Aman, Bulgari, Rosewood — A Comparative Room Study
Three flagship hotels, three approaches to the primary suite. Where each gets the drapery exactly right, and where each leaves work on the table.
I checked into three flagship rooms in three cities inside a single month — Aman Tokyo, Bulgari Milan, Rosewood Hong Kong — for the express purpose of studying the drapery. Same room category, same price tier, three completely different specification philosophies.
Aman Tokyo is the masterclass in restraint. A single sheer layer at the window, ceiling-mounted in a recessed pocket, motorized, silent. The blackout is a separate engineered shade — not drapery at all. The room is dark at noon because the architecture committed to it at the framing stage. This is the standard.
Bulgari Milan is the masterclass in finish. Heavy interlined Italian wool, hand-tacked French pleats, hardware that disappears behind a soffit detail finished as if it were millwork. The room is not dark — the drapery does not pretend to be a blackout — but the panel itself is the most beautiful thing in the suite.
Rosewood Hong Kong is the masterclass in motorization. Three independent layers — sheer, privacy, blackout — every one motorized, every one controlled from a single bedside keypad with named scenes. The room reads at any hour because the controls were specified before the fabric was selected.
The takeaway for residential work in Los Angeles: pick the one of the three philosophies that fits the room and commit. The mistake homeowners make is asking for all three in one suite, and the result is always a compromise none of these hotels would tolerate.
Olga Rechdouni is the principal designer of House of Drapery and a consulting specialist on custom drapery for the residential interiors of Los Angeles. She is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and works privately with homeowners, interior designers, and architects.