Everything about Wellington’s new boutique Naumi Studio Hotel is devilishly bold – but then, opening newly renovated doors into an industry rocked by the pandemic is not for the faint-hearted.
Singapore-based company Naumi owns seven hotels, including another in Wellington, each with an idiosyncratic design concept that interplays with the building it finds itself in, and this studio hotel on Cuba St is no exception.
Down the rabbit hole
From the moment you step into its sparkling elevator – literally wallpapered in glitter – you will be immersed in myriad patterns, shapes and colours.
A guest could get lost here. Not in its long traditional corridors, but in the complexity of its decor. It will not be for everyone but will be a welcome adventure for some.
If you are an Instagram tourist, the hotel has a hundred carefully colour-coordinated photo opportunities for you. If you prefer clean minimalism, then you will need to find your white walls elsewhere; this is the land of extravagance and intrigue.
“It’s a little like Alice in Wonderland, everywhere you look there is something different,” says Chris McIntosh, Naumi Hotels’ chief operating officer.
Auckland-based interior design and architecture firm Material Creative has overseen redecorating the heritage-listed building with a colourful twist. It drew inspiration from the Edwardian property and the bohemian culture that surrounds it to create the feeling of an alternative history.
The hotel has a fictional backstory in which the first owner, Lady Naumi, was in love with a merchant sailor who never returned from his final voyage. It is decorated with a nautical aesthetic, full of books, oddities and objects the pair have supposedly collected on their travels — coded messages are stowed across the ornamentation like love notes.
Embedded in the concrete at the hotel’s entrance are the words, “Come inside, it feels better.”
McIntosh says he hopes a more conservative customer might take the words at face value, while younger, more worldly guests might catch the suggestive double entendre Lady Naumi intends for her long-awaited lover.
Naumi Studio Hotel reception
Dining and drinking
The entire hotel takes a rather wicked approach to design. The private dining room, in the yet-to-be-completed Lola Rouge restaurant, is painted floor to ceiling in a dark blood red. It is almost certain Cruella de Vil has already eaten there, Dalmatian fur draped over her shoulders.
When the restaurant does open next year, it hopes to attract diners from Wellington’s Cuba St, not just storybook villains and hotel guests.
The menu is still being pieced together by McIntosh, but a sneak preview revealed Asian fusion shareable plates with the same signature bravado as the decor. There was a salmon tikka masala served on a mini roti, spring rolls filled with roast duck, and sweet and sour fried chicken. There is a wine list, of course, but the bar staff an ‘ask for anything’ approach to cocktails, and you’ll order something bold if Naumi’s enchantment is working. Try the lychee mojito.
Nod to the past
While the mythical story of Lady Naumi is entertaining, it buries the true and more useful story of the hotel. It was built in 1907 by the Salvation Army and called the ‘People’s Palace’ — the Sallies’ name for their cheap, liquor-free hotels.
The building that houses Naumi Studio is the only survivor of three hotels owned by the Sallies that were used as a housing refuge for the poor and as affordable accommodation for travelling working-class people.
This history is truer to the hotel’s nature. Underneath its extravagant trappings, it is at heart a competitive-price option. Unless you are in the executive suite, the rooms are compact — albeit very comfortable, with Egyptian-cotton bedding, a rain shower, Wi-Fi, and Netflix on tap.
A Naumi junior suite
Naumi expects many guests to be solo corporate travellers who want to stay somewhere other than a soulless hotel chain.
Nelson-based graphics company Art Dept designed a gold-leaf floral backdrop to sit behind reception, the floor is lushly carpeted with custom rugs by artist Karl Maughan, and Angus Muir Design has decorated the lobby with a giant floral sculpture that catches the light.
If it is too early in the day to park up in the speakeasy-style Parlour bar, there is a sun-soaked sitting room in a green colour scheme that feels outdoorsy, while tipping its hat to art deco design.
Or a guest could venture out onto vibrant Cuba St, the iconic bohemian strip the hotel has drawn its inspiration from. With the avant-garde character of the precinct starting to wear off, the courageous Naumi Studio may be just the thing to help keep it alive.
naumihotels.com/studiowellington/
