Photo: Christian Kretschmar for JOI-Design.
The new brand Arborea Resorts debuts with concepts rooted in shared adventures and memories.
HAMBURG – JOI-Design has created the interiors and design guidelines for the world’s first Arborea Resort: a new hotel brand aimed at encouraging guests to come together and share holiday experiences of nature, sports and discovery. The Arborea Marina Resort Neustadt is located directly on the beach at the Baltic Sea’s largest private marina. Developer Orange Lion appointed interior architecture studio JOI-Design to transform its initial brand identity into a clearly recognisable design language that can be applied to any location in the group’s ambitious plans to have 19 new resorts in the next decade.
Arborea Resorts’ Brand Identity
Derived from the Latin word "arbor", which means "tree" in German, the name “Arborea" inspired the brand’s motto, which translates as "made from one wood – yet so different." All Arborea resorts are "carved from wood": they have the same values, yet feature different details individually adapted for their respective locations. With diverse sports activities, yoga spaces and fireplace lounges for chilling out, Arborea is a place where guests should feel like friends from home who go out, feel free to be themselves, and enjoy surprise adventures. The lack of hierarchy that defines the brand identity means guests should perceive employees as "pals". Everyone, whether staying at the hotel or not, is invited to join the young, laid-back community. Sustainability also features prominently, with all Arborea hotels to be fuelled by 100% green energy sources.
Arborea Marina Resort Neustadt Design Concept
JOI-Design’s concept for the Arborea Marina Resort Neustadt was developed to promote casual conversation. Making a grand impression upon arrival in the lobby’ is "The Stairs": an amphitheatre that invites visitors to perch on its large wooden steps. The tiered platforms easily adapt according to guests’ needs. Colourful, strategically-placed cushions create seating “constellations” for playing board games or planning activities with new friends met at the breakfast buffet. Integrated rugs made from recycled fishing nets support the brand’s commitment to sustainability and the rising steps’ suggestion of incoming tides at the coastal locale.
Natural materials and palettes evoke relaxing connections to the outdoors. Pale shades of timber mixed with beige and taupe tones form a canvas for cheerful splashes of colour and pattern. Guests are free to rearrange the diverse types of seating, encouraging them to feel at home in the informal ambience.
Directly in front of the amphitheatre is the reception desk, which doubles as a bar where those arriving are checked in by a bartender who helps start the festivities.
The entry lounge’s freestanding fireplace by the bar offers a cosy sanctuary to warm up and reminisce about the day’s energetic activities in the fresh air. The adjacent space is home to the first of the hotel’s two restaurants, the vibrantly coloured Deli Cara. Should they wish, guests are invited to join the open kitchen and learn for themselves how to prepare the recipes on the menu.
Next to Deli Cara is Arborea’s second restaurant, The Grand Grand Grill, which overlooks the harbour. Patterned mosaic tiles on the counter façade and the floor meet dark-stained timber parquet and clean-lined dining furniture, resulting in a modern, industrial and loft-like elegance. It too has an open kitchen where employees interact with guests to strengthen the sense of community.
Away from the culinary delights, the basement offers a completely different experience. Muted colours, dim lights and rustic materials add flair to The Docks. This is bar where tinkerers’ dreams come true, as it features a real workbench where people can repair into the evening hours.
The ground level above holds the conference area. In a relaxed atmosphere with flexible seating and a football table, creativity unfolds in the best possible way. The marina setting is reflected here, too, with colourful ship propellers found by local fishermen adorning the boardroom’s decoratively-painted red wall.
Contemporary, practical and uncomplicated, the guestrooms’ design enhances the flow between indoors and outside. The bed’s unconventional orientation towards the window, versus the typical hotel room’s space-saving configuration along the opposite wall, encourages holidaymakers to truly switch off and soak up the soothing panorama of the sea, harbour and marina.
The picturesque views are truly “framed” as if art in the bedroom, with the window’s oversized timber surround integrated with a bench where guests can relax, read or sleep. Designed with hinges and two handles, the seat unfolds to become a daybed offering further space to lounge – especially advantageous for families. An adjustable work and dining table in the framed window niche brings additional practicality for checking emails, writing postcards, waking up to a leisurely breakfast, or savouring a nightcap.
Extending the wall paint onto the ceiling envelops guests with a sense of restorative protection as they unwind from their active days. Reminders of the sporting adventures offered by the resort are woven into the décor. For example, a paddle on the wall becomes a quirky touch; fitted with a flexible strip for hanging clothes, it provides extra storage space for those with overstuffed suitcases.
JOI-Design’s cohesive and thorough concept for the Arborea Marina Resort Neustadt has created a comprehensive immersion encouraging guests to connect with nature, family and friends, and themselves.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
