A new kid on the block, Zone by The Park Bani Park, Jaipur seeks to establish a connection between its guests and the destination by creating a contemporary collage of the city and its traditions in its design By Rituparna Chatterjee
This is us. Social by design’, this bold statement of the brand – Zone by The Park Hotels – is aptly reflected in the design of its recently opened property – Zone by The Park Bani Park, Jaipur. Drawing from The Park Hotels’ design philosophy, the design concept of Zone by The Park Hotels envisions creating interactive series of buzzing spaces using contemporary design with creative interiors, multifunctional spaces, restaurants, and bars to cater to the requirements of today’s tech savvy millennial. “Our hotel is built on three brand values – social, nimble and at ease. We are a social hotel for we offer complimentary Wi-Fi to all our guests – both in-house and walk-in. We are nimble for our efficient and quick services. And we keep our guests at ease by merging different spaces together to ensure a free-flow of traffic,” opines Harish Kumar, director of operations, Zone by The Park Bani Park, Jaipur.
Project Orange, a London-based design studio, was roped in to give shape to this design concept across all hotels under the Zone by The Park Hotels brand, including the Jaipur property. The hotels had to have a contemporary, chic and global look with several common design elements connecting them together. “The official colours chosen by the design studio for all hotels across this brand were orange and grey. So one will find these two colour palettes running throughout the hotel’s interior design and the staff uniform, and also across other existing and upcoming hotels under the brand,” mentions Kumar.
Boasting of 47 rooms across four different categories – Zone Room, Zone Trio, Zone Quad and Zone Suite – the hotel’s guestrooms have been divided into different areas of activity. A large piece of black oak joinery with coloured recesses create the Dream Zone; a designed desk encompassing the mini bar, tea tray and TV connectivity points form the Work/Play Zone; and the ‘shower only’ bathroom becomes the Wash Zone. The property is also equipped with a 2500 sq ft banquet hall for weddings, conferences and events, and a 500 sq ft business centre. Vitalia, the gym and spa enables guests to explore the hotel’s wellness and fitness offerings as well.
Local flavour
The design of Zone by The Park Bani Park, Jaipur seeks to establish a connect between its guests and the destination by creating a contemporary collage of the city and its traditions in its design. These contemporary collages can be witnessed, for instance, across the hotel’s three food and beverage outlets – Bazaar, a multi-cuisine theme restaurant; Alfresco, a multi-cuisine open-air restaurant; and Playa by Zone, a roof-top bar. Creative elements such as the Zone auto, a street cart, a smoothie bar and an outdoor terrace, are among the few attractions of the Bazaar, which lends this hotel a contemporary yet local feel. “Since Jaipur is called the Pink City, the Zone auto is painted pink in colour with Rajasthani artwork on it,” points out Kumar. The destination’s lesser-known sights also find prominence in the hotel’s interiors. “Jaipur receives a sizeable number of leisure traffic. Places like Hawa Mahal, Amber Fort, City Palace are well-known and popular among travellers, but we wanted our guests to explore the lesser known sights of the destination. Upon entering the elevator, on one side of the wall one can find a list of ’10 Things To Do in Jaipur’ which includes a curated list of not-so-popular sights ranging from historical monuments and sweet shops to temples and natural parks. While on the opposite wall is the map for the Pink City Walk,” explains Kumar, adding that their unqiue concierge service – Zoogle – is a one-point contact for all their guests seeking suggestions about the city and information on the hotel. “Concierge is a typical word and since we are a modern hotel, we decided to call our concierge service – Zoogle. Like Google, Zoogle addresses all our guests’ queries,” adds Kumar. Though the design of the hotel is chic, it is occasionally intercepted with traditional elements like a large, ornate chandelier adorning the ceiling of one of the hotel’s meeting rooms. “At the time we signed the contract with the hotel owners, the structure of the hotel was already 95 per cent complete. When you consider the interiors for a hotel, you have to see what physical additions have already been done and you have to work around it,” he explains.
The connecting dots on the glass walls of the hotel’s lobby is yet another unique design element. “The connecting dots signify that the hotel is constantly connected to its guests and also to other hotels under Zone by The Park Hotels,” explains Kumar.