Hotel DeBrett by Michelle Deery and John Courtney

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uilt in 1841, and one of Auckland’s first hotels, owners and designers Michelle Deery and John Courtney have revived one of the city’s oldest properties – now finding itself in the heart of Auckland’s super-hip fashion district. However, the talented duo haven’t succumbed to the trend obsessions of the hotel’s neighborhood, instead opting for Art Deco charm at the small but perfectly formed Hotel DeBrett. Rebuilt following a fire in 1925, many of the original features have been retained, whilst elsewhere 1950s furnishings and retro materials give this splendid boutique hotel a charming, warm atmosphere that the stark modernism of so many other hotels simply fail to offer.

With an atrium for sociable lounging and a drawing room with an enviable selection of books, DVDs and retro board games, the DeBrett feels less like a traditional hotel and more like the home of an extremely hip antipodean relative. The ever-attentive owners, John Courtney and Michelle Deery, are both authentic tastemakers — Ms. Deery even served as the hotel’s interior designer — and they’d be very cool relatives to have.

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It’s got a distinctive look, which is all you can ask of a hotel designer — it starts from the ground up, in a way: Deery’s vividly patterned carpets will have you wondering what’s supposed to be so special about hardwood floors anyway. With twenty-five rooms it’s intimate, and the mid-century furnishings mesh with the Art Deco architecture to create a visual atmosphere that’s as fully realized as any urban boutique hotel. It’s sophisticated, to be sure, but New Zealanders seem to be congenitally incapable of snobbery — so cool, here, is anything but cold.

Source : Hotel DeBrett, weheart