The Bite Magazine - Spring 2019 - Issue 24

In 2012, he founded the Good Group and handed the management of NGO over to a board of directors to carry on the good work. A year later, Dresden quit his job in shipping to dedicate himself full-time to his new company. In 2016, the first Good Hotel in Antigua de Guatemala opened its doors; a property set in a former private mansion with a minimalistic design infused with local touches and located in a quiet cobblestone street five minutes’ walk from the Parque Central (Main Square). Here you’ll find redesigned traditional washing sinks, private patios, open air showers and lofty mezzanines, with rooms that blend rich and natural textures with stories and culture. There may not be any golden taps or marble tabletops but there is a bed they say guests would like to take home as well as locally sourced food, great coffee and the most genuine service you can imagine. The great thing about Good Hotel is that for every direct booking made, they donate $5 per night of your stay to their charity partner Niños de Guatemala. The concept of the floating Good Hotel started in Amsterdam which was the first hotel from the group to open worldwide and lasted for one pop-up year before continuing its journey to London. It was an abandoned platform (a former detention facility) which was re-pur- posed into a 144-room hotel and trained 96 long-term unemployed locals and helped 70% move successfully out of state welfare. Through this, Good Hotel was awarded a REBEL Award by LE Miami in 2015 for the biggest innovation/ disruption in the hotel industry. Now located in the Royal Albert Docks in east London for just over two years, Good Hotel London boasts 148 rooms including four suites, panoramic waterside views, open plan ‘Living Room’, a quirky and cosy but minimalist design, and a beautiful rooftop bar. Dutch designers Remko Verhaagen and Sikko Valk were com- missioned to design the hotel, opting not to use golden taps or marble table tops to create a premium look and feel, but instead found luxury in simplicity and originality. “Much like you would see in a Dutch home, we mixed design classics by Lensvelt and Moooi with everyday design from Hema and the items we designed ourselves for Good Hotel. This natural mix gives the interior its unique personal character. We used no nonsense materials, colours and textures such as steel, concrete and wood and took our inspiration from the conceptual approach of Dutch design.” You cannot deny that the building strikes an interesting and imposing sight that arises out of the docks. bite travel