Imagine a hotel room that can travel around the world, following its clients to business meetings, festivals or sporting events, no matter how inaccessible. The French hotel group AccorHotels has been experimenting with such a nomadic accommodation concept called ‘Flying Nest'.
Designed by Ora-ïto, the rooms are shipping containers finished in eco-friendly wood for a cosy chalet-like feel. Each one is 12 sq m, with a living area, private bathroom and large picture window that frames the landscape and offers stunning views from one’s bed. Modules are connected by terraces that invite guests to intermingle. The accommodations are self-sufficient, whether perched on a mountaintop or in the middle of the desert.
AccorHotels’ Global SVP Design Multibrand, Damien Perrot, calls Flying Nest a hospitality concept for the future, saying: 'We worked on creating an immersive experience more than just a room'.
Until now, the hotel group has literally been road-testing the concept with the plan to roll it out to the wider public. In March 2017, they placed a prototype in Clairefontaine, where France’s national football team trains, and invited a handful of fans to sleep steps from their idols. It then travelled to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Ora-ito was one of the guests. ‘I stayed up all night watching the cars race by, six metres away from my bed,' he recalls.
Last summer, it touched down at the Rencontres d’Arles photography festival, where it was placed on a temporary beach with a DJ, bar and food trucks. In September it went to the Agora biennial art festival in Bordeaux.
This winter, Flying Nest will have its first public outing, 1,800 metres up in the air at the Avoriaz ski resort, allowing guests to simply roll out of bed and onto the slopes.
the rooms are shipping containers covered with eco-friendly wood for a cosy chalet-like feel
Each one is 12 square metres, with a living area, private bathroom and large picture window that frames the landscape and offers stunning views from one’s bed
Until now, the hotel group has literally been road testing the concept with the plan to roll it out to the larger public. Pictured at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Ora-ito was one of the guests. 'I stayed up all night watching the cars race by, six metres away from my bed,' he recalls
This winter, Flying Nest will have its first public outing, 1,800 metres up in the air at the Avoriaz ski resort, allowing guests to simply roll out of bed and onto the slopes
INFORMATION
-
John Cage’s ‘now moments’ inspire Lismore Castle Arts’ group showLismore Castle Arts’ ‘Each now, is the time, the space’ takes its title from John Cage, and sees four artists embrace the moment through sculpture and found objects
-
Architects collaborate on geometric extension to radically re-shape a London houseMediterranean influences, earthy tones and quirky angles abound in this geometric extension and the soaring living spaces of this reconfigured Victorian townhouse
-
‘What a Fantastic Machine’: new film explores the camera, pop culture and human behaviourMaximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson’s new film, ‘And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine’, dissects the role of the camera in popular culture
-
24 hours in Copenhagen: stay, bike, dine, and discover Danish designPlan your 24 hours in Copenhagen: sleepover in a former brewery, wake up with a wild swim, and immerse yourself in the home of a modernist master
-
Peter Beard’s biographer, Christopher Wallace, on writing the wild life of the quintessential Twentieth-Century ManAuthor Christopher Wallace traces the footsteps of the original playboy-artist-activist Peter Beard, travelling from Kenya, to the Serengeti, Cassis and beyond
-
Estelle Manor is a chic take on the hotel and country clubEstelle Manor, a transformed Grade II-listed house and estate in Oxfordshire, welcomes guests with Roman and Williams interiors, parasols by the pool, and a soon-to-open tepidarium
-
Off-beat eco-lodge Sun Ranch opens in the Byron Bay hinterlandThe 1970s-inspired Sun Ranch estate has been envisioned by a collective of friends from Australia’s fashion and hospitality scenes
-
Maroma, A Belmond Hotel, Riviera Maya opens following a major redesignOn the Yucatán Peninsula, the new-look Maroma showcases local craftsmanship and Mayan tradition with interiors led by interior architecture studio Tara Bernerd & Partners
-
A weekend in wonderful CopenhagenThe ultimate weekend in Copenhagen starts here: discover the latest openings across the UNESCO World Capital of Architecture, stay in a hotel afloat, start your day with brilliant baked goods and ski down a power-station piste
-
The Largo brings craftsmanship and creativity to PortoThe Largo is the latest hospitality offering in Portugal's second city, conceived as an elevated residence with an art programme that connects it to the city’s creative community
-
Louis Vuitton opens its summertime café in Saint-TropezThe Louis Vuitton café in Saint-Tropez combines the brilliance of Michelin-starred chef Arnaud Donckele and pastry chef Maxime Frédéric for a one-of-a-kind Mediterranean feast
