Boutique Hotel Mod

[DeanLearner]

Here is an electronic version of a Boutique Hotel mod I’ve been working on.

My objectives were:

1. Increase the overall building height to one more fitting with its function, and the height of other modulars

2. Maintain the overall feel and style of the original

3. Give a bit more warmth to the colder blue/azure tones of the gallery

4. Conceal some of the awkward gap on the left-hand side

5. Avoid having to buy an entire second set, with repurposing of as many parts as possible to keep the mod budget vaguely reasonable
 

Modifications include the following:

One brick extra height to the ground and second floors, and two brick extra height to the first floor; the total height is now one plate below the height of left-hand building in assembly square. Interior details (including stairs) are also amended.

Additional detailing to try to avoid the extra height becoming too plain; this was ultimately reliant upon the slightly clichéd 1x1x1 scroll bricks.

White was used on the second floor to provide a greater range of parts, while the extra light nougat was almost entirely sourced from the second floor or right- hand wall.

A semi-legal (only one stud connection) was used to fill the gap with the roof)

I’ve played around a bit with the other colours (including the flowers), though I’m not entirely sold on this. I’m aiming for a slightly Morrocan/Moorish style tiled look for the fountain.

I had a go at changing the tree, but any other design ended up far too wide for the space.

Any advice or feedback is appreciated. I also have mods of Assembly Square and Palace Cinema completed in bricks (the latter in a full Art Deco style). The LDD files were sadly lost though.

[JopieK]

Very nice idea(s), I have not bought it yet, but it is high on my wishlist and I totally agree it can be improved. I must say, seeing the real thing in a LEGO store made me more enthusiastic about it than from the site/images, but your suggestions make it even more desirable.

[LegoDW]

Are the curved flesh colored pieced available?  I did something similar and had to use lt gray.  Checked on B&P and couldn't find any flesh colored bricks.

Your Moc looks good.  Suggest you complete the roof railing on all 4 sides.  That is what I am planning.

 

[Jiesdeo]

22 minutes ago, LegoDW said:

Are the curved flesh colored pieced available?

It's available on Bricklink at least.

[DeanLearner]

Yeah I figured that there would be enough BrickLink sellers parting out the set to be able to pick up the few light nougat and sand green pieces I needed. Almost all of the additional light nougat parts have simply come from the second floor or the largely unseen right-hand wall.

15 hours ago, JopieK said:

Very nice idea(s), I have not bought it yet, but it is high on my wishlist and I totally agree it can be improved. I must say, seeing the real thing in a LEGO store made me more enthusiastic about it than from the site/images, but your suggestions make it even more desirable.

Very kind, thank you! I haven’t actually bought the set myself yet as I still have another three modulars unbuilt, and a shortage of space to display even the Lego I have assembled.

[jus1973]

Some nice mods there.  I am not too bothered about the floor height on the original to be honest, but i did think the sand green curves finishing in open studs a bit odd, as well as there not being some on the semicircular window sides too.  I like your addition,  but I may settle for just 2x1 tiles or possibly cheese slops.

Did you look into covering up the annoying gap at the rear where the angled wall meets the rear one?  I’m just reorganising my Lego room right now, but will be doing something to hide this as soon as I can.  I think I’ll drop a drainpipe down this hinged gap too, to hide the mixed colours you see. 

[DeanLearner]

8 hours ago, jus1973 said:

Some nice mods there.  I am not too bothered about the floor height on the original to be honest, but i did think the sand green curves finishing in open studs a bit odd, as well as there not being some on the semicircular window sides too.  I like your addition,  but I may settle for just 2x1 tiles or possibly cheese slops.

Did you look into covering up the annoying gap at the rear where the angled wall meets the rear one?  I’m just reorganising my Lego room right now, but will be doing something to hide this as soon as I can.  I think I’ll drop a drainpipe down this hinged gap too, to hide the mixed colours you see. 

Thanks, by chance I did actually initially do the roof with cheese slopes, though I thought that the rounded ends were maybe a little more consistent with the other rounded edges elsewhere on the roof. See what you think:

I did manage to fill the weird gap at the level of the roof line (which you can just about see in one of the original photos) but didn’t try below that. There aren’t any great solutions (and mine wouldn’t have met official Lego standards for stability), but I think the roof was the worst of it so didn’t try on the lower level. A drain pipe sounds doable though.

I’ll go back into Stud.io to get a render showing it in better detail when I get the chance.

Edited January 30, 2022 by DeanLearner
Clarification

[AFOLguy1970]

That height adjustment really looks good.  It makes the top floor seem like less of an "attic", and I like it better without the windows at the floor.  

[DeanLearner]

Here’s the back corner in more detail as originally modified, so you can see how it’s done (somewhat precariously).

 

As suggested, I’ve also had a crack at putting in a drain pipe. These are just screenshots using my “working” colours (to make it easier to order the excess parts required), so you’ll need to use your imagination a bit. Two alternatives are shown.

 

[jus1973]

2 hours ago, DeanLearner said:

Here’s the back corner in more detail as originally modified, so you can see how it’s done (somewhat precariously).

 

As suggested, I’ve also had a crack at putting in a drain pipe. These are just screenshots using my “working” colours (to make it easier to order the excess parts required), so you’ll need to use your imagination a bit. Two alternatives are shown.

That looks pretty good.  Similar to what I’d envisioned in terms of the drainpipe.  The corner filler for the roofline looks good, although, as you say, it might be a little precarious.  It’s a shame TLG don’t make the rounded 2x1 brick as a 1x1.

Thanks so much for giving it a digital crack.  

[OccamsRazor]

I was just thinking that the boutique hotel would look great if it were taller, and I was debating between adding another floor, adding some height to each floor, or both. This is really helpful - it helps me to see how well adding layers of bricks to each floor would work!

I personally want to follow the modular format of having a taller first floor, so i think I'm going to add one brick to the lobby (ground floor/first floor/zeroth floor depending on where you live), leaving the middle floor as it is, and then adding one brick to the top floor. I might do something to add an extra level to the dome too.

Did you ever build this in person? Given how few sets the light nougat bricks come in, is cost an issue? I'm tempted to build another floor, but I'm not sure if I can get used to seeing that much light nougat...