Motel One Frankfurt-East Side, Frankfurt am Main | Germany

The budget design hotel group Motel One relies on short renovation intervals in order to present the buildings in a high-quality design over the long term. In the process, they follow the strategy of combining the corporate design that appears in all locations with individualisation using locally inspired elements. This is the case in the centrally positioned Motel One Frankfurt-East Side at Osthafenplatz, where veteran car fans are fully catered for. The hotel was opened in 2014 and given a redesign in 2020.

As a centre for veteran and modern vehicles, "car city Frankfurt" is a mecca for car lovers. This topic is reflected in the design of the newly designed Motel One Frankfurt East-Side. The automobiles have been placed in the scene in great detail, in the lounge and also in the neighbouring bar, work and breakfast areas. Large black-and-white photographs with original motifs from the 1930s to 1960s decorate the walls of the lounges and the guest rooms. For the design of the public areas, designed by Kristina Jenkel, interior designer in the Motel One design team, round forms, strong colours and glossy surfaces were used. The work area reminds you of a car repair shop: car headlights as luminaires, a lifting jack stand as a work bench, an original petrol pump and a sideboard that was previously used for storing screws provide a working atmosphere. The bar area, the core of the redesigned hotel, displays the beauty and perfection of form of veteran vehicles in large-scale, detailed photographs that flow together into an abstract surface. The leather-covered bar front, round chairs, photos of the first Grand Prix car races, tables printed with starting numbers and leather benches stitched like car seats likewise reflect the theme.

The guest rooms are in the constant Motel One design concept and the typical elements equipped in white, grey and turquoise. But even here, photographs of car holidays of past decades reflect the overriding theme. The electrical equipment with the simple classic among switches – the LS 990 in black and in white – integrates elegantly into the open furnishing concept. The switches and sockets are embedded into the furnishings to save space.