A question of style

A little over half an hour’s drive from the centre of Bratislava, in a charming historic park full of old trees and rare plants, stands the castle of Tomášov, an imposing, elegant building constructed by Baron Ján Jesenák in 1766 as a country residence in the Austrian Baroque style.
Set on a hill by the banks of the Little Danube overlooking a plain filled with lush meadows, this stately home has seen countless changes of ownership and undergone a number of restoration projects in the styles of the times, culminating in the construction of a chapel at the beginning of the last century. Used as a military hospital during the first world war, it was badly damaged in a fire at the end of the war but the ensuing reconstruction did not alter its external Baroque appearance and was limited to interior work in an Art Deco style. The building was returned to the owners by the state in the 1990s, then in 2005 was converted into the present-day hotel which retains its historic forms and style cues.
Owing to its varied history, Art Hotel Kastiel incorporates a fascinating blend of styles, including baroque and neoclassical, art deco and contemporary – a harmonious mix that was successfully preserved in the sensitive restoration and refurbishing project devised by architect Lucia Bobikova. The distribution of spaces, the meticulous care and creativity evident in every detail and the respect for the styles, colours and finishes of the original building have given rise to an intimate and sophisticated hospitality structure that blends flavours of the past with the latest amenities. A range of accommodation solutions are available, from apartments and rooms in an Art Deco style typical of bourgeois residences of the 1930s through to baroque spaces where the original frescoes of the main floor are reminders of the aristocratic luxuries of the eighteenth century.
The leitmotif running through the entire project is the use of ceramic floor and wall tiles, chosen from the collections by NovaBell and installed with great aesthetic sensibility. The floors in the common areas feature Must line tiles in square formats of various sizes and colours including white, black and sand. The classic chequerboard patterns trace out routes from the entrance through to the corridors, stairs and large foyer.
The bathrooms feature York wall tiles with a black/white, gloss/matt contrast and a combination of three-dimensional elements.
The finishing touch – as if it were the architect’s signature – is the minimalist elegance of the small internal chapel, where the all-white aesthetic is enhanced by the stained glass windows and the small number of altar elements. The Absolute neoclassical floor tile collection, chosen in the white version that reproduces the sumptuous appearance of marble, accentuates the refined atmosphere that reigns in the church and highlights the sensitivity underlying the entire project.