Latitude with attitude

This is one of a series of images that greeted me when I walked into Latitude 15, a hip hotel in the Zambian capital of Lusaka. Insouciant if not downright subversive, these images were taken by Zambian-based French photographer Francois d’Elbee as part of a calendar produced by the hotel. I wanted to applaud, salute, break into song or do a little jig of joy. At last, style with content. A hotel that gives the middle finger to dull décor, regulation-issue melamine, old-fashioned hospitality attitudes and the homophobia so often sadly associated with Africa. Sigh. The Ministry of Fabulousness found its soul home. 

Love this x

Everything from the architecture to the appetizers is a distillate of Zambian homegrown with an international twist. Along with the delightful calendar series, there are paintings and photographs by Zambian and South African artists, like Greg du Toit and Dave Ballam. Dyed ostrich feather hats line the corridors, the lounge features eclectic furniture and fireplaces, stylised wooden benches, recycled glass chandeliers, wooden doors turned into coffee tables. The bedrooms are spacious and sumptuous with privacy and connectivity, never mind the mini bar. Oh bliss.

“Latitude 15 was designed for travellers by travellers”, says James Lightfoot, one of the directors of the Latitude group. “And artwork is one of our defining concepts”. They saw a gap in the market for hip and happening boutique hotels in Africa, he says, and first started Latitude 13 in Lilongwe, then Latitude 15 in Lusaka; both renovated houses resplendent with funky décor and dynamic, spirited hospitality. “The brand”, he says, “is all about social engagement and meeting people”. They also own Kaya Mawa on Likoma Island in the north east of Lake Malawi, one of the sexiest places I have ever visited. And the group has bought properties in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Nairobi in Kenya. 

Kaya Mawa, Malawi 

There’s a frenzy of building activity next door to Latitude 15 where the hotel is shortly opening a club called The Other Side, which is a first for Lusaka – a collaborative and dedicated office space offering pods with hot desking and bean bagging, similar to Soho Works in London, or We Work in New York. The idea is for professionals, entrepreneurs and freelancers to be able to work in a private club with high speed Wi-Fi, healthy food and spa and gym facilities.

That's me in the wedding dress 

I wasn’t in the mood for work however. I just wanted to hang out in the lounge and bar, watch the people meet and drink and engage. I went back into the reception to study the calendar photographs. They really are cheeky, ripping off everything from the ad industry, the Mafia and Father Xmas to colonialism and conservatism. There’s even one that has Oscar Pistorius’ blades sticking out of a bathroom door as a Reeva lookalike lies happily in bed reading and the chamber maid cleans up the blood. Oh yes, this is latitude with attitude. Bring it on.

 

Subversive photographs by Francois d'Elbee