Anda Andrei may come from difficult circumstances—the architect left Romania as a refugee in 1981, at age 27, and lived in a welfare hotel when she first arrived in New York City—but, in the stuff coming-to-America dreams are made of, she went on to become Ian Schrager’s right-hand designer for three decades. Then, four years ago, at age 59, she decided to create her own firm. “Working with Ian was a fairy tale in many ways,” Andrei says, “but I thought if I ever want to do anything else in my life before I’m a hundred, it’s now or never!” Her firm has left its indelible beauty mark on everything from The Norm, the gallery-like restaurant at the Brooklyn Museum; to Aby Rosen’s new buzzing social hive, the 11 Howard hotel in SoHo; to The Asbury Hotel, a colorful, wicker-dotted hideaway in Asbury Park, New Jersey, that’s vacation mode incarnate. “The way I approach hotels is about quality of life and creating great experiences and a little bit of fantasy,” she says. “People that don’t know how to enjoy life cannot create spaces for enjoying life—happiness and sexiness comes from within, and reflects in your work.” anda.com
Anda Andrei
Category: Travel Designer Of The Year