THE BISHA HOTEL, TORONTO

A preserved brick façade and towering black doors give the Bisha Hotel a mysterious street presence, but step inside the lobby and a welcoming sultriness awaits—with a touch of drama. A metallic fuchsia Jeff Koons sculpture here, a velvet-curtained entrance to the moody Mister C bar there, and, through another doorway, a staircase slathered in gold paint climbs up to the eponymous restaurant of Michelin-starred Japanese chef Akira Back.

Bisha entered Toronto’s hotel scene last September with a glittery splash, hosting TIFF parties within its very first days of opening. The property, a brainchild of lifestyle impresario Charles Khabouth (INK Entertainment) and developers Sam Herzog and Mel Pearl (Lifetime Developments), has a sexy, bold aesthetic which is a result of Toronto-based firm Studio Munge, along with Lenny Kravitz, who designed the seventh-floor suites. Buttery leather and marble details pervade, while Interview magazine cover prints hang on walls and scarves from a Damien Hirst x Alexander McQueen collaboration are framed in the bar. Art takes centre stage here in many facets: minibars brim with Brandon Olsen chocolates decorated with a Jackson Pollock–style splatter, while rooms are named after artists and creative souls—the Yves, the Andy, the Stella.

The pièce de résistance, however, has just been unveiled in the form of a lavish Bisha Suite, which opened at the end of April. The property’s crown jewel is a 2,000-square-foot, two-storey space for entertaining in opulence; no expense has been spared. There’s one sumptuous bed, a pillow-filled living room, and a dining room that seats eight. The upstairs bathroom is finished with golden spider marble floors, while the enormous terrace is a sanctuary above the city with space to seat 12 at all hours of the day or night—champagne, anyone?

 

Katie Nanton for NUVO