one day I can repeat the whole hotel,'” she says. “I’m fascinated by creating this lifestyle, this DNA. It has to be so much more than a home because it has to give everyone a sense of place. “
She made this dream come true and turned it into a Thompson Hotel with Jason Pomeranc. Today Tara Bernerd & Partners is completely global. Osaka, Vienna, Munich and Hong Kong were all touched by their style. She takes pride in treating each project differently and exploring the area the hotel will be in to ensure the most authentic space possible.
“We treat every job as its own personality, its own character,” she says. “We are very far removed from this kind of cut-and-paste society or, in a way, have our own stamp.”
Four seasons downtown New York
When taking on a new project, her team examines everything from local design elements to who exactly will be staying at that hotel and what the city or location represents.
“We’re really immersed in a place,” she says. “Every project starts very individually and each is a challenge to create what I call ‘DNA’ because in a sense we are telling the story. We are the storytellers so we need to tell what the hotel will be like. “
She wonders why hotel guests want to have a drink at the hotel bar or read a book in a secluded library area. Then she designs the most nuanced hotel.
“In Mexico, it’s a great example of how to really learn the local culture, try to work with local artisans and really decide whether it’s floors or carpets,” she says. “Sometimes it’s art, sometimes it’s less obvious. Sometimes it is the joinery that makes it possible to open your wonderful minibar with all of these beautiful local stones. I think every project is like opening a new picture book. “
The Hari Hong Kong, premium corner room
It’s also about the design choices that guests don’t notice. The navigation and efficiency of a room is incredibly important to Bernerd and her customers, but these things should be invisible to the guest.
“There’s a real consideration in creating an atmosphere that can be ambitious but still has a sense of residence and home,” she says. “There’s a huge amount going into the review [things] we presuppose. Are we going to serve food in the bar there? Maybe you have a little club sandwich with your glass of wine, so seat height [is important]. ”
Even something as background as bright light in the morning and dim light in the evening can change everything about a guest’s mood and experience. The drinks menu changes with the sunset, the music changes the tone. Everything becomes part of art.
“I’m very excited as if every new project we get is my first hotel,” she says. “I haven’t lost my enthusiasm, but… beyond all layouts, the choice of surfaces, textures and details is the responsibility and sense of scale of these buildings. the responsibility for the costs for the customers, but also for the fact that you can occasionally give joy or feeling to the people who live and breathe in these rooms through your design. It’s a great privilege and something I enjoy doing. “
Hong Kong Day
It’s a tough job and it wouldn’t be possible without your team, for which Bernerd is extremely grateful.
“It doesn’t end or start with us as chief architects or chief interior designers,” she says. “We’re part of the bigger picture … I’d like to say a big thank you to my team because we’ve all morphed into what we’re doing now, Zooms, and we’ve done really well.”
Currently, Bernerd and her team are working with Fort Capital to build the next four seasons in Fort Lauderdale, and with Frank Gehry and Related on a Los Angeles hotel.
“The hotel is confident, brave, energetic,” she says. “I like a lot of different areas, from the lobby to the arrival area to some of the guest suites. [which] are amazing. If I can travel I look forward to getting there. I believe. We do everything we can to ensure that it is really authentic and that is the story of all of our projects. “
Thompson Hollywood rooftop pool deck
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Photography courtesy of Tara Bernard & Partners / Raphael Faux Gstaad Photography / Dennis Lo
