09/17/2026
The St. Regis New York has just completed the renovation of its
rooms and suites—the final phase of a comprehensive transformation that includes its public spaces. With 120 years of history and a legacy directly linked to the Astor family, Champalimaud Design was given the industry’s most challenging brief: to renovate without erasing the past.
What does it mean to renovate without erasing?
The St. Regis is not just any hotel. It is a building that opened
in 1904 on Fifth Avenue in New York, conceived by the magnate
John Jacob Astor IV as “the best hotel in the world.” Over 120 years, it has accumulated history, personality, and expectations. Salvador Dalà lived there. The Bloody Mary was invented in its bar. Every guest arrives with a mental image of the place.
Champalimaud chose a palette of emeralds and reddish pink—
the Astor family’s favorite colors. Not as a decorative homage,
but as a language. Every design decision connected to something real in the building’s history.
Why does this matter for your next project?
When a space already has a history, art and design cannot
approach it with a blank slate. They arrive with questions.
What conversation is this place already having with its guests?
What can we add without interrupting it?
A successful renovation does not replace what existed.
It finds the thread—and continues it.
We break down this strategic approach on our blog. Read the full analysis at đź”— ls-artconsulting.com/the-role-of-art-in-hospitality-new-trends-for-luxury-hotels-and-resorts/