NEWS: Heart Hotel Opens in Cyprus with Artwork by Local Artist Nina Morari
Exterior of Heart Hotel
Behind the Agia Triada church in Limassol, Cyprus sat a listed mansion that was left in disarray for years until the Heart Group acquired the property in 2018. Heart Group transformed the building into a boutique hotel which was completed just a few months ago. This new Heart Hotel integrates the architectural heritage of the island into the tourism experience and enlivens the surrounding city blocks with a modern approach to hospitality, art, and design in ways that this area of the city has yet to see. Heart Group collaborated with a collection of local artists and designers to bring the vision of this boutique hotel to life.
Architect Yiannos Anastasiou led the restoration of this property and MOB Design Studios crafted the interiors. While contemporary furnishings and color blocking are a fresh take on hospitality in Cyprus, where most other hotels might be described as outdated, the original and decorative tile flooring and chandeliers allude to the building’s historic past that can be traced back to the early 1900s.
What makes this boutique hotel even more distinctive among the other nearby hotels is its artwork. To imbue the space with more authenticity, connection, and warmth, the Heart Group commissioned local artist Nina Morari to take the lead on the art programming. The team, who knew Morari through her day job at the Limassol Agora, felt Morari’s practice of one line art, the technique of creating an image with one single line, was a perfect fit for their approach to the hotel.
“My style is natural, pure, and romantic. I like to keep my work simple and abstract to bring a sense of serenity to the world, and remind people of the innate beauty and purity of life that we sometimes forget about,” says Morari. She integrated these sentiments into each of the canvases that dot the rooms of this hotel.
Artist Nina Morari
After many visits to the hotel’s construction site and meandering walks through its nearby streets, Morari was inspired to dedicate each room of the hotel to a different symbol that told a story about Limassol. “The team at Heart Hotel is so devoted to and passionate about Limassol,” says Morari. “I wanted to honor their dedication to the community and bring in elements that make this city so special directly into the hotel experience.”
The canvases that Morari composed that tell the story of the city are in blue and white and range from popular Greek designs such as olive branches, coffee pots, and pottery to more subtle elements such as local words and phrases. Through the artwork of the hotel, visitors can grasp a deeper understanding of the local culture and traditions, which they will also experience just outside of the hotel’s doors.
The artwork that trails along the walls of the staircase of the hotel
While Morari did not have the chance to collaborate with the architects and interior designers, the artist discovered seamless ways to integrate the artwork into each room. As with most of her work, Morari thought about each canvas in relation to the viewer and their experience in the space. A canvas with the design of a jasmine plant, for example, is placed in the room that overlooks these vines which are abundant in the nearby streets, and the country as a whole. With just one gust of wind, the potent scent of jasmine can flow through the air and around the room– creating an immersive experience for guests. In other suites, words in cursive that spell out “KALIMERA (GOOD MORNING)” and “AGAPW SE (I LOVE YOU)” are placed right next to the bed and respectively act as a warm greeting when guests wake up and a farewell when guests fall asleep. Morari wrote “KALIMERA (GOOD MORNING)” in big, curvy letters to energize guests each morning, while “AGAPW SE (I LOVE YOU)” is handwritten in small, delicate cursive to create the illusion of a whisper as guests drift to sleep. In the smallest room of the hotel, Morari placed her “GATA (CAT)'' painting to honor of the country’s moniker as the “land of cats.” This cat takes up the entire confines of the canvas, and is squished between its frame, to mimic the adoration that cats have for snug places and its location in the smallest room in the hotel.
All 12 of Morari’s paintings come together to decorate the staircase of this hotel and create a menagerie of the symbols of Limassol. The colors of these canvases are brightened with shades of green and orange which modernize the interior and honor the colors in the country’s flag.
Last month, Heart Group finalized the acquisition of another listed building opposite this boutique hotel. The firm plans to renovate and restore it into an extension of this space while also helping to preserve the architectural heritage of the old city of Limassol and modernize it with the perspectives of local artists, designers, and tastemakers— something the tourism industry on the island truly needs.
You can follow more of Morari’s work here and the Heart Hotel here.
