The Best Western Premier Hotel and Spa – Pétion-Ville has opened as the first branded hotel in Haiti. Envisioned by Haitian brothers Chris and Stanley Handel and designed by Dallas-based Studio 11 Design, the hotel features seven stories and 106 rooms overlooking the Port Au Prince Bay.
Prior to the 2010 Haitian earthquake, the Handel Brothers and two other partners collaborated on the idea⎯⎯which spurred Best Western to buy the site. Like most other Haitian developments, the earthquake delayed the project for three years. In December of 2012, Studio 11 Design came in to create a clean and neutral design with a focus on local artwork and Haitian culture.
The designers worked with art consultant Pascale Theard and her team at 1804 Design to help source all of the artwork. The result: 580 local crafts and 42 homemade decorative art pieces, from 15 different workshops with and more than 100 artists and artisans. The works were crafted from materials such as recycled tires, oil barrels, forks, spoons, fans, metal, t-shirts, and Calabasha locally abundant gourd.
“We knew within a few hours of our first trip that this hotel had to incorporate the vibrant Haitian artisan community,” says Stacy Elliston, principal of Studio 11 Design. “These artists are a designers’ dream come true.”
“After long days out and about the streets of Haiti, we wanted the guest to enter a calm, clean, peaceful environment with the furniture and finishes while emphasizing the Haitian culture through their cleverly resourceful artwork,” adds principal Kellie Sirna. “We pulled our specification books apart to determine how we could do our part to keep the Haitian culture present within the community.”
Sirna and Elliston are currently underway on a 5-Star resort⎯⎯located between the U.S. and Canadian embassies⎯⎯that includes six themed suites and a helipad, as well as a private residence in the mountains of Port-au-Prince.
