Hotels are designed to take a beating: Everything that goes into them, from building materials to bedding, has to be not only exceedingly comfortable but also resilient. What looks great day after day?and even gets better over time"
For advice, we turned to hotelier Ray Pirkle, a hospitality pro and aesthete who earned his creds working for Ian Schrager and Amy Sacco, among others. Ray is currently co-owner of Hudson, New York’s Rivertown Lodge, a former movie house that he transformed with Workstead design into lodgings that are as fresh looking as they are cozy?see A Hotel with a Sense of Place. Here are Rays’s tips.
Photography by Matthew Williams, unless noted.
1. Iron Accents

Above: When selecting materials, think about how things will look going forward,” advises Ray. “You want everything to gain a positive patina.” Toward that end, the lobby at Rivertown Lodge has Workstead-designed iron firewood racks flanking a Morso stove. The coffee table legs are also iron. 2. Wool Upholstery

Above:  Ray sourced the sturdy vintage seating from eBay and added wool upholstery that’s “both soft and strong and surprisingly easy to clean.”
3. Matte-Finished Wood Floors

Above: Dark wood floors tend to show more dirt and scratches than light wood floors, according to Ray. In the Rivertown Inn, he spec’ed Scandi-style bleached European oak from LV Wood’s Hakwood collection, and after considering severa...