BRAND STRATEGY + BRAND DESIGN
Lucem Poolside
A charming, innovative bar and restaurant concept, nestled within The Aether Hotel Universe.
THE CHALLENGE
Guests are experiencing something our industry hasn't found the right language for yet. We're calling it Sameness Fatigue: the quiet exhaustion that sets in when every hotel stay feels like a variation of the last one, rooted in corporate playbooks that haven't changed in decades and accelerated by experiences that are increasingly templated, algorithmically optimized, and generic by design.
The Aether Hotel was built to be the antithesis of that feeling. Our target guest is the design-conscious traveler who is hungry for experiences where the curation isn't dictated by a travel planner or a brand standard guide, but by something far less predictable. The universe, as it turns out, has better taste than a corporate hospitality committee.
To bring that idea to life, the brand required three distinct identities operating as one cohesive world: the hotel itself, a poolside bar concept for daytime dining and all-day drinks, and a signature restaurant and late-night destination for the evening hours.
THE solution
Named for the Latin word for light, Lucem was built to embody everything the daytime world has to offer — warmth, energy, and the particular kind of joy that only exists when the sun is doing something worth paying attention to. Every detail of the concept, from the menu to the cocktail names to the copy on the drink list, was meticulously curated to give guests a genuine sense of sunshine and excitement rather than the generic coastal aesthetic that passes for daytime hospitality at most properties.
The food is Mediterranean-California, bright and ingredient-forward. The cocktail program moves through the arc of daylight, from morning cold press through golden hour pours, each drink named for a quality of light rather than a spirit. The atmosphere is poolside and unhurried, designed for the guest who came on vacation to actually feel like they are on vacation. Lucem does not try to be everything. It tries to be the best possible version of one thing: the feeling of a perfect day, extended by design.
Each sub-brand was given its own tone and emphasis, while still clearly living within the Aether Hotel universe.
To see more, check out the Aether brand here, and Noctum here.
