Hotels' Sense of Place Tested by Plate Flippers

Andrew Tuck, in his Monocle column, explores the challenge hotels face in delivering a genuine 'sense of place' through local products and design. He recounts his habit of flipping plates and glasses in hotel restaurants to check their origins, often finding Italian crockery, Slovakian glasses, and German pepper grinders in a Mallorca hotel that claims to offer a Spanish experience. Tuck contrasts this with the Terreno Barrio Hotel in Palma, owned by hotelier Lydia Piñero, which was developed with architects Ohlab (Jaime Oliver and Paloma Hernaiz) to commission island makers for furniture and decor, incorporating co-working spaces and an outdoor gym for locals. He also highlights the Mandarin Oriental resort at Punta Negra, which hired art advisor and curator Paloma Fernández-Iriondo to commission works by Spanish artists, including Fran Aniorte's tiled 'Balearic Constellation', focusing on unrepresented artists found by driving around the island. Tuck argues that hotel brands must ensure their provenance stories are authentic, as plate flippers will expose inconsistencies.