BRU BRU LODGE
By Altezza
the challenge
The client came to us with a few problems: their 11-room hotel was plagued by increasingly negative reviews on popular travel sites. They also had an urgent need to increase their revenue, and wanted to entice the general public with a public restaurant and bar that hotel clients would also be able to enjoy.
We were contracted to transform their dated backpacker hotel into an elevated boutique hotel experience. With limited accommodation options in the city, this prime-located hotel had the potential to become a gem in the region.
The outdoor dining space takes advantage of the lovely garden views. We also added a functional reception area for the staff and a comfortable waiting area for guests to use during check-in or other times during their stay. We focused on making the space enticing enough to draw guests out of their rooms to relax in the other common spaces in the hotel. Outside, the property had a lot of underutilized space which we wanted to take better advantage of. We enhanced some of the rooms by adding balconies and increased the lush garden spaces - improving guest experience and adding a unique selling point to the urban hotel.
The Solution
The client requested a contemporary take on a British Colonial aesthetic. The design required a lot of flexibility due to the different shapes and sizes of each room in the existing structure. During renovations we were able to add a fully functioning restaurant and bar that can host both guests of the property and the general public. With indoor and outdoor dining spaces, guests have a choice of where they will be most comfortable.
BEFORE
The Process
This project began with the development of a partial design concept for the full hotel renovation. We developed a series of mood boards with the client’s input and, once aligned, turned the mood board into sketches of the different spaces in the hotel. Once designs were approved, we began production on all furniture and decor in our Arusha-based workshop. Finally, we handled the full installation in all of the hotel spaces.
