It's a Quarter to Noon, You're Drunk in Your Room

Monkeys swinging from the chandelier in the hotel's crest suggest playfulness, I guess. But announcing that your new hotel represents "a new paradigm in luxury hotels" is a bit of a stretch, not to mention a worn cliché. I suppose if there are actually giant hand mirrors in the rooms and the keys are a foot in length and the ocean is just behind the curtain, that would be a new paradigm in luxury hotels, and playful. But a visit to the hotel's website shows your basic luxury rooms, and only as artist's renderings.

I do like the surreal Dalí meets Alice in Wonderland style, which is carried through on the website. (The model sprawled on the floor is getting a little overplayed these days.) But the creators of this ad didn't go with the standard luxury hotel ad style. They avoided the tired and overused white-gloved doorman opening the limo door, or the beautiful couple sharing a pre-sex drink in the darkened, trendy cocktail lounge. And there's always the cougar and her boy toy lounging by the pool approach. This ad just keeps it all vague and mysterious and the viewer is left intrigued.

The book in the lower left reads "Soft Like Silk, Sexy Lace Stockings, Sleepy Little Sigh." Continuing with the SLS theme, the website's tagline is "Something Lovely's Starting." It's pretty typical stuff; a celebrity chef, renowned designers, places to eat and drink. But the playful copy along with the vague and surreal photography represent a fairly fresh approach when there are no "paradigms" left in luxury hotel advertising.