Caju Le petit Hotel \ Branding
How to launch a small, sophisticated hotel in a city renowned for top sophisticated hotels?
Tip: it’s about thinking small
Challenge
Funchal is a buzzing city filled with hotels. The Caju Hotel (Cashew Hotel) risked being just one more. Situated in the Caju building in a historic district of the city, this is a hotel with only 24 rooms – small for a hotel. This hotel dreamed of being a boutique hotel. The interior design would be undertaken by Nini Andrade Silva, known for her boldness and good taste.
To make it stand out, the brand identity needed a “je ne sais quoi”.
Work
Insight: we wondered what would happen if we praised the virtues of being small.
Name: We proposed renaming the hotel from Hotel Caju to Caju Le Petit Hotel. This would be a hotel with a Human scale. Where the most insignificant details are treated as art forms. Where the main influence is French minimalism. Where every guest can forget the daily rat race for a few days and enjoy life’s little pleasures.
Logo: The Art Nouveau-inspired symbol, from the golden age of classic European hotels, reproduces a detail of the architectural facade. The typeface of the word Caju is the same as that of the Prima Caju restaurant , its “gastronomic partner” on the ground floor – to accentuate the project’s completeness. “Le Petit Hotel” typeface would be slim, restrained, but punctuated by a bolder letter P.
Look & Feel: Elegance and minimalism coexist as if they were blood brothers. The symbol repeats itself, creating a soft pattern to soothe and delight. The hotel's amenities, hangers, notepads, and other communication material seem to appeal to a world of sophisticated detachment that would delight Marie Kondo. In it we feel the emergence of a sanctuary into which we can plunge, suspend time and be reborn.
Brand voice: Minimalism influences the brand speech. The keycard that opens the rooms is Le petit keycard. Everywhere we find discreet appeals to the god of small things. One card reads “Enjoy the petite things in life,” reminding us that life’s better if we enjoy it little by little.
