The latest addition to London’s luxury landmark addresses is the Rafayel on the Left Bank hotel. TFA looks at how the scheme combines the latest in high-tech room accessories with a green aesthetic.
Situated within Battersea’s award-winning Falcon Wharf Development, the 65-room, three-storey, five star Rafayel on the Left Bank is an eco-conscious luxury boutique hotel on the banks of the Thames. Every aspect of the Rafayel carefully marries the finest in high-end hotel living with the very latest in environmental technology in a scheme that has been designed from the ground up to be green.
With five tiers of room level available, from the Mississippi rooms all the way up to the top-end Nile suites, every option offers pure luxury in terms of design and facilities, with free Wi-Fi, touch control glass panels for door access, lighting and air conditioning control, Internet room service and housekeeping, plus room automation available as standard.@page_break@
Guests can luxuriate in lather before the bathroom’s 32-inch in-wall Philips Ambilight waterproof LCD TV installed by Videotree, or hook up their laptop, DVD player, games consoles, digital camera or MP3-player to the room’s MediaHub, making use of the bathroom and bedroom’s discreet in-ceiling speakers to enjoy quality sound.@page_break@
Step up rooms also include free access to the hotel’s lavish Well Being Spa and gym, along with discounted dining at the award-winning restaurant and brasserie. Add in a library area for those wishing to work outside of the comfort of their rooms and the Rafayel on the Left Bank offers all the five-star traveller could ever want.
Behind the cool, contemporary confines of the rooms, spa and restaurant beats the green heart of the Rafayel on the Left Bank. All furnishings and fittings are recycled, recyclable and energy efficient, with the aim to make the Rafayel on the Left Bank’s impact on the environment as minimal as possible.@page_break@
Philips has designed the hotel’s architectural lighting schemes to enhance mood and aesthetics, making use of low energy lamps to make the hotel lighting some 80% more efficient than average. There is low energy consumption air conditioning installed and a heat recovery system that transfers heat generated in certain areas for use elsewhere in the hotel. Cutting edge ventilation facilitates 70% heat recovery.
Landscaping features include a specially planted bamboo grove which releases 35% more oxygen than an equivalent area of trees. Grey water systems use captured rainfall to water the terraces and for general plant irrigation.
The hotel has an eco-friendly drycleaners, zero-carbon footprint beds, a full recycling program with no landfill, a no plastic policy and electronic only newspapers. Furnishings include synthetic wood veneer doors and recycled leather seating.