Sleep in a Chocolate Factory: Rest Your Head in These Post-Industrial Hotels
Auto plant. Paper factory. Pharmaceutical lab. These likely do not conjure up images of chic overnight abodes — until now.
Originally created for reasons that had zero to do with luxury, vintage industrial buildings are fast becoming home to some of the world’s most unforgettable hotels.
Related: The Readers’ Choice Awards: Top-Rated Hotels and Resorts in the World
When these spaces were originally built, function came first. Rooms were light-filled (think huge windows so workers could see), airy (soaring ceilings to give the sense of openness), and rock-solid (stone, brick, timber) — all structural elements that today make for spectacular renovated spaces.
For a unique stay, check out our international list of hotels that used to be something altogether different.
The Singular Patagonia: Chile
(Photo: The Singular Hotels)
The brand-new 57-room Singular Patagonia hotel is a testament to innovation in renovation. Set in a post-Victorian 1915 Borias Cold Storage Plant, which processed millions of sheep, the property has been resurrected by family members of the original pioneers who built the factory. A walk to your room is more like a museum tour, taking you past the original steam engine that provided the cold for the freezers (the same mechanism used on the Titanic and the Tower of London).
The Singular’s restaurant benefits from the industrial vibe. (Photo: The Singular Hotels)
The dining room, bar, and breakfast rooms were part of the tannery where the skins were processed. And the stunning guestroom wing was constructed using recycled stone and brick from the original structure. Just added: an authentic barbecue restaurant set in a 100-year-old blacksmith’s forge.
Related: 9 New Hotels with Views So Sweet You Won’t Leave Your Room
Refinery Hotel: New York City
(Photo: Refinery Hotel)
Smack-dab in Manhattan’s Fashion District, the Refinery Hotel is a 1912 hat factory now transformed into a 197-room hotel reveling in its industrial heritage. The loftlike rooms have original oak-wood floors and custom-built furnishings (think leather and steel headboards). Opened in 2013, the Refinery Hotel is already a Fashion Week favorite, and its rooftop bar, complete with a fireplace, is a chic hangout for this generation’s most fashionable patrons, hat-wearing or not.
The Refinery is almost as well-known for its exterior scenery as its factory-style interior. (Photo: Refinery Hotel)
Residence Inn Boston Downtown/Seaport: Boston
(Photo: Residence Inn Marriott)
This newly renovated 120-room hotel has a sweet past: home of the New England Confectionery Co. factory, which produced the famous NECCO Wafers. When in operation, the smell of the cooking sugar filled the air of its now gentrifying Fort Point neighborhood. The six-story, red-brick structure was built in 1901, and the rooms all have 12-foot ceilings and exposed wooden beams.
The high ceilings and wooden beams make this a unique hotel room. (Photo: Residence Inn Marriott)
Sir Albert: Amsterdam
(Photo: Sir Albert)
Set in a canal-side structure that once housed a diamond-cutting factory, the luxurious 90-room Sir Albert hotel is in the heart of Amsterdam’s Latin Quarter, the city’s artists mecca. Though the history of the 1895-built building is glittery, the décor is modern and sleek, even softly masculine. Most of the guest rooms have huge, north-facing windows — good light was crucial to the diamond cutters who worked here once upon a time.
This used to be a diamond-cutting factory, but don’t rip the floor boards; the diamonds are long gone! (Photo: Sir Albert)
Roberts RiverWalk Hotel: Detroit
(Photo: Roberts Hotels Detroit)
Once known as “Building 55-Detroit Research,” Roberts Riverwalk Hotel is located in the country’s very first pharmaceutical lab. The 1873 structure built by Parke-Davis is now a 106-room and suite boutique property. With the hotel’s soaring 12-foot ceilings and Detroit River views, it’s hard not to feel relaxed — no prescription required.
You could get addicted to this hotel’s 19th century vibe. (Photo: Roberts Hotels Detroit)
Hotel NH Torino Lingotto, Turin, Italy
(Photo: NH Hotels)
It doesn’t get more industrial chic than this: an Italian hotel set in a former Fiat auto plant. The classic sports car brand has long been celebrated for its sleek lines, all equally present in this Renzo Piano–designed Turin property. The factory, which first opened in 1923, is now a 240-room luxury hotel with rooms that include original floor-to-ceiling windows and new custom cherry-wood paneling. Art lovers should race to the top floor, home to the fantastic Giovanni and Marella Agnelli Gallery.
The rooms are much larger than the Fiats that were made in this former auto plant. (Photo: NH Hotels)
Sarotti-Hoefe Hotel: Berlin
(Photo: Holidaycheck.de)
Once home to the Sarotti Chocolate factory, this 1894-built structure combines the old (rough stone walls) and the new (oversized tubs and fine linens). Famous for its pralines and cacao-infused bonbons, the Sarotti brand still operates a confectionery counter in the hotel lobby, so you won’t have to venture far for your sugar fix.
Willy Wonka would approve. (Photo: Sarotti Houses Hotel & Leisure Ltd.)
The Paper Factory Hotel, Long Island City, Queens
(Photo: The Paper Factory Hotel)
This recently opened hotel is bringing much-needed lodging to the art-filled neighborhood of Long Island City (home to MoMA PS1 and an army of hipsters). The warm, rich design of the 122-room hotel includes hints of the building’s history as a paper factory, such as antique manufacturing equipment that decorates the common areas and the original hardwood floors in the guest rooms. Best part: The affordable rooms won’t lighten your wallet of too much paper.
(Photo: The Paper Factory Hotel)
Related: Condé Nast Traveler Reveals 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards
Let Yahoo Travel inspire you every day. Hang out with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
