Puro Hotel — Gdansk, Poland

With a winning formula that fuses cutting-edge technology and dynamic design-led aesthetics, hip Polish hotel brand Puro, is fast establishing itself as the hospitality group to watch. It’s latest offering – the fourth after Wroclaw, Krakow and Poznan – is located in the coastal city of Gdansk, along the banks of the Motlawa River on the city’s Granary Island- a district decimated during the World War II, but now a prized location after a quiet period of regeneration. Local agency KD Kozikowski Design was charged with the property’s structural architecture, while the interiors –which pay tribute to the area’s industrial past – are the result of London-based partners Desalles Flint; hanging light fittings in the lobby provide visual cues to the cranes and pulleys of the city’s maritime heritage, while natural fibres such as linen and cotton reference the area’s old grain warehouses. The artworks, curated and commissioned by art agency Double Decker, provide ready-made ice breakers for boozy conversations at the hotel’s polished bar and restaurant.