Hotel Magnolia — Santiago, Chile

The former palatial home of an old Chilean political family has just emerged from a two-year renovation as a 42-room hotel. Located in Santiago’s atmospheric El Centro neighbourhood, the original three-storey residence was built in 1929 by architect Eduardo Costabal Zegers. In one of those happy twists of fate, nearly 90 years later, it turns out that one of his relatives Cazú Zegers was commissioned for the renovation works.
Zegers has added three new floors, disguising the addition behind a glass façade printed with an image of the lower floors. An airy network of glass walkways and ceilings, and light wells brighten dark corners, whilst the building’s original floorboards now clad the walls of passageways.
The result is a light harmony between the original bones and modern insertions. Photographer turned designer Carolina Delpiano walks a similarly fine line as she and a corps of Chilean artists including Zegers herself, Macarena Illanes and Ivan Carrion recreated the original harlequin tiled floors with marble, hand-painted headboards festooned with Chilean flora and fauna, and reproductions based on the original stained glass windows, and clad the rooms with eucalyptus timber.
A 7th-floor rooftop bar offers views of Santa Lucia and greater Santiago, while executive chef Claudio Zuñiga dishes out seasonal Chilean specialties like conger eel soup and Patagonian lamb draped in a velvety Carménère wine jus.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Nothing pitches itself into the premium realm with its new flagship Nothing Phone (3)
The Nothing Phone (3) is a serious creative tool that brings fresh design, new features and a commitment to keeping tech fun
-
Nothing takes its first step into high-end audio with the new over-ear wireless Headphone (1)
Created in partnership with KEF, the Nothing Headphone (1) is designed to shake up the sector and present over-ear audio in a wholly new way
-
In Copenhagen, Charlotte Taylor gave us a glimpse into the mess of real life
At 3 Days of Design, Charlotte Taylor staged ‘Home from Home’, a group exhibition in collaboration with Noura Residency, showcasing the chaos of the everyday, from unmade beds to breakfast leftovers
-
The world's most heavenly destinations for astrotourism in 2025
We're in for a big year for celestial events. These are the world's best hotels to see the cosmos as you've never seen it before
-
Villa One at the One & Only Palmilla — Los Cabos, Mexico
-
Twin Chilean cabins win Best Retreat: Wallpaper* Design Awards 2021
Cabañas Maralto, a duo of holiday cabins in Chile designed by Croxatto & Opazo, scoop a Wallpaper* Design Award 2021
-
Martim — Wroclaw, Poland
-
Tattersalls Hotel — Armidale, Australia
-
KLoé Hotel — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
-
Casa Hoyos — San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
-
Littlenap — Hangzhou, China