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Simple yet hip – this sums up The Big Sleep Hotel, a joint endeavor by industrialist Cosmo Fry and fashion journalist Lulu Anderson. The two wanted something simple, inexpensive and hip! The result? A stylish hotel, looks designer, but won’t break the bank with designer-style prices.

In spite of a budget, Fry and Anderson found the perfect place within their price range in the heart of Cardiff: a former office building that had already been rebuilt into a hotel, albeit a bland and unsuccessful one. Still, the basic substance was there. The young investors let their imaginations run loose with lights to create retro-style shapes to illuminate the 81 room hotel. The consequent brightness radiates through the entire hotel, is tempered by warm decorative materials such as fleece and faux fur. Conde Nast Traveler even listed The Big Sleep as one of the 25 coolest hotels in the world.
Of course, hotel co-owner John Malkovich certainly helps up the cool-factor of this hip hotel. The American actor, known for portraying complex problem-riddled characters, was so enthused by Fry and Anderson’s inexpensive hotel plan that he invested in the project as copartner. Malkovich also gave the hotel a big PR boost with the event “In Bed with John Malkovich” – he got in bed with 300 welsh secretaries in the lobby of The Big Sleep Hotel, had the event shown on TV. No surprise that after this incident everybody knew about The Big Sleep Hotel.