Rottet Studio Designs Luxurious Hotel
Lauren Rottet designs hotels and workplaces and residences all over the world, but she was born, raised, and educated in Texas and founded her now five-office firm there. So, when she offers up a nuanced description of Fort Worth, the burg of nearly 1 million located 30 miles west of Dallas, you know it’s a legit assessment. “Fort Worth is a quiet, unpretentious city with a lot of old money and stunning estates, and it’s also quite dynamic and social,” the Interior Design Hall of Fame member explains, adding that the college town has a devoted football fan base and major game-day culture (Texas Christian University’s Horned Frogs were Big 12 champs in 2023). Although perhaps best known by its nickname, Cow Town, courtesy of its protected cattle industry and stock shows, Rottet continues, “More recently, it’s come into its own as an entertainment venue and an art destination.”
At the Crescent Hotel, a 200-key, luxury property in Fort Worth, Texas, by Rottet Studio, a faceted plaster mantel with a two-sided fireplace partitions reception’s seating areas, one with Carolyn Salas’s Figuring No. 4, the other with a wall in the same Calacatta Vision marble as the mantel’s base.
That latter designation is thanks largely to a trio of institutions that line up along Camp Bowie Boulevard in the downtown cultural district: the Kimbell Art Museum, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Amon Carter Museum of Art. Rottet and an “all-women power team” from her Houston and Austin offices spent much time in those hallowed blue-chip halls when conceiving the Crescent Hotel directly across the street. The 200-key, 216,000-square-foot luxury property anchors a new-build mixed-use development that includes a high-end residential component and a Canyon Ranch Wellness Club (which the firm designed for the same client, Crescent Real Estate).
“The whole block related to the museums, so we drew on that,” Rottet says. Her team looked at not only the masterworks that hung on the museum walls but also the walls themselves and other architectural finishes. “All three museums boiled down to two materials—one type of wood, one stone—so we took cues from that and decided to go as purist as possible,” Rottet describes. “The interior is quite robust in its color and forms and visual interest, but also minimal in a way.”
At the Crescent Hotel, a 200-key, luxury property in Fort Worth, Texas, by Rottet Studio, a faceted plaster mantel with a two-sided fireplace partitions reception’s seating areas, one with Carolyn Salas’s Figuring No. 4, the other with a wall in the same Calacatta Vision marble as the mantel’s base.
Certainly, one needn’t leave the hotel to have a ball. The courtyard and restaurant are filled around the clock with hotel guests and locals, but the most party-centric space is Ralph’s, the top-floor speakeasy and a decadent departure from the otherwise elegantly restrained vibe. A hand-painted, gold-leaf mural wraps around the bar, M.C. Escher–esque wallpaper sheathes the ceiling, and vintage-inflected multifunctional seating units are kitted out in performance velvet. Barstools embroidered with a dromedary motif nod to the family who once owned the land the hotel stands on. “We found amazing archival video footage from the ’70’s, when a camel purchased from the Neiman Marcus catalog was delivered to their home dressed in gold and red tasseled ropes,” Rottet laughs. It’s that kind of locally specific insider’s detail that gives the Crescent a feeling of authentic hospitality. “Coming here feels like you’re being invited into someone’s grand home,” she concludes. “It’s very much designed around entertaining, welcoming you in, and getting a drink in your hand before sitting down together.”
The Blue Room, another private dining room within Emilia’s and that’s courtyard adjacent, features custom cane-back chairs and the most saturated manifestation of the Crescent’s sky-toned palette.
Guest accommodations cater to art tourists, Canyon Ranch spa-goers, and attendees of football games, weddings, bachelorette bashes, and other events requiring multiple costume changes. Given this clientele, a minibar and ample wardrobe space were essential and ultimately dictated the layouts. “Pushing the bar into the room allowed the dressing area to be more prominent, so there’s a spot to place your shopping bags and take off your shoes as you come in,” Rottet explains. The size of closets and built-in storage was also maximized. “It’s all about the party and ‘Where am I gonna hang the dress?’”
