Lutron’s lighting and blinds control technology have helped the Vincci hotel offer guests the ability to change the mood at any given time

Sitting on the mouth of the river Turia, Valencia combines some of the most modern architecture in Europe, with a rich and varied heritage.
The 4-star Hotel Vincci Palace, located in the heart of Valencia, is the epitome of the city’s old world charm and thanks to a recent refurbishment project the interior now boasts the latest in home comforts as well as style. Combining Lutron’s GRAFIK Eye power module lighting control technology with stunning interiors, visitors to Vincci Palace cannot fail to be impressed by the drama created by the hotel’s lighting.

Located just a few steps from the Plaza Porta de la Mar and Paseo de la Ciudadela, the hotel was originally built in the style of most of the palace residences in the city centre. A complete refurbishment of the Vincci Palace was undertaken in 2007 to bring the hotel up-to-date. A major part of the interior scheme was to use the lighting to create drama and mood throughout the 76 bedrooms of the hotel no matter what the time of day or night.

Roberto Molero, director of projects, works, maintenance and decoration department, Vincci Hotels, explained further: “The Vincci hotel brand is all about quality and style and with the refurbishment of the Vincci Palace in Valencia we wanted to create a statement that would keep guests coming back for more. By using dramatic lighting schemes in the public areas and installing Lutron’s lighting and blinds control technology in the private rooms, we are now able to offer guests the ability to change the mood of their interiors at any given time, for maximum effect.”

The process of turning the Vincci Palace back into one of Valencia’s most exclusive hotels has taken both attention to detail and determination.

Working alongside architect, Esther Falcó, from GCA Arquitectes, the lighting scheme for the hotel’s private and public areas was directed by its need for drama, functionality and versatility. Falcó continued: “Different light levels can dramatically alter a space at any given time of the day or night. With the Vincci Palace, we wanted drama in the public and private areas, and the facility to offer guests ultimate light control in their rooms whatever the mood or time of day. To do this, we needed a lighting control system such as Lutron’s GRAFIK Eye Power Module that could offer both programming flexibility and ease of use for our guests.”

Lutron’s GRAFIK Eye Power Module, GRX-PM6, offers users 16 preset lighting control scenes and interfaces to other systems. By offering light level fade times between lighting scenes from as little as 0-59 seconds, through to 1-60 minutes, lights can be programmed to change as quickly or as slowly as required between each preset scene.

Apart from offering guests a range of lit mood options in their rooms, Molero and his team were faced with the challenge of dividing up the interiors of the 76 guest rooms, whilst maximising their spacious feel. The solution to extending the spacious feel of the rooms was to do away with interior walls – instead of using solid walls to divide the bathroom and bed areas, glass panels were used. To provide privacy in the bathroom areas, the glass dividers were fitted with Lutron’s Sivoia QED electronic drives and opaque roller blinds. When closed, these blinds provided the required level of privacy between the bathroom and sleeping areas, but allowed ambient light to filter through. The Sivoia QED electronic drives were then integrated by the Vincci Hotel’s department of projects, works, maintenance and decoration team into Lutron’s GRAFIK Eye Power Module, GRX-PM6. Finally, pre-programmed keypads were installed for easy control of each room’s blinds and lights.

With the ability to be pre-programmed with specific lighting scenes, Molero worked with Falcó to determine the most required lighting scenes in the bathroom and living areas and then these were programmed into four pre-set ambiance buttons – ‘Welcome’, ‘Good Morning’, ‘Relax’ and ‘Reading’. Thanks to Lutron’s lighting control technology, sophisticated lighting drama has been brought into every room. On arrival in their room, guests can quickly and easily create the mood they want, simply at the touch of a button.

The attention to detail in the public and private spaces at the Vincci Palace is stunning and thanks to the careful eye of Roberto Molero, Esther Falcó and state of the art technology from Lutron, drama and mood are available no matter what the time of day or night.

• Lutron