Incredibly Cool Hotel Lobby Designs to Inspire You

Keep your eyes open, and you'll find design ideas everywhere. We've spotted new trends, personalized touches and unique decor in hotel lobbies around the world. One lobby that inspires us is the warm, welcoming space at Capella Shanghai, a resort in the Xuhui District. Arriving visitors stay in three-story villas or luxury residences spread out over a compound with 22 shikumen lanes, or stone gates. The hotel blends Eastern and Western decor and architexture; the lobby offers guests curated artwork and books on fashion, wine and lifestyles.

Give your rooms and spaces a sense of luxury. In the Waldorf Astoria Park City, a resort in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, a stunning Baccarat crystal chandelier illuminates the lobby. Upholstered chairs and couches invite visitors to relax by the fireplace, which features a 300-year old mantle imported from southern Italy. It's flanked by handcarved, wooden stags.

Talk about elegance: once the Palazzo Bacchini delle Palme, this former palace, now the Palazzo Venart Luxury Hotel, has been restored to its 16th-century grandeur. The opulent lobby of this hotel, one of The Leading Hotels of the World, boasts a marble floor and marble staircases, elaborate plasterwork and historic frescoes. To mimic its feel of old elegance, use gilt mirrors and a carefully curated mix of antiques and contemporary furnishings.

Let your musical side come out to play. In the Westin Austin Downtown, located just steps away from the city’s 6th Street Entertainment District, the hotel rooms and lobby celebrate Austin as the "Live Music Capital of the World." Look closely, and you’ll see the cutouts from a Dobro guitar in the lobby ceiling and vertical garden. There’s also a guitar-string staircase and guitar-pick artwork. Even the ballroom floors are decorated with the kind of prints you can find on guitar straps.