the registration desk image © designboom

based on the japanese phenomenon of the love hotel, this pop up LLove hotel was created by eight japanese and dutch designers with themed rooms that are installations, where people can actually make a reservation and stay over night. initiated by amsterdam’s lloyd hotel, the project was to celebrate 400 years of trade and cultural relations ‘netherlands in japan 2008-2009’. the theme is ‘still in Llove’.

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 2 keys to the individual rooms image © designboom

the tokyo temporary hotel is located in the very central neighborhood of daikanyama and runs until 23 of november 2010. the big thing was the concept: to take this former bureaucratic housing block/artists studio and reinvent it as a modern love hotel. we were mainly swayed by the nice images of themed rooms, as pictured previously on designboom – and how can you beat 110 -180 USD per night during tokyo designers week, when other accommodations could easily be double that? we booked all double rooms, guest rooms 301 to 308, every night a different one, as every day rooms were open to the public and therefore we had to check in late (6 pm) for a little fantasy night and check out early (10 am). initially the experience was a bit like camping. without a table to prop our suitcase on or even a chair (forget a desk!), we were lost. then we got used to this lifestyle.

for some years the concept of the LLove hotel was on the mind of Lloyd hotel’s artistic director suzanne oxenaar. she had lived in japan for a few years and she was familiar with the japanese phenomenon of ‘love hotels’ and became fascinated by the concept of ‘selecting a room according to one’s mood’. oxenaar asked japanese architect jo nagasaka of sschemata for collaboration to choose the designers involved and to supervise the month-long works. after 20 years of abandon, the building got a severe makeover. LLove hotel opened on the 22 october, a forerun of a few days before tokyo designers week.

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we have lived in all doublerooms, guestrooms 301 to 308. room 302 by yuko nagayama. the female designer transformed her room into a sea of small pebbles furnished by plants here and there. lying down, looking outside, it feels like the border between inside and outside has disappeared.

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 3 photography: takumi ota

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 4 photography: takumi ota

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 5 image © designboom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 6 image © designboomtokyo llove hotel part 1 - 7 staircase to the sleeping area image © designboom

— jo nagasaka also designed a room, number 303 where he mounted the bed on a rotating disc, a piece of clockwork. he removed the rice paper from the sliding doors and left only the frames.

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 8 photography: takumi ota

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 9 image © designboom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 10 image © designboom

jo nagasaka shows the mechanism

— ryuji nakamara, designer of room 304, created a ‘water surface’ by dozens of fishing lines that run from wall to wall at height of ca. 50 centimeter from the floor level.

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 11 images © designboom

in the bed, looking up at the ‘low ceiling of lines’, we had the feeling of being under water where everything above is blurred. as one sits upright in the bed, the head through the surface, we were invited to play with the many childish accessories provided: coloured balls and rubber ducks.

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 12 image © designboom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 13 image © designboom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 14 images © designboom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 15 image © designboom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 16 images © designboom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 17 photography: takumi ota

— a complimentary breakfast, a private garden and a onsen-like bath (one for women and one for men) were also some nice features.

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 18 private garden image © designboom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 19 onsen-like bathroom

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 20 artistic illumination within the changing room image © designboom

— would we recommend Llove to you? YES, definitely, but only if you are not a business traveler and only if you are open to experiencing an atypical hotel. would we stay again? YES, but it’s too bad that the hotel won’t exist by the time we return to tokyo. this is only the first article, in part 2 and 3 we’ll continue to report from our stay at Llove hotel tokyo. please stay tuned.

tokyo llove hotel part 1 - 21 image © designboomcredits

organizers: embassy of the kingdom of the netherlands nara prefecture

concept director: suzanne oxenaar

architectural director: jo nagasaka

supervision: lloyd hotel & cultural embassy

executive committee: jo nagasaka, sschemata architecture office yoko shimada, Labo85 nobuyuki fukui, roovice florianne eshuis, , lloyd hotel & cultural embassy renate schepen, lloyd hotel & cultural embassy