TORONTO — The Le Germain Hotel Toronto is gearing up to unveil its full suite of 123 newly redesigned guestrooms next spring, and the Quebec-based company treated media to a special preview yesterday afternoon to discover which design trends inspired the boutique property’s room reinvention.

Co-president Christiane Germain, GM Nicolas Lazarou and designer Louise Dupont of Montreal’s LemayMichaud Architecture Design engaged the audience of 30 journalists in a Q&A session that revealed the inspiration behind the revamp. “Design surrounds us, therefore inspiration comes from everywhere — even nature,” described Germain. “Sometimes in nature you see colours you would not think match well, but they do. It’s harmonious. It just works. As an example, a helicopter trip I took in the Grand Canyon 10 years ago inspired the original colour palette of warm caramel tones for Le Germain Hotel Toronto.”

Now, the Le Germain features contrasting colours, textures and a special focus on lighting to create different effects within the room. “Lighting is evolving so fast. Maybe six years ago we wouldn’t have thought to redo a whole room using only LED lights, but now it’s so common in the market, you wouldn’t think of using another source,” said Dupont, whose firm has worked with Groupe Germain for nearly 35 years, designing both the Le Germain and Alt brands. “LED gives us new opportunities to create a [new] environment,” she added. To create the illusion of a bigger room, the team installed a concealed LED system around the perimeter that envelops the room in light, and added new light sources at the work desk and bathroom.

“One big direction was to make the room brighter, more vibrant, playing with high contrast, keeping the flavour of the old but bringing it to a new light and a new standard. We worked a lot with contrast — very shiny material in contrast with dark felt material,” Dupont explained. Textures range from charcoal-coloured felt on the walls to deepen the acoustics of the room, to a stark white centerpiece made of featherweight wood fibres hanging over the bed, complementing the porcelain, white, charcoal and dark brown colour palette.

The spa-inspired bathroom, too, is illuminated with help from the adjoining window that opens into to the bedroom. Inside, a custom-made, moulded vanity made of Corian material, a shower with experiential rainfall showerhead and refillable Molton Brown bath products round out the offerings.

USB plugs were installed in each bedside table for easy access, along with a HDMI portal on the side of the worktable so guests can connect their computer to the TV.

The guestroom redesign is expected to be completed by next April.

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