Interior designer Goddard Littlefair completed the first phase of refurbishment of the Hilton Hotel, Budapest. The refurbishment includes some of the hotel’s public areas, including the reception, lounge, lobby bar and executive lounge; along with renovated bedrooms and linking corridor areas.
The second phase of development is to be completed later this spring, and will include the 136 guestrooms on the north side of the hotel, along with a new separate, lower ground floor entrance for group check-in.
The final phase will include the ballroom, gym, meeting rooms and the remaining 264 guestrooms on the hotel’s south side, together with the presidential suite.
The new hotel interior uses a palette of silvers and gold, combined with accent colors. There are also dark timber, brass inlays, black and white granite, and a range of bespoke furniture and fabrics. A number of art installations are also featured, commissioned for the project from local Hungarian artists and specialist maker studios.
The dominant color scheme for the public areas is made up of a neutral base with layers of gold and silver, plus accent colors for different areas, ranging from blues to greens to mustards and purples. The remaining material palette includes granite, dark timber, walnut and verre eglomisé. The colors in the reception are slightly more restrained, with blues and velvets used to distinguish the lounge area.
The entrance was replaced by three smaller desks, set on timber bases with surrounds in black granite and frontispieces in halo-lit dark timber with a geometric-pattern gold metal inlay. Meanwhile, the wall behind reception was inlaid with a series of vertical panels in silvered glass, which were handpainted in art nouveau style with a wisteria illustration by Hungarian Rákosy Glass.
The lobby bar has fabric-wrapped walls and a geometric blue and green patterned carpet, with the bar itself clad in leather with timber and glass detailing.
Guestrooms take on the colors of the public space interiors, using them in a softer tone. Flooring is in timber-effect ceramic, along with carpeted areas, while fabric panels were used for the bed headboard. Other elements include mirrors, timber, faux leather wall panels and doors in a textured timber-effect laminate.
The hotel, which is part of the Danubius Hotels Group, is located directly alongside St Matthias Church.
