Luxe Hospitality by Neal Prince Dazzles at NYSID

The Monte Carlo Suite inside the InterContinental London Park Lake.

The gallery at the

New York School of Interior Design

is hosting “Designing the Luxury Hotel: Neal Prince and the InterContinental Brand,” a retrospective honoring the designer’s role as a mover and shaker in hospitality from the 1960’s to the 1980’s.

As the founder of the Interior Design Division of

Pan American World Airways

, Neal Prince’s projects spanned the globe from the Middle East to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Prince’s prescient arrival at Pan-Am—just as the world hit the height of the jet age—coincided with the company’s launch of hotel brand

InterContinental

. At age 92, Prince continues to consult on projects today.

The restaurant interior of the Frankfurt InterContinental Hotel in Germany.

On view March 8 through April 26, the exhibition will focus on eight hotel interiors: Beirut, Frankfurt, Geneva, Bangkok, Tahiti, New York, London and Washington. Prince is best known for infusing Western tradition and expectations with native cultures. Whether his interiors included wood carvings by Ida Bagus Tilem in the Jakarta location, intricate wood screens in Pakistan, or custom furniture in Lebanon, he constantly searched for the opportunity to dazzle.

Les Nations restaurant at the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva, 1964.