Inside a Three-Story Oasis of Serenity In Naples, Florida

Spanning about the length of a Manhattan city block, the three-story MHK Architecture structure for this 150-key AC Hotels Naples 5th Avenue locale by DLR Group showcases luxurious materials with a casual touch—refined but not rarified. AC Hotels by Marriott properties are typically found in metropolitan locations. “This one, located steps from the Gulf of Mexico, marks a milestone, debuting as one of the first for the leisure-focused guest,” Marriott International VP of global design strategies Aliya Khan notes. “We merged biophilic concepts and architectural rigor,” says Valentina Castellon, who led the project with Rebecca Buchmeier; both are DLR principals and hospitality leaders.

The monolithic reception desk is green onyx, for example, while the white-oak wall behind it is carved to imitate the twined roots of the bald cypress trees found throughout the region. Similar forms of radial or sinuous ripples are found on rugs, timber ceilings, and in the winding configuration of the prefunction room’s conical pendant fixtures. In the lobby, columns clad in either sage porcelain tile or smoked mirrored glass act as a portal framing a poplar David LeCheminant sculpture, a sentinel of sorts that keeps watch over guests.