DJ Bijal On His New Hotel: 'It's Been Like A Daydream...'

If you check the Twitter page of Brooklyn's yet-to-be-finished Hotel BPM, it is not immediately clear what the status of the project is. Originally slated to launch in July, the website now commands us to wait until the fall. But what is it exactly we're waiting for?

Sure, we know the hotel is under the direction of Bijal Panwala, aka DJ Bijal. And we know its PR rep, Carolyn Izzo-Feldman, heralded the hotel as "the newest place to see and be seen in New York City." Gee, how descriptive. But what else can we expect from the property?

Last month, we spoke to Mr. Panwala (below) about his background, his vision, and the reality of building a 75-room boutique hotel. We found it strange that such a large-scale, experimental, Brooklyn-based hotel project would continue to remain such a mystery. But, as it turns out, the DJ man himself is still trying to wrap his head around it all.

"I often ask myself, 'is this really happening?'" muses Mr. Panwala, who graduated from Long Island University in 2005 with a degree in business management. "I'll be sitting in a meeting with the lighting design team, explaining where I want the lights to go, what color I want...it's been like a daydream. As I see the entire body of the building come together, it's slowly starting to sink in."

While we found his childlike wonderment utterly endearing, we were still puzzled over the nuts and bolts of the actual hotel. Luckily, he began to yield some clues about the lighting, which he considers to be the most "ambitious" part of the lobby.

According to Mr. Panwala, a distinct mode of lighting will appear at night and on weekends�like automated, neon tube lights and giant project equalizers bouncing up and down in time to the music�to create a more festive, club-like lobby.

"On the weekend, the crowd will be younger, the lighting will all be revealed, the music will be at a higher BPM. It will be a totally different atmosphere."

Those of you who are familiar with the hotel's logo (above) know that it uses the symbol of the equalizer as a kind of branding device. The logo's color scheme�white, green, and black�is continued into the rooms, whose platform beds come with black bedskirts and tall green velvet headboards. When pressed to name some hotel brands he took inspiration from when conceiving of Hotel BPM, DJ Bijal cited W, Thompson, and Kimpton.

Finally, room rates have been announced, with King rooms starting at $160, and Doubles starting at $180. Beats Manhattan any day!

Interested yet? Whether we end up seeing a finished hotel this fall remains to be seen, but Hotel BPM�along with its unique DJ creative director/manager�is a daydream we're excited to watch become a reality.

[Photos: Hotel BPM]

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