Alpine Escape
Bentley’s bespoke interiors division is an as-yet little-known facet of the luxury car manufacturer’s output. Since 2013, Bentley has produced a ‘Home Collection’ of high-end designer furniture, targeted at those who wish to translate the marque’s carefully crafted, aesthetically refined approach into their homes and offices. Ranging from the refined Richmond sofa and chairs through to the sleek lines of the Bradley table, the Collection combines high-quality materials with supreme attention to detail. Leather, wood, chrome and veneer come together to evoke the same forms and feelings of a sleek, modern Bentley interior in your own home. The division has also branched out into hotels and apartments, creating suites at the St Regis in Istanbul and New York that set this beautiful furniture in an atmospheric context. Now there’s a new place for lovers of Bentley’s rich take on the contemporary interior. Kitzbühel is an iconic piece of Alpine landscape – a small town famed for its skiing and winter sports, traditional architecture and luxurious accommodation. It’s therefore a fitting spot for the latest Bentley interior experience.
In December last year, the company quietly rolled out Bentley Lodge Kitzbühel, the radical and comprehensive reimagining of a traditional forester’s cottage into a truly seductive destination. Fittingly, the cottage dates from 1919, the very year that Walter Owen Bentley founded the car company that bears his name. There are other parallels. A traditional structure, the cottage was built with care and craftsmanship that has endured, creating a classically elegant dwelling that provides the perfect backdrop to showcase Bentley’s range of contemporary materials and designs.
The project has been developed in partnership with hotelier Richard Hauser and will be made available for private bookings and special guests of the brand. The site alone is awash with Alpine history. Set amongst the foothills of the Central Eastern Alps, beneath the legendary skiing peaks of Kitzbühler Horn and Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel is a place for serious winter sports enthusiasts. Bentley’s own association with skiing is also longstanding and the company established a partnership with the Swiss ski brand zai in 2009.
A traditional structure, the cottage was built with care and craftsmanship that has endured, creating a classically elegant dwelling that provides the perfect backdrop for Bentley’s showcase of contemporary materials and designs
The Bentley Lodge Kitzbühel offers the skier – and the spectator – an unrivalled location. Set at the foot of the Streif, the 3.3km downhill race that’s often cited as the world’s most challenging, Bentley Lodge guests get a grandstand view of the action. They also have the resort’s facilities close at hand, including a clutch of award-winning restaurants, major retail brands and other sporting facilities, including golf courses and the Kitzbühel Country Club, with its pools, spas and gymnasium (as well as a bar, cigar lounge and private cinema). The town has become a magnet for the arts, with music, arts and food festivals held throughout the year. Bentley aficionados will be especially interested in the annual Kitzbühel Alpine Rally, the region’s best-known classic car rally, where classic Bentleys join other famous marques on roads that twist and turn through spectacular scenery.
The Lodge project was overseen by Robert Engstler, Bentley Motors’ Regional Director for Europe. The company’s designers have produced a fine synthesis of traditional Alpine style and the rich, highly crafted forms and surfaces that might typically be found inside a Bentley. This is classic British craftsmanship with a twist of mountain air – sporting and fresh, yet also timeless and elegant. Throughout the Lodge you’ll find natural stone (sourced locally from the Tauern region) and Tyrolean pine. Guests are also given the full Bentley experience, with test drives available and a knowledgeable Bentley Ambassador on hand to talk you through the myriad options and specifications available when commissioning one of these superb hand-crafted machines. The Bentley Motors Lodge is a true design destination, a rare combination of altitude, atmosphere, exhilaration and elegance.
The designers have produced a fine synthesis of traditional Alpine style and the rich, highly crafted forms and surfaces that might typically be found inside a Bentley
