There are hotels — like Wythe, At the Chapel, the Beekman hotel in New York, the NoMad in LA — that are particularly beautiful and well-designed because it's clear that the designers recognized, revered — and likely studied — the material with which they had to work. They didn't destroy what came before them, they lured it out gently and brought it into a new era. Living in a city (Seattle) besieged by the destruction of older buildings to make way for giant, overpriced apartment buildings that look like dorms for spoiled rich kids, I've built up a keener appreciation for this approach.