The Grand Summit Hotel has a long and storied history. Located in northern New Jersey, this independent hotel offers authenticity, from its intricate exterior brickwork evocative of a Tudor mansion to a lobby that features a vaulted beamed ceiling, gold-leaf detailing, chestnut woodwork and a stone fireplace. Now, the property has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation that includes 107 renovated guestrooms and suites in its original 1929 building, complementing a modern, trendy vibe with the hotel’s original glamour.
Hotel Depot Services (HDS), a full-service FF&E design and procurement company based in South Plainfield, NJ, which employs four in-house designers and a senior CAD architect, was awarded a contract to redesign and refurnish The Grand Summit Hotel.
Olga Kuczynski, an in-house designer for HDS, noted that the inspiration for the project evolved as she dug deeper into the design. “Initially my inspiration for The Grand Summit Hotel was the building’s history and charm,” she said. “While researching the architecture, I came across many castles and palaces in Europe that used lavender as a color to decorate their interiors. Lavender was the color of royalty, and I wanted to incorporate that into the guest experience.”
Lavender is used as an accent color along a very natural color palette: Ivory and shades from beige to cream, Kuczynski said.
“The new guestrooms are elegant and calming with a luxurious feel and attention to small details,” she added. “For example, we focused on adding more lighting in the rooms, not only to serve the purpose of rest, but also the functionality for working at a desk or reading a book at the lounge chair.”
One key moment of the design is the artwork in the guestrooms, Kuczynski said. “It is the one thing that is modern and bold whereas the remaining elements are subdued and neutral,” she said.
The ambiance continues outside of the guestrooms. “The style of furniture that is used in the guest rooms is modest but luxurious. Moving through the corridors and into the lobby, we provided plush carpet with touches of deep lavender to make sure that aesthetic wasn’t lost,” Kuczynski said.
“As a reminder of the hotel’s history, we included photography of the hotel and the town of Summit in the first-floor corridors and the reception desk,” she added. “Our intention was to show the hotel’s historical appearance and how far it has come to meet the needs of the 2020 customer. The seating arrangements in the lobby are upholstered with a variety of beautiful complementing colors.”
On a personal note, Kuczynski’s favorite element is the chandeliers in the lobby. “They give the rustic ceiling a modern look and create a very comforting space with the warm light they provide,” she said. “My favorite feature is the ability to stay connected and charge devices at almost every place you sit, which is very important to the modern traveler.”
