SALT BOUTIQUE HOTEL, MAURITIUS
“I was blown away by the vibrant and bold colours you find around the island. People paint their houses in the most amazing tones that really stand out against the lush tropical setting. From the emerald green of the plants to the ever changing colours of the sky, I wanted to marry these warm natural tones to my signature pop colours.” – Camille Walala
Opened in November 2018, SALT of Palmar is the first in a new group of hotels conceived by The Lux Collective hospitality group to champion sustainability, connect with the local community and introduce travellers to the real Mauritius.
Following her work creating a mural for LUX* Grand Gaube in 2018, Camille Walala was commissioned to design SALT’s interiors, drawing on the colours and patterns of Mauritius to create a bold and harmonious look that captured the island’s character – fresh, playful and irresistibly positive in outlook.
The hotel was Camille Walala’s first architectural collaboration. The studio worked closely with Mauritian architect John-François Adams to realise her interiors vision for the hotel's 59 bedrooms and its public areas. Starting in January 2018, Camille and her studio team set out to explore the island to find ideas for the SALT colour palette, looking both to the natural landscape and the man-made environment. The resultant palette balances natural hues and Walala's signature pop notes, and features a recurrent motif of black and white stripes.
Camille also drew on Adams’ local expertise to recruit the area’s most talented craftspeople to design bespoke pieces for the project, including baskets, ceramics and rattan furniture. The culmination of this collaboration between an artist, architect and artisans is a hotel that looks unlike any other on the island.
“Camille Walala’s relationship with colour is precisely the same as most Mauritians’ – for both, colour is a vehicle for joy and a means of expressing positivity. She is the ideal artist for SALT of Palmar; I must have been in the hotel 100 times as it developed over the last few months but, whenever I see them, her designs still make me smile.”
– Paul Jones, CEO, The Lux Collective
Press Links
“How I Use Colour: Camille Walala” in Creative Review
“Camille Walala brings kaleidoscopic colour to Mauritius hotel SALT of Palmar” in The Spaces
“Camille Walala applies vibrant colours and graphics to Salt of Palmar hotel in Mauritius” in Dezeen
“SALT of Palmar — Quatre Cocos, Mauritius” in Wallpaper*
“Is this the near-future look of the luxury beach resort?” in Frame