Directions

Directions

The Transformation Issue ––– Travel Diary Georgia Rising / Feature The Spa is Dead Making of Hotel St. G eorge in Helsinki / Trend Forecast The Dawn of the Transformation Economy / Further Thoughts from Li Edelkoort, Spencer Bailey and more …

USD 13 EUR 10

9 771861 276002

The Magazine by Design Hotels™

Issue Nº 14 / 2018 / Edition La Granja Ibiza – A Design Hotels™ Project

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Table of Contents

70 – 81

The Making of Hotel St. George Unconventional Wisdom How do you build a great hotel? Hire Helsinki’s most prolific culture mover and forget everything you thought you knew.

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Table of Contents

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Masthead

34 – 49

Travel Diary Georgia Rising

12 – 13

Letter from the Founder Design Hotels™ Founder and CEO Claus Sendlinger on the various changes afoot within our global community and in society at large.

20 / 32 / 50 / 68 / 82

Made by Originals

14 – 19

Further Thoughts We asked six of our favorite opinion leaders in media, the arts, travel, design, and food, to ref lect on the current transformative movements bringing us into the future.

A journey through a country that’s shaken off its troubled past to become one of the world’s most exciting and extraordinary travel destinations.

52 – 59

Trend Forecast The Dawn of the Transformation Economy

Every hotel ref lects the vision of an independent hotelier — an “Original” — with a passion for cultural authenticity, genuine hospitality, and thought-provoking design.

89 – 197

Locator Design Hotels Collection

24 – 31

TM

The Future Laboratory examines the rise of the Transformation Economy, from activism-led hospitality and ecotourism to a trend toward solitude and radical disconnectivity.

Objects of Desire 60 – 67

Travel Feature The Spa is Dead

From otherworldly contemporary art installations to repurposed antiques and traditional handiwork, here are the stories behind some of the fascinating things that surround us.

Ben Crair explores the shifting landscape of wellness travel, where Eastern mysticism, alternative medicine, and mindfulness are uprooting conventional spa concepts.

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From mountain to beach, city to countryside, here you’ll find the entire worldwide collection of 295 Design Hotels™ properties in 58 countries to inspire your next journey.

Directions Editorial Director

Creative Director

Serdar Kutucu

Johannes Schwark

Senior Production Manager Stefanie Sandl

Editor in Chief

Art Director

Charly Wilder

Suvi Haering

Media Manager Alina Soare-Rada

Editorial Managers

Graphic Designers

Silvena Ivanova, Charlotte Wiedemann

Christine Daum Claudia Collasch, Rob Dietrich, Vivian Nebelin

Contributing Writers Ken Baron, Ben Crair, Vidula Kotian, Tom Osmond, Thomas Rogers, The Future Laboratory, Charly Wilder

Copy Editor Tracey Kelliher

Illustrations Lea Heinrich, Elisabeth Moch / Soothing Shade

Photography Claus Brechenmacher / Reiner Baumann, Sebastian Böttcher, Björn Ceder, Brian W. Ferry, Daniel Flaschar, Nicole Franzen, Stephanie Füssenich, Steve Herud, Brigitte Lacombe, Robbie Lawrence, Lottermann and Fuentes, Cem Talu, Rebecca Toh, Matthias Weingärtner —

Pre-Press Sabine Gierer

Assistant Production Managers Laura Meier, Cleo van Geest

Head of Advertising Charlotte Wiedemann

Distribution Holger Müller h.mueller @ designhotels.com Simone Wolff simone.wolff @ designhotels.com

Printed in Germany

Rasch Druckerei & Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Lindenstraße 47, 49565 Bramsche

Publisher

Advertising Inquiries:

Design Hotels AG Stralauer Allee 2c 10245 Berlin

directions @ designhotels.com Letters to the Editor:

c.wilder @ designhotels.com © 2017 Design Hotels AG No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior, written consent of Design Hotels AG. designhotels.com

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Who are you and who will you become?

Claus Sendlinger is the founder and CEO of Design Hotels, which represents and markets a curated selection of 295 independent hotels in 58 countries.

More than a collection of hotels, the company is a collection of stories.

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Letter from the Founder

In this edition of Directions, we’re taking on the theme of transformation, using it as a prism through which to look at various changes afoot within our global community and in society at large.

Ours is a time of great political, cultural, and economic flux, so it’s understandable that ­many feel anxious. Yet looking around us, we see overwhelming cause for optimism.

we increasingly seek experiences that do more than transport us out of our everyday lives, but rather leave a profound and lasting impact.

In the pages ahead, we’ve asked some of our favorite thinkers, writers, and opinion leaders to reflect on the transformative forces bringing us into a brilliant future. We tell the story of the unconventional creation of a new hotel in Helsinki, the St. George, by an eccentric group of creative visionaries who are redefining how a great hotel is made.

From a modern-day hermitage in Umbria to the Esalen Institute on the shores of Big Sur, the writer Ben Crair explores how the wellness industry is evolving, away from conventional spa concepts, toward inner transformation and transcendence, embracing once-esoteric ideas and methodologies, from Eastern mysticism and rituals to alternative medicine and sound meditation.

And our main travel feature takes you on a journey through a country that is itself in the midst of a radical transformation. Georgia — in particular its fantastic little capital, Tbilisi — has in less than a decade thrust off its historical baggage to become one of the most exciting, thriving, sophisticated, and culturally dynamic destinations the world has to offer.

Finally, we asked renowned trend-forecasting group The Future Laboratory to walk us through the dawn of the Transformation Economy, as

It’s a development that we at Design Hotels™ have welcomed with open arms and porous minds. This sense of travel-as-transformation is the impetus behind our ongoing Original Experiences project, which looks at the unforgettable, mind-altering moments that make up the best kind of journeys.

And it’s the central insight of Further, our new collaborative project for immersive h ­ ospitality experiences, which we kicked off in 2017 with an inspirational three-day mind-and-body event at Scribner’s Catskills Lodge.

Scribner’s is just one of the next-generation of hotels in our handpicked global collection that is leading the current transformation of the travel industry. In the past year, we’ve added 37 new hotels, bringing the collection to 295 independent properties in 58 countries throughout the world, all of which you can explore in our popular, i­mage-rich Locator at the back of the magazine.

Directions is also part of our own process of ­transformation, as we at Design Hotels™ look for ways to better connect with our community through storytelling and shared culture, in order to truly reflect the transformative journey to come.

We hope you will find something here to spark your interest or incite your own transformation, but most of all, we hope it will inspire you to put down the magazine and start exploring.

Sincerely, Claus Sendlinger Founder & CEO of Design Hotelstm

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Further Thoughts

We asked six of our favorite opinion leaders in media, the arts, travel, design, and food, to reflect on the current transformative movements bringing us into the future.

Illustrations Elisabeth Moch

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Transformation

Li Edelkoort “I’m resolutely going into spiritual mode. I’ve been exploring different faiths, most very ancient, but often still important today. I’m exploring them, not out of religious fervor, but out of a need to find meaning and a need to find new attitudes, a need to rethink the way we live together, and a need to change the world. ­Because every day it’s more clear to me that there is going to be a big choice in our lives, which is about whether we want to survive as a species or not. I think we are addressing the problem, but not yet completely.

In my study of spiritual paths, I think the most interesting one is animism, which is the belief that there is a soul in everything there is: a soul in pebbles, in moss, in rivers, in shadows, in words. So that means you have to have respect for every single thing. If you are creating a dress, you have to have respect for the yarn and the needle, the fabric, the history, the expression.

If you create a hotel, you must have respect for the concrete, the floors, not just for the food and for the music. You want to consider plants. So basically it means we need to reconsider almost everything we do.

There’s a very strong strain of this in anthropology and in philosophy — the concept that hard materials are living and do have a soul, and therefore the plundering of the earth cannot continue. I’m an atheist, you need to understand. Not even a New Ageist. I don’t meditate. I don’t do yoga. I am coming to these convictions through my research. When I watch E ­ uropean talk shows, I see there is a birth of a new morality, the way people are speaking about abuse, about power, on excess of money. I think it’s important that we work very actively on the way we treat matter and the way we make our choices. The whole design process should be a bit more careful. We can’t just make ­sample after sample. We have to streamline thought, to take more time in the conceptual period, so that we win time and care in the completion period. We need to be more flexible, more creative, more nomadic, more able to improvise.”

Lidewij “Li” Edelkoort is one of the world’s most influential trend forecasters.

Founder of renowned consultancy firm Trend Union, she is also dean of Hybrid Design at The New School in New York.

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Further Thoughts

Rosa Park is the founding editor in chief of Cereal Magazine and Cereal City Guides.

Andy Szymanowicz “What I’m excited about is trying to create a balance in the soil that’s feeding the plants the most nutrients that they could possibly take up in their roots. It’s a bit of alchemy, using science, but also intuition — just ­understanding what a plant needs. But the goal is that the food we are growing is the most nutrient rich that it can possibly be. The stronger, the healthier, that we can make the plant, the healthier and stronger humans will be, and the better we can fight against disease.

Food in our traditional agribusiness is kept so cheap.

But to actually produce this nutrient-dense food is hard work. For me, a big part of the message I’m ­trying to spread is that farmers and farm workers should be compensated fairly. People need to start changing their ideas that food should be the cheapest thing they buy in a week. Because honestly, if you’re buying food that’s very high quality — organic beyond organic — you are basically paying into preventative healthcare.”

Rosa Park “I think more and more hotels will be going above and beyond to create highly unique experiences for their guests. For my generation of travelers, we are seeking experiences beyond simply visiting a destination. We want to feel like we are in on a local’s secret. Or better yet, we want to engage in an activity that you seemingly can’t replicate elsewhere. I’m also the kind of person, where the hotel I stay at can make or break my trip. So it’s exciting for me to see new hotels and resorts crop up all over the world; each one upping the ante for what is considered to be an innovative property that is a ‘home away from home.’ I’ve noticed one of the ways that a lot of properties are doing this is by getting hyper-localized. From the architecture and interior ­design to the food and the sheets in your room, the hotels are curating a stay that is relevant and distinct to its setting. I think in the next five to ten years, we are going to witness these kinds of properties flourishing.”

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Transformation

“I think there’s an evolution happening, and a lot of it’s in contrast to the crazy political state of the world right now.”

Ben Pundole “I know it’s quite a cliché, but just before I turned 40, I decided to change a few things in my life. I started seeing this amazing life coach Gestalt therapist, and this led me to dive into spirituality and literature, sound healing, meditation, as well as all the fun stuff, Burning Man and ayahuasca ceremonies in Peru and so on, and I started to become a lot more conscious of what was happening around me and in the world. And this four-year journey of inner adventure and exploration led to me changing the way I work. With Edition

Ben Pundole is the editor in chief of the online travel magazine A Hotel Life and the vice president of brand experience at Edition Hotels by Ian Schrager and Marriott International.

Hotels, we’ve made a commitment to take single-use plastics out of all of our hotels, and with A Hotel Life, we’re about to relaunch to include one charitable or philanthropic cause every week. Because I’ve just reached a point where the lights were switched on, and I’ve realized I have a responsibility. I started out one way, and now I’m a vegan animal rights activist and environmentalist. More broadly, I think there’s an evolution happening, and a lot of it’s in contrast to the crazy political state of the world right now, but this idea of transformative hospitality is the future of the hotel industry. Because I think we’re going to see a generation emerge very quickly who make their ­choices based on the impact it has on the environment, on themselves, and on the world around them.”

Andy Szymanowicz is an expert in

biodynamic agriculture and serves as the master farmer at La Granja Ibiza, a 10-hectare farmstead created in collaboration with Design Hotels™ for its community.

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Further Thoughts

Chris Sanderson “Being in a Brexit frame of mind, which it’s impossible not to be in if you live in the UK right now, I’m fascinated with this idea of taking back control, which was the mantra of the Leave campaign. It’s that idea of how each of us is finding ways to more affirmatively be in control of our own lives, our own destinies, and futures — and the transformative impact that can have.

In the case of Brexit, it was used to demonstrate a negative, but in fact there’s an underlying positive: the emergence of a less competitive sense of self, toward a more transformative sense of self. So it’s not that you diet in order to become the thinnest, or you focus on money to become the wealthiest. Instead, you focus on

Chris Sanderson is the co-founder & CEO of The Future Laboratory, a world-leading strategic foresight consultancy specializing in trends intelligence, strategic research, and innovation strategy.

how you can be the best version of yourself — being in the right shape, earning the right amount of money for you, and doing the right kind of things that make you happy. I think this connects to the journey many businesses are on right now, forming organizations or collectives where everything is no longer about competing against each other, but rather about coming together to solve a problem or create a better environment. One of the most exciting things going on in the automotive industry at the moment is how many socalled competitors are coming together to share technology in order to look at, for example, how hydrogen energy will ultimately replace traditional oil-based and petroleum technology. People are coming together to collectively find solutions and answers.”

“In the case of Brexit, it was used to demonstrate a negative but in fact there’s an underlying positive.”

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Transformation

“We need media that allows people to slow down, to turn inward.”

Spencer Bailey “People tend to associate transformation with things that are faster, bigger, taller. But I actually think transformation can be something that happens when you slow down. If you look back to the slow food movement, it’s something that is now used for marketing and buzz-speak unfortunately, but the intent is really important, and it’s about understanding where your food comes from, how your food is made, enjoying the food that you consume.

I think you can apply this idea to media, because in media right now everything’s all about digital, video, getting someone to click. But I think we need media that allows people to slow down, to turn i­nward, and to think about things on a deeper level. They are taking the time to consume that thing, because that thing came from a place of great integrity, of intent. The reporting was done. The story was fact checked. Everything was done to a level of quality that is expected by a person who cares about what they consume. It is almost the equivalent of eating at a farm-to-table restaurant, but instead of eating with your mouth, you’re eating with your eyes. And in that sense, I think understanding the ‘who,’ not the ‘how many,’ is going to be very important. I think creating a trusted environment, sort of a safe space, in the world of so much noise, that’s how you can find a really dedicated audience.”

Spencer Bailey is a writer, editor, and journalist. He is the editor in chief of Surface and editorial director of Surface Media in New York City.

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Nobu Matsuhisa and Robert De Niro ­­ Legends & hoteliers

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obu Matsuhisa and Robert De Niro have been partners since 1994, when the Japanese chef and the American actor opened the first Nobu, the iconic New York restaurant that made a global craze out of signature dishes

like black cod in miso and sashimi with ­jalapeño. Since then, they have opened more than 37 Nobu restaurants on six continents. In 2013, the p ­ artnership launched its first Nobu Hotel in Las Vegas and now runs five, including its first European property, Nobu Hotel Shoreditch, which opened in London’s East End in 2017.

How do you connect your creative backgrounds with your work now as hoteliers?

NM: Being a chef is about taking your ingredients, applying a set of techniques, and using your vision and judgement to make a dish. In the Nobu restaurants, people spend a few hours eating and drinking, but in a hotel the whole experience can last months.

RDN: There’s a clear parallel. There are d ­ ifferent people with different, ­specified tasks, and you all work tog­ether to ­orchestrate the final product, whether it’s a movie, a hotel, a restaurant, or something else. Everyone shares their thoughts, what they feel is right, and then if you see or feel that something doesn’t work, you speak up and say ‘let’s not have that,’ and you refine the process along the way. Then the director shouts, ‘Cut!’ and announces they’ve changed their mind completely! ■

Made by Originals

Nobu Hotel Shoreditch

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OK Edition 2018 designhotels . cc / shop

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Objects of Desire

From contemporary art installations to traditional handiwork to vintage technology and repurposed antiques, here are the stories behind some of the fascinating things that surround us.

1 This neon sculpture, by Portland-based artist Dan Attoe , features one of his

trademark sexualized angels. It was first exhibited as part of his 2008 show, Simple Thoughts and Complicated Animals, at Peres Projects in Berlin.

— 11 Howard, New York City, United States 2 Numbers Runners, an interactive 1979

installation by the iconic artist and electronic music pioneer Laurie Anderson , is part of the phenomenal Dakis Joannou Collection.

One of the most important art collectors in the world, New Hotel owner Joannou is also the founder of the influential DESTE ­Foundation for Contemporary Art. — New Hotel, Athens, Greece 3 The Austrian artist Erwin Wurm created

this 2007 work, UFO, as part of a parody series taking on the cultural phenomenon of car fetishism in what he called “a clear criticism of our consumer society.” The work incorporates an authentic roof of a 1940s-era Porsche.

— The Met Hotel, Thessaloniki, Greece 4 This sculptural work by Gastón Ugalde,

Bolivia’s most important living artist, was inspired by his travels through the country’s varied and dramatic landscape. Known as the “Andean Warhol,” Ugalde is a video art pioneer whose 50-year career has helped change the face of Latin American art.

— Atix Hotel, La Paz, Bolivia 5 These human-like rabbit sculptures

are the work of Colin Seah’s innovative Singapore-based architectural firm Ministry of Design (MOD). The 3Dpixelated sculptures are a nod to the surrounding lake environment, ­interpreted through MOD’s transgressive spatial aesthetic, applied most recently to Singapore’s Race Robotics Lab. — Vue Hotel Houhai Beijing, China

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Artifacts

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“Man is an artifact designed for space travel.”

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William S. Burroughs

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Installations from Outer Space Some of today’s most exciting hotels function as live-in galleries, exhibiting commissioned and acquired installations and sculptural works by major contemporary artists. While their works run the gamut, many evoke a futurist vision of space-age forms, neon deities, and artifacts from the beyond.

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Artifacts

6 This waterspout is an antique

that was commonplace in the haciendas that flourished in the last century in the Yucatán, and were devoted to the cultivation of henequen, a type of agave plant used to make rope and twine.

— Rosas & Xocolate, Mérida, Mexico

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Return to Form Newer doesn’t have to mean better. In recent years, designers are increasingly returning to older craft traditions and working disused and antique pieces into contemporary interiors. The result is a revival of artisanship and history that bridges past and present.

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Artifacts

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7 This Franco Albini-designed

10 An antique table laid with a

wicker chair was manufactured in 1951 by Bonacina, a company founded in 1889 north of Milan that uses local reed and cane to combine two traditional crafts practiced in the area: basketry and furniture making.

— Condesadf, Mexico City, Mexico

handwoven linen tablecloth is set for apertifs in a courtyard near what were once ancient cave ­­dwellings, now reimagined as Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita, Matera, Italy.

11 Interior designer Saar Zafrir

8 This small ceramic hand-painted

Madonna was discovered inside the ruins of the old convent that became La Bandita Townhouse, in one of the old nuns’ cells. Today it sits in the hotel’s walled garden.

— La Bandita Townhouse, Pienza, Italy

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took inspiration from Paris in the 1920s when selecting items like this decadent bathtub with an old-fashioned brass knob faucet.

— Provocateur, Berlin, Germany

9 This original revolving door

dates back to 1929, when the flatiron-shaped building that now houses The Robey was constructed, making it the first high-rise outside of Chicago’s downtown area. The door was restored by the original, Indiana-based manufacturer.

— The Robey, Chicago, United States

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A print and digital publication that unpacks the culture of travel SUITCASEMAG.COM/SUBSCRIBE

Artifacts

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Welcome to the Stone Age From swirling marble and avant-garde tile formations to optical illusions and cheeky references to the busts of a­ ntiquity — ingenious original stonework is finding its way into the brilliant interiors of today.

12 This small porcelain bowl was

14 It took eight months for a single

designed by De Intuïtiefabriek, a Dutch design collective, as part of a bespoke breakfast buffet set they created specially for the hotel. It sits on an original pink marble fireplace.

— Château de la Resle, Montigny la Resle, France

sculptor to create this and 49 other handmade sinks from soapstone which was mined in Ouro Preto, a historic town in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

— Kenoa – Exclusive Beach Spa & Resort, Barra de São Miguel, Brazil

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15 This metalized reception desk 13 Custom bathroom tiles in gray

Bardiglio marble, white Carrara marble, and black Nero Marquina marble create a vintage, textured effect. Bardiglio and Carrara are primarily quarried in Tuscany, while Nero Marquina comes from Basque Country in northern Spain.

— San Francisco Proper Hotel, United States

and marble floor, designed to mimic the formation of autumn leaves blown in by the wind, are the work of the iconic fashion house Maison Margiela, which was founded in 1988 by the innovative Belgian avant-gardist Martin Margiela.

— La Maison Champs Élysées, Paris, France 16 The Falling Vase, from the

Design by Motion series, was created in 2007 by Front Design, a collective based in Stockholm.

It was bought at Galerie Kreo in Paris by the team behind Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez, France.

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John Chen­­ Mathematician & hotelier

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trained mathematician, John Chen spent time in the U.S. teaching math and working as an invest­ment banker before returning to his native Taiwan, where he eventually became the CEO of Gloria Hotel Group. While Hotel Proverbs Taipei marks the group’s third boutique property in the city, Chen has also become an influential figure in the retail industry, having campaigned for Taiwan’s first international outdoor outlet shopping mall.

What do you want people to feel when they step into one of your hotels?

When one enters a hotel, one should be able to find character in the tangibles and intangibles. The design, the materials, and the scent of it. Even in the service, there should be a distinct embodiment of this character. Character is more than a ­personality or identity.

How does your experience teaching math inform your work now?

When I was a teacher, I tried to lead students to the solution. Now, with my colleagues, I find myself going back to that teaching method. And because of my training in theoretical math, I try to ­encourage straightforward, logical ­discussion during meetings, which often results in one strategy that satisfies every­one. I find it important in a company to formulate a strategy as a team, so that everyone can take ownership of an idea.

That’s what encourages people to carry on learning, which, in turn, has a positive ­effect on the staff’s happiness and the guests’ overall experience. ■

Made by Originals

Hotel Proverbs Taipei and Gloria Manor

Travel Diary

Georgia Rising

Travel Diary

GEORGI A R ISI NG A journey through a country that’s shaken off its troubled past to become one of the world’s most extraordinary travel destinations.

by Charly Wilder Photography Robbie Lawrence & Daniel Flaschar

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Travel Diary

Part I ARRIVAL It was after dark when we reached Tbilisi, the city a pour of shadow streaming past the windows of the car that carried us from the airport. Down Rustaveli Avenue, the city’s main drag, building façades appeared like specters in flashes of streetlight: curving Renaissance Revival fronts, the domed and striped neo-Moorish edifice of the czarist-era Georgian National Opera Theater, rows of plane trees bending to an arch.

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“Not quite what I expected,” murmured Roham, my boyfriend, as a bellhop in Wes Andersonian gloves, cap, and double-breasted brass-button waistcoat escorted us through the front doors. We had wanted to come to Georgia for a while, having heard more than a few breathless endorsements from friends and friends of friends who had visited, especially in the past five or six years, as the country has leapt onto the radars of ­seasoned travelers.

We knew that Georgia, a small country that sits between the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains on the ­borders of Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, has a remarkably diverse landscape, ranging from the snowy peaks of the Greater Caucasus, to rolling vineyards and semi-desert, to the subtropical Black Sea coast, with its lush palm trees, rainforests, and white sand beaches. We knew that Georgia’s position at the crossroad of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, together with its natural ­bounty, had made it the site of territorial disputes for millennia — that even in the post-Soviet period, it was embroiled in civil conflicts, secessionist strife, and ­economic crisis. We knew that less than a decade ago, the country was at war.

And yet somehow Georgia — and even more so, its enigmatic little capital of Tbilisi — is flourishing like never before, with booming arts, culinary, and fashion scenes, thriving businesses and hotels, and a nightlife said to rival Berlin. Its strategic position at the intersection of major geopolitical interests has made Tbilisi a diplomatic and trade hub, drawing people from across the globe. In the past five years, visitor numbers to the country have more than doubled.

A ZERBAIJAN ARMENIA

We turned a corner onto a side street and pulled up to the sleek postindustrial façade of Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, once a Soviet printing press, its steel window casings now juxtaposed with panels of reclaimed oak and brick.

Still, whenever I would ask a recent visitor what Georgia was actually like, they would seem to get tongue-tied.

“It’s hard to explain,” they might say. “Not quite European, but definitely not Asian either …”

Does it feel post-Soviet? “Well yeah, maybe a little. But then also, not at all.” And more than once I was told: “You just have to go there to understand.”

We walked through the hotel, reddish light pooling over rich leathers, vintage midcentury furniture, modernist Georgian artworks, dark wood, and custom tiles. We looked out a glass-walled, atrium-like extension onto the inner garden courtyard, where a crowd was drinking ­cocktails at a freestanding bar built beneath a lattice of lushly overgrown industrial scaffolding. Finally we reached our room, which, with its handmade wallpaper and lavish, retro furnishings, evoked New York in the 1920s and ‘30s. Steel-frame windows looked out to the surrounding neighborhood, Vera, a central ventricle of Tbilisi’s literary and cultural life. We collapsed onto the vast leather-­backed bed and melted into a first ­delicious sleep.

Part II OLD AND NEW TBILISI The next day we woke up early to meet Alex, the hotel’s “experience guide,” for a tour through Old Tbilisi. He brought us to the ancient bath district, where legend has it the King of Iberia founded the city in the 5th century AD after discovering the area’s many sulfuric hot springs when his falcon fell into one and died (“Tbilisi” is Old Georgian for “warm place”).

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Georgia Rising

previous pages A view over Tbilisi with the Caucasus Mountains in the background. top left & center right Tbilisi street scenes. top right A sunrise over the city. center left The 13th-century Metekhi Church of Assumption sits on an elevated cliff overlooking the Kura River. bottom left Traditional Tbilisi architecture. bottom right The 19th-century stairwell of the former Hotel London, one of Tbilisi’s famous vintage entrance halls.

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Travel Diary

We opened a door and stepped into darkness.

As my eyes adjusted, I saw a vast curving stairwell lined with ornate but crumbling trompel’oeil frescoes ...

To the east, on the opposite side of the Kura River, which cuts through the center of the city on its way from Turkey to the Caspian Sea, traditional houses and a domed ­medieval stone church jut out from a vertiginous elevated cliff. Newer futuristic glass-and-steel constructions, like the undulating Bridge of Peace, the swooping Rike Park Concert Hall and Exhibition Center, and the 50-million-­ dollar Bond-villain-esque mansion of a Georgian banking oligarch, hover over the city like satellites. After crossing the Dry Bridge, where a kaleidoscopic antique and flea market unfurls daily, we opened a door on Atoneli Street and stepped into darkness. As my eyes adjusted, I saw a vast curving stairwell lined with ornate but crumbling trompe-l’oeil frescoes — illusionist brick-effect wall ­murals with “windows” looking out onto maritime and pastoral scenes — rising to a single skylight, the only source of illumination.

One of Tbilisi’s famous vintage entrance halls, it belonged to the prestigious 19th-century Hotel London, the first building in the city to have electricity, said Alex.

Tchaikovsky was a guest, as was the great Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun. By the middle of the 19th century, Tbilisi had emerged as a major trade and cultural center, attracting artists and intellectuals from across Europe, even as it buckled under czarist repression. But like so many of the city’s historic buildings, the Hotel­ London fell into disrepair in the Soviet era, and today exists only as a run-down residential building badly in need of restoration.

bottom left A Karlo Kacharava painting hanging at Rooms Hotel Tbilisi. bottom right Irena Popiashvili, a major figure in Tbilisi’s contemporary art scene, will help launch the Kunsthalle Tbilisi in 2018. opposite page Valeri Chekheria (left) and Levan Berulava, CEO and managing director, respectively, of Adjara Group Hospitality, the company behind Rooms Hotels.

Georgian designers helping to put Tbilisi on the map.

After the success of Gvasalia, and the 2015 launch of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi, she said, “it feels that Georgian fashion is growing fast and starting to get a lot of attention.”

That afternoon we went to meet Irena Popiashvili, an outsize figure in the city’s burgeoning contemporary art scene who, after 20 years in New York, moved back to her native Tbilisi to become the first female director of Some areas of Old Tbilisi are undergoing revitalization, the State Academy of Arts. In 2013, she opened the like Aghmashenebeli Avenue, known for its classic Popiashvili Gvaberidze Window Project, a storefront 19th-century buildings, which was recently revamped gallery that is one of the few venues in the city providing and pedestrianized by the municipality. In other areas, a platform for the country’s small but significant current new restaurants, bars, and boutiques are bringing in- wave of visual artists. creasing numbers of foreign visitors and capital, leading to waves of gentrification.

“For the general public, the Georgian art market is here, right on these steps,” she said, gesturing across the street, The fashion scene has seen a particular boost, especially since the meteoric rise of 36-year-old Georgian ­designer Demna Gvasalia, who in 2014 founded the influential Parisian collective Vetements and the following year was named creative director of iconic fashion house Balenciaga.

“The past three years have been really successful,” said the designer Tamuna Ingorokva, when we stopped by her showroom and workshop. Known for her brightly colored leather creations, she is part of a wave of young 38

Georgia Rising

where local craft sellers were hocking knit figurines, traditional tchotchkes, and miniaturized reproductions of classic Georgian paintings. The contemporary art scene, she added, is still fledgling but making great strides, and the rest of the world is beginning to take notice.

art institution that will exhibit the best of the country’s c­ ontemporary art together with international works.

“I feel that Georgian art needs to be contextualized ­within contemporary European and American art,” she said. “Fashion and music have been happening here.

Now art is really about to launch.”

From Window Project, we went around the corner to the former home of Karlo Kacharava, a prolific painter, poet, and theorist who died in 1994 at the age of 30 but left behind hundreds of paintings, drawings, and texts, many of which his sister preserves in the home where they lived. We walked through a puzzle-like matrix of rooms hung wall-to-wall with Kacharava works — dreamy ­images of strung-out post-Soviet bohemia, laden with text fragments in a distinct, instantly recognizable punk-­ expressionistic style.

Part III POST-SOVIET KIDS

That evening we headed to Keto & Kote, a restaurant that opened in Vera in 2017 in a lovely traditional ­townhouse. We were there to have dinner with Valeri Chekheria and Levan Berulava, the CEO and managing director, respectively, of Adjara Group Hospitality, the company behind Rooms Hotels. In the years since the casino magnate Temur Ugulava brought them on to run “He really created the story of the Georgian under- his ambitious new hospitality venture, few people have ground art movement that started at the end of the 80s,” been more involved than Chekheria and Berulava — both said Popiashvili, who staged an exhibition of his work still in their 30s — with Georgia’s recent resurgence. in New York in 2012, part of her wider project of ­bringing Georgian artists to the world stage. In spring In 2012, Adjara Group launched what they hoped would of 2018 this project will reach new heights when she become an international Georgian brand, beginning with helps launch the Kunsthalle Tbilisi, a roving non-profit Rooms Hotel Kazbegi, housed in a former Soviet 39

Travel Diary

Georgia Rising

top A view over Tbilisi, traversed by the Kura River, which runs from Turkey to the Caspian Sea. bottom right Bassiani, a cavernous techno club housed in the basement of Tbilisi’s national soccer stadium, has been at the center of the city’s nightlife boom. opposite page & bottom left Tbilisi street scenes.

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Travel Diary

workers retreat in the Caucasus Mountains, followed by Rooms Hotel Tbilisi in 2014. Their success was pronounced and immediate, garnering rave reviews across international press and from high-profile visitors like Sting, Sophia Loren, and food guru Anthony Bourdain.

Instead of looking for staff trained in hospitality, they recruited from local film schools and art academies, ­hiring young people they liked — people with tattoos, good taste, and open minds — and then sent them on research trips to the Crosby, the Ludlow, Gramercy Park, and Waverly Inn, so they could understand where the While Ugulava is the company’s creative visionary, bar was set. ­involved in nearly every major aesthetic decision, ­Chekheria and Berulava are its guiding forces. It’s an “Before, in Georgia, it was not so cool to be a waiter,” auspicious undertaking — particularly for two people said Berulava, whose puckish, fast-talking demeanor who grew up, as they did, amid the turbulence and offsets Chekheria’s relaxed, soft-spoken affability. “We ­privation of 90s-era Georgia. “We are really these post-­ wanted to change that mentality, to make the culture of, Soviet Union kids,” said Chekheria, as our wine glasses ‘hey, you are a student. It’s cool to be a waiter. You will were filled with an amber-tinged, deep-red Georgian have money, and then we will all dance together with Saperavi. As a child, Chekheria had to flee his family the owner at Bassiani!’,” he said, referring to Tbilisi’s home on Rustaveli Avenue when it was burned down in best-loved techno club. street fighting during the Georgian Civil War. After the success of Rooms Kazbegi and Tbilisi, they “This was a very dark period of time — no electricity, no opened Lolita in 2016, a buzzy bistro and late-night gas, no heating,” said Chekheria. “But we were having hangout, and Fabrika, a hip 400-bed hostel and arts and fun. The young kids, we didn’t realize it was this big retail complex housed in a Soviet-era sewing factory, drama. We would wake up in the morning and my sisters which includes a skate shop, a vintage boutique, and a and I would be like, ‘Hey Mom, do we have any food ramen bar. There are other projects in the works, from today?’ Then we were spending the whole night in a a beachside bungalow complex set amid the lush tropical queue to get literally a piece of bread.”

Black Sea coastline near Georgia’s second city, Batumi, to a just-announced ski resort, Rooms Hotel Kokhta, in Berulava spent his early childhood in the Georgian the central Borjomi region. ­region of Abkhazia, where his family is from. When it erupted into sectarian conflict in the early 90s during In 2018 Adjara will launch its most ambitious project to the breakup of the Soviet Union, he fled to Kiev with his date — Stamba Hotel — a five-story property with a family. He and Chekheria met in their early 20s while ­rooftop pool, upscale casino, and basement-to-sky working in Georgia’s Ministry of Finance in the first ­atrium built in High Line-esque, wild-urbanist style in years after the country’s peaceful pro-Western Rose the Soviet-era printing press that houses Rooms Tbilisi. ­Revolution in 2003. They applied together, and were accepted, to a graduate program at Columbia University Beyond hotels, Adjara Group has been instrumental in in New York City. “This was always my big dream supporting the country’s cultural scene, from filling its ­because of the movies — I wanted to have my own hotels with works by Georgian artists, to sponsoring ­locker!” joked Chekheria. “When I got there, I realized events such as Stream of Unconsciousness (SOU), an the masters program doesn’t have any lockers.” ambitious two-year-old festival of contemporary music and visual arts that most recently brought Björk to Chekheria and Berulava were immersed in a rigorous Georgia for a nine-day tour that included two concerts academic environment, and they both worked for the in the capital.

United Nations, where circumstances thrust them into the center of diplomatic efforts at the outbreak of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.

Living in NewYork, they were also exposed to art, culture, and luxury at levels they had only dared imagine. So when Ugulava put them in charge of Adjara, they were determined to return home and do something extraordinary.

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opposite page Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, a 125-room property melding 1920s New York with old-world Tbilisi charm, opened in 2014 in a former Soviet printing press.

Georgia Rising

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Travel Diary

As our evening wore on, our table was laden with a ­dazzling spread: fresh cucumbers and plump, deep-red tomatoes served in a crushed-walnut vinaigrette. There were hot kidney beans stewed with coriander, walnut, garlic, and onion served in a clay pot, and, of course, khachapuri — Georgia’s most famous culinary export — oven-baked bread with fresh sulguni cheese either cooked into the dough or melted into the center with butter and a sunny-side-up egg.

the development of Georgian products, it’s impossible to develop hospitality,” said Chekheria.

Just as our glasses were being refilled, more dishes ­arrived. We raised our glasses to the chef and to the ­future and, naturally, to friendship old and new. Meals in Georgia can last hours, with many courses, free-­flowing wine, and copious toasts.There’s even an official ­Georgian feast ritual not tied to any particular celebration — the supra — officiated by a designated toastmaster, or I had been waiting for this, having lived for a year in ­tamada. The great hospitality of the Georgian people Russia, where Georgian cuisine is as beloved and ubiqui­ may be a cliché, but it was one of the most visceral, tous as Mexican in the United States or Indian in the ­undeniable facts of being in the country.

UK. Georgia’s diverse terrain, fertile, mineral-rich agricultural lands, and its position on ancient trade routes “I think people are missing this in Europe and America,” like the Silk Road, resulted in a singular national cuisine, said Berulava. “That’s why whenever they come to rich with spices and aromatic herbs and bearing influ- Georgia, this is one of the main reasons they love it here.” ences of Persian, Turkish, Russian, East Asian, and ­Western European culinary traditions. Lately, Georgian A long decadent meal led, as it often seems to, to drinks food has been making its way to hip enclaves of New around the corner at Rooms. On the way, we stopped to York, London, and Berlin. wave through a window at Kakha Kaladze, a friend of the guys and a former soccer star who was running for Meanwhile, Georgia’s dining scene is being reimagined, mayor and had headquartered his campaign in a vacant as new restaurants, like decadent Keto & Kote, refined section of Rooms Hotel Tbilisi (a few weeks after our trip, Alubali, French-inflected Cafe Littera in the historic he won the election).

Writers’ House of Georgia, and Ezo, in a Sololaki ­courtyard, are taking bold, sophisticated approaches to Back at the Garden Bar, more friends began to arrive. classic recipes. Many source their products from once-­ One of them, a lithe jewelry designer named Tamara languishing independent growers through the upstart Khoshtaria, presented Chekheria with a delicate geometGeorgian Farmers Association, a platform partially sup- rical lapel pin of sterling silver that she had made that ported by Adjara Group that connects small farmers with day in her workshop. “We get together every single day,” restaurants and hotels and has helped to kick-start the said Berulava. “Georgians are very much into friends country’s ascendant farm-to-table movement. “Without and family culture.”

this page Georgia’s diverse terrain, fertile, mineral-rich agricultural lands, and its position on ancient trade routes like the Silk Road, resulted in a singular national cuisine, rich with spices and aromatic herbs.

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Georgia Rising

Artists and diplomats, DJs and executives, waiters and politicians share social circles, ideas, inspiration.

But this was more than a mere sense of community. What was so extraordinary about being here in today’s Tbilisi was that the communal spirit felt tied to the very destiny of the country. Artists and diplomats, DJs and executives, waiters and politicians share social circles, ideas, inspiration. Some have experienced success abroad and then returned home to give back. Others stayed, working to remake Georgia from the inside, embracing the spirit of transformation pulsing through the country.

Berulava began to order chacha, a strong Georgian brandy made from grape pomace, and the head mix­ ologist invited us to a new electronic music festival she was launching with some friends. Soon we were joined by two Americans in town on business — specialists, one of them said, in “pre-emerging markets.”

antique Georgian rugs, iron chandeliers, and deep leather armchairs — an interior motif I recognized from Rooms Tbilisi — offset by vintage Soviet posters and teeming bookshelves.

But all of this was dwarfed by the jaw-dropping view through floor-to-ceiling windows: Mount Kazbek and Pre-emerging? He gestured grandly toward Rooms, the towering peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. On the as the bartender cranked up the music: “Well, here is closest summit, hung in silvery mist, I could just barely ­already emerged.” make out the stone Gergeti Trinity Church, a popular destination for intrepid hikers, with a history dating back to the 14th century.

Part IV MOUNT KAZBEK We dropped our bags in the room and headed to the The next day we woke up, hungover but happy, and hotel’s subterranean wellness area, built into a slope so loaded a car for the mountains. We followed a storied steep that even here underground, giant windows looked route once known as the Georgian Military Highway, west onto the mountains, letting the sunset drench the which crosses the Caucasus on its way to Russia. We swimming pool in shimmering gold. Guests lounged in drove along the right bank of the Kura River, past the white robes along the terrace, sipping herbal tea and the country’s historic capital of Mtskheta, then over the wide night’s first glasses of Saperavi. floodplain of the Tetri Aragvi and past the medieval fortress of Ananuri, stopping only occasionally to buy dried, Eventually we headed for dinner at the hotel’s groundpressed fruit from a roadside grandma or drink ice-cold floor restaurant, which is popular for its hearty regional water from a mountain spring. fare, all sustainably p ­ roduced and locally farmed. We had a chicken-and-­tarragon soup renowned as a hangover The temperature dropped as we drove, winding higher cure (I can vouch: it works), then worked our way to and higher into the Georgian Caucasus, gray-green khinkali, the glorious Georgian dumpling, which must rock cutting against a watery cobalt sky. I saw milling be eaten by hand. Local etiquette demands diners grab sheep, towering skeletal oil rigs and, once, wild horses it by its doughy knob and take a bite, first sucking out running across a hill flank, their manes whipping wildly the savory broth, then d ­ evouring its juicy center of in the mountain air. Finally we crossed the Jvari Pass minced meat, onion, chili pepper, salt, and cumin. into the village of Stepantsminda, and there it was, perched 1,800 meters above sea level amid a spectac- After dinner, we decamped to the vast, wrap-around ular terrain of gorges, ridges, and snow-covered slopes: wooden terrace where the jagged mountain skyline the Brutalist glass-and-wood structure now known as ­darkened against the last vapors of daylight. Hotel Rooms Hotel Kazbegi. guests had clustered on lounge chairs under woven blankets to drink and laugh as stars twinkled awake The air was cold and clear as winter as we walked toward across a black Caucasian sky. Finally, blissed out on food the hotel, once a Soviet-era workers’ resort, and into the and wine and mountain air, we fell into bed in a haze open-plan lobby, which had been recast with raw timber, of contentment.

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top The 14th-century Gergeti Trinity Church can be reached via a rigorous hike or with the help of a local driver with a high tolerance for bumpy rides. center The lush Black Sea coastline near Georgia’s second city, Batumi, where Adjara Group is building a beachside bungalow complex. bottom & opposite page The road to Rooms Hotel Kazbegi in Stepantsminda, a sleepy mountain village high up in the Georgian Caucasus.

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Georgia Rising

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Travel Diary

By the time we arrived, upwards of 1,000 bodies were already moving with abandon in the emptied-out Soviet-­era swimming pool.

of liberal tolerance), Bassiani has been drawing party people and techno heads from across the world to a scene that, many say, maintains the sense of enthusiasm and transgressive adventure that can be hard to find these days in more established clubbing cities like London and Berlin. Just don’t call them the next Berghain.

“We really want to have our own thing,” said Zviad ­Gelbakhiani, 26, who since opening Bassiani in 2013 with two friends, has overseen an ambitious program of local DJs and international acts like Nina Kraviz, Speedy J, and Ben Klock.

opposite page Rooms Hotel Kazbegi looks out on the towering peaks of the Greater Caucasus, a spectacular terrain of gorges, ridges, and snow-covered slopes.

By the time we arrived, upwards of 1,000 bodies were already moving with abandon in the emptied-out Soviet-­ era swimming pool that serves as Bassiani’s main dance floor. Steam rose toward the towering ceiling as Irish DJ Sunil Sharpe, perched over the deep end, blasted Part V WINE AND MUSIC hard techno through the club’s world-class Funktion-­ One sound system. Upstairs, in the smaller room, the On our way back to Tbilisi the next day, we made a Detroit dub-techno DJ Luke Hess presided over a detour through the wine region of Kakheti in eastern ­raucous, upbeat crowd. We saw so many of the people Georgia, passing rolling, amber-hued vineyards stretch- we’d met over the past days on the dance floor. Everyone ing to the Azerbaijan border where Persian invaders greeted us like old friends. once entered the kingdom. We stopped at Temi, a winery and social organization that was then in the midst of a Seeing them all there together — artists and entrepreharvest festival. neurs, workers and students, designers and hoteliers — we knew we were witnessing something extraordinary.

We watched as brawny, sunburned men pressed giant This was a country coming together to cast off its vats of grapes, pouring the juice, skins, stalks, and pips ­troubled past and rewrite its own future. And they together into large clay vessels called qvevri, to be sealed were succeeding. and buried underground to ferment. It’s a process that’s been used to make wine in Georgia’s fertile valleys for We danced into the morning, leaving the club as a pale millennia. As of 2017, when archeologists discovered sun rose over Tbilisi. Soon we were headed for the airseveral 8,000-year-old clay wine vessels similar to today’s port, the city already a fading, halcyon blur. I knew that qvevri near Tbilisi, Georgia is officially the oldest wine later, back home in Berlin, someone would ask me what region in the world.

Georgia was really like, and I would tell them the only true thing I could.

We arrived back in Tbilisi after dark, did a quick costume change at Rooms, and were out the door by midnight You just have to go there to understand. ■ on our way to the official season opening of Bassiani, a cavernous techno club in the basement of Dinamo Arena, the national soccer stadium.

Despite rigid drug laws and lingering — albeit lessening — homophobia, Tbilisi’s club scene has exploded in recent years, with Bassiani at the thumping center of the action.

Complemented by smaller venues like gay-friendly Cafe-­ Gallery, open-air Vitamin Cubes, and newer venue Khidi (all of which use varying door policies to protect a spirit

Charly Wilder is the editor in chief of Directions and a writer who contributes ­frequently to The New York Times. Despite her recent immersion in Georgian culture, she remains only 80 percent confident she can correctly spell the word “Caucasus.”

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Georgia Rising

49

Seija Ojanpera ­­ Philanthropist & hotelier

S

eija Ojanpera began her c­ areer in the nonprofit world, ­before r­ eturning to her hometown of ­Chattanooga to revisit a childhood dream of opening a hotel. The result is The Dwell ­Hotel, the city’s first design-led boutique ­accommodation, set in a three-story brick and lime­stone s­ tructure dating back to 1909. Ojanpera filled the ­interiors with midcentury modern design details like vintage print wallpapers aside ­weathered hardwood and exposed brickwork, a reference to the city’s storied industrial history.

How did you discover your love of hotel design?

I used to go on holiday a lot with my family, usually driving around the U.S., and I was always fascinated by the hotels and bed-and-breakfasts we stayed in — by how someone had created these interior spaces for others to enjoy. And I thought ‘I can design a space like that!’ I was only 75 pounds but I was dragging beds around, wardrobes, dressers, moving art around, et cetera.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

The Dwell is a stepping stone to my dream idea. I co-own some land that has two miles of cliffs overlooking the Cherokee National Forest, and my dream is to build a five-star resort there with a minimalistic design and a top-of-the-line spa, a healing center, and verdant gar­­dens. I visualize the kind of place where you can go to spend two weeks eating raw food and healing, or drinking martinis and lounging by the pool — which­ever you prefer! ■

Made by Originals

The Dwell Hotel

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Transformation Economy

The Dawn of the Transformation Economy The Future Laboratory examines the rise of the Transformation Economy, from activism-led ­h ospitality and ecotourism to a trend toward solitude and radical disconnectivity.

We live in an age in which technology allows us to quantify They demand life-changing betterment via how, where, our every action and reaction. Apps and smart devices and with whom they spend their time and money. give us the power to measure our very existence, even as we sleep. Despite this, humanity continues to struggle “Across generations and across the world, people are now with how to use this glut of intelligence to power looking for experiences, services, and p ­ roducts that help ­meaningful transformation of mind, body, and soul. them to become better versions of themselves,” says Chris Sanderson, co-founder of The Future Laboratory. “This The consumers of the Experience Economy are now mission to be healthier, wealthier, and happier is leading searching for more long-term payback from their spending. to the rise of the Transformation Economy.”

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Trend Forecast

“Because we have allowed our attention to be monetized, if you want yours back, you’re going to have to pay for it.”

Matthew Crawford, author of The World Beyond Your Head

STILLNESS SKILLING In a world in which distraction is designed in the form of apps and content, our attention is considered a crucial yet dwindling resource. In answer to this, spaces and services that offer a sense of simplicity are redefining the high-end hospitality experience.

“Because we have allowed our attention to be mon­ etized, if you want yours back, you’re going to have to pay for it,” explains Matthew Crawford, author of The World Beyond Your Head. He cites walking from the main concourse of an airport into a business lounge as a prime example of this.

The brand’s reasoning behind the solitary confinement is that it helps diners to concentrate on the bowl of ramen in front of them. “There are so many distractions,” says Ichiran Director of Operations Hana Isoda. “When have we ever been face to face with the food in front of us and understood the flavor?”

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, author of Rest, believes that the key to transformation through downtime is in seeing it as action rather than inaction. “The most restorative forms of rest, the ones that will help you be more c­ reative and be a better person, are active, skilled, and essential,” he says. “We need more mind-­wandering; the state where you don’t have to concentrate on anything, and can let your attention unfocus.”

Just as moving from the bustling airport terminal into the privacy of a lounge provides an exclusive experience of serenity, so too does the recently opened Hoshinoya SPIRIT SANCTUARIES Hotel in Tokyo’s Otemachi financial district. Instead of a concierge desk, visitors are greeted at the entrance by In order to reach a state of “unfocus,” a growing cohort a contemplative art installation and asked to remove of transformation-seekers is looking to ancient r­ itualism their shoes to avoid disturbing the stillness of the space. and mysticism. In the Dark Ages, the ever-­present threat of disease, short lifespans, and a lack of scientific underThe trend for solo contemplation is also in play at standing about the world led to a surge in ­religious fervor.

Japanese restaurant chain Ichiran, which has recently Now, with lifespans extending into an unknown future opened a branch in NewYork. It allows diners to eat with of technological advancement, gender imbalance, p ­ olitical minimal human interaction. Food is served through a unrest, and potential environ­mental collapse, people are hatch to customers seated in individual booths. seeking solace in the magical and super-natural.

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Letter from the Founder

previous page  Nadeen, an oil and

mixed media painting by American street artist Dan Witz. this page  Hoshinoya Hotel Tokyo

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Ceremonial incense

by New York-based Cinnamon Projects.

Transformation Economy

With lifespans extending into an unknown future of technological advancement, gender imbalance, political unrest, and potential environmental collapse, people are seeking solace in the magical and supernatural.

The growing popularity of shamanic sweat lodges is evidence of this spiritual revival. These ritualistic daylong experiences aim to help people enter an altered state of being for long-term betterment. The ceremonies, which include elements such as “smudging,” where herbs are burned to cleanse auras and environments, are carried out in intense temperatures, created by heating stones in an enclosed tent.

feminine divine through the archetype of the witch,” explains Erica Feldmann, owner of HausWitch. “We hope to offer goods and services in alignment with that energy and provide a space that fosters a community for Salem locals and visitors alike.”

Salem, Massachusetts is also benefitting from the desire to look to the past in order to root oneself in a more stable sense of the present. The town has become a place of pilgrimage for feminist millennial witches, 325 years after the witch trials that made it famous.

When not seeking to disconnect from the tumultuous and distracting nature of 21st-century life, future travelers will look for opportunities to actively engage in the issues affecting society at large. Hospitality brands will need to plug into their guests’ viewpoints and create safe spaces in which they can gather, discuss, learn, and implement real change.

CIVIC TOURISM

Shops such as HausWitch highlight how the movement has evolved. Selling homewares and serving as a community and events hub for witches, it is far removed In an uncertain world, the profoundly political nature from the traditional image of broomsticks, warts, and of food is being brought to the fore. “Every single thing cackling. “Salem is really a place that embodies the we eat and the way we share it has political implications, 57

Trend Forecast

from who grew the ingredients to how they were distributed. This gives us so much power as individuals to affect change,” says Julia Turshen, author of cookbook Feed the Resistance, which features an “intersectional collection of recipes, essays, and ideas” that examine the political nature of what and where we eat.

Female-owned and female-run bar and bakery Butter & Scotch, in Brooklyn, taps into this mindset with its politically inspired menu of drinks, which has included Not My President and This Pussy Grabs Back. “We decided to be up front about our politics and weave them into our business,” says co-owner Allison Kave.

However, the convenience culture we have built will be hard to forgo. More than ever before consumers will look to brands and businesses to help them achieve their goals.

Food and drink is one of the key sectors to which people will look for convenient, but satisfying solutions to the world’s problems, with waste high on the agenda.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the world produces approximately 1.3 billion tones of food waste every year.

Recently, the U.K. has seen the emergence of several zero-­waste restaurants, like Tiny Leaf in London and Silo in Brighton, that are hoping to put a dent in this Eaton Workshop, set to open in Washington, D.C. in figure by using donated ingredients, composting 2018 as a hybrid of accommodation, co-working space, ­leftovers, and reusing containers, along with other and wellness center, has a similar mission. According ­sustainable strategies. to its website, the hotel will act “as a gathering place for an inclusive tribe of changemakers and creatives, Social purpose will also be key to success in the travel indus[inviting] activists, artists, and entrepreneurs from try, says luxury travel expert Juliet Kinsman. “Millennial around the world to instigate meaningful and positive travelers want to know that a hotel has a positive effect initiatives on both a local and macro scale.” on the world — be it through fair living wages or giving back to the community. The older t­ raveler looks at the “We believe that we’re a step toward a more humane environmental elements, including if the hotel in question business that provides space for community building has been recognized with eco-build certification.” and learning in a world that needs it,” says Katherine Lo, founder and president of Eaton Workshop. “We think Across sectors and across the world, businesses will hospitality can be a tremendous catalyst for social and need to adapt quickly to the consumer desire for more environmental impact.” fulfilling and ultimately life-changing experiences. As The Future Laboratory’s Sanderson explains: “For those hoping to tap into the Transformation Economy, the TRANSFORMATION FUTURES secret will be in offering people the tools, environments, and services for self and collective improvement. As a The narcissistic and transient nature of the Internet is society, we will continue to look to businesses to reduce being replaced by a long-term, collective commitment the pain points involved in becoming the best possible to the issues that will mean boom or bust for humanity. versions of ourselves.” ■

The Future Laboratory is a world-leading strategic f­ oresight ­consultancy

specializing in trends intelligence, strategic research, and innovation s­ trategy.

Just don’t ask us who’s going to win the World Cup.

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Transformation Economy

this page La Granja Ibiza —

A Design Hotels™ Project, a 10-hectare farmstead community in the Balearic island’s heartland, where a farmto-­t able concept and biodynamic ­agriculture are practiced.

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The Spa is Dead From an Umbrian monastery to the shores of Big Sur, Ben Crair explores the shifting landscape of wellness travel, where Eastern mysticism, alternative medicine, and mindfulness are uprooting conventional spa concepts.

Illustrations Lea Heinrich

Spitzmarke

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The Spa is Dead

The previous day, I had watched my new iPhone’s bars disappear one by one on the long dirt road to Eremito.

On my first morning at Eremito, I woke up with the sunrise and listened to the silence until my ears began to ring. Was my brain rebelling against the quiet? No, I decided: it was the sound of my own listening — a sound I had not heard in a very long time. I live in a big city, with cars and rowdy bars and perpetual construction.

My workdays are a losing battle against the Internet’s carnival of distraction. And in my free time, whenever I feel the creep of boredom, I do the same thing as everybody else: I fiddle with my phone.

cool stone floors, crackling fireplaces, clay jugs of wine, and a bare minimum of technology. And his vision is just as interesting for what it leaves out. Eremito has no proper spa, only a steam room and a Jacuzzi, open for a couple of hours every afternoon.

“Now to make a spa makes no more sense,” Murzilli says. The spa—at least as we know it, with its white robes, Swedish massages, and beauty treatments — is a thing of the past. It pampers at a time when travelers crave something more transformative — new ways of The previous day, I had watched my new iPhone’s bars drawing closer to themselves, each other, and the disappear one by one on the long dirt road to Eremito. ­natural world.

The Umbrian hillsides blushed with the first reds of autumn, and plump clouds waltzed across the sky. Sergio, “People are seeking all kinds of wellness programming the brother of Eremito’s owner, had picked me up at that’s not only more holistic but is also far more active the nearest train station in a battered white Land Rover. than a spa,” says Beth McGroarty, the director of r­ esearch “He likes hotels in places impossible to go,” he explained at the Global Wellness Institute. In response, innovative as we forded a small stream. Though I had been looking hoteliers, like Murzilli, are revolutionizing travel, drawing forward to a few days in the Italian countryside, I had on local traditions and global trends and combining also been nervous about the hotel’s “digital detox” mindfulness, community, spirituality, and exercise to ­policy — and so I was relieved to pull up to Eremito’s create immersive new wellness experiences. stone gate and meet Peppo, the hotel’s gray-muzzled boxer and a much better companion than my phone. “The new luxury is silence,” Murzilli says. He wanted Eremito to be “a small hotel where you can find identity, This withdrawal is the allure of Eremito, a 12-room hotel relationships, and silence.” Increasingly, he noticed in a nature reserve between Florence and Rome. Eight travelers were yearning for more than just relaxation or years ago, Marcello Murzilli returned to Italy from exploration — they wanted to step outside of the deluge Mexico, where he ran the Hotelito Desconocido, to build of 21st-century life, to reconnect to physical places, “a contemporary hermitage” for solo travelers, a place ­listen to each other, and re-evaluate their priorities. E ­ very “where you are totally disconnected,” he says. He drove traveler was, in his or her own way, a pilgrim. “We are around Umbria until he came upon an abandoned very isolated in the digital world,” says Andreas Wieser, monastery from the 14th century on a hillside in the who founded the Austrian hotel and health resort forest. He hired local workers to raise a new building Lanserhof, one of the world’s pioneering wellness desfrom the ruined stones. Murzilli’s hotel resembles the tinations. “Travel can create a space so we can think monasteries that still operate throughout Umbria, with about who we are and who we would like to be.”

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Travel Feature

This space requires more than just a few hours in the sauna — which is why hoteliers are thinking outside the spa. They are responding to a growing receptivity to forms of spirituality and mindfulness that, a decade ago, might have struck many travelers as crunchy and strange. For example, La Granja Ibiza, a farmstead set among the island’s wild inlands, regularly hosts healers to lead guests in rituals and energy work across various cultures and disciplines. Sound meditation, which is most often associated with Tibetan Buddhism but can be found in some form across various cultures, is also gaining popularity.

Every traveler was, in his or her own way, a pilgrim.

Increasingly, hoteliers have been turning to renowned healers, like Bobby Klein, a former rock music photographer who went on to study with Tibetan Buddhists and the Native American Hopi Tribe, before founding the Wisdom and Mystery School, an international “Sound enables us to disconnect from the busy brain,” ­pop-up forum that brings together leaders of various says Alexandre Tannous, one of the world’s leading industries, including travel. sound researchers. “This is the whole point of music.”

An ethnomusicologist who has studied sound from “There seems to be a real appetite now for things Western scientific, Eastern philosophical, and shamanic that get you out of your head quickly and effectively,” perspectives, Tannous has recently been consulting McGroarty says. “They might have been called trippy with leaders in the hospitality industry, encouraging once, but I think they’re answering a call for getting out them to learn about how sound can deepen and enrich of the constant bombardment of noise and work and the guest experience. emails and social media.”

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The Spa is Dead

Of course, these ideas didn’t come out of nowhere. In 1962, Stanford graduates Michael Murphy and Dick Price founded the Esalen Institute on 27 acres of coastland in California. Influenced by thinkers like Aldous Huxley and Alan Watts, the idea was to create a refuge where people could experiment with alternative methods of exploring human consciousness and learn new skills to help them engage with the outside world.

Among the earliest guests to Esalen was Fritz Perle, the German psychologist whose theory of “Gestalt therapy” held that perception is an active construction process that could always lead to deeper understandings. He stayed for five years, and Gestalt therapy became one of Esalen’s core philosophies. Over the following years, the Institute became the center of practices and beliefs associated with the New Age movement, introducing many ideas around topics of personal growth, alternative medicine, and mind-body interventions that would later enter the mainstream — and eventually make its mark on the travel industry.

a geographical path,” he says. “You would first enter the cloakroom and then you would do sports so that you would start sweating. Then you would go into cold water to stop it and get your oil treatment. Then you would have a massage and then you would relax.”

At the same time, hoteliers want to give visitors flexibility to pursue their own programs. Many hotels, including Eremito, offer daily yoga classes and meditation. ­“Eremito is a Franciscan box, but inside, you can mix what you really need in order to find your harmony,” Murzilli says.

For me, Eremito’s best wellness treatment was one of the world’s oldest: the company of a kind old dog. Peppo was always available, sleeping on the cold stones or snoring on his own mat in the yoga studio. Eremito’s staff catered to its guests and Eremito’s guests catered to Peppo, taking him for walks, sneaking him snacks, or scratching behind his ears. Peppo captured part of what felt special about Eremito. It was luxurious, but also easygoing, without any But the current evolution of wellness hospitality also of the stiffness you sometimes encounter in high-end stems from travelers’ desire to learn about and partici­ hotels. The small staff joined the guests for meals, and pate in the unique cultures and histories of the places afterwards, by the fireplace. It felt like a community. they visit. The digital world unmoors us from physical spaces — and travel is a way to anchor us back to them.

In Umbria, Murzilli discovered old monastic traditions that helped visitors to reflect, and felt authentic to the region. He built a small chapel at Eremito where guests are invited every morning to a brief nondenominational prayer, and he decided to have guests eat dinner together in silence, like Franciscan monks. I felt strange at my first dinner sitting quietly beside the other guests in the candlelit dining room, but once the food started to arrive I relaxed and began savoring the flavors. Every night, Eremito’s kitchen prepares four vegetarian courses with ingredients from the garden, and it was easier to enjoy them without having to make chitchat with the other guests. After the meal, we all settled in around the fire to discuss our lives — and Eremito’s chefs were happy to drop by and share their recipes for our favorite dishes.

Other hoteliers are similarly looking to local traditions to create unique wellness experiences. “Five years from now, spas will look funny in hotels,” says Valéry Grégo, the owner of the hotel Les Roches Rouges in Southern France. He is currently planning to rebuild Les Roches Rouges’ spa in the style of a Roman bath, like the ones you found in the region 2,000 years ago. “In a Roman bath, the whole wellness concept was a mini journey, like 65

“In a Roman bath, the whole wellness concept was a mini journey, like a geographical path.”

Valéry Grégo, founder of Perseus hotel group

Travel Feature

“Travel can create a space so we can think about who we are and who we would like to be.”

Andreas Wieser, visionary founder of Lanserhof hotel and health resort in Austria

A sense of community is, perhaps, the most healing thing a good hotel can offer at a time when people feel increasingly isolated in their everyday lives. Many properties today, from La Granja Ibiza to Les Bains in Paris, to the ambitious Hotel Hotel in Canberra, offer guests cultural and communal programming that also links them with an extended local community. Wieser says a good hotel should be like an agora in Ancient Greece: “It was the place where people communicate, where people speak together, where people learn things together.”

Recently, Design Hotels launched the Further initiative, a set of planned trips meant to not only connect participants with each other but also to a greater social purpose.

“It’s bringing different people and brands ­together to co-create a new way of experiencing, while elevating everyone to another level of conscious ­thinking,” says Markus Schreyer, vice president of the ­Americas at ­Design Hotels. In September, the Further initiative hosted a three-day event at Scribner’s Catskill Lodge in upstate New York. It included a movement and meditation program, communal outdoor dinners, musical performances, and a panel with the United Nations Development Programme to discuss how art, music, and design can create global change.

After the first morning in Eremito, I realized I could tune into the sound of my listening whenever I was alone — at dinner, on the forest path, reading on the lawn. It might seem like a minor and silly thing, but it was a part of myself I had not been in touch with in a very long time, and I wondered if I would still be able to hear it in the noisy outside world. Sitting in the airport in Rome, I closed my eyes and concentrated, and faintly, despite all the bustle, my ears began to ring. For now at least, the silence was still with me. ■

Ben Crair is a writer living in Berlin. He has written for The New York

Times, National Geographic, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The New Yorker website. He is currently planning to trade his iPhone for a dog.

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Johan Bouman­­ Art collector & hotelier

I

t didn’t take long for Burgundy’s vineyards and châteaux to cast a spell over Dutchman Johan Bouman.

He originally came to France to set up a subsidiary of the food company he co-ran in the Netherlands, but ended up buying a ­château of his own. Renovating

the expansive ivy-wrapped manor house became a labor of love, resulting in a hotel that radiates with personality — in no small part due to Bouman’s personal collection of contemporary art and design, which animates the interiors and attracts ­connoisseurs from around the world.

Do you have a philosophy as a hotelier?

It helps if you can exist in two worlds within the confines of one space. I live at the château too, after all, and I open my private home to guests, who get a very personal, intimate experience. The people who come back again and again prefer this kind of personal experience.

What about Burgundy particularly speaks to you?

You are very close to Chablis, so for lovers of wine, it’s great. The landscape features rolling hills, canals, forests, wine fields; plus, people are truly friendly. We live off tourism here, but there is not so much of it that the locals get fed up.

You’ve had a very enthusiastic ­response to Château de la Resle.

What do you think people love so much about it?

Whether it’s the art, the building, the grounds, or the silence that brings them back, it doesn’t matter — it’s that they feel a special connection. ■

Made by Originals

Château de la Resle

Unconventional Wisdom

The Making of H otel St. George How a group of creative visionaries is challenging the way a hotel is made.

Text Thomas Rogers Photography Stephanie Füssenich

It’s a clear day in September, and Mirkku Kullberg is looking out over the leafy Vanha kirkko­puisto, a park in the center of Helsinki, from one of the luxury suite balconies of the still-unfinished Hotel St. George, a new ambi­tious property set to open its doors ­several months from now, in March of 2018.

“It is so exciting for me that something I was just imagining a few months ago now exists,” says Kullberg, the project’s creative director and guiding force, turning back to survey a room filled with construction workers and equipment. “There used to be nothing here.”

Kullberg, who has large expressive eyes and usually dresses in flowing black, is new to the hotel industry. After almost a decade heading Artek, the iconic Finnish furniture brand cofounded in 1935 by design legend Alvar Aalto, she walked away from the company. She began 70

work on the St. George in 2016, at that point a project still in its infancy.

Building a world-class hotel is, unsurprisingly, a remarkably complex endeavor. It requires the ability to unite countless different elements — design, food, wellness — under one central concept. And even by those standards, the St. George is an especially daunting project. The building is a historical landmark that once housed the presses for Finland’s first newspaper and the Finnish Literature Society.

Its oldest section dates back to the 1840s, while the rest was designed at the end of the 19th century by noted Finnish architect Onni Tarjanne. And the hotel is emerging at a moment when Helsinki is coming into its own as a tourist destination.

The city, which is nestled in a scenic archipelago of bays, inlets, and forested islands, is

Hotel St. George

Mirkku Kullberg , creative director

of Hotel St. G eorge, at the Espoo Museum of Modern Art.

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Making of

top left Helsinki’s Pohjoissatama Harbor. top right Characteristic ­a rchitecture in central Helsinki. center right St. G eorge’s Winter Garden under construction. bottom left The neoclassical Old Church in Vanha kirkkopuisto park with St. G eorge in the background. bottom right Kullberg at her office in the city center, surrounded

by St. G eorge plans.

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Hotel St. George

known for its high quality of life, innovative Nordic ­cuisine, and passion for sleek, avant-garde design. Its central boulevard, the Esplanadi, is lined by elegant, streamlined architecture, including by Alvar Aalto, and although the city remains a more under-the-radar destination than other Nordic capitals, that seems likely to change. In the past decade, the number of annual overnight visitors to the city has risen by almost one million. In 2018, Helsinki will be opening a daring new art museum, the Amos Rex, as well as a new central library that aims to reinvent the concept of the library for the 21st century and looks like an elegantly warped coffee table.

“It’s becoming Helsinki’s time,” says Laura Aalto, the CEO of Helsinki Marketing (no relation to Alvar). “This is the most exciting period for the city.”

But what makes St. George truly extraordinary is the unconventional way it’s been created — not by a team of seasoned hoteliers, but by an eccentric group of visionaries with no experience in hotels — guided, in part, by an esoteric wellness concept called Hintsa Performance.

The story begins, though, when Laura Tarkka, the CEO of Kämp Collection Hotels, Finland’s most reputable luxury hotel group, took the first step outside the box by tapping Kullberg for the project. The St. George was already in its planning stages, but they wanted someone to take a more ambitious approach. Kullberg had never considered working in hospitality, she says, but the opportunity was too good to resist: a historic building on a historic square and the chance to assemble her dream team for the project.

It also marked a natural progression from Kullberg’s years at Artek, a company known for its minimalist, forward-thinking ethos. Under her direction, the ­ ­company embarked on projects that bridged the gap between art, architecture, and sustainability, such as a 2007 pavilion designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, made of recycled waste material from a Finnish paper company. A similarly ambitious, boundary-­ blurring sensibility has driven the creation of the Hotel St. George — as well as its rigorous cultural approach.

“I thought, if we bring in art, we need to do it properly,” she says. “Artek wouldn’t have existed without art.” Partly because of her years of work with Artek, Kullberg seems

“This process is an endless series of miracles and small disappointments, but we’re getting there.”

to know almost everybody in the art, design, food, and fashion worlds of Helsinki. “Mirkku has a lot of energy, a lot of ideas, and, unlike other people who just talk, she actually does things!” says Maija Tanninen-Mattila, the director of the Helsinki Art Museum. “I almost feel like making this hotel has been a culmination of my lifetime of connections and friends,” says Kullberg.

In just 20 days, she came up with a new concept for the hotel, based around the changing nature of luxury, and aimed at a new generation of travelers interested in high-end, design-led hospitality that eschews tradi­tional five-star trappings in favor of a more personalized, ­holistic experience. “It’s clean air; it’s beauty,” she says.

“It’s the four elements, which I call solitude, serenity, silence, and security.”

Kullberg climbs up some stairs in the construction site and looks over the monumental lobby space, which is currently still a hulk of bare concrete dotted with rolls of electrical cabling, but will soon become the hotel’s soaring entryway and home to its most iconic piece of art.

“This will eventually be the pop star entrance,” she says.

When Kullberg first came on board, she was passionate about finding the right piece for the space. Kämp had organized a competition among Finnish artists but, Kullberg says, “the caliber just wasn’t there.”

So in spring of 2016, she walked across the park to Galerie Forsblom, which was showing a piece by inter­ nationally acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, called Tianwu. The three-dimensional bamboo-and-silk con­struction, shaped like a dragon with several human heads, towers over the ground like a ghost. White bulbs light it up from within, giving it an aura of simultaneous lightness and magnitude.

The Helsinki Art Museum had hosted a hugely popular Ai Weiwei retrospective in 2015 and Kullberg was thrilled

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Making of

top left Each guestroom will feature individualized, hand-­ selected local artwork and textiles. top right Finalizing a mock-up guestroom.

bottom right “We want to have a spectrum of lights in every room, because one color helps you wake up and another helps you fall asleep,” says Pekka Pohjakallio of Hintsa Performance.

bottom left As a nod to the building’s literary history, the hotel will have a poetry room offering a vast assortment of poetry books from around the world in their original language.

opposite page The oldest section of the building dates back to the 1840s, while the rest was designed at the end of the 19th century by noted Finnish architect Onni Tarjanne.

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Hotel St. George

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Making of

by the possibility of offering a permanent piece of the artist’s in Helsinki. “I’m very fond of craftsmanship,” she says. “I don’t necessarily think art needs to be that provocative.” Of course, buying an Ai Weiwei doesn’t come cheap (“the finance department didn’t like me”) and Kullberg had to meet in person with the artist about the piece’s long-term durability. But in the end, she won out.

The St. George will also feature an official shop

by Monocle, as well as a small store selling essential products selected by tastemakers, like the influential Berlin-based fashion retailer Andreas Murkudis. As a nod to the building’s literary history, the hotel will have a poetry room offering a vast assortment of books from around the world in their original language. It will be a phone- and computer-free zone where guests will have the opportunity to reflect, as well as a meeting space for weekly poetry readings, part of St. George’s cultural programming. Kullberg also plans to work with Marko ­Ahtisaari, the former head of product design at Nokia and the current CEO of the Sync Project. A groundbreaking venture developing music as precision medi­ cine, Sync Project will be included in the hotel room experience to improve guests’ relaxation before sleep.

Figuring out the hotel’s culinary offerings was an altogether more complicated endeavor. Kullberg steps into what will become “Andrea” — like the rest of the building it’s a bare, dusty space for now, its windows looking out onto Lönnrotinkatu, a street abutting the park, but it will soon be a bustling restaurant with a brick oven and adjustable partitions so it can be shrunken down during the day.

“In Finland, the hotel restaurants had been developed from the fact that they first and foremost need to serve breakfast,” she says. “I said, ‘I don’t get it.’ We need to think about it not as a breakfast room but as a restaurant that somehow serves breakfast.” Kullberg envisioned a culinary hotspot that could stand out in Helsinki’s increasingly discerning food scene, which now has four Michelin-starred restaurants — a concept in line with what Laura Aalto, the Helsinki Marketing executive, describes as the city’s desire to bridge the divide between visitors and residents. “The project is something that we don’t have here,” Aalto says. “They’ve understood the importance of creating something that’s really well connected to the city, with services that are meaningful for the locals.”

Kullberg turned to an old friend of hers, Antto Melasniemi — an outsize figure in Helsinki known for having played in the gothic rock group HIM, one of the most commercially successful Finnish bands of all time, and for running several of Helsinki’s most ­beloved restaurants. “He acts in plays, does restaurants, music, harpoon fishing,” says Kullberg. He’s also made a name for himself through his many culinary happenings, for example his Solar Kitchens, in which he made dishes using only the power of the sun, in Helsinki, Sweden, and Alaska. “I asked if he would want to see this restaurant concept, and he said, ‘I’ve got one hell of a hangover, but show me’,” says Kullberg. Before long, she had charged him with overseeing all food and drink for St. George.

“I think she knows me better than I know myself,” says Melasniemi, sitting in the basement of his crowded nearby restaurant, Putte’s Bar and Pizza. “As a traveler, I love this idea of creating an international space within the city, and this project has the nice feeling of bringing the world closer to the city, and the other way around.” The Winter Garden, located under a bright glass cupola in the center of the hotel, he explains, will serve cocktails and a “light but substantial” Japanese-inflected menu, while the hotel’s bakery will focus on producing the city’s best bread. The hotel’s culinary centerpiece, however, will be the restaurant “Andrea.” Kullberg consulted with friends of hers from Sweden’s Fool Magazine, who recommended Mehmet Gürs, a Turkish-Finnish chef best known for running Mikla, one of Istanbul’s most famous fine-dining restaurants. “He is the perfect counterforce to me,” says Melasniemi. “He likes the sunshine, and I like the night.”

“I’m half-Turkish, half-Finnish, and Finland is where I was born, so it’s like I am going back home,” Gürs explains. Together with Melasniemi and Kullberg, he set about creating a restaurant that would serve up ­authentic Anatolian food with an emphasis on sharing and local ingredients. top Tianwu, a three-dimensional bamboo-and-silk construction by the internationally acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, will tower over the lobby like a ghost.

center Kullberg consults with celebrated Finnish restaurateur Antto Melasniemi.

bottom left Marko Ahtisaari, former head of product design at Nokia and current CEO of the Sync Project, provides music and sound consultation.

bottom right The St. G eorge team is briefed by Pekka Pohjakallio of Hintsa Performance.

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center right Kullberg’s desk.

Hotel St. George

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Making of

top left The hotel’s culinary c­ enterpiece will be the restaurant, Andrea. top right Antto Melasniemi is an outsize figure in Helsinki known for having played in the gothic rock group HIM and running several of Helsinki’s most beloved restaurants. bottom left Mehmet Gürs, the other half of the St. G eorge culinary duo, is a Turkish-Finnish chef best known for running Mikla, one of Istanbul’s most famous fine-dining restaurants. bottom right “The food we do is very bold, and we want to keep that boldness,” explains Gürs.

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Hotel St. George

“I asked if he wanted to see the restaurant concept, and he said, ‘I’ve got one hell of a hangover, but show me’.”

“The food we do is very bold, and we want to keep that boldness,” he explains. He plans on flying the staff down to Turkey in the run-up to the opening, though he and Melasniemi already started some early test-runs.

“We made a dinner for 70 people when it was cold outside,” says Melasniemi. Gürs had brought some lamb from Istanbul, and they decided to barbecue in the open air — a bit too close to the window. “There was so much heat, it broke the glass. It was so cool.”

One of the St. George’s most unique qualities, however, will be among its least visible. In developing the hotel, Kullberg turned to Hintsa Performance, a holistic ­concept invented by the late Finnish doctor Aki Hintsa, that hinges on the idea that a person needs to focus on six elements in order to improve their well-being: general health, physical activity, nutrition, recovery, bio­mechanics, and mental energy.

“I thought we should make this holistic element part of the customer’s journey,” Kullberg says. After years of commuting between family in Finland and Berlin, and a job in Basel, the mother of two was aware of how draining it is to always be on the road. “I had been thinking about my life, and reading articles about Aki Hintsa, who believed that if you know your core, everything is better.”

“This is a passion project,” explains Pekka Pohjakallio, Hintsa Performance’s business development director, “because this is exactly what I would have liked as a traveling businessperson.” At Kullberg’s request, he and his team worked to make the experience of St. George’s guests as re-energizing as possible. “She wanted us to use the Hintsa model to help people make their stay in the hotel more meaningful and energetic than it would otherwise be.” In a practical sense, this meant ensuring that the hotel offers healthy food, placing elastic bands in rooms so that people can exercise and improve their flexibility, and a host of other tweaks. “We want to have a spectrum of lights in every room, because one color helps you wake up and another helps you fall asleep,” says Pohjakallio. “I thought, let’s be a bit crazy and brave and try things nobody has ever thought of.”

The hotel’s Hintsa-inspired gym, the Playground, will focus on “bodyweight training,” says Pohjakallio, and offer guests a prepared set of exercises depending on what they want to accomplish with their workouts. “If

they are tired and want to refresh, we have a training regime for that,” he says.

Already, the Hintsa experience has improved Kullberg’s life. “I decided we should walk the talk,” she says. She and the St. George staff have begun working with the Hintsa team to transform their lives, and she claims it’s already helped her recover from an old waterskiing injury. “I can run three miles without breaking a sweat now, that’s not something I used to be able to do.”

This spirit of transformation has animated the creation of the Hotel St. George, just as it has Kullberg’s remark­ able second act — one that will soon be on display to the world when the hotel opens in spring 2018.

“This process is an endless series of miracles and small disappointments,” she says, “but we’re getting there.” As Kullberg sees it, the St. George is the culmination of many of her life choices — her time at Artek, her friendships, her deep understanding of Helsinki. Now she has the opportunity to shape the city that has done so much to inform her life, at the cusp of its moment in the spotlight.

“Helsinki has the momentum,” she says, smiling out over the lobby. “Now it’s up to us.” ■

Thomas Rogers is a Berlin-based freelance journalist who has written for

Monocle, Rolling Stone, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Sometimes he gets a little sleepy in Finnish saunas, so if you see him there, please wake him up.

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Making of

“ Helsinki has the momentum ,” says Kullberg, pictured here at St. G eorge.

“Now it’s up to us.”

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Hotel St. George

St. George’s main staircase

incorporates original architectural elements of the heritage building.

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Rafael Sainz Skewes­­ Explorer & hotelier

W

hen Rafael Sainz Skewes arrived 16 years ago by motorbike to Troncones, a world-class surf spot up the coast from Acapulco, its golden beaches and mountainous skyline captured his heart instantly. It was a connection that has kept him returning and eventually led to him owning a little piece of this ­para­dise. For Skewes, Lo Sereno is a vision of what a beach hotel should be: a laid-back haven of natural beauty, good food, and inspiring company.

You were born and raised in ­Mexico City. Why did you relocate to Troncones?

I love the beach and nature and so I ­wanted to change my lifestyle. With Troncones, it was love at first sight.

This place has a special energy.

The design of Lo Sereno references traditions of the region but is still very contemporary — not exactly what the local community is used to…

The locals were very curious about what we were constructing. But once it was finished, they were really happy to have something like this here. We’ve created something very different in terms of architecture. I like the combination of clean lines and barefoot luxury, two extremes on the same line.

Is there an ethos that drives you?

The most important thing is to find peace within yourself because you don’t know what will come next — deep in the jungle, on top of a mountain, or in the middle of a storm. You have to be there and enjoy what you’re doing. ■

Made by Originals

Lo Sereno Casa de Playa

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Advertising

Native Union Elegant, high-quality tech accessories for today’s digital nomads

In an era where so many of us run our lives on sophisti­ cated mobile devices and computing systems we couldn’t have imagined mere decades ago, Native Union is ­quietly building a name for itself as the go-to design brand for refined, high-quality tech accessories. Known for their understated style and use of natural materials, the brand’s products are a welcome reprieve from the nondescript, mass-produced plastic that has long been associated with the mobile accessories market.

Making tech accessories for a modern way of working and living was a natural direction for Native Union, considering how its co-founders started the company nine years ago. Running their respective design businesses out of Hong Kong, Igor Duc and John Brunner met in a co-working space in 2007. As entrepreneurs themselves — traveling constantly and working across lots of different time zones — both recognized a shift in the way people were working and living. With a wave of new technology came almost constant connectivity and that was quickly breaking down the barriers between work and play — now you were always “on.”

In Brunner’s words, “We had our eureka moment with Native Union. We both wanted to create products for this entrepreneurial, digital nomad lifestyle that we could see developing all around us.”

Only 12 months after their chance encounter, Brunner and Duc had sold their respective businesses and co-founded Native Union. Good design remains the foundation of everything they do and they will always favor being best to market over first to market. Native Union has become an expert in making durable, unconventional mobile accessories — indestructible cables, sleek wireless charging pads, and phone cases cut from real marble — that simplify and enhance how we live

with our overwhelming amount of tech. Its customer is someone who embraces the modern fluidity between working and living like they do, and is willing to pay a bit more for high quality and unique design.

Since a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, where it raised nearly $1 million for its multi-USB charger Eclipse, Native Union’s attention has shifted to charging — and specifically, how it’s changing.

The brand now offers a full range of fast multi-device chargers that equip you for those situations where cables are best, such as needing to charge several devices simultaneously or working from your device while charging. And if you need a wireless, static ­charger for use overnight at home or in a hotel, Native Union’s wireless charging pad Drop is a fast and stylish pro­ position. It doesn’t stop there. You can also charge while listening to music with their new state-of-the-art speaker, created in collaboration with French audio specialists La Boite concept.

Native Union has come a long way since its inception in a co-working space in Hong Kong. It now has a huge global reach thanks to its premium distribution network that has put it on the shelves of the finest retailers worldwide. The opening of its L.A. office last year also helped propel the brand into the consciousness of West Coast designophiles. So, what’s next for Native Union?

Whatever it is, it will be carefully considered — much like every product they put their creative minds to. ■

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Advertising

It started with a wooden chair In 1949, Moritz Wagner invented the classic version of the tavern chair, a simple piece for daily use that, since its breakthrough in the 1960s, has become an iconic Bavarian furniture piece, ubiquitous throughout the world.

More than 60 years later, Wagner Living has reissued the tavern chair, with all its old assets but with a new and modern look. A recipient of the German Design Award 2018, this new edition — the W-1960 (a tribute to the decade when it hit the big time) — is also available with a special patented seating cushion, which gives the possibility to sit in motion. The third generation of the Wagner family has made sitting in motion their profession. It’s for this reason Wagner Living adopted its current motto: “Move your life — while sitting.”

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR CHARLES SCHUMANN, LEGENDARY MUNICH BARMAN

“Move your life” defines the attitude of people who live their life in motion. They search for changes and new impulses—and in this way reinvent themselves. Charles Schumann, the famous Munich bartender, author, and proprietor of Schumann’s Bar, is a long-time champion of Wagner Living. After spending the early 1970s tending bar in the South of France, he returned to Germany, where he eventually opened the iconic Schumann’s American Bar in Munich. His 1991 best-selling cocktail book, American Bar, is often credited with introducing Europe to American cocktail culture, and in 2017 he premiered his first feature film, Schumann’s Bar Talks, at the Berlin International Film Festival. We caught up with the man, the myth, to speak about his unconventional career and his love of Wagner chairs.

thing is to be here in my bar. I want to continue to shape the bar the way I imagine it — and only I can do that. Travel inspires.

What kinds of ideas have you been putting into action?

We are constantly changing things at our café-bar, Tagesbar, and also in Schumann’s Bar at Odeonsplatz.

The space has stayed more or less the same, but our menu is constantly evolving. You will certainly find lots of ideas there.

Over the course of your life, have you ever stood at a crossroads and taken a wrong turn?

That happens to all of us again and again. But if I try to think concretely, there weren’t that many opportunities in my life to do things differently. I have done precisely what I have wanted and been able to do.

You have been a fan of Wagner Living for years.

But I am also their biggest critic. They do make beauti­ ful objects—especially the tavern chair. For me, there is nothing more beautiful. It's simple and honest. ■

You recently turned 75. How did you celebrate?

I flew to Japan in order not to have to celebrate.

You traveled a lot for your film. Which countries are still on your personal travel wish list?

South America is interesting. I would like to live for some time in Japan. But for me, the most important

W-1960 – A recipient of the German Design Award 2018, this new

edition — the W-1960 is a tribute to the decade when it hit the big time.

87

From mountain to beach, city to countryside, here you’ll find the entire worldwide collection of 295 Design Hotels™ properties in 58 countries to inspire your next journey.

96 – 117

Americas 118 – 177

Europe 178 – 181

Africa & Near East 182 – 197

Asia-Pacific

Americas Bolivia Atix Hotel La Paz

Mexico 98

Bonaire Piet Boon Bonaire Kralendijk

98

Panama

Boca Chica Acapulco

101

Casa Fayette Guadalajara

101

Hotel Emiliano León

101

Rosas & Xocolate Mérida

Brazil

102

El Otro Lado Portobelo

108

Saint Lucia Boucan by Hotel Chocolat Soufrière

108

United States

La Ferme de Georges Atins

98

Condesadf 102 Mexico City

Troutbeck Amenia

Felissimo Exclusive Hotel Balneário Camboriú

98

Distrito Capital Mexico City

102

Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills Beverly Hills

Downtown Mexico Mexico City

102

The Dwell Hotel Chattanooga

112

99 99

Habita 103 Mexico City

The Robey Chicago

112

Insólito Boutique Hotel Búzios

99

Habita Monterrey Monterrey

103

Chez Georges Rio de Janeiro

The Robey Hall Chicago

Hotel La Semilla Playa del Carmen

103

Harmon Guest House Healdsburg

La Purificadora Puebla

103

Hotel Healdsburg Healdsburg

113

Scribner’s Catskill Lodge Hunter

113

Kenoa – Exclusive Beach Spa & Resort Barra de São Miguel

Canada Hotel St. Paul Montreal

99

Hotel Amapa Puerto Vallarta

Colombia B.O.G. Hotel Bogotá

100

Ecuador Carlota 100 Quito

Grenada Laluna 100 Morne Rouge

Jamaica Rockhouse Hotel Negril

100

104

109 110

111 112

Hotel Escondido Puerto Escondido

104

The Drifter New Orleans

Dos Casas Hotel & Spa San Miguel de Allende

104

11 Howard New York City

113

Hotel Matilda San Miguel de Allende

105

Crosby Street Hotel New York City

113

Lo Sereno Casa de Playa Troncones

105

Gramercy Park Hotel New York City

114

Casa Malca Tulum

105

Hôtel Americano New York City

114

Papaya Playa Project Tulum

105

The Ludlow Hotel New York City

115

106

The Whitby Hotel New York City

115

Tulum Treehouse Tulum Villa La Semilla Tulum

107

114

Avalon Hotel Palm Springs Palm Springs

Azúcar 107 Veracruz

Washington School House Park City

Maison Couturier Veracruz

San Francisco Proper Hotel San Francisco

107

Nicaragua Meson Nadi Popoyo

108

90

116 115 117

Europe Austria

Finland

Augarten Art Hotel Graz

120

Hotel St. George Helsinki

Hotel Zhero – Ischgl / Kappl Kappl, Tyrol

120

Klaus K Hotel Helsinki

Hotel Kitzhof Mountain Design Resort 120 Kitzbühel Loisium Wine & Spa Resort Langenlois 120 Langenlois Wiesergut 121 Saalbach-Hinterglemm Bergland Design and Wellness Hotel 121 Sölden Loisium Wine & Spa Resort Südsteiermark 121 Southern Styria Das Triest Vienna

121

Do & Co Hotel Vienna 122 Vienna The Guesthouse Vienna 122 Vienna

Belgium

Germany 125 124

Sir Savigny Hotel Berlin

133

Hôtel des 3 Vallées Courchevel

126

The Mandala Hotel Berlin

133

Vertigo Hotel Dijon

126

Designhotel ÜberFluss Bremen

133

La Monnaie Art & Spa Hotel La Rochelle

126

The Qvest Cologne

133

Domaine des Andéols Luberon

126

Hotel zum Löwen Duderstadt

134

Château de la Resle Montigny la Resle, Burgundy

127

Gerbermühle 134 Frankfurt

Hotel Bel Ami Paris

127

Roomers 134 Frankfurt

Hotel de Nell Paris

127

Roomers Loft Frankfurt

134

Hotel Vernet 127 Paris

The Pure Frankfurt

135

Gastwerk Hotel Hamburg Hamburg

135

The Royal Snail Namur

122

Le Cinq Codet Paris

Croatia Hotel Lone Rovinj

123

Cyprus Almyra 123 Paphos

Czech Republic Miura Hotel Čeladná

123

Hotel Josef Prague

124

Denmark Nobis Hotel Copenhagen Copenhagen

124

132

124

La Maison Champs Élysées Paris

123

Hotel Zoo Berlin Berlin

Five Seas Hotel Cannes Cannes

122

Sense Hotel Sofia Sofia

132

Provocateur 132 Berlin

France

The Dominican Brussels

Bulgaria

Cosmo Hotel Berlin Mitte Berlin

128

129

Side 135 Hamburg

Le Pigalle Paris

128

Sir Nikolai Hotel Hamburg

135

Le Roch Hotel & Spa Paris

128

The George Hamburg

136

Les Bains Paris

128

Cortiina Hotel Munich

136

Hôtel Les Roches Rouges Saint-Raphaël

130

Louis Hotel Munich

136

Hôtel de Tourrel Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

130

The Flushing Meadows Hotel & Bar 136 Munich

Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez

130

Factory Hotel Münster

137

Le Fitz Roy Val Thorens

130

Hotel Liberty Offenburg

138

Le Val Thorens 131 Val Thorens

Hotel Bachmair Weissach Rottach-Egern

137

Georgia

Cerês 137 Rügen

Rooms Hotel Kazbegi Stepantsminda

131

La Maison Hotel Saarlouis

137

Rooms Hotel Tbilisi Tbilisi

132

Becker’s Hotel & Restaurant Trier

139

Stamba Hotel Tbilisi

131

91

Greece AthensWas 139 Athens Fresh Hotel Athens

139

New Hotel Athens

139

Periscope 140 Athens Semiramis 140 Athens Anemi Hotel Folegandros Island

140

Ekies All Senses Resort Halkidiki

140

Myconian Avaton Mykonos

141

Myconian Kyma Mykonos

142

Mykonos Theoxenia Mykonos

142

San Giorgio Mykonos Mykonos

142

Erosantorini Santorini

143

Coco-Mat Eco Residences Serifos 142 Serifos The Met Hotel Thessaloniki

144

144

Iceland Ion Adventure Hotel Nesjavellir

144

101 Hotel Reykjavik

144

Ion City Hotel Reykjavik

145

Portugal

Nira Montana La Thuile, Aosta Valley

146

Pedras Salgadas Spa & Nature Park 152 Bornes de Aguiar

146

Farol Hotel Cascais

152

Vigilius Mountain Resort Lana, South Tyrol

146

Praia Verde Boutique Hotel Castro Marim

152

Filario Hotel & Residences Lezzeno, Lake Como

Altis Belém Hotel & Spa Lisbon

154

Memmo Alfama Lisbon

154

Memmo Príncipe Real Lisbon

154

Estalagem da Ponta do Sol Madeira

154

Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita 146 Matera Hotel Viu Milan Milan

147

Straf 147 Milan Eremito 147 Parrano, Umbria 147

Vila Monte Moncarapacho, Algarve

156

La Bandita Townhouse Pienza

148

Torre de Palma Wine Hotel Monforte

156

Argentario Golf Resort & Spa Porto Ercole, Tuscany

Hotel Teatro Porto

156

Memmo Baleeira Sagres

156

Elizabeth Unique Hotel Rome

148

G-Rough 148 Rome Parc Hotel Billia Saint-Vincent

149

Santiago Hotel Cooking & Nature Santiago do Cacém

Sextantio Albergo Diffuso Santo Stefano di Sessanio

149

Azor Hotel São Miguel, Azores

149

Villa C Boutique Hotel Vila do Conde

Palazzina Venice

150

Russia StandArt Hotel Moscow Moscow

Lithuania Hotel Pacai Vilnius

151

GombitHotel 145 Bergamo 145

Poland Hotel Galery69 Stawiguda Autor Rooms Warsaw

150 153

H15 Boutique Hotel Warsaw

152

92

158

157

158

Slovenia Vander Urbani Resort Ljubljana

Malta

155

Furnas Boutique Hotel, Thermal & Spa 158 São Miguel, Azores

Ca’ Pisani Venice

Cugó Gran Macina Grand Harbour 150 Senglea

Italy

Hotel Greif Bolzano

145

Zash Country Boutique Hotel 149 Sicily

Hungary Lánchíd 19 Budapest

C-Hotel & Spa Cassago Brianza

158

Spain

Sweden

Turkey

Hospes Amérigo Alicante

159

Fabriken Furillen Gotland

165

Gezi Hotel Bosphorus Istanbul

172

Claris Hotel and Spa Barcelona

159

Hotel J Stockholm

165

The House Hotel Bomonti Istanbul

172

Hotel Granados 83 Barcelona

159

Hotel Skeppsholmen Stockholm

165

The House Hotel Bosphorus Istanbul

172

Hotel Omm Barcelona

159

Miss Clara by Nobis Stockholm

166

The House Hotel Nişantaşi Istanbul

172

The Serras Barcelona

160

Nobis Hotel Stockholm Stockholm

166

Witt Istanbul Hotel Istanbul

173

Hospes Palacio del Bailío Córdoba

160

Stallmästaregården 166 Stockholm

The House Hotel Cappadocia Ortahisar

173

Bohemia Suites & Spa Gran Canaria

160

Switzerland

Ukraine

Seaside Palm Beach Gran Canaria

160

The Cambrian Adelboden

166

Hospes Palacio de los Patos Granada

161

Giardino Ascona Ascona

167

La Granja Ibiza – A Design Hotels™ Project 161 Ibiza

Chandolin Boutique Hotel Chandolin

170

11 Mirrors Kiev

173

United Kingdom Blakes Hotel London

173

Sir Joan Hotel Ibiza

161

Chetzeron 167 Crans-Montana

Boundary 174 London

161

Huus Gstaad Gstaad

Charlotte Street Hotel London

174

Hospes Puerta de Alcalá Madrid

162

Rocksresort 167 Laax

Covent Garden Hotel London

174

Hotel Urban Madrid

Dorset Square Hotel London

174

162

Giardino Lago Minusio

168

The Principal Madrid Madrid

Hotel de Rougemont Rougemont

168

Ham Yard Hotel London

175

Giardino Mountain St. Moritz

168

Haymarket Hotel London

175

Nira Alpina St. Moritz

168

Knightsbridge Hotel London

175

Hotel Nevaï Verbier

169

Nobu Hotel Shoreditch London

Bikini Island & Mountain Hotel Port de Sóller 163 Mallorca Boutique Hotel Sant Jaume Mallorca

164

Hospes Maricel & Spa Mallorca

162

Hotel Cort Mallorca

162

Nakar Hotel Mallorca

163

Purohotel Palma Mallorca

162

Hospes Palacio de San Esteban 164 Salamanca Hospes Las Casas del Rey de Baeza 164 Seville Hospes Palau de la Mar Valencia

165

167

176

Cervo Mountain Boutique Resort 169 Zermatt

Number Sixteen London

175

The Omnia Zermatt

169

The Soho Hotel London

177

Atlantis by Giardino Zurich

169

Town Hall Hotel & Apartments London

177

Oddfellows On The Park Manchester

177

The Netherlands Sir Adam Hotel Amsterdam

171

Sir Albert Hotel Amsterdam

171

Kruisherenhotel Maastricht Maastricht

171

Mainport 171 Rotterdam

93

Africa & Near East Israel

Mauritius

South Africa

Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel 180 Zichron Ya’akov

Shanti Maurice Resort & Spa 181 Saint Félix

Ten Bompas Johannesburg

Kenya

Morocco

Tanzania

AnaYela 181 Marrakech

Zuri Zanzibar Zanzibar

Anya Hotel Gurgaon

187

South Korea

187

Nest Hotel Incheon

192

The Park Hyderabad Hyderabad

187

Glad Hotel Yeouido Seoul

194

The Park Kolkata Kolkata The Park New Delhi New Delhi

188

Glad Live Seoul

Trademark Hotel Nairobi

180

Tribe Hotel Nairobi

181

181

180

Asia-Pacific Australia Hotel Hotel Canberra

184

Adelphi Hotel Melbourne

184

QT Sydney Sydney

184

The Old Clare Hotel Sydney

184

Phum Baitang Siem Reap

185

Luna2 188 Bali Suarga Padang Padang Bali

China Vue Hotel Houhai Beijing Beijing

Taiwan

Indonesia

Cambodia

185

The Waterhouse at South Bund 185 Shanghai

Hong Kong Mira Moon Hong Kong

186

Ovolo Southside Hong Kong

186

The Mira Hong Kong Hong Kong

186

The Park Bangalore Bangalore

186

The Park Chennai Chennai

187

188

Gloria Manor Kenting

193

Hotel Proverbs Taipei 194 Taipei Humble House Taipei 194 Taipei

Thailand

Japan Kimamaya Boutique Hotel 188 Hirafu-Niseko Satoyama Jujo Niigata

190 190

Malaysia Macalister Mansion Penang

India

189

The Elysian Boutique Villa Hotel Bali

Trunk Hotel Tokyo

192

190

The Sukhothai Bangkok Bangkok Hotel Bocage Hua Hin

194

Casa de La Flora Khao Lak

196

The Beach Samui Koh Samui

196

The Library Koh Samui

196

Mason Pattaya

Singapore The Warehouse Hotel Singapore

191

Wanderlust 192 Singapore

94

195

197

The Naka Phuket Phuket

196

The Slate Phuket

197

The Surin Phuket Phuket

197

Timeless inventions Model 2065 by Gino Sarfatti

www.astep.design

info@astep.design

The Model 2065 designed in 1950 emphasises the innovative, experimental approach of the Italian lighting master Gino Sarfatti. The suspension lamp embodies the simplicity of Gino Sarfatti’s elliptical design and the lightness of the materials make for a seemingly weightless luminaire.

Model 2065 is part of the Flos with Sarfatti collection and is worldwide distributed

by Astep.

For more information about the Astep products please visit w w w.astep.design

Canada

United States

Mexico

Jamaica

Bonaire

Nicaragua

Saint Lucia Grenada

Panama

Colombia

Ecuador

Brazil

Bolivia

55 Hotels

Americas

Bolivia / Bonaire / Brazil

Atix Hotel La Paz, Bolivia

53 Rooms / USD 197 – 650

A luxury hospitality pioneer in Bolivia for art-inclined, designsavvy travelers, Atix resonates with the spirit of the breath­ taking city of La Paz. Here, bold cosmopolitan travelers experience exquisite local cuisine, world-class design, and a thrilling landscape of deep red canyons and glowing sunsets.

Designed to be a live-in art gallery, the 53-room Atix, which means “one who thrives” in Quechua, displays fine-art photo­ graphy and artwork by native artist Gastón Ugalde — known as the Andy Warhol of the Andes. The hotel invites guests to a rooftop bar set next to an enticing infinity pool and Jacuzzi where they can experience world-class cocktails and gourmet cuisine inspired by the soaring Andes and its people.

Piet Boon Bonaire 8 Villas / USD 500 – 1,415

Kralendijk, Bonaire Just 30 miles from Curaçao and 50 miles from Venezuela, the inviting Caribbean island of Bonaire is a tranquil place edged by turquoise seas. Out along the seafront in Kralendijk, the island’s sedate capital, is a collection of eight sophisticated villas by Dutch design icon Piet Boon. Five of the villas at Piet Boon Bonaire lie on the oceanfront, with secluded, expertly crafted spaces leading onto private terraces with private pools and access to the sea. Three additional villas sit farther back from the shore, but just like the oceanfront properties, they are equipped with signature furnishings that complement the island’s tropical beauty.

La Ferme de Georges Atins, Brazil

7 Rooms / BRL 850 – 1,700

La Ferme de Georges beckons those who crave slowed down culinary indulgence, locally-inspired modern design, and ­stunning natural landscapes. Perched on the edge of a National Park, the property is surrounded by hundreds of turquoise lagoons and dunes that are especially loved by kitesurfers. The goodness of nature is at the heart of the property’s concept.

The restaurant serves international cuisine using locally sourced ingredients from its organic gardens. Seven whitewalled chalets — fashioned from local wood, brick, and palha, or straw — boast a tropical, minimalist aesthetic using natural materials, inviting hammocks on private terraces, and curvaceous design pieces inspired by the sand dunes outside.

Felissimo Exclusive Hotel

2 Villas / BRL 3,000 10 Rooms / BRL 799 – 1,400

Balneário Camboriú, Brazil Designed by esteemed Brazil-natives Paulo Alves, Ligia Sievert, Finando de Souza, and Vicky Schramm, Felissimo Exclusive Hotel is set on a hill 500 meters from Amores beach, lending it one of the best views in Balneário Camboriú. The 10 secluded rooms and two villa-like lofts, which can be transformed into one big accommodation, present an air of simple opulence thanks to warm native woods, wide-open verandahs, and sun loungers that enable one to take in the incredible mountain and beach scenery. Felissimo Exclusive Hotel focuses on personalized and discreet service, which guests can enjoy at the intimate pool and hot tub area, as well as on the gazebo-­ style deck of Bistro Felissimo restaurant.

98

Brazil / Canada

Americas

Kenoa – Exclusive Beach Spa & Resort

12 Villas / BRL 2,480 – 4,680 11 Rooms / BRL 1,470 – 2,650

Barra de São Miguel, Brazil Neighboring a nature reserve, Kenoa – Exclusive Beach Spa & Resort takes pride in being located on the phenomenal, sunny beach of Barra de São Miguel. Each of the 23 villas and suites is in harmony with its stunning ecological surroundings without compromising the highest level of comfort and sophistication.

Neutral colors set the tone for an outstanding, yet humble design language that organically manifests itself amid the wildlife. A Shiseido-equipped spa, fitness center with ocean views, wine bar, lounge, and world-class cuisine tantalize the senses and satisfy the soul.

Insólito Boutique Hotel 24 Rooms / BRL 990 – 3,124

Búzios, Brazil The Insólito Boutique Hotel is nestled on a hillside outcrop overlooking the beautiful Ferradura Beach in Búzios. The hotel’s 24 rooms reflect the artistic soul of its owner, the French-born Emmanuelle de Clermont Tonnerre, who has lovingly curated every room herself, bringing the experience of Brazil’s culture and history to life within each one.

Emmanuelle has converted her beachfront home into one of the most desirable hotels in Latin America. The Insólito has retained the personal, relaxed atmosphere of a private house, while the rooms add up to an artfully arranged, environmentally sustainable journey through Brazil.

Chez Georges Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

7-room Villa / USD 35,000 – 65,000

Chez Georges is a showcase of transcontinental modernism housed in an impressive work of Brazilian Brutalism. Boasting a private, seven-suite villa and a separate two-bedroom studio, the secluded property is set on the edge of a protected forest.

Entering through beautiful concrete arches and a stunning six-meter-high wooden door, one is immersed in a venue of meticulously crafted textiles, rich woods, azulejo mosaics, spectacular artwork, a glorious mix of midcentury European and Brazilian furnishings, and handpicked pieces from antique markets. A music-lovers dream, the entire house is hooked up to a state-of-the-art music production room, transforming the villa into a huge recording studio.

Hotel St. Paul 119 Rooms / CAD 179 – 649

Montreal, Canada One of Montreal’s first high-rise buildings has been transformed into one of the city’s most talked-about hotels.

The captivating Hotel St. Paul may be located in a “muscular Beaux-Arts” building, but its soft colors and furnishings reveal an ethereal design philosophy. Spread over nine floors, St. Paul’s guestrooms are decorated with a variety of color schemes, resulting in a unique hotel experience rooted in ­comfort, sophistication, and design.

99

Americas

Colombia / Ecuador / Grenada / Jamaica

B.O.G. Hotel Bogotá, Colombia

55 Rooms / USD 260 – 600

B.O.G. Hotel, in Bogotá’s fashionable La Cabrera district, is the ideal place from which to explore South America’s up-and-coming city-break destination. With a design cele­ brating Colombia’s natural treasures — gold and emeralds — the B.O.G. Hotel offers a gateway to the thriving capital of Colombia. Mixing high-class service and amenities with a dash of decadence, the hotel is the creation of internationally acclaimed Portuguese interior designer Nini Andrade Silva.

The hotel’s restaurant serves fusion dishes that blend inter­ national flavors with Colombian gastronomic heritage.

Carlota 12 Rooms / USD 220 – 528

Quito, Ecuador Set in a French-style home from the 19th century, just blocks from Quito’s main landmarks, Carlota immerses guests in the treasures of this UNESCO-listed city. An intimate 12-room, family-owned hotel, Carlota offers personalized attention, an insider’s introduction to the neighborhood, and public spaces such as a rooftop lounge with 360-degree views of the historical area; a wine cellar; an intimate library; and the Bistro, offering the traditional tastes of Ecuador. Retaining its original grandeur, the hotel is also punctuated by bright colors, rich patterns, exposed brick walls, and recovered wooden panels. Like the city in which it’s set, Carlota is a glorious mix of historical charm and contemporary flair.

Laluna

3 Villas / USD 1,660 – 3,095 16 Rooms / USD 415 – 1,775

Morne Rouge, Grenada A sublime blend of Balinese and Caribbean elements, Laluna is Grenada’s hidden secret. The architects Gabriella Giuntoli, Salvatore Perna, and Carmelina Santoro teamed up to give the hotel’s 16 cottages and three luxury villas as much inner comfort as possible without disturbing the sweeping views that each offers its guests. Balinese furniture and handpicked ­artworks adorn the lobby and rooms, while the hotel’s bright ­colors perfectly mirror the surrounding landscape.

Rockhouse Hotel

20 Villas / USD 195 – 550 14 Rooms / USD 95 – 225

Negril, Jamaica Hovering over a volcanic coast on the westernmost tip of Jamaica, the Rockhouse Hotel looks like something straight out of a Robinson Crusoe fantasy. Laid out in the shape of an African village overlooking the sparkling turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, the hotel’s design aims to create a seamless transition between nature and man. Nautical and organic ­references abound in architect Jean-Henri Morin’s concept and the stunning cliffside bungalows are one of its highlights.

100

Mexico

Americas

Boca Chica Acapulco, Mexico

36 Rooms / USD 120 – 300

Just steps from an idyllic cove, Boca Chica is a grand addition to Acapulco’s new era. Once the playground of Hollywood elite, this 36-room hotel was constructed in the late 1950s next to the glamorous Club de Yates and the famed Los Flamingos Hotel. Today, the vintage exterior looks like it’s straight out of a 1950s movie set; inside, however, the ­reinvigorated interior still channels the Cary Grant years.

Casa Fayette 37 Rooms / USD 130 – 350

Guadalajara, Mexico In Guadalajara’s up-and-coming Lafayette neighborhood, Casa Fayette reflects the changing face of the area by blending the traditional with the on-trend. Architects Estudio5 merged early 20th-century architecture with a gleaming new tower, while the Italian interior design team Dimorestudio borrows elements from Mexico, Italy, and a host of European designers, giving the interior a global eclecticism that mimics the inspirations behind the neighborhood’s transition. Impressive city views accompany drinks on the top-floor pool, spa, and sunbed area, while American cuisine and Mexican flavors are served on the ground floor.

Hotel Emiliano

NEW

León, Mexico

21 Rooms / MXN 2,880 – 5,510

The new Hotel Emiliano in León, Mexico is decidedly two-faced. At its base, the property resides in a 19th-century casona — the oldest restored mansion in the city — with original colonial-style architecture and details, such as the wooden and clay pergola, decorative doors and window frames, and quarry stone elements. On top is local talent Mario Plasencia’s Brutalist masterpiece, at once juxtaposed with history and ­inexorably pulling the city into the future.

The 21-room hotel is a study in steel, wood, stone, and copper. Innovation is at the heart of Emiliano with award-winning Chef Juan Emilio Villaseñor offering his unique smoked Mexican fusion cuisine.

101

Americas

Mexico

Rosas & Xocolate Mérida, Mexico

17 Rooms / USD 245 – 695

Rosas & Xocolate, entrepreneur Carol Kolozs’s boutique hotel, was designed for guests who take romance seriously.

Located in the grand city of Mérida, where the famed Mayan civilization first discovered cocoa, the haute pueblo hotel, endowed with one of the region’s most sought-after restaurants, is the social hub of the Yucatán’s cultural capital.

Through its 17 rooms, Rosas & Xocolate perfectly melds the rustic elegance of a historical baron’s mansion with modern accoutrements and sensory delights.

Condesadf 40 Rooms / USD 250 – 600

Mexico City, Mexico Hip without being haughty, the modern Condesadf challenges the conventional codes with a new chic: informal, relaxed, and high-tech. Designer India Mahdavi has created a space offering functional originality from rooms to rooftop. The hotel is a unique flirtation with the French neoclassical style and a new encounter with Mexico City.

Distrito Capital Mexico City, Mexico

30 Rooms / USD 120 – 300

Surprising interiors, dazzling panoramic views, and double-­ height ceilings are just a few of the highlights of Distrito Capital. Designed around the idea of creative minimalism, the 30 well-appointed rooms look more like chic art spaces than hotel rooms. This upbeat and welcoming hotel, located in the skyscraper district of Santa Fe, is a testament to how cool Mexico’s capital has become in recent years.

Downtown Mexico 17 Rooms / USD 150 – 500

Mexico City, Mexico Blending colonial 17th-century grandeur with a raw industrial edge, Downtown Mexico integrates local culture into its ­concept while celebrating its location in the Centro Historico ­borough of Mexico City. The enchanting mix of colonial and indigenous culture gives the property a visibly distinct characteristic, with gray volcanic rock walls, a perfectly manicured patio, and a spectacular stone-forge staircase. The guestrooms possess a stripped-back, bohemian chic elegance, while the rooftop terrace, with a view of the historic surroundings, includes a pool and cocktail bar.

102

Mexico

Americas

Habita Mexico City, Mexico

36 Rooms / USD 250 – 400

Wrapped in a sheath of frosted glass, Habita raised eyebrows in Mexico City when it first opened in 2000 in a 1950s-era building located in one of the city’s most fashionable districts.

Glass and light are the leitmotifs in Enrique Norten and Bernardo Gómez-Pimienta’s design, acting to shroud guests from prying eyes on the streets below and to create an ethereal atmosphere in this temple of modernism.

Habita Monterrey 39 Rooms / USD 150 – 500

Monterrey, Mexico Why would a world traveler, a global nomad, an itinerant ­businessperson, or an aesthete want to check into the Habita Monterrey? Because the 39-room building is a curvilinear vision in black and white, guests can work in high-tech peace, and the rooftop terrace offers 360 degree views. Because service is five-star — but always cordial, never cold. Because chef Moises Carrillo’s restaurant, Lobby, and the unforgettable interior design by Parisian designer Joseph Dirand, make eating and lounging here extraordinary. That’s why.

Hotel La Semilla Playa del Carmen, Mexico

9 Rooms / USD 190 – 270

Hotel La Semilla is infused with a sense of Mexican heritage and style thanks to vintage Mexican furniture and the finest flea market finds from haciendas in the Yucatán region and around the country. The hotel possesses a laid-back simplicity with lounging spaces, such as the Cocina Loft restaurant, where mismatched pieces of furniture create the feeling of relaxing at a friend’s house. Guests are also encouraged to explore the owner’s favorite restaurants or to bring their own food to the hotel, to be enjoyed in any of the public spaces or even in the garden surrounded by candles.

La Purificadora 26 Rooms / USD 120 – 300

Puebla, Mexico This stunning hotel located in the historic center of Puebla, a colonial city on the road between Mexico City and Veracruz, is the reincarnation of a former 19th-century factory once used to purify water and produce ice. This long tradition of purity remains in La Purificadora’s exclusively black and white decor, elegant use of original materials, and sweeping views offered from its 26 guestrooms.

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Hotel Amapa

Mexico

NEW

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

55 Rooms / USD 100 – 335

Hotel Amapa is rooted both physically and metaphorically in the Amapas neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The hotel’s rooftop pool and bar boast panoramic views of the ocean, the Sierra Madre Mountains, Puerto Vallarta’s Old Town, and the region’s tropical beaches, while the street-level café and restaurant serve coastal Mexican cuisine amid the flurry of the “Zona Romantica.” With reinterpretation at the forefront, Hotel Amapa’s visual identity is modern, minimal, and Mexican, from the local celosia screening to the Barragánesque interplay between light and shade.

Many of the 55 guestrooms feature expansive windows and a private balcony, while the wellness pavilion shuts out the hubbub with meditation, reflexology, and massages.

Hotel Escondido Puerto Escondido, Mexico

16 Rooms / USD 300 – 900

Hoteliers Carlos Couturier and Moisés Micha transformed a pristine stretch of Oaxacan coastline into a private paradise with Hotel Escondido. The duo behind Grupo Habita worked with architect Federico Rivera Río to create a modern-­take on traditional palapa beach huts, each with their own sundeck and private swimming pool. After a long day surfing you can unwind with a massage at the spa or mingle over ­cocktails in the bar or enjoy the music room, which cultivates a laid-back, convivial atmosphere.

Dos Casas Hotel & Spa 12 Rooms / USD 372 – 744

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico Two adjacent 18th-century colonial residences house San Miguel de Allende’s most sophisticated hub, where bespoke contemporary design melds with time-honored Mexican ­hospitality. Dos Casas’ 12 guestrooms feature midcentury modern furniture and avant-garde touches. Throughout its eccentric interiors, flashes of stone, marble, wood, iron, leather, and brass evoke Mexico’s rich colonial heritage, and a communal rooftop terrace offers guests breathtaking panoramic views of the city’s 16th-century skyline. Meanwhile, Dos Casas’ on-site restaurant, Áperi, helmed by Matteo Salas, has become a destination in its own right with its bold use of local ingredients and flavors.

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Mexico

Americas

Hotel Matilda San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

32 Rooms / USD 409 – 1,033

Hoteliers Bruce James and Harold “Spook” Stream have worked together to create a space that celebrates contemporary Mexican art. Beyond the glass doors, visitors are welcomed by a selection of pieces by emerging local stars, as well as pieces by legends such as Diego Rivera, Bosco Sodi, and Aldo Chaparro. From the restaurant — with a fresh “farm-­totable” concept — to the 32 rooms and suites, traditional ­colonial style mixes with Mexican touches like textured wood, warm stucco, and marble, set against a backdrop of cream, brown and beige, lush caramel-colored furnishings, and bold pops of turquoise.

Lo Sereno Casa de Playa 10 Rooms / USD 220 – 300

Troncones, Mexico Exuding the vibe of a private beach home, the intimate 10-room Lo Sereno is nestled between the mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Located in Troncones, a world-class surfing destination in Mexico, the hotel is set along a three-mile-long unspoiled beach bordered by coconut palms. Offering a fresh contemporary look with a decidedly Mexican flavor, the rooms face the ocean or an infinity pool, and feature the ultimate in barefoot luxury, private bathroom patios, and large terraces. The hotel’s kitchen offers gourmet Mexican fare, sourcing fresh local ingredients daily. A curated boutique offers guests everything from surfboards and beach essentials to books.

Casa Malca Tulum, Mexico

42 Rooms / USD 490 – 1,200

Set on an endless white sand beach in the most exclusive ­corner of Tulum, this 42-room Caribbean resort marries three inspiring elements — art, nature, and laid-back luxury.The property’s driving force, Lio Malca, is a lion in the art world, having specialized in works by contemporary and modern masters, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, while launching retrospectives at New York’s Whitney Museum and other top venues. For Casa Malca, he brings artwork worthy of a museum to complement an earthy luxurious charm. He has also created a rooftop bar with views of the beach, the jungle, and the best sunsets in Tulum.

Papaya Playa Project

3 Villas / USD 1,750 – 6,800 100 Rooms / USD 150 – 900

Tulum, Mexico A creative haven nestled on the coast of the Mayan Riviera, Papaya Playa, a Design Hotels™ Project, lies adjacent to sparkling waters and the only Mayan ruins on the sea in Tulum.

Sustainability prevails here and guests luxuriate in rustic simplicity. The Papaya Playa Project exudes healthy creativity. Its mission is to promote a holistic and spiritual life consciously in harmony with nature and with one's community. The prop­ erty’s values are respect and modesty, simplicity, celebration through music and art, the cordiality between human relationships, and the common benefit of community. Papaya Playa Project is a destination for those looking to merge nature, relaxation, and spirituality.

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Americas

Tulum Treehouse

Mexico

NEW

Tulum, Mexico

5 Rooms / USD 1,250 – 3,950

On Mexico’s Caribbean coastline just south of Tulum near the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, Tulum Treehouse is a full-service, high-style private villa escape. Crafted by a collective of eco-conscious inter­national designers and local artisans, this private residence features spacious communal areas, private ­terraces, indoor and outdoor dining spaces, and five luxurious bedrooms — all outfitted with upcycled c­ arpentry, Oaxacan ceramics, handmade bejuco baskets, and locally sourced textiles. Hammocks and ­outdoor showers encourage guests to take in Mexico’s natural beauty, as does a 12-person dining space on the rooftop — perfect for bringing friends together amid the Yucatán Peninsula’s natural splendor.

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Mexico

Villa La Semilla

Americas

NEW

Tulum, Mexico

5-room Villa / USD 1,150 – 3,650

Hidden by the jungle on a beach in Soliman Bay, just outside Tulum, Villa La Semilla boasts a terrace pool and a rooftop observation deck, a garden with a water fountain and pond, and an al fresco lounge and terrace that unfolds onto a private beach. The open-concept kitchen, dining table, and living area spells long, convivial evenings with family and friends — often centered around the outdoor wood-fire oven and grill — and an in-house chef is on-hand with an endless repertoire of locally sourced Mexican dishes. Each of the five bedrooms features a king-size bed and terrace, while the Master Suite impresses with its own plunge pool.

Azúcar Veracruz, Mexico

20 Villas / USD 100 – 400

Combining the extremes of purist simplicity and elegant style, Azúcar (“sugar” in Spanish) is a sweet collection of 20 bungalows gracing the coast of Veracruz offering authentic Mexican flavor and dramatic views of the Gulf of Mexico. Thatched roofs and curved, whitewashed adobe walls lend the villas an austere ease. Broad-slat wood flooring and clean-lined furniture as well as private terraces, an outdoor yoga space, library, and spa create a quiet haven for those weary of mass tourism.

Maison Couturier 18 Rooms / USD 100 – 300

Veracruz, Mexico Founded in 1833 by French immigrants to the tropics of Veracruz, the estate has been converted into Maison Couturier, a resort that preserves its French origins and Mexican surroundings in a blissful paradise. Just a few kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico, this lush enclave is easily accessible by land, sea, or air. Maison Couturier is one of the few places where nature, human richness, great architecture, and an amalgam­ ation of cultural traditions prosper in peace and harmony.

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Americas

Meson Nadi

Nicaragua / Panama / Saint Lucia

NEW

Popoyo, Nicaragua

6 Rooms / USD 179 – 290

Just 20 meters from the beach in Popoyo — one of the best surf spots in the world — the six-room Meson Nadi is the love child of Bauhaus and traditional Nicaraguan design. Think concrete walls juxtaposed with vivid patterned tiles and palm-fringed inner courtyards serene in sunlight. The hotel’s restaurant, La Cantina, also offers the best of two worlds — a modern fusion of Central American and Western cuisines with a focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients from the sea and the farm. Paradise wouldn’t be complete without treatments under the sky to the soothing sounds of ocean waves, and surf lessons and trips for all abilities.

El Otro Lado

5 Villas / USD 505 – 1,640 3 Rooms / USD 480 – 580

Portobelo, Panama Modern art is placed alongside 20th-century sculptures and contemporary photography at El Otro Lado, a remote hideaway in a pristine, jungle-wrapped region of Panama. This culture-filled hotel is fully integrated with the local environment, with five villas on the 110-hectare plot, plus a pool and Gazebo bar and lounge. Guests can explore with a local guide; trek through swampy mangroves and lush rainforests; fish and snorkel at nearby beaches and reefs; or explore the colonial town of Portobelo and nearby UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Boucan by Hotel Chocolat 14 Villas / USD 450 – 650

Soufrière, Saint Lucia Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris, the founders of luxury British chocolate firm Hotel Chocolat, have transformed St. Lucia’s oldest cocoa plantation, the 140-acre Rabot Estate, into a chocolate lover’s dream. Cocoa grown on the estate is used in the panoramic Boucan Restaurant, which overlooks the cone-shaped volcano Petit Piton, while therapists in the Cocoa Juvenate Spa harness cocoa’s antioxidant power for head massages and body wraps. All 14 lodges have open-air rainforest showers, plus easy access to a black-quartz infinity pool and an exclusive bar that’s wafted by cool, chocolate-­ scented breezes.

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United States

Troutbeck 

Americas

NEW

Amenia, United States

37 Rooms / USD 225 – 810

An enchanting private estate and country retreat favored by creative leaders from the past, the stately Troutbeck in the bucolic hamlet of Amenia, New York, offers a timeless natural setting for inspiration, relaxation, and provocative conversation. This luscious, fully revived and renewed manor house, just two-hours from Midtown Manhattan, situated on 45 secluded acres bisected by a creek and meandering river, is a hotspot for those craving a high-minded respite. The walls are graced with artwork by modern-day masters, while historic ephemera fill public spaces and guestrooms bedecked with local custom-made furniture, reclaimed antiques, and modernist pieces. At Troutbeck, be prepared to get lost amid the natural splendor, three on-property trout pools, the most beautiful cycling in the country, and a seasonally sourced farm-to-table menu.

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Americas

Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills

United States

NEW

Beverly Hills, United States

84 Rooms / USD 249 – 599

Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills sets the tone for hip repose with a boomerang-shaped pool surrounded by private cabanas. The hotel was built in 1949 and frequented by the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball. Thanks to contemporary style icon Kelly Wearstler, the rooms and suites still blend Old Hollywood origins with a distinct 1950s vibe. The hotel’s Viviane Restaurant serves modern Californian interpretations of classic European and American cuisines, attracting an in-the-know local crowd.

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United States

The Robey Hall

Americas

NEW

Chicago, United States

20 Rooms / USD 150 – 300

Blending sophisticated minimalism with the rough-textured aesthetic of an old warehouse, The Robey Hall puts guests amid the action of Chicago’s fashionable Wicker Park neighborhood. The property is the hip younger sister of The Robey hotel, housed in the adjoining Northwest Tower, and offers up Modern American cuisine, rooftop cocktails with cityscape views, and international flavors at Cabana Club — which also boasts a rooftop pool and terrace. High ceilings, exposed brickwork, and polished concrete floors in the 20 loft-style guestrooms are home to box-style beds in blond birch plywood and black steel, while the trendy open-plan lobby acts as a neighborhood hub with an “everybody welcome” attitude.

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Americas

United States

The Dwell Hotel Chattanooga, United States

16 Rooms / USD 264 – 381

At The Dwell Hotel — Tennessee’s first luxury boutique hotel — Old Hollywood and South Beach glam playfully contrast the historical charms of a newly renovated, three-story brick-and-limestone building set in downtown Chattanooga.

Perfectly placed in the heart of the city — and midway between Nashville and Atlanta — The Dwell boasts 16 rooms, all uniquely designed with vintage furniture, rustic hardwoods, exposed brick, and curated art pieces. Here, midcentury modern meets luxury-retro with each room evoking a journey into another era. And by expanding the restaurant, reimagining the hotel bar, and creating new lounge areas, the hotel offers up multiple spaces to experience hospitality, Chattanooga-style.

The Robey 69 Rooms / USD 182 – 616

Chicago, United States High above the live music venues, cafés, and boutiques of Chicago’s swinging Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods, The Robey draws a hip and creative crowd both day and night. Situated at a six-way intersection in the triangular Northwest Tower — known colloquially as the Coyote Building due to its “howling” posture, some say — the 69-room hotel, by Grupo Habita, boasts modern American cuisine at Café Robey and offers collaborative spaces for both business and pleasure behind its limestone Art Deco façade.

Add an exclusive Panorama Suite and private bar, and the ­reason for the hotel’s hotspot status becomes clear.

Harmon Guest House

NEW

Healdsburg, United States

39 Rooms / USD 399 – 599

The sister property of the award-winning Hotel Healdsburg, Harmon Guest House is named after pioneer and Healdsburg founder Harmon Heald, whose community­minded town layout inspired the hotel’s thoughtful spaces. A perfect place for bringing together family and friends, the hotel’s communal nature starts with its open, transparent lobby and continues through to the creek-side park, rooftop deck, and cleverly designed “pods” that allow the adjoining of many of the rooms.

With views over Foss Creek, native California oak trees, Fitch Mountain, or downtown Healdsburg, the 39 rooms ­feature custom Fireclay Tiles, Sonoma Stoneworks cast concrete sinks, and ­modern design classics, creating a sophisticated yet warm, organic feel.

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United States

Americas

Hotel Healdsburg Healdsburg, United States

56 Rooms / USD 399 – 820

In northern Sonoma County, a stay at Hotel Healdsburg places three wine regions within easy reach and one of the area’s finest restaurants directly under your nose: Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen. Light is an important element of the overall design: Flooding through French doors that lead onto private balconies, under trellised walkways, or through a glass-encased, freestanding stairwell. Artfully landscaped areas embrace the garden pool and spa and spill onto public alleyways that cut across the well-kept grounds.

Scribner's Catskill Lodge 38 Rooms / USD 81 – 864

Hunter, United States A refuge for New York City creatives who crave a stylish, inspirational getaway, Scribner’s Catskill Lodge pays homage to the rich past of the Catskills region while reinventing the notion of the modern-day luxury retreat. Perched high on a hill surrounded by fields of grass, and beautifully reimagined by design upstarts Studio Tack, the 38-room eclectic mountain lodge is a year-round refuge for cosmopolitan explorers and adventurers looking to enjoy local art, culture, and the inspiring nature of upstate New York. Originally built in the 1960s, today’s renovated Scribner’s brings key characteristics of the Hudson Valley cultural renaissance to one property.

11 Howard New York City, United States

213 Rooms / USD 250 – 3,500

11 Howard, a 213-room boutique property in New York City’s fashionable SoHo district, combines cutting-edge Scandinavian design with hyperlocalism. More than just a vantage point for downtown exploration, the property is an art spectacle in itself and a community hub partnered with a range of local businesses and nonprofits. 11 Howard received a full interior make­ over from the renowned design studio Space Copenhagen — the brains behind the world-class Noma restaurant — adding a dose of Scandinavian minimalism to a neighborhood already bursting with art, fashion, music, and countless other forms of creativity.

Crosby Street Hotel 86 Rooms / USD 625 – 5,000

New York City, United States Crosby Street Hotel reinvents Kit Kemp’s signature aesthetic to match the individuality of New York’s SoHo. Each of the 86 rooms are one-of-a-kind, and the upper floor suites offer unparalleled luxury and an impeccable 360 degree view of one of the world’s most vibrant and glamorous skylines. The Crosby Bar juxtaposes the best traditions of London and New York: afternoon tea and the perfect cocktail.

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Americas

The Drifter

United States

NEW

New Orleans, United States

20 Rooms / USD 175 – 250

This unassuming low-rise seems like a 1950s anachronism at first glance, but look past the period-piece s­ ignage and The Drifter reveals itself as an exercise in modernized nostalgia. With a name inspired by the Beat Generation and the undefinable creative guests it attracts, this New Orleans property shines a light on a n ­ ewly-hip side of the city with a culinary program boasting specialty coffee, frozen cocktails, Japanese sakes, and a rotation of hip food trucks offering tastes from Mexico City to Haiti, Colombia, and beyond. Add in a platform for local art talent and a busy events calendar and it’s clear why this Tulane Avenue p ­ roperty is turning heads.

Gramercy Park Hotel New York City, United States

190 Rooms / USD 425 – 5,000

With one-of-a-kind furnishings and artwork created by master painter Julian Schnabel, the Gramercy Park Hotel is much more than a luxury boutique hotel — it’s a work of art. With 190 rooms, including nine specialty suites, the hotel is set in the heart of Manhattan, directly across from Gramercy Park, the only private park in New York City. With a lush rooftop garden for special events and engagingly designed interiors, the hotel offers many evocative spaces.

Hôtel Americano 56 Rooms / USD 375 – 695

New York City, United States Hoteliers, art collectors, and world travelers Carlos Couturier and Moisés Micha’s Hôtel Americano combines the energy of Manhattan with the sophistication of its owners’ global backgrounds. The 56 rooms and suites, rooftop terrace, and cellar bars exude international chic while the Chelsea neighbor­ hood’s art galleries, parks, and Hudson River views provide visitors with a singularly local perspective. Couturier and Micha, Mexico City natives with European roots, have endowed Hôtel Americano with warm Latin hospitality, French interior design, and New York energy.

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United States

Americas

The Ludlow Hotel New York City, United States

175 Rooms / USD 295 – 1,995

The Ludlow Hotel feels innate to New York’s Lower East Side.

Elegant and comfortable but with artful rough edges and personal quirks, the hotel conjures the area’s vivid history, from the “Gangs of New York” era to Jewish immigration to the wild art and music scenes of the 1980s. The 175 rooms have a lofty industrial vibe with big casement windows, furry throws on chairs, and lavish bathrooms. The hotel’s restaurant, Dirty French, by Major Food Group, serves Gallic classics with a New York sensibility, while the lobby lounge attracts the many creative types that live in this vibrant neighborhood.

Washington School House 12 Rooms / USD 295 – 2,495

Park City, United States Originally a turn-of-the-century schoolhouse, the iconic Washington School House boutique hotel now serves as one of Park City, Utah’s finest lodgings. The 12-room property is curated with a collection of Swedish and French antiques, ­vintage modern art, exquisite fabrics, and striking chandeliers.

A distinctly vintage sensibility spans the property, from the sizzling fireplace area and après-ski lounge to the heated outdoor pool and terrace. Personable “whenever, wherever” ­service, including abundant all-American breakfasts and the culinary delights of a private gourmet chef, ensures that guests want for nothing.

The Whitby Hotel New York City, United States

86 Rooms / USD 915 – 1,723

Arriving in style onto the vibrant Manhattan Midtown scene from the ever-inspired mind of design doyenne Kit Kemp, The Whitby is surrounded by international designer shops, restaurants, and galleries, with Central Park just a short walk away. Many of the rooms and suites offer private terraces and floor-toceiling windows and all feature Kit Kemp’s award-­winning luxurious, contemporary style. The top floor is dedicated to the spectacular two-bedroomed Whitby Suite, while The Whitby Bar, a drawing room, an orangery and courtyard, as well as ­several stylish private-event rooms and a state-of-the-art cinema, play host to sophisticated Manhattanites from ­morning to night.

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Americas

Avalon Hotel Palm Springs 

United States

NEW

Palm Springs, United States

67 Rooms / USD 139 – 649

At the foot of the rolling San Jacinto Mountains, Avalon Hotel Palm Springs invites guests on a quintessentially Californian journey of West Coast cuisine, top-notch pampering and wellness, and Palm Springs-style conviviality. Four acres of manicured gardens and accomodations are housed in works of Spanish architecture, with Hollywood Regency-inspired interiors by designer Kelly Wearstler. Add a therapeutic spa, and villas with full kitchens and fireplaces, and Avalon Palm Springs becomes the picture of a silver-screen Californian getaway.

116

United States

San Francisco Proper Hotel

Americas

NEW

San Francisco, United States

131 Rooms / USD 199 – 999

A neighborhood beacon for the new energy coursing through San Francisco’s Mid-Market area, San Francisco Proper Hotel resides in a beloved flatiron building that was built by the city’s pioneer of Beaux-Arts architecture, Albert Pissis. Today the hotel is at an unusual crossroads — the intersection of Market, McAllister, and Seventh streets — where interior designer Kelly Wearstler takes a warm, romantic approach to the design of the 131-room hotel by combining a happy pastiche of deep colors, rich textures, classic design pieces, found vintage furniture, and local artworks from emerging talent. The hotel’s three restaurants off the lobby are also connected to the pulse of the neighborhood.

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Iceland

United Kingdom

Spain Portugal

193 Hotels

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Europe

Austria

Augarten Art Hotel Graz, Austria

57 Rooms / EUR 95 – 340

This eclectically designed glass and metal structure is all about open communication between its inner world and its outer environment. Sculptures from the hotel’s contemporary art collection wait to be discovered in the courtyard and on the roof terrace, which also provides designer seating where one can soak in the sight of the beautifully preserved city of Graz.

Here, no space is overlooked as a creative and potentially inspiring venue.

Hotel Zhero – Ischgl / Kappl 79 Rooms / EUR 190 – 5,140

Kappl, Tyrol, Austria Nestled in Austria’s Tyrolean Alps, Hotel Zhero – Ischgl / Kappl is a true blend of traditional Alpine hospitality and upscale, innovative design. The hotel boasts walking distance to some of the world’s top ski, snowboard, hiking, and climbing locations and even arranges a free limousine shuttle service to the slopes in Kappl and the famous ski resort of Ischgl. After a day of activity, guests can retreat to one of 79 luxurious rooms and suites or dine at the The Saint Open Grill where Executive Chef Klaus Brunmayr has created a menu mixing regional and international cuisine.

Hotel Kitzhof Mountain Design Resort Kitzbühel, Austria

168 Rooms / EUR 138 – 2,546

An elegant mountain retreat in the heart of the Kitzbühel Alps, Hotel Kitzhof Mountain Design Resort blends smooth lines with rugged native textures, creating an environment where guests can savor the true essence of Austrian Alpine living.

Dining options include four different restaurant areas and an enoteca, as well as the Kitz Lounge. All 168 rooms, studios, and suites, designed by co-owner Uschi Schelle-Müller, seamlessly blend contemporary lines with textured, locally sourced materials like leather and loden, and some rooms feature inspirational views over the powder-covered slopes.

Loisium Wine & Spa Resort Langenlois 82 Rooms / EUR 94 – 331

Langenlois, Austria With stunning views of the Austrian wine country and innovative architecture by Steven Holl, the Loisium is a high-concept hotel built upon centuries-old wine cellars. Holl’s bespoke furnishings and famous use of space and light give the property a relaxing and airy feeling, while natural materials placed throughout the hotel’s public and private spaces amplify the wine lover’s experience. The Aveda Wine Spa features specially created wine treatments based on grapes, grape seeds, and grape-seed oil.

120

Austria

Europe

Wiesergut Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria

24 Rooms / EUR 300 – 820

Located directly on the slopes in Hinterglemm, where yearround activities await, local traditions take both new and familiar forms at the Wiesergut. One senses a commitment to preserving artisanal craft at Josef and Martina Kröll’s Alpine retreat, from the locally sourced ingredients of the hotel’s restaurant to the bespoke furnishings in its 24 suites to cutting edge treatments in the multi-story spa. Each suite is a study in mindful relaxation with its earth-tone decor and wooden furnishings. Wiesergut’s ample windows render the bound­aries between the pristine Alpine landscape — perfect for summer hiking or winter skiing — and the timeless comfort indoors.

Bergland Design and Wellness Hotel 86 Rooms / EUR 286 – 656

Sölden, Austria Sigi Grüner’s 86-room resort is a complete reworking of the once-prestigious Bergland Hotel Sölden, providing adventurous travelers with every ingredient they need to enjoy an active, stress-free holiday. With direct access to the powder-covered ski slopes, hiking trails, and cycling paths that crisscross some of Austria’s highest peaks, Bergland Design and Wellness Hotel has trained activity leaders and its own in-house sports shop and ski school. Interior spaces include subtle Austrian additions like rocking chairs and oiled oak floors, and the 1,700 square meter Sky Spa offers treatments that promote lasting well-being.

Loisium Wine & Spa Resort Südsteiermark Southern Styria, Austria

102 Rooms / EUR 148 – 349

A bold and geometric architecture concept provides guests at Loisium Wine & Spa Resort Südsteiermark with the space they need to wine, dine, and relax. With a well-stocked ­vinotheque, a restaurant and bar for sampling prizewinning ­vintages, and views across open vineyards from many of the hotel’s 102 rooms and suites, wine is central to the entire Loisium experience. Sommeliers are on-site to offer expert advice on which wines harmonize with local specialties.

Das Triest 72 Rooms / EUR 279 – 569

Vienna, Austria The cross-vaulted rooms are clues to the building’s former life: A coach station used by travelers on their way from Vienna to Trieste. Combining elements of imperial elegance with sober modern lines, the interiors by Sir Terence Conran convey a picture of unity and warmth that are decidedly inviting.

Designer highlights in the guestrooms include Castiglioni’s high-arching standing lamp and a Knoll table and chair set by Warren Platner. Porthole windows, railings, and flag motifs throughout the hotel underline the nostalgic link to the Port of Trieste.

121

Europe

Austria / Belgium

Do & Co Hotel Vienna Vienna, Austria

43 Rooms / EUR 249 – 1,550

Internationally renowned catering company Do & Co brings its impeccable standards to the world of hospitality with an innovative hotel on the most recognized square in Vienna.

Adjacent to the majestic St. Stephen’s Cathedral, this ­futuristic glass and metal structure by renowned architect Hans Hollein offers sleek luxury, incredible views, and ­unparalleled comfort.

The Guesthouse Vienna 39 Rooms / EUR 255 – 645

Vienna, Austria The Guesthouse Vienna can be described in three words — home, honesty, and heritage, reflecting the hotel’s design, materials, and service. Reveling in its brilliant 1st district location (the historic core of the capital), The Guesthouse Vienna follows the calm, classic design vocabulary of Conran and Partners with cozy rooms — fitted with welcoming window seats and small libraries — where clean lines and elegant, ­simple forms rule. The hotel also taps into the local scene with its own Brasserie & Bakery, a popular meeting spot that echoes the city’s glorious early 20th century.

The Dominican Brussels, Belgium

150 Rooms / EUR 140 – 1,550

Designed by the renowned Dutch design firm FG Stijl, this hotel’s sweeping archways, high ceilings, and clear references to the Dominican abbey that once stood on its site — just steps from Brussels’s opera house — impart a feeling in which the old and new Europe effortlessly meld. The dramatic, cloister-­ like feel extends to the guestrooms, which are situated around a quiet inner courtyard.

The Royal Snail 30 Rooms / EUR 98 – 253

Namur, Belgium The Royal Snail, located at the foot of the citadel in the Belgian city of Namur, is inspired by the history and traditions of its location. The 30 personalized rooms and suites — some framed by views of the Meuse — hint at quirky tales from the city’s past and present. This intimate bolthole is as much a place to relax as it is a springboard to explore southern Belgium. An intimate spa, outdoor pool, and manicured gardens provide plenty of space to relax while the landmark restaurant, L’Agathopède, entices guests and locals alike.

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Bulgaria / Croatia / Cyprus / Czech Republic

Europe

Sense Hotel Sofia Sofia, Bulgaria

71 Rooms / EUR 380 – 600

Sense Sofia is the Bulgarian capital’s first upscale design hotel, with a matchless location on Sofia’s main boulevard Tsar Osvoboditel. Many of the 71 rooms and suites have views stretching well beyond the neighboring National Assembly and St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The hotel’s rooftop bar as well as its Gastro Bar are extremely popular with locals and equally panoramic. The owners George Chopev, Tatyana Stoilova, and Ivo Hristov aimed to create a new classic that would stand out from the area’s prominent buildings.

Hotel Lone 248 Rooms / EUR 250 – 2,200

Rovinj, Croatia Situated in Rovinj, one of the most picturesque towns on the Adriatic and just a 10-minute walk from the main town square, Hotel Lone’s seductive minimalist curves are influenced by the area’s unique natural landscape. Built by Croatian hotel company Maistra Inc. in an ancient forest overlooking the Adriatic Sea, it offers impressive views of the island-speckled coast. Featuring 236 guestrooms and 12 suites, four large auditoriums and three meeting rooms, and a Mediterraneaninspired wellness spa, it’s a minimalist haven for business or all-out relaxation.

Almyra Paphos, Cyprus

187 Rooms / EUR 100 – 1,200

With the crashing waves of the Mediterranean Sea within ­earshot, Almyra offers guests a unique emotional experience.

Located on the island of Cyprus, the 187-room family-run, family-friendly resort perfectly conveys the ethos of the ­surrounding environment while successfully appealing to the needs of each guest. With its five restaurants and a renowned spa, Almyra offers both families and couples equal opportunity to unwind.

Miura Hotel 44 Rooms / EUR 114 – 471

Čeladná, Czech Republic The Czech village of Čeladná sits among the Beskydy Mountains, where misty peaks and ridges give way to ­crumbling castles and soft-flowing streams. This is where the forward-looking Miura Hotel is located — a sharp-sided steel building that lets guests enjoy high-tech spa treatments and world-class art. Indeed, a rather special surprise in this untouched paradise where contemporary masters such as ­Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anish Kapoor, Tony Cragg, Henry Moore, and David Černý sit serendipitously indoors and ­outdoors for guests to enjoy.

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Europe

Czech Republic / Denmark / Finland / France

Hotel Josef Prague, Czech Republic

109 Rooms / EUR 119 – 299

In the very heart of one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Europe, designer Eva Jiřičná has created a modern masterpiece.

The 109-room Hotel Josef in Prague’s Old Town offers a design concept that, in keeping with great 20th-century Czech design, is a great but calming contrast to the colors and details of Prague’s Medieval center. Guestrooms are designed with a well-proportioned mix of efficiency and luxury that pervades the rest of the hotel.

Nobis Hotel Copenhagen 75 Rooms / DKK 3,500 – 30,000

Copenhagen, Denmark Set next to Copenhagen Central Station, the renowned Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek art museum, and a short walk from the famous Strøget shopping street, the 75-room Nobis Hotel Copenhagen is housed in a historic landmark building that originally served as the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music.

Star architect and Design Hotels™ Influencer Gert Wingårdh has emphasized the 1903 structure’s original architecture, while adding superior-quality natural materials and an elegant color scale. At Nobis Hotel Copenhagen, modernism meets classicism, and it’s all augmented by such amenities as a bar, a lounge area, a restaurant, a gym, and a sauna with hammam that serves as a new focus for Copenhagen’s downtown social scene.

Klaus K Hotel Helsinki, Finland

171 Rooms / EUR 110 – 1,500

Klaus K Hotel aspires to go further and “take the hotel out of the hotel,” creating an urban lifestyle experience where ­contrasts abound, yet guests can feel local upon arrival. All guestrooms are playfully designed and in some way reflect the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. The pinnacle of these are the luxurious Sky Lofts and the Sky Terrace, both with enviable views of Helsinki. Klaus K Hotel with its versatile spaces is an ideal venue for meetings, seminars, product launches, company parties, cocktail events, weddings, and candlelight dinners.

Five Seas Hotel Cannes 45 Rooms / EUR 200 – 4,540

Cannes, France Guests are treated to a visual journey around the world at the Five Seas Hotel Cannes, where fine handcrafted furnishings and adornments excite the senses. With its 45 rooms and suites, the hotel is located near all of the best that Cannes has to offer. Wining, dining, and luxury are top priorities here, from the stylish bistro Le Roof, with it’s innovative concept that revolves around flavors, sharing, and discovery, to the Spa by Cinq Mondes and Carita, and the hotel’s pool terrace and private beach access.

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Finland

Hotel St. George

Europe

NEW

Helsinki, Finland

153 Rooms / EUR 230 – 4,320

Housed in a meticulously restored landmark structure in the very heart of Helsinki, Hotel St. George offers guests a total revamp of the concept of what a hotel should be. Once home to the prestigious Finnish Literature Society, the structure, which comprises 153 individual rooms and suites, was originally designed by renowned architect Onni Tarjanne. Inspiration here comes in many forms, including the hotel’s boldly realized art collection that includes the magical Tianwu, a work from internationally celebrated Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Hotel St. George’s restaurant, Andrea, is the team effort of a Finnish-Turkish chef duo, both superstars in their respective culinary scenes. Here too one finds the first full-service luxury hotel in the Nordic region to offer guests a uniquely holistic, contemporary wellness experience.

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Europe

France

Hôtel des 3 Vallées Courchevel, France

31 Rooms / EUR 340 – 1,920

The iconic Hôtel des 3 Vallées has returned to its original 1950s layout, creating an inspired midcentury modern twist on today’s ski resort retreat in Courchevel. From the focal-point lobby fireplace to the spa area, and throughout the 31 spacious rooms and suites, natural textures and original midcentury furniture craft an antique, yet chic environment. And with the slopes but a snowball’s throw away, skiers of all levels can ­easily take advantage of the in-house ski service, complete with on-site locker room, ski rental, lessons, and even helicopter bookings for the most daring of guests.

Vertigo Hotel 42 Rooms / EUR 139 – 399

Dijon, France Dijon has beautiful vineyards, a rich cultural heritage, and now its first Design Hotels™ member — Vertigo Hotel, just a few steps from the dashing Darcy Square. Impressive in its scale and charmingly Parisian in its style, Vertigo Hotel ticks all the right French boxes — Haussmann-esque building and superb wine. With a clear black-and-white color scheme, Vertigo’s 42 rooms are full of little surprises: suspended beds, a mirror-media-entertainment-system, photograph­-bedecked ceilings, and numerous welcome gifts. Meanwhile, vintage Burgundy wine, Champagne, and cocktails are offered in the subtly lit Embassy Bar.

La Monnaie Art & Spa Hotel La Rochelle, France

41 Rooms / EUR 159 – 419

Within the 17th-century walls of La Monnaie Art & Spa Hotel lies a transient gallery — a modern collection of original paintings, photographs, and sculptures by renowned international artists. The hotel is decadently furnished with contemporary decor in smooth whites, soft grays, and flourishes of black. Guests can explore La Rochelle, amble through the Old Town, sail and surf in the Atlantic Ocean, or feast on the town’s freshest seafood. The hotel’s private garden invites you to indulge during the day, and in the evening, the building is illuminated in a shade of blue that recalls the color made famous by artist Yves Klein, adding to the tremendous atmosphere and contrasting with the Tour de la Lanterne in the background.

Domaine des Andéols 19 Villas / EUR 240 – 1,365

Luberon, France In 2003, Olivier and Patrizia Massart transformed 59 acres, just one hour from Avignon, into an indoor / outdoor art foundation. Nineteen old stone farmhouses were given their own unique identity — inspired by a color, theme, or artwork.

Across the estate, the furniture of Van Der Rohe and Florence Knoll mingles with the art of Isamu Noguchi and Nobuyoshi Araki. Outside, concrete surfaces and sculptures that play with scale continually push the eye to see the landscape anew. So too does the exquisite cuisine of La Maison des Saveurs, where traditional elements are reframed in modern compositions.

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France

Europe

Château de la Resle Montigny la Resle, Burgundy, France

6 Rooms / EUR 195 – 475

Château de la Resle, in the renowned winemaking region of Burgundy, is an ivy-wrapped manor house with the charm and personality of a well-loved private home. The six chic rooms and suites are taken care of by Dutchmen Johan Bouman and Pieter Franssens, who invite guests to share their personal ­collection of contemporary and abstract art. The château, which sits on the edge of an 800-hectare hunting forest, is just a short drive from famous wine villages such as Chablis. But with a spa, a pool, and two hectares of landscaped gardens to meander through, there’s really no need to leave.

Hotel Bel Ami 107 Rooms / EUR 270 – 1,190

Paris, France On the Parisian Left Bank, in the heart of Saint-Germain-desPrés, lies Hotel Bel Ami. Located in a 19th-century printing works, in which the first copy of Guy de Maupassant’s novel Bel Ami was printed, it has recently been redesigned by architect Pascal Allaman. Hotel Bel Ami offers a wonderful space filled with vibrant colors suitable for every mood. There is also the Bel Ami Bar, an intimate and lively spot for a light meal or to relax with original cocktails, and the restaurant Les Mots Passants where you can enjoy organic food.

Hotel de Nell Paris, France

33 Rooms / EUR 250 – 1,200

Ideally located on a quiet street in the diverse and intellectual 9th arrondissement, Hotel de Nell blends comfort and exceptional service with an innovative trend in French cuisine — bistronomie. La Régalade Conservatoire, the hotel’s bistro, serves honest yet sophisticated dishes by Bruno Doucet, one of France’s leading chefs. Guests will also marvel at the ­interiors by acclaimed architect and interior designer JeanMichel Wilmotte who uses natural wood paneling, fireplaces, and retro lighting to create a warm atmosphere in the rooms and suites. Wellness here is an overarching theme — with Japanese-style baths in the rooms and indulgent treatments at the Nuxe spa.

Hotel Vernet 50 Rooms / EUR 290 – 2,200

Paris, France Situated within Paris’s Golden Triangle, in a 1917 post-Haussmann building, the iconic Hotel Vernet has emerged from a complete makeover that has seen local architect François Champsaur transform the once traditional interiors into the epitome of contemporary Parisian chic. Making the most of its surrounding architecture, the 50 guestrooms and public spaces, including the hotel’s restaurant, housed under the ornate glass ceiling originally designed by civil engineer Gustave Eiffel, have been designed with warming tactile ­materials in welcoming tones. A stone’s throw from the Arc de Triomphe, a host of cultural sites lie nearby.

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Europe

France

La Maison Champs Élysées Paris, France

57 Rooms / EUR 250 – 1,000

Set in the heart of Paris’s Golden Triangle, La Maison Champs Élysées uses dramatic illusions and ironic interiors.

All 57 rooms offer state-of-the-art bedding, high-quality linen sheets, duvets in pure goose down, and generous amenities.

Seventeen of the rooms and suites belong to the Couture Collection and are decorated with a touch of whimsy that plays with proportion and perception. The lighthearted, ­attentive service can be experienced throughout at La Table du 8 Restaurant, the bLind Bar, and The Cigar Bar.

Le Pigalle 40 Rooms / EUR 140 – 485

Paris, France A shining new beacon in Paris’s Pigalle district, the hotel embraces its bawdy, storied past with verve, originality, and spunk. Le Pigalle is an authentic neighborhood hotel that turns to its residents to tell interesting tales within its walls.

This includes photographs and illustrations by local artists, curated music by a neighborhood DJ, and delicious baked goods delivered by a nearby bakery. The area’s “Nouvelle Athènes” (New Athens) style is reflected in the interiors, and an irreverent mix of vintage pieces, modern design, as well as souveniers make for distinct, individual design in each room.

Le Roch Hotel & Spa Paris, France

37 Rooms / EUR 415 – 1,900

Location, as they say, is everything — and the elegant 37-room Le Roch, nestled between Place Vendôme, the Palais Garnier, and the Louvre, undoubtedly boasts one of the best in the City of Light. The unique design scheme soothes and invites: soft light, clean lines, and a balanced pastel palette of sage, chartreuse, and milky green. Plush, expansive sofas are an invitation to relax, while the lounge and library area is ideal for a pleasant moment of reading by the fireplace. You may prefer to spend time in the hotel’s superb courtyard garden, or winding down in the hotel’s fitness and spa area, with private pool and hammam. Top that off with world-class gastronomy and it’s clear: Le Roch is your perfect Paris pied-à-terre.

Les Bains 39 Rooms / EUR 294 – 2,900

Paris, France A former legendary nightclub, Les Bains is, today, much more than a luxury hotel. Set at 7 Rue du Bourg L’Abbé, a jewel in Paris’s historic 3rd arrondissement, the property is ideally ensconced in the city’s old aristocratic district, a trove of atmospheric streets and architectural splendors. Thanks to the outstanding joint work of the architects and designers Vincent Bastie, Tristan Auer, and Denis Montel, the property now shines as a vibrant, connected, international clubhouse and hotel, which includes a restaurant, bars, a private lounge, a club, guestrooms, and suites.

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France

Le Cinq Codet

Europe

NEW

Paris, France

67 Rooms / EUR 359 – 1,100

Set in Paris’s most sophisticated neighborhood, in the heart of the prestigious 7th arrondissement, Le Cinq Codet is an entrée into a quiet world of erudition and beauty, yet is just steps away from top city attractions and renowned landmarks, which include Les Invalides, the Rodin Museum, and the Eiffel Tower. Housed within the former France Telecom building from the 1930s and masterfully restored by acclaimed designer Jean-Philippe Nuel — envision the prow of an ocean liner rising above the traditional Haussmann buildings — the hotel presents 67 rooms that each evoke an artistic loft experience. Indeed, art is a stunning central ­component here, with an outstanding collection of museum-quality works throughout the hotel, as well as bespoke furniture by the likes of Élisabeth Garouste, Tom Dixon, and Patricia Urquiola.

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Europe

France

Hôtel Les Roches Rouges Saint-Raphaël, France

50 Rooms / EUR 160 – 830

Set on the glorious Provence coast, Hôtel Les Roches Rouges is a sanctuary of barefoot luxury. Renowned Parisian architecture firm Festen has reworked the late-1950s /early-1960s structure, stripping away unnecessary ornamentation to emphasize the clean nautical-modernist lines of classic French Riviera architecture and focus on the vast blue expanse of Mediterranean Sea just outside. The hotel offers incredible sunset views, an aromatic garden, a natural seawater swimming pool cut directly into the rock, and numerous on-site activities, often enjoyed in collaboration with locals. Materials authentic to the South of France, and a focus on personal well-being, embrace guests looking for the perfect Provence escape.

Hôtel de Tourrel 9 Rooms / EUR 220 – 690

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France Set in a 17th-century palais in the center of picturesque Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Hôtel de Tourrel and its nine ­spacious suites are a midcentury design odyssey. Petite in size but grand in stature, the interiors here feature furniture

by ClassiCon designers Eileen Gray and Konstantin Grcic.

The ancient building is also home to an innovative nouveau Mediterranean restaurant.

Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez

2 Villas / EUR 1,150 – 2,400 35 Rooms / EUR 290 – 960

Saint-Tropez, France The Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez sits 250 meters from the beach within a lush wooded park on the Route des Salins. While only a short drive from the chic and bustling village of Saint-Tropez, Hôtel Sezz is isolated enough for guests to truly sink into their holiday. The hotel’s 37 unique Christophe Pillet-designed guestrooms are built of light and air — guests can smell and feel saltwater and warm breezes from their beds and baths.

Le Fitz Roy 58 Rooms / EUR 310 – 3,355

Val Thorens, France Perched high on a Val Thorens mountaintop and nestled between the three valleys of the world’s largest ski resort, Le Fitz Roy is quintessential modern luxury in the shape of a chalet. Reviving an iconic hillside landmark, Le Fitz Roy now stands for cozy seclusion, homey comfort, and top-notch cuisine. Hotel guests also find an elaborate spa area, which includes a Turkish bath, mountain pool, and massage treatments. With an expertly staffed ski shop on-site, Le Fitz Roy serves as a luxurious launching pad for beginner skiers and Val-veterans alike.

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France / Georgia

Europe

Le Val Thorens Val Thorens, France

83 Rooms / EUR 190 – 1,255

In keeping with its pioneering spirit, Le Val Thorens was recently transformed into a present-day version of a high altitude chalet. Vintage furniture and muted textures complement eye-catching works of modern art by the likes of Martin Richman, Gerhard Richter, and Sigmar Polke. With the slopes a clean carve away, the property serves as both a convenient kickoff and a welcoming retreat, which boasts a multi-room spa area, a panoramic swimming pool, and a fireplace cocktail lounge that’s a work of art in itself, with an anthracite waxed concrete floor and a burnt-pine ceiling.

Rooms Hotel Kazbegi 155 Rooms / USD 125 – 250

Kazbegi, Georgia This remote retreat designed by Tbilisi-based duo Nata Janberidze and Keti Toloraia is the very first of its kind in Georgia. The sleek hotel comprises a geometric structure with balconies and a sun terrace fashioned from steel, glass, and timber. Wood-plank floors, walls, and ceilings mimic the ­surrounding terrain, and the odd splash of color and leather furnishings soften the interiors while immense windows frame views of the dramatic Caucasus Mountain range. With the snowy peak of Mount Kazbek towering over it to the west, Rooms Hotel Kazbegi is one of the world’s best destinations for heli-skiing.

Stamba Hotel

NEW

Tbilisi, Georgia

42 Rooms / USD 350 – 490

Embodying the zeitgeist of contemporary Tbilisi, Stamba Hotel is a living, breathing reflection of the city’s growing global significance and refined dynamism. Housed in what was once Georgia’s most prominent publishing house, the hotel pays homage to the Brutalist splendor of the original structure. Trees and foliage ­dominate the five-story-high atrium of the hotel’s “living lobby,” off of which is Café Stamba, where local ingredients are served in all their just-picked glory. A spectacular glass-bottom rooftop pool — visible from the ground floor up — amplifies the fluidity of the design concept.

The show-stopper here, however, is the Aviator Casino with its Art Deco-inspired interiors reflecting the golden age of ­aviation, for which the casino is named.

131

Europe

Georgia / Germany

Rooms Hotel Tbilisi Tbilisi, Georgia

125 Rooms / USD 160 – 700

Located in the intellectual neighborhood of Vera, Rooms Hotel Tbilisi cleverly incorporates the building’s history as a publishing house into its design elements. Rife with regal sophistication, the eight-floor property boasts 125 rooms and suites, com­ bining distinct 1930s New York vibes with old-world Tbilisi charm. Rich, fragrant leather, mood lighting, velvety textures, and selected sounds fill the spacious fireplace lounge and cocktail bar. With a clear emphasis on all things “taste,” Executive Chef David Legrand, of the nouveau American restaurant The Kitchen, concocts a delectable weekly menu using locally sourced ingredients.

Cosmo Hotel Berlin Mitte 84 Rooms / EUR 104 – 359

Berlin, Germany Cosmo Hotel Berlin Mitte, situated in the heart of Berlin’s Mitte district, is the perfect urban retreat for travelers who appreciate individualized style and hospitality. The hotel’s 84 guestrooms are beautiful expressions of warmth, with a cool edge of sophistication. Each is lined with either smooth parquet flooring or elegant carpeting and complemented by well-designed contemporary furniture and decor accents that highlight the welcomingly lit spaces. Its very own Scent restaurant, serving international dishes made from local, ­sustainable and organic ingredients, makes it one of the top addresses in Berlin.

Hotel Zoo Berlin Berlin, Germany

144 Rooms / EUR 200 – 2,500

Great cities are defined by their grandest boulevards.

Fortunately, the visionaries behind Hotel Zoo, on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm, understood the magnitude of their undertaking. Refusing to play it safe, they infused a 1920s building with daring new qualities befitting a contemporary star on one of the world’s grandest stages. Spacious rooms and suites feature custom-built furniture and a bold bohemian spirit, while the restaurant and lounge serve sophisticated, avantgarde cuisine and classic cocktails amid world-renowned DJs. In short, welcome the leader of cool in Berlin’s revived City West neighborhood.

Provocateur 58 Rooms / EUR 100 – 560

Berlin, Germany Just off Berlin’s stylish Kurfürstendamm shopping street, Provocateur seduces with fusion cuisine, 58 stunning guest­ rooms, and an award-winning bar concept. Guests can expect French-Chinese cuisine by the nationally renowned Duc Ngo, while sumptuous beds and the bar’s classic cocktail menu ensure that they can subscribe to the hotel’s mantra of “Stay up all night. Sleep all day.” The interiors mix 1920s Paris with the urban Berlin of today while the building is a perfect picture of the Art Nouveau style that prevails in this exciting neighborhood.

132

Germany

Europe

Sir Savigny Hotel Berlin, Germany

44 Rooms / EUR 120 – 650

Among the bookshops and cafés of Savignyplatz in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district, Sir Savigny is a perfect gateway to a reinvigorated neighborhood. Creativity permeates the 44-room boutique property, with its library in The Kitchen, rotating art exhibitions, and convivial communal table. To satisfy earthier appetites, The Butcher serves top-notch Angus beef — available via a dial-a-burger button in the guest­ rooms — while the hotel’s interiors abound with alluring contrast: cool metals glint against calfskin and wood; Art Nouveau mingles with midcentury modern; and tradition comes into artful contact with on-trend contemporary accents.

The Mandala Hotel 158 Rooms / EUR 170 – 3,800

Berlin, Germany Potsdamer Platz is Berlin’s epicenter of modern architecture, putting The Mandala Hotel in good company. The unassuming entrance, the hidden Qiu Restaurant & Bar, the restaurant Facil, and the wonderful top-floor Ono Spa all help to provide guests with discreet relief from the area’s hustle and bustle.

Interiors pare luxury down to its modern essence of serenity and subtle harmonies, but spare no expense with designer ­furnishings and artwork.

Designhotel ÜberFluss Bremen, Germany

51 Rooms / EUR 124 – 345

Designhotel ÜberFluss, Bremen’s first member of Design Hotels™, is located on a small, quiet street on the banks of the Weser river above recently unearthed medieval relics.

Some of the 51 guestrooms are endowed with baths and ­showers that open into the rooms themselves, while the suite features a whirlpool and a Finnish sauna from which guests can take in views of the river below. Easily accessible from the city’s ­central railway station, airport, and motorway, Designhotel ÜberFluss also provides access to Bremen’s charming marketplace and old city center.

The Qvest 34 Rooms / EUR 140 – 1,500

Cologne, Germany Located on a quiet square between the Cologne Cathedral and the Belgian Quarter, The Qvest takes its role as a con­ temporary refuge in the Old Town seriously. Housed in a ­neo-Gothic structure from 1897, the hotel features cross vault ceilings, original stucco, and Gothic windows. The interiors are a vintage and midcentury design treasure trove as well as a haven for contemporary photography and art lovers. The Qvest even offers a small library of art, design, and fashion literature in every room.

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Europe

Germany

Hotel zum Löwen Duderstadt, Germany

59 Rooms / EUR 99 – 259

The renovation of the timber-framed Hotel zum Löwen, in the heart of medieval Duderstadt, is the work of a local hero businessman and art collector. Personal touches, including the art (such as original polaroids by Andy Warhol), the wine selection, and a collection of eclectic relics uncovered from the ancient cellar spaces, are placed throughout the hotel.

The dark hued interiors retain the best parts of German guesthouse design. The winter garden, microbrewery, and spa have reivigorated the 17th-century building, whose largest suites have balconies overlooking Duderstadt’s red rooftops.

Gerbermühle 19 Rooms / EUR 110 – 500

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt’s Gerbermühle boasts everything one could desire in the German financial capital. Classical architecture (the building was a flour mill in the 1500s) is interspersed with sleek, modern accoutrements, handsome leather furniture, and a 200-seat summer garden and terrace, as well as a 300-seat beer garden. Luxuriously situated on the banks of the Main river, the property even offers a sense of historical romance; it was here that Goethe met the love of his life.

Roomers Frankfurt, Germany

116 Rooms / EUR 170 – 950

Classic curves meet progressive design at Roomers, an ­ambitious venture in Frankfurt. With its concept by the architectural firm Grübel and designer Oana Rosen, the 116-room Roomers is an elegantly futuristic, six-story hotel full of ­electrifying design flourishes, such as an illuminated, bubble-­ domed “bio-rhythmic” wellness center on its top level.

Roomers Loft 1 Room / EUR 650 – 7,000

Frankfurt, Germany On bustling Kaiserstrasse, a few steps from Frankfurt’s main train station, Roomers Loft is an urban oasis. Its 240 square meters of exquisitely appointed space is for guests who want five-star service in a private apartment. An ideal setting as an extended-stay suite, film set, conference venue, or romantic retreat, the loft is wonderfully integrated into the very fabric of Germany’s financial capital.

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Germany

Europe

The Pure Frankfurt, Germany

50 Rooms / EUR 100 – 460

A 19th-century loft in the heart of Frankfurt was completely renovated to create The Pure — a hotel that captures the city’s open-minded, cosmopolitan spirit. Guests are invited to relax in a welcoming, homey atmosphere where the works of artist Stefan Strumbel in the lobby, breakfast room, bar, and lounge, explore the meaning of the word heimat (home). Lighting and music add ambience that changes throughout the day.

Gastwerk Hotel Hamburg 141 Rooms / EUR 120 – 450

Hamburg, Germany A converted 19th-century gasworks, the Gastwerk Hotel Hamburg turns the heavy industrial architecture of this power station into a lofty haven in the harbor city of Hamburg.

Floods of natural light, backlit panels, and balcony lounges add airy touches to a solid frame of raw materials and original brick walls. Black-and-white photographs of the former architecture, soothing textures, the creative yet down-to-earth restaurant Mangold, and the rejuvenating Gastwerk Spa give this once purely functional space a spacious and good-looking new lease on life.

Side Hamburg, Germany

178 Rooms / EUR 165 – 1,750

Jan Störmer’s glass and steel architecture is the soaring stage for dramatic lighting by theater virtuoso Robert Wilson. The stark drama is softened through interiors by Milan designer Matteo Thun, whose rounded surfaces and carefully chosen colors create aesthetic warmth and vitality. Hovering above a futuristic atrium is the eighth-floor lounge where Thun suggests weightlessness with improbably curved furniture and floating disk lighting.

Sir Nikolai Hotel 94 Rooms / EUR 130 – 750

Hamburg, Germany Perched on the Nikolaifleet waterfront, Sir Nikolai is sandwiched between the center of Hamburg’s Altstadt and the super-modern HafenCity district to the south. The 94-room property is characterized by twinkling chandeliers, polished marble, and rough wood and brick. The hotel is also home to Izakaya Asian Kitchen & Bar — from The Entourage Group’s Michelin-starred Nobu restaurant team in London — which serves up Japanese cuisine, and includes a grand library, replete with terrazzo flooring and an open fireplace.

135

Europe

Germany

The George Hamburg, Germany

125 Rooms / EUR 147 – 462

Offering 125 smartly dressed guestrooms and suites, Hamburg’s The George is an ingenious interpretation of an English-style social club. A pioneer in St. Georg, one of Hamburg’s most multifaceted neighborhoods, the hotel is a shining example of private and elegant business chic in a thoroughly modern Hanseatic city.

Cortiina Hotel 75 Rooms / EUR 169 – 749

Munich, Germany Rising above Munich’s historic Altstadt (old town), the Cortiina Hotel combines meditative feng shui design and “honest” materials, endowing this all-natural urban retreat with a soothing elegance that is strongly connected to the Bavarian capital’s local scene, thanks to its well-connected owners. Materials such as oak paneling, Jura limestone, and unbleached handmade cotton sheets infuse the hotel’s 75 modern rooms with a relaxing ambience that is both ­sensually earthy and classically refined.

Louis Hotel Munich, Germany

72 Rooms / EUR 179 – 719

The first member of Design Hotels™ to grace the streets of Munich, the Louis Hotel is a perfect reflection of the Bavarian capital: chic, poised, and full of heart. Like the bustling Viktualienmarkt where it is located, the Louis is a delightful destination for all those in search of life’s finer things.

The Flushing Meadows Hotel & Bar 16 Rooms / EUR 110 – 380

Munich, Germany Situated on the top floors of a former post office and smack in the middle of Munich’s most progressive district, Glockenbach, The Flushing Meadows Hotel & Bar is a gem in the city.

Retaining the industrial building’s original façade and modernist edges, the hotel’s third-floor lofts boast unique interiors by the likes of surf maven Quirin Rohleder, composer Marc Streitenfeld, and hip-hop legend Michi Beck. Framed by architects Arnold / Werner’s warm yet characteristically raw communal spaces, Flushing Meadows is at once sanctuary and sizzling hot spot for the design-minded visitor and the discriminating Münchner alike.

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Germany

Europe

Factory Hotel Münster, Germany

144 Rooms / EUR 89 – 268

Built on the site of a former brewery in Münster, the Factory Hotel is a vibrant destination for travelers and locals alike.

The eclectic mix of old and new buildings fuses urban life with calm retreat and pairs a luxury hotel with a lively combination of shops, restaurants, and clubs for a one-of-a-kind hotel experience.

Hotel Bachmair Weissach 141 Rooms / EUR 219 – 1,679

Rottach-Egern, Germany At Hotel Bachmair Weissach, Bavarian authenticity and local heritage blend with simple elegance and countryside cool, ­creating a lifestyle resort for business and leisure. Close to Munich, on the shores of Lake Tegernsee, the hotel possesses an air of private country club, with a family-friendly atmos­ phere and professional service — from the 141 rooms and suites to the fireside Mizu Bar with pine ceilings, wall panels, and sultry red lights. The expansive grounds offer impressive conference and event options, sophisticated Bavarian cuisine, and a sleek Spa area with heated indoor pool.

Cerês Rügen, Germany

50 Rooms / EUR 158 – 898

Located in the hub of Rügen’s most famous resort town, Binz, the award-winning Cerês is a fine example of contemporary climate-centric building. Each room emphasizes a sense of space, carefully selected to the smallest details, and comes equipped with a balcony or terrace that showcases a panoramic view of the island’s white sand beaches and glistening blue water. The effect is mesmerizing, as if the Caribbean has been transplanted to north­eastern Germany.

La Maison Hotel 38 Rooms / EUR 115 – 315

Saarlouis, Germany Housed in a stately historic mansion replete with its own park in the German-French city of Saarlouis, La Maison Hotel has 38 rooms in both the historic and modern part of the building. The hotel’s cutting edge new extension wows with its bronzed, folded-aluminum exterior and oiled-oak windows.

The hotel’s Louis Bar and Library is located in a former court house, replete with crackling fire and park views. A modern glassed winter garden, suspended over the park, accommodates a ­delicatessen shop and the Pastis Bistro, showcasing Chef Martin Stopp’s signature style that stands for both tradition and innovation.

137

Europe

Hotel Liberty 

Germany

NEW

Offenburg, Germany

38 Rooms / EUR 140 – 625

Inside a former prison built for political radicals shortly after the French Revolution, Hotel Liberty explores the notion of freedom through fine cuisine and spacious rooms. On the German-French border in the city of Offenburg, the property is home to the fine dining grill restaurant Wasser & Brot, which serves contemporary French cuisine under Michelin-starred Chef Jeremy Biasiol, while the mezzanine floor Lounge offers locally inspired tapas and high tea. The 38 rooms and suites feature oak floors, distressed leather, and handcrafted furnishings, and the hotel also plays host to an atmospheric bar serving local spirits, a library, the La Cave wine bar, and meeting spaces for up to 25 people.

138

Germany / Greece

Europe

Becker’s Hotel & Restaurant Trier, Germany

18 Rooms / EUR 110 – 240

Located in the ancient city of Trier, Becker’s Hotel & Restaurant creates synergies with the surrounding hills and vineyards through its use of wooden floors, volcanic stone walls, and a timeless black-and-white color scheme. With a philosophy focusing on the warmth of the kitchen, the hotel and restaurant convey a tradition of hospitality straight from Germany’s wine country.

AthensWas 21 Rooms / EUR 175 – 1,650

Athens, Greece The 21-room AthensWas combines classic modernism from the 1950s to 1970s with references to classical Greek architecture, giving the hotel a striking new look. Iconic furniture by modern masters such as Le Corbusier, Konstantin Grcic, Eileen Gray, and Franco Albini dot the interiors. Steps from the Acropolis and other historical gems, the hotel lies on the best-known and most beautiful pedestrian walkway in Athens — Dionysiou Areopagitou. An anthology of traditional flavors from Greece, other parts of the Mediterranean, and Asia, has made the lobby lounge a local favorite, whereas the Sense Fine Dining restaurant located on the rooftop has a stunning view of the Acropolis.

Fresh Hotel Athens, Greece

133 Rooms / EUR 90 – 400

An electrifying medley of sleek design fused with the ancient splendor of Athens, Fresh Hotel warmly welcomes guests to a spacious, calm sanctuary. Each of the 133 rooms comes with punches of color and furniture and fittings from designers such as Philippe Starck and Zaha Hadid. The landmark Air Lounge bar comes complete with rooftop pool, wooden deck, and olive trees, while the ArtWall Project Space brings together contemporary local artists to create an urban visual dialogue in the hotel.

New Hotel 79 Rooms / EUR 175 – 2,500

Athens, Greece New Hotel, located in Plaka, in the heart of old Athens, is an astonishing work of art. All 79 rooms and suites engage their guests with vivid, off-the-wall installations. A rooftop lounge offers panoramic views over the historic city. Overseen

by Greek Cypriot art collector Dakis Joannou, and with ­interiors by Brazil’s famous Campana brothers, the hotel is a true Gesamtkunstwerk, bringing all the senses in an inten­ sified visual, tactile, and somatic interaction with the objects, structures, and materials.

139

Europe

Greece

Periscope Athens, Greece

22 Rooms / EUR 140 – 850

Located high above the up-market shopping streets of Kolonaki, Dakis Joannou’s art-filled Periscope urges guests to explore their thoughts on modern-day surveillance. There are 22 refresh­ingly minimal bedrooms and suites, including a penthouse with an open-air Jacuzzi and 360 degree views of the city. On the ground floor, Periscope Lounge’s tranquil atmosphere makes it the perfect all-day hangout.

Semiramis 51 Rooms / EUR 165 – 465

Athens, Greece Facing a tranquil green park in the vibrant Kifissia area, Athens’s Semiramis hotel is what happens when you give a hot designer control over every aspect of a building and its interior.

Industrial designer Karim Rashid’s dazzling display of bright lollipop colors and organically shaped furniture plays happily alongside a rotating collection of contemporary fine art, ­handpicked by the owner and art collector Dakis Joannou.

Anemi Hotel Folegandros Island, Greece

44 Rooms / EUR 205 – 780

The Cycladic island of Folegandros plays host to Anemi Hotel with all the drama of a Greek myth. Against the rocky terrain of the village of Karavostasis, the hotel makes a memorable impression with 12 two-floor whitewashed buildings, unique in their delicate combination of Cycladic architecture and contemporary Greek lines. Inside, 44 rooms and suites are peppered with furniture by the likes of Charles & Ray Eames, B&B Italia, and Vitra, brought together by designer Stavros Papayiannis, who has successfully injected Anemi’s interiors with an underlying mood of simplicity and modernity.

Ekies All Senses Resort 69 Rooms / EUR 110 – 900

Halkidiki, Greece Surrounded by small rocky islands, caves, clean waters, sandy beaches, and pine tree forests, Ekies All Senses Resort respects the magnificence of its location by blending harmoniously with the landscape. Natural, unrefined materials and organic forms meld with subtle nods to Greek culture and contemporary design pieces. The “anywhere, anytime” dining concept, with three restaurants, pool and beach bars, and private dining, allows guests to sample fresh Greek fare wherever and whenever they please. Opportunities for relaxation are endless, with indoor / outdoor spaces at the Cabana spa and the tepid blue waters of the Aegean Sea.

140

Greece

Myconian Avaton

Europe

NEW

Mykonos, Greece

85 Rooms / EUR 270 – 2,400

Myconian Avaton seems to grow miraculously out of bare rock, rising up majestically as if suspended between sky and sea. A showpiece on Mykonos’s famed Elia Beach, the property is defined by its stunning panoramas; its traditional Cycladic architecture, blending local stone with white walls; its sublime spa; and its 85 harmoniously designed rooms, suites, and two- to four-bedroom villas, where modern and vintage furniture match the eternal spirit of the surroundings and private pools and Jacuzzis abound. A sense of timeless authenticity is felt throughout the property and is perhaps best exemplified by the hotel’s culinary offerings, which can be enjoyed indoors at its gourmet restaurant or al fresco next to the pool against the striking backdrop of the sparkling Aegean Sea.

141

Europe

Greece

Myconian Kyma Mykonos, Greece

81 Rooms / EUR 220 – 940

Few places better capture the pristine beauty and sense of timelessness of Mykonos than Myconian Kyma. Perched atop a hill with glorious views of the Aegean Sea, the hotel is a luxurious and secluded retreat, only a short stroll from Mykonos Town’s thriving nightlife. Here, one awakens to a light-flooded Champagne breakfast with stunning views of the sea, lavish feasts of only the freshest local ingredients, a thalasso spa with assorted treatment rooms, and personalized insider tips to the island’s many treasures. Myconian Kyma is a world of lush gardens, panoramic views, private terraces, and an art-filled environment awash in marble, wood, glass, and natural ­materials — a truly sophisticated yet family-friendly property.

Mykonos Theoxenia 50 Rooms / EUR 230 – 1,360

Mykonos, Greece A legendary classic of 1960s hotel architecture, Mykonos Theoxenia has made a glamorous comeback and is now ­considered “national preserved property” for its innovative style, architecture, and the unique use of local stone and craftsmanship while respecting traditional Cycladic architecture.

The 50 rooms and suites feature simple, elegant 1960s inspired decor that guides one outside to the white balconies with ­stunning views of the Aegean. First built using local stone and Cycladic architectural elements, Aris Konstantinidis’s Mykonos Theoxenia has been given a modern, 1960s-glam makeover to accommodate a whole new generation.

San Giorgio Mykonos Mykonos, Greece

35 Rooms / EUR 180 – 1,140

Born as a pop-up Design Hotels™ Project in 2012, San Giorgio Mykonos is designed to bring like-minded, creative individuals together to unwind and connect with self and nature. Thanks to its privileged perch, the 35-room hotel offers sweeping 270-degree views of the ice-blue Aegean. With a spotlight on origin and craftsmanship, an abundance of handcrafted ­textures and raw wood provide an earthy warmth to the hotel’s open-plan spaces. San Giorgio also serves as the guesthouse to Scorpios, a modern-day agora that curates an enlightened ­program of healing, music, and art rituals. Together, the two properties nurture a diverse creative community, providing them with the perfect combination to eat, play, live, and love.

Coco-Mat Eco Residences Serifos 13 Rooms / EUR 240 – 620

Serifos, Greece Set on a lush, sandy beach along the Aegean shores of the Greek Island of Serifos, in a series of 1900s-era miners’ houses, Coco-Mat takes luxury to an expansive level. Here, guests are welcomed into spacious two-story apartments crafted with an eye toward unifying nature, simplicity, and elegance. Recently renovated, the beachfront Coco-Mat not only stands out for its welcoming mindset but also through its respect for traditional local architecture and contemporary sustainable practices.

At Coco-Mat, authentic Cycladic design merges with an unadorned industrial order and sophisticated eco-friendly ­aesthetic that defines a unique new style.

142

Greece

Erosantorini

Europe

NEW

Santorini, Greece

5 Rooms / EUR 1,200 – 4,510

Perched on a 300-meter cliff overlooking Santorini’s caldera, Erosantorini frames the natural beauty of this Greek island while immersing guests in typical Aegean tranquility. The 8,000-square-meter estate, poised between Fira — just two kilometers away — and Pyrgos villages, is awash in a palette of whites and grays, with Milanese designer Paola Navone’s trademark jolts of the unexpected punctuating the communal spaces and five guestrooms. Floating fireplaces and heated outdoor Jacuzzis also feature, while a cascading infinity pool boasts an underwater sound system and a therapeutic spa offers a traditional hammam and an “emotional shower” experience. There’s also a chapel, a wine cellar, and a cinema under the cerulean Greek sky.

143

Europe

Greece / Hungary / Iceland

The Met Hotel Thessaloniki, Greece

212 Rooms / EUR 126 – 2,000

Situated right by the waterfront in Thessaloniki’s up-and-­ coming industrial harbor area, The Met Hotel is a 212-room cultural icon that blurs the lines between art gallery and luxury hotel. Installations by some of the world’s foremost contem­ porary artists have been handpicked for the hotel. The broader design concept is centered on open spaces and fine-quality materials. The hotel features an indulgent spa and chic dining options, but the real joy is in exploring The Met’s intriguing collection of artwork.

Lánchíd 19 48 Rooms / EUR 70 – 353

Budapest, Hungary Lánchíd 19 provides a beautiful view of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Budapest and is situated on the Danube river­ bank at the feet of the Buda Royal Castle, just a few minutes walk from the city center. Named after Budapest’s famed Chain Bridge, spanning the Danube, the hotel is a contem­porary highlight in a neighborhood of predominately 19th-century architecture. Lánchíd 19 is a beacon of innovation, while still paying homage to its historical setting.

Ion Adventure Hotel Nesjavellir, Iceland

45 Rooms / ISK 39,500 – 63,000

The perfect base from which to explore the wonders of Iceland, Ion Adventure Hotel has the ability to transform into a personal theater, where guests are the audience and the island’s incomparable natural landscape is the show. With a mellow mix of concrete chic and earthy ambiance, combined with the warm accents of locally salvaged driftwood and lava, sustainability is no gimmick at Ion, where the concept has been successfully incorporated as a design tool.

101 Hotel 38 Rooms / ISK 45,900 – 168,900

Reykjavik, Iceland The 101 Hotel is a lightning rod striking Iceland’s new appeal to world travelers. The island’s first boutique hotel is owned by designer and gallery owner Ingibjörg S. Pálmadóttir, who has used modern lines, local artwork, and a palette of black, gray, and white to convey pure Nordic coolness. Keeping you warm are heated oak floors, a lounge fireplace, a popular bar frequented by both locals and guests, and a Jacuzzi and sauna.

144

Iceland / Italy

Europe

Ion City Hotel Reykjavik, Iceland

18 Rooms / ISK 53,000 – 99,000

Embodying the spirit of adventurous travel and cool Nordic design that dwells in its sister property Ion Adventure Hotel, the 18-room Ion City is the citified version of Ion’s original award-winning countryside retreat. Located in the heart of Reykjavik, with access to many shops, cafés, bars, and restaurants, Ion City Hotel is housed in a smartly renovated building, with external walls featuring a motif inspired by traditional Icelandic weaving. Inside, guests discover luxuriously organic interiors defined by clean lines, Icelandic art, and a palette of gray and white, contrasted by warm-hued wooden floors.

A stay at Ion City also includes farm-fresh cuisine, a go-to bar for locals, a gym, and a private dining room.

GombitHotel 13 Rooms / EUR 170 – 450

Bergamo, Italy Bordered on one side by the Italian Alps, the medieval cittá alta of Bergamo boasts a lively community of artisans, ­exceptional regional cuisine, and beautifully preserved historic monuments.

Featuring 13 suites, outfitted by designer Giò Pozzi in natural fabrics, earthy hues, and four distinctly vibrant shades, the hotel accentuates its 13th-century architecture with carefully selected art pieces, contemporary elegance, and a distinctly creative spirit.

Hotel Greif Bolzano, Italy

33 Rooms / EUR 134 – 428

The Hotel Greif balances carefully preserved tradition with bold modernity and creativity in the heart of northern Italy’s ruggedly beautiful landscape. Each suite of the centuries-old, redesigned hotel is uniquely extraordinary — from terrace views of the Dolomites or bay windows looking onto Bolzano’s ancient Walter Square, to steam saunas or whirlpool baths.

All 33 rooms are carefully appointed with Biedermeier antiques and custom textiles that create a sophisticated setting for the specially commissioned contemporary artwork.

C-Hotel & Spa 18 Rooms / EUR 155 – 455

Cassago Brianza, Italy A family-run, minimalist retreat in the hilly, Prealpine landscape that surrounds Lake Como, C-Hotel & Spa uses locally sourced materials like limestone and teak to create a timeless space for relaxation. All 18 suites are soundproofed and climate controlled to create a soothing sense of isolation, and guests can expect to have their senses aroused by vibrant art installations and the rich local coffees that are brewed in the lively Italian enoteca.

145

Europe

Italy

Nira Montana La Thuile, Aosta Valley, Italy

55 Rooms / EUR 200 – 840

Nira Montana is nestled in the Italian ski resort of La Thuile, a laid-back area in the northwestern part of the breathtaking Aosta Valley. The rugged modern exterior belies rich wood interiors presented with a twist — think “wooded” wallpaper, Italian high-end furniture, and the nicest spa in the area. The hotel’s restaurant serves the finest Italian cuisine in the region.

Set against the majestic Mont Blanc, Nira Montana is perfect for adventure enthusiasts, with rafting, fishing, and ski trails of 160 kilometers through France and Italy.

Vigilius Mountain Resort 41 Rooms / EUR 230 – 490

Lana, South Tyrol, Italy Matteo Thun’s mountain resort is an eco-friendly hideaway reachable only by cable car. The Milan-based architect has created a structure using “organic architecture” that seamlessly blends into its surroundings. The result is a 41-room resort that places an intimate dialogue between man and nature above all else in its design. With a well-equipped spa using natural products and offering views over the Dolomites, Vigilius offers a peaceful escape from day-to-day life.

Filario Hotel & Residences

15 Villas / EUR 300 – 1,000 13 Rooms / EUR 300 – 1,500

Lezzeno, Lake Como, Italy While Filario Hotel & Residences is firmly rooted in Italian heritage and craftsmanship, its modern aesthetic and amenities cater to young, discerning travelers. Crafted by famed Italian designer Alessandro Agrati, the guestrooms are a study in ­natural, subtle elegance. The apartments, separated from the main building, boast a more pared down sense of elegance and are ideal for families and for long stays. All accommodations at Filario face the enchanting Lake Como and feature private terraces. The hotel bistro offers authentic, fresh Italian dishes and the best regional wine. Filario also has its own private beach and an infinity pool that stretches deep into the glimmering blue of the wishbone-shaped lake.

Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita 18 Rooms / EUR 275 – 1,000

Matera, Italy The sassi, or caves, in which guests at Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita dwell, were carved into the rock façade in Matera, a village in the arch of the Italian boot, 2,500 years ago by the shepherds who once traditionally grazed there. The refurbished 18-room hotel, just an hour from Bari, offers its guests the rare opportunity to experience parts of Italy and its culture that have traditionally been out of bounds for foreigners.

146

Italy

Europe

Hotel Viu Milan Milan, Italy

124 Rooms / EUR 750 – 5,000

Spectacularly framed with living greenery and set in the up-and-coming Porta Volta/Garibaldi area of the city, the 124-room Hotel Viu Milan boasts an outdoor swimming pool with stunning 360-degree views of the city. The hotel stands out not only for the exterior’s spectacular vertical garden, but for a façade featuring floor-to-ceiling glass windows that bathe the interior in light. Whether it’s a rooftop brunch, sunrise and sunset yoga courses, Michelin-starred Chef Giancarlo Morelli’s authentic Milanese cuisine, a personal shopper, or even a ­dedicated kid’s breakfast table, the Hotel Viu Milan never fails to inspire its guests with sensual experiences befitting this energized city.

Straf 64 Rooms / EUR 199 – 1,029

Milan, Italy At Milan’s mesmerizing Straf hotel, architect and artist Vincenzo de Cotiis has achieved his goal of creating a visually striking alternative to standard hotel design. Known also as a fashion designer, de Cotiis reflects his unique taste in his design concept, which strives for individuality in the materials used. At Bar Straf, de Cotiis has created a sort of spatial ­overwriting by using a hyper-decorative style. The setting brings us back to essentials, emotions, and art, blending ­everyday life with the future.

Eremito Parrano, Umbria, Italy

12 Rooms / EUR 120 – 390

Offering all the serenity and just a hint of the austerity of an ancient abbey, Umbria’s extraordinary Eremito hotel is set within 3,000 hectares of protected natural reserve. In a time when quietude is the highest luxury, hotelier Marcello Murzilli adopted traditional 13th-century masonry techniques to erect this atmospheric, modern monastery — Gregorian chants and silent communal dinners included. Eremito’s 12 rooms — or celluzze, as traditional monks’ cells are called — don a single bed and a contemplation niche — no telephone, television, or buzzing appliance in sight.

La Bandita Townhouse 12 Rooms / EUR 295 – 550

Pienza, Italy Experience sensual Tuscany in a stylish residence that feels as if it belongs to a good friend who knows the best local restaurants, towns, and vineyards. La Bandita Townhouse — a 12-room luxury boutique hotel — is awash in wood beams, exposed stone walls, and comfortable vintage furniture. Tucked inside the historic center of the UNESCO World Heritage village of Pienza, a tiny Renaissance jewel in southern Tuscany, the building is a rambling palazzo where nuns lived for over 500 years. La Bandita Townhouse is all about comfort, famili­ arity, local immersion, and style; it is a place where one can relax, eat well, and get caught up in the rhythms of everyday life, in the true essence of Tuscany.

147

Europe

Italy

Argentario Golf Resort & Spa

1 Villa / EUR 1,800 – 2,900 38 Rooms / EUR 250 – 1,500

Porto Ercole, Tuscany, Italy In a verdant valley in the Monte Argentario Peninsula in Tuscany, Augusto Orsini has created a masterpiece in contemporary design unlike any the region has seen. The Argentario Golf Resort & Spa offers an alternative vision — one that looks forward not only aesthetically and architecturally, but also ecologically. Argentario Golf Resort & Spa has 38 guestrooms throughout its dragonfly-shaped structure with flaxen limestone façade and a three-bedroom villa on the golf course.

G-Rough 10 Rooms / EUR 450 – 3,500

Rome, Italy Located in Rome’s Piazza Navona, G-Rough hotel is every bit Roman — from the inside out. Housed in a typical 17th-century bourgeois-style building, the hotel’s interiors are a pastiche with original wooden ceilings, patina walls, and meandering floor plans typical of Roman apartments. The hotel’s unconventional “Made in Italy” concept of luxury showcases iconic Italian designers and brands from the 1930s to the 1950s, such as Ico Parisi, Giò Ponti, Venini, and Seguso. And with the help of a lifestyle manager or virtual butler, one easily finds the Rome of Romans.

Elizabeth Unique Hotel

NEW

Rome, Italy

33 Rooms / EUR 396 – 526

Elizabeth Unique Hotel marries the Rome of yesterday with finely appointed, artfilled luxury of the moment. Set in a gloriously restored 17th-century palazzo in the heart of the capital’s historic center amid the picturesque Via del Corso area, the 33-room townhouse is a hive of sophisticated design and international allure, with a bounty of arched walls, lacquered wooden panels, reproduced antique wallpaper prints, canopy beds, couture fabrics, and carefully curated artwork setting the stage. Through a private entrance adjacent to the city’s top restaurants and boutiques, guests are greeted by a majestic double-­ height entrance that leads to a refined lobby and reading room warmed by an open fireplace.

148

Italy

Europe

Parc Hotel Billia Saint-Vincent, Italy

119 Rooms / EUR 119 – 657

Saint-Vincent’s Parc Hotel Billia brings a new tradition of architecture to the Aosta Valley, a natural paradise of uncontested skiing and winding trails. Italian architect Piero Lissoni created the Parc Hotel Billia with a modern take on traditional ideals. In keeping with his minimalist style, Lissoni has united the use of typical materials of the territory with the most modern of technologies to comply with the needs of today’s guests.

Its facilities have become integral parts of the Saint-Vincent Resort & Casino, one of Europe’s largest leisure centers.

Sextantio Albergo Diffuso 30 Rooms / EUR 100 – 1,000

Santo Stefano Di Sessanio, Italy One and a half hours northeast of Rome, nestled in the midst of Abruzzo, is Santo Stefano di Sessanio. It is one of the region’s most striking hilltop towns and the home of the 30-room Sextantio Albergo Diffuso, a gorgeous series of meticulously revived buildings composed into a luxurious and singular hotel.

All rooms were restored using strictly local materials — primarily terracotta tiles, wood, and limestone — and by paying close attention to historical accuracy.

Zash Country Boutique Hotel

1 Villa / EUR 11,000 – 27,000 10 Rooms / EUR 195 – 700

Sicily, Italy Zash is a country hideaway, a former winery, and a Mediterranean garden all rolled into one. Each of the 10 rooms and suites opens out into nature — through wide windows that overlook the evocative Sicilian landscape, or large glass doors that seem to use the citrus trees outside as natural wallpaper.

This old manor house puts nature at the forefront, with volcanic stone cladding, oak floorboards, and chestnut window frames through which the Ionian Sea dazzles.

Ca’ Pisani 29 Rooms / EUR 150 – 600

Venice, Italy A melding of classical design and influences from the futurist movement of the 1930s and 1940s is behind Roberto Luigi Canovaro and Gianluigi Pescolderung’s concept for Ca’ Pisani in Venice. Located in the Dorsoduro area, it is well connected to the art scene, with the Guggenheim and Punta della Dogana collections, the Gallerie dell’Accademia, and much more close by. Unique door designs for each room and special “starlight” masonry are only two of the many distinct details that give each guest a feeling of individuality.

149

Europe

Italy / Poland / Malta

Palazzina Venice, Italy

26 Rooms / EUR 300 – 7,900

The Palazzina is ideally situated in a 16th-century building directly on Venice’s Grand Canal, just minutes from Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge as well as art-world gems such as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Palazzo Grassi, and the Gallerie dell’Accademia. The hotel, designed by Philippe Starck, combines the best of historic and enchanting Venice with the most sophisticated tailor-made service and luxurious surroundings.

Hotel Galery69 21 Rooms / EUR 130 – 340

Stawiguda, Poland Visit the lakes of northeastern Poland during the winter and you can ice skate as snow falls gently onto the red roofs of lakeside cottages. Make the same trip in the summer and you can lounge in a hammock, go sailing or fishing, or pick wild mushrooms. Artists Małgosia and Wojtek Żółtowscy knew that the region’s lakes would provide the perfect setting for a new kind of hotel, melding unique art with active days in the country.

Aesthetically, emotionally, and gastronomically, Galery69 takes its inspiration from the surrounding environment.

Cugó Gran Macina Grand Harbour

NEW

Senglea, Malta

21 Rooms / EUR 360 – 795

Against a backdrop of historical fortress walls in the fortified city of Senglea on the southeastern part of Malta, Cugó Gran Macina Grand Harbour has emerged as a stunning testament to the past, yet one that is awash in bespoke design and uncompromising luxury. Originally built in 1554, the landmark structure that now houses the hotel’s expansive 21 suites — all with unobstructed views of a magnificent harbor and surrounding marina — is home to high-vaulted ceilings; an inspiring environment of chalk-white walls, limestone, and slate; and an amazing rooftop terrace and pool offering breathtaking views that extend as far as the city of Valletta — a perfect spot for yoga, pilates, and more.

150

Lithuania

Hotel Pacai

Europe

NEW

Vilnius, Lithuania

104 Rooms / LTL 176 – 1,440

Set in the heart of Vilnius’s Old Town, Hotel Pacai perfectly echoes this quarter’s 17th-century Baroque grandeur, yet augments it with a contemporary twist. Formerly the most magnificent mansion in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the stately building has been reborn, masterfully blending historic elements with present-­ day design, soft, deep tones, and elegant materials that heighten the structure’s classical style and complement its relaxing spa. The 104 rooms and suites, the inviting restaurants, and the four meeting rooms all celebrate Lithuania’s rich past and Baltic culture, while also pointing it forward in a direction that is young and vibrant in spirit. In the hotel’s expansive courtyard, guests enjoy local art events, dinners that stretch into the night, and more — making this transformative property a new cultural hub in Vilnius.

151

Europe

Poland / Portugal

H15 Boutique Hotel Warsaw, Poland

47 Rooms / EUR 150 – 300

To check into H15 Boutique Hotel, located on one of the ­oldest streets in central Warsaw, is to stay at the epicenter of European history. The 19th-century building, originally constructed as a grand private residence, has hosted secret meetings for Polish independence prior to WWI, been home to a Soviet embassy, a headquarters for the Nazi party, and a prize possession of the People’s Republic of Poland. Today, following a recent five-year gut renovation, this impressive 47-room gem celebrates its storied past while also emerging as a glorious example of contemporary luxury.

Pedras Salgadas Spa & Nature Park 16 Rooms / EUR 140 – 320

Bornes de Aguiar, Portugal The award-winning Pedras Salgadas Spa & Nature Park shows you how innovative, sustainable architecture can wrap itself around a centuries old park. Featuring 13 modular eco-houses, two tree-houses, and one cottage, the resort is redefining ­traditional notions of eco-lodges and prefabrication models with elegant, inspiring accommodation. Central to the hotel is a thermal spa renovated by Alvaro Siza Vieira, who has ­created a space that embraces old and new while taking full advantage of Pedras Salgadas’s historic mineral springs.

Farol Hotel Cascais, Portugal

33 Rooms / EUR 210 – 1,900

This luxurious seaside retreat on the beautiful Portuguese Riviera is nestled between the powdered sands of Guincho beach and the picturesque fishing village of Cascais.

Guestrooms in this modern transformation of the Count of Cabral’s 19th-century mansion were “dressed” by Portugal’s fashion elite. The excellent culinary offerings include ­sensational Mediterranean signature cuisine as well as the mind-blowing Sushi Design, creating an unforgettable ­sensorial experience with an enviable ocean view. The bliss of the saltwater swimming pool and a delightful cocktail at sunset provide a magical rest by the Atlantic.

Praia Verde Boutique Hotel 65 Rooms / EUR 150 – 500

Castro Marim, Portugal In an untouched eastern part of the Algarve, the Praia Verde Boutique Hotel lies snugly between expansive pine forests and white sandy beaches as far as the eye can see. The 65 expansive rooms and suites at the Praia Verde offer uninterrupted views of the beautiful sea and landscape. The hotel’s suites come equipped with a separate living room and a kitchenette. The restaurant, À Terra, serves delicious country food made with fresh seasonal ingredients. The pool bar, with a wooden terrace under a canopy of green, is another place to relax over a light meal and chilled cocktails. A grocery store presents the best from the region, from salt to wines and more.

152

Poland

Autor Rooms

Europe

NEW

Warsaw, Poland

4 Rooms / PLN 380 – 676

With just four rooms — each unique and chockablock with the artisanal handiwork of Polish artists, architects, designers, curators, and craftspeople — Autor Rooms is far more than just a hotel; it is a key to the creativity that is today’s Warsaw. Set on the only street in the Polish city not to be ravaged by WWII, Autor is a homelike nucleus of old-world charm emitting a young and contemporary spirit. A short walk from the favored nightspots of the in-the-know crowd, the hotel could easily be mistaken for a design studio where the rooms have been dressed up to showcase custom-made glassware, hand-dyed woolen bedding, organic cosmetics, avant-garde artwork, and much more. At Autor — whether you rent just one room or all four to create your very own private Warsaw escape — authenticity that is small, personal, and perfectly Polish awaits.

153

Europe

Portugal

Altis Belém Hotel & Spa Lisbon, Portugal

50 Rooms / EUR 265 – 689

Reflecting the shimmering Tagus River, the award-winning Altis Belém Hotel & Spa is a sparkling gem that wows you with its striking architecture, Lisbon’s only Michelin-star hotel restaurant, and its location in the heart of the cultural and ­historical Belém district. Its subtle global /local flare enchants all the senses and comes alive in the vibrant wall panels, that take you from the Orient to the Americas, in the Feitoria Restaurant & Wine Bar, where traditional flavors blend with exotic world cuisines. In the exclusive BSpa by Karin Herzog, oxygen therapy, a Thermo Garden, and ancient oriental ­traditions of relaxation ensure wellness for both body and mind.

Memmo Alfama 42 Rooms / EUR 140 – 400

Lisbon, Portugal As you weave through the narrow streets of Alfama, an urban intervention meanders into view. In harmony with the traditional houses that surround it stands a mural by street artist Alexandre Farto, behind which lies a home away from home in Lisbon: the Memmo Alfama. Set in Lisbon’s historic heart, the Memmo Alfama offers countless avenues to take in the allure of Lisbon, from neighborhood guides created with locals to a wine bar that features Portuguese gastronomy and wine.

A nighttime visit to the hotel’s stunning terrace offers a sublime vantage point to take in the sights and sounds of the city and the Tagus River.

Memmo Príncipe Real Lisbon, Portugal

41 Rooms / EUR 240 – 700

Through a narrow street and a small tunnel sits Memmo Príncipe Real — home to a secret spot with breathtaking city views and a gateway to the heart of one of the most charming neighborhoods in Lisbon. Almost levitating at the top of the hill, the 41-room property is the first five-star luxury boutique hotel in what is now the trendiest district in the city, the leafy Príncipe Real. Here, one finds the same limestone flooring used in historical buildings and royal palaces throughout the city. The hotel also showcases a mix of contemporary and classic styles, in a cosmopolitan ambience of tranquility, and impeccable service that provides the visitor with an experience that feels both timeless and authentically local.

Estalagem da Ponta do Sol 54 Rooms / EUR 90 – 153

Madeira, Portugal High on the cliffs above the village of Ponta do Sol, this stark white hotel by Tiago Oliveira is composed entirely of right angles which frame the magnificence of the rocky landscape.

The hotel layers itself down a slate cliff, providing several ­panoramic viewpoints. All rooms have balconies and the swimming pool has an infinity edge that makes the Atlantic seem just a dive away. Aiming to highlight the surrounding beauty, interior designer Carvalho Araújo used simple blackand-whites and minimalist furnishings.

154

Portugal

Santiago Hotel Cooking & Nature

Europe

NEW

Santiago do Cacém, Portugal

32 Rooms / EUR 90 – 558

Set just 20 kilometers from a beautiful coastline defined by deserted beaches, sublime surf spots, and a wealth of ocean adventures, Santiago Hotel Cooking & Nature is a high-style launching point for the region’s inimi­ table charms. Gastronomy is the main course at the 32-room hotel, with the À Terra restaurant creating Portuguese and Mediterranean dishes using a wood or charcoal oven and local ingredients — including produce from the chef’s vegetable garden — and serving them on a terrace with panoramic views of the verdant surroundings. Situated in the city of Santiago do Cacém, the hotel also features a 50-capacity event space, a boutique grocery store, and a Zen area by the pool, while the concierge encourages guests to experience the Alentejo region with tours to the Roman ruins of Miróbriga and nearby nature reserves.

155

Europe

Portugal

Vila Monte Moncarapacho, Algarve, Portugal

55 Rooms / EUR 120 – 800

In typical Algarve style, Vila Monte — in Moncarapacho, in Portugal’s Olhão municipality — uses white-washed stairways and natural wood to create bright, airy atmospheres. The property sprawls over nine hectares, encompassing orange and olive groves, gardens and ponds, two swimming pools, a ­tennis court, and four buildings that house its 55 rooms as well as a Suites Collection with private butlers. Interiors were designed by Vera Iachia, who has worked with Andy Warhol and Jacques Grange. The hotel’s activity offerings include fishing in the Ria Formosa, boat tours, seafood tasting, desert island sunbathing, and trips to the Olhão market with the chef behind the hotel’s restaurant.

Torre de Palma Wine Hotel 18 Rooms / EUR 160 – 360

Monforte, Portugal At Torre de Palma Wine Hotel in Portugal’s Alentejo region, first-time hoteliers Ana and Paulo Barradas Rebelo pay homage to the adage “to live like Romans.” The former pharmacists have all the ingredients that make for good living: elegant ­interiors in perfect harmony with nature, wine tastings from the hotel’s own 14th-century vineyard and winery, an indulgent spa, and a restaurant that serves Alentejo’s best delicacies as well as offering culinary workshops. Ride a Lusitano horse, have a picnic in the vineyards or the surrounding nature, swim indoors or outdoors, or run through the property’s orchard; whatever you do, this is glorious isolation at its best and you couldn’t be in better hands.

Hotel Teatro Porto, Portugal

74 Rooms / EUR 94 – 321

In the center of the beautiful and historic Portuguese city of Porto, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hotel Teatro is an elegant innovation set in shades of bronze and gold. Drawing connections to the former site of the revered 1859 Teatro Baquet, which was destroyed by a fire in 1888, the internationally celebrated designer Nini Andrade Silva reflects the spirit of the hotel’s theatrical and spectacular roots, while conveying a stylish and contemporary urbanity.

Memmo Baleeira 144 Rooms / EUR 100 – 400

Sagres, Portugal With its comfortable, minimalist design, Rodrigo Machaz’s 144-room hotel and spa on Portugal’s Sagres peninsula meets the needs of travelers in search of individual or family-friendly recreation and relaxation. An extensive and well-equipped business area ensures that work can certainly be mixed with pleasure. Memmo Baleeira is a way of life. Here, guests’ slates are wiped clean in order to be filled with local flavors and memories to last a lifetime.

156

Portugal

Villa C Boutique Hotel

Europe

NEW

Vila do Conde, Portugal

43 Rooms / EUR 85 – 570

Located just two minutes from the quaint and historic Portuguese town of Vila do Conde, Villa C Boutique Hotel channels this lesser-known region’s spirit of poetry and beach life, as well as the flowing River Ave. Through the combined efforts of noted Portuguese architect Alexandre Saraiva Dias and designer Paulo Lobo, the 41-room and 2-suite property exemplifies a clean-lined testament to the ease and serenity of its setting on the south bank of the Ave. Here, a world of muted grays and warm woods creates an island of escape, as does an invigorating spa, a regional specialties shop, and the À Terra restaurant, inspired by nature and the origins of human beings.

157

Europe

Portugal / Russia / Slovenia

Azor Hotel São Miguel, Azores, Portugal

123 Rooms / EUR 150 – 500

Inspired by the surrounding sea and the volcanic nature of the Portuguese Azores island of São Miguel, the 123-room Azor Hotel abounds with natural materials that remind guests of the property’s remote location, while remaining starkly cosmopolitan and contemporary in design. A range of excursions, sports, and local experiences are on offer, while the hotel’s rooftop pool and bar, cinema, lobby market, disco lounge, spa, and À Terra restaurant — that serves homemade dishes perfect for sharing — may tempt guests to stay put. Azor is ideally located next to the marina in Ponta Delgada, ensuring the treasures of the Azores’ administrative capital are never far away.

Furnas Boutique Hotel, Thermal & Spa 54 Rooms / EUR 110 – 300

São Miguel, Azores, Portugal Furnas’s former life as a thermal center is continued with a luxurious on-site thermal circuit spa, complete with sauna, hammam, outdoor and indoor swimming pool, and plenty of relaxing treatments. São Miguel — or, as locals have coined it, “The Green Island” — offers stunning hiking and mountain biking, as well as whale watching tours for the aquatically inclined. Nearby Furnas Lagoon and Poca da Dona Beija hot springs offer the region’s most sought-after attractions: warm waters and vapors said to hold healing properties.

StandArt Hotel Moscow Moscow, Russia

105 Rooms / RUB 11,300 – 180,000

The country’s first Design Hotels™ member, StandArt Hotel, has put Russia firmly on the hospitality map — especially for those who value top-of-the-line gastronomy, luxurious amenities, and a cosmopolitan ambience right on Pushkin Square.

Housed behind a monumental Art Nouveau façade, StandArt surprises with unexpected modernism and sleek lines, boasting 105 carefully designed rooms and suites, some of which offer breathtaking views of the square. Guests and locals mingle in the lobby and the rooftop terrace, or recharge with a city view and an innovative menu at Sever-Yug restaurant.

Vander Urbani Resort 20 Rooms / EUR 120 – 250

Ljubljana, Slovenia Situated on the riverbank of Ljubljana, the creative neighborhood around Vander Urbani Resort affords lively medieval streets, urban hot spots, and lush parks. While the façade maintains its historical appearance, the interiors offer something fresh: 20 rooms feature high-end materials and one-of-a-kind design pieces, while continuous forms flow along the walls.

The two restaurants take their cue from the concept, serving up exceptional local and Mediterranean dishes while Bubbles Champagne bar offers a wide selection of bubblies and wines.

On the rooftop terrace, guests can take a swim, enjoy the glassed-in yoga studio with city views, or partake in candlelit dining under the stars.

158

Spain

Europe

Hospes Amérigo Alicante, Spain

81 Rooms / EUR 135 – 795

Neo-Gothic arched windows and Juliet balconies are the first impression made by this Alicante property. What began as a Dominican convent, and once housed the local prosperous bourgeoisie, is now a hotel filled with modern creature comforts. A light-filled lobby welcomes with polished white marble and glass surfaces, but the past is present again in the wrought iron work that surrounds the balcony above it. Head up to the roof terrace for stunning views of the city’s castle.

Claris Hotel and Spa 124 Rooms / EUR 235 – 1,500

Barcelona, Spain A façade dating back to 1892 envelops a modern luxury hotel.

Containing an impressive collection of pre-Colombian art as well as hundreds of strategically placed objets d’art, the Claris’s completely renovated 124 rooms are nonetheless cool and contemporary in copper, cement, and glass. The rooftop pool combines traditional tiling with a modern deck, providing a perfect view of Barcelona’s most refined neighborhood.

Hotel Granados 83 Barcelona, Spain

77 Rooms / EUR 190 – 630

Behind a neoclassical façade in Barcelona’s Old City lies a luminous hotel organized around a central courtyard.

Integration of high-tech materials and functionality, such as an elevator shaft at the center of the courtyard, sets the tone for public spaces and guestrooms. Extensive use of white Thassos marble and zebrawood, as well as phosphorescent iron pieces, gives Hotel Granados 83 a distinctly modern look tempered by warm leather accents and multifunctional living and work spaces.

Hotel Omm 91 Rooms / EUR 220 – 1,850

Barcelona, Spain Hotel Omm is the function-driven creation of architect Juli Capella and interior designers Sandra Tarruella and Isabel López. Sections of the unusual limestone façade teasingly peel back like pages of a book about to reveal the rooms inside.

Yet what seems like decorative fantasy is actually functional: The façade design places windows at particular angles to the outside, shielding guests from unwanted views into their rooms while allowing direct sunlight to flood in. Interiors are based on simple lines and a fine balance of color, volumes, and natural materials.

159

Europe

Spain

The Serras Barcelona, Spain

30 Rooms / EUR 225 – 4,200

An urban boutique hotel overlooking the luxurious Port Vell along the Mediterranean, The Serras sits in the heart of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, only a short walk from the golden beaches, Barcelona Cathedral, Picasso Museum, and La Rambla. Thanks to its key location, the hotel building itself comes with a rich history — it’s the site of Pablo Picasso’s first studio. The hotel features a stylish rooftop terrace, spacious rooms that echo Barcelona’s classic style, and all set amid the latest technology presented in a hassle-free environment.

Hospes Palacio del Bailío 53 Rooms / EUR 225 – 1,600

Córdoba, Spain A traditional Andalusian palace built between the 16th and 18th centuries has been meticulously restored and finely ­balanced with contemporary design. Here, original detailing like wrought-iron balcony railings and Moorish decorative elements are combined with modern touches such as light, polished marble floors. Pure lines coupled with a sense of ­history and luxury reflect this getaway’s inherent peace.

Bohemia Suites & Spa Gran Canaria, Spain

67 Rooms / EUR 242 – 1,334

Hidden from the tourist areas of Playa del Ingles, Bohemia Suites & Spa’s 67 rooms and suites are soothing, oceanfront spaces where getting pampered in peace and privacy is just part of the daily routine. By placing rich native materials and scorched natural colors at the heart of his design concept, owner Rembert Euling has perfectly attuned his adult-only hotel with Gran Canaria’s raw natural beauty.

Seaside Palm Beach 328 Rooms / EUR 225 – 1,596

Gran Canaria, Spain Located near the famous Maspalomas dunes of Gran Canaria, the 1970s classic Seaside Palm Beach was significantly renovated in 2002. Celebrated architect Alberto Pinto clarified and decluttered the facility, while introducing a dramatic color scheme and materials such as brass, chrome, and travertine.

Three restaurants serve up the best of what the region has to offer: the main restaurant, open year-round, serves traditional cuisine on a beautiful terrace with views of a tropical garden, while Esencia and La Bodega, open during peak season, offer Mediterranean fare and haute cuisine tapas respectively.

160

Spain

Europe

Hospes Palacio de los Patos Granada, Spain

42 Rooms / EUR 215 – 2,444

A 19th-century palace and a dramatic modern building form the two parts of this urban retreat. The palace retains original details such as mosaics, trompe l’oeil ceilings, and a grand marble staircase, while the alabaster-clad building next door is a vision in white. From the cuisine to the landscaping, authenticity and originality were the guiding principles for ­creating a sensory experience that brings the rich cultural ­history of Granada into the future.

La Granja Ibiza – A Design Hotels™ Project 6 Rooms / EUR 350 – 950

Ibiza, Spain Wildly enveloped by the pastoral verdure of the island’s ­heartland, La Granja Ibiza – A Design Hotels™ Project is a 10-hectare farmstead, featuring 20 tiered acres of pine and citrus forests and fertile gardens overseen by a master farmer.

Here, among the heady scents of ficus and figs, is the real Ibiza, the one untouched by time and tourism. Marked by classical Iberian architecture and traces of Moorish influences, the public spaces and guestrooms feature arched walls and dark-wood beamed ceilings and doors, accented by hammered-­ iron fixtures. Communal spaces, including the kitchen and pool, encourage the kinship of community, while cozy nooks for moments of simple solitude are found both inside and out.

Sir Joan Hotel Ibiza, Spain

38 Rooms / EUR 200 – 650

Surrounded by Ibiza’s renowned nightlife, with Talamanca beach and the city center only a stroll away, the new 38-room Sir Joan brings to mind an exclusive members-only retreat thanks to a thoughtful spatial design — from the ground-floor Izakaya Asian Kitchen & Bar and The Butcher burger restaurant to the rooftop garden and pool overlooking the marina.

A sensual and highly fashionable retreat for the socialite and reclusive bohemian alike, this private paradise pays subtle homage to yacht living with such interior design elements as sea-weathered metals, maritime ropes, sailboat flooring, and monochromatic gray hues. Sir Joan is an oasis of indulgence for wild-at-heart nonconformists.

Hospes Puerta de Alcalá 41 Rooms / EUR 170 – 1,600

Madrid, Spain Located on Madrid’s central Plaza de la Independencia, Hospes Puerta de Alcalá is a handsome red-brick building designed in 1883. This fine example of the Bourbon Restoration period has been transformed into 41 uniquely ­decorated guestrooms, where fine dark woods offset hues of gold, silver, and white. The landmark former apartment house now sports a minimalist style but retains the past in its moldings, columns, wrought iron, and woodwork.

161

Europe

Spain

Hotel Urban Madrid, Spain

96 Rooms / EUR 235 – 1,500

Taking the notions of reason and passion as a source of inspiration, Derby Hotels Collection has created a hotel in the cultural center of Madrid that blends intimacy and community, function and fantasy, art and design. Hotel Urban brings new space to the cultural axis of the Spanish capital.

The Principal Madrid 76 Rooms / EUR 230 – 1,200

Madrid, Spain Located on Madrid’s Gran Via, The Principal Madrid is extremely well situated, close to all the important historic sites, museums, and parks in the capital. In short, it has the best address in town with the best views. Housed in a Spanish Renaissance style building, the interiors are an eclectic mix of furniture with a New York loft aesthetic. Renowned chef Ramón Freixa oversees Ático restaurant, featuring classic Spanish and Mediterranean dishes informed by the freshest top-quality ingredients and set amid the landscaped top-floor garden. La Terraza, a year-round garden conservatory, is lush with trees, a fountain, and an observation deck.

Hospes Maricel & Spa Mallorca, Spain

51 Rooms / EUR 150 – 1,700

The Hospes Design Team has preserved traditional Balearic design elements at Hospes Maricel in the form of archways, arcades, and pillars in marble and dense sandstone from nearby Santanyí. The arcades and terraces of the palatial building descend straight down into the Mediterranean. In its previous life, the Hospes Maricel & Spa was one of the island’s most popular haunts for the jet set. The atmosphere today is much more relaxed, but the fine skeleton remains in its neoclassical entrance and large windows.

Hotel Cort 16 Rooms / EUR 165 – 1,190

Mallorca, Spain Amid the narrow streets that crisscross Palma de Mallorca’s old town is a hotel with serene, spacious suites and a sun terrace with sun beds and a splash pool. Like an island within an island, Hotel Cort sits at the core of this historic and increasingly cosmopolitan city where a centuries-old olive tree acts as a natural meeting place for locals, making it the ideal base for weekending visitors who want to uncover the real Mallorca, far from the usual “fun in the sun” beach resorts.

162

Spain

Bikini Island & Mountain Hotel Port de Sóller

Europe

NEW

Mallorca, Spain

114 Rooms / EUR 150 – 470

Reviving a 1970s Bauhaus-style hotel in the charming beach resort of Port de Sóller in Mallorca that’s true to its origins is no mean task. But when you bring together seasoned hoteliers behind the 25hours group and Armin Fischer of Dreimeta studio, the result is the 114-room Bikini Island & Mountain Port de Sóller — a casually ­luxurious resort that feels at once w ­ el­coming and holistically chic. Here, raw handcrafted textures, wooden tables, and multicolored woven rugs weave a casual luxury that balances a fine line between hotel, home, and hang­out. The hotel’s poolside bar Pikinni, Lynx Lounge, and the casual east-­Mediterranean kitchen at Neni restaurant are set to be huge draws for locals and guests alike. With an outdoor pool, sauna room, and indoor and ­outdoor massages, plus plenty of spaces to just be, the draw to stay in the hotel premises is compelling, but the hotel also offers custom-­designed experiences that fully take advantage of the spectacular nature on offer here.

Nakar Hotel Mallorca, Spain

57 Rooms / EUR 108 – 594

Nakar Hotel is Mallorcan through and through. Not only do the architect, interior designer, owner, and chef all call the island “home,” but the 57-room hotel is fashioned from local materials and serves organic Mallorcan cuisine at its eighthfloor Cuit Bar and Restaurant. Other luxuries include an indulgent spa and indoor pool, a rooftop terrace and infinity pool with views of the Old Town and the sea, and many hightech guestrooms with king-size beds, Jacuzzis, and private patios. Nakar is also set on Palma de Mallorca’s Avinguda Jaume III, one of the liveliest shopping streets in the beachside Balearic capital.

Purohotel Palma 51 Rooms / EUR 150 – 690

Mallorca, Spain Purohotel Palma is a contemporary design hotel converted from an 18th-century palace in Palma de Mallorca’s old quarter (La Lonja district). This urban hotel has 51 rooms that fuse modern design and style in a truly unique setting. Smart leather furniture, earth-toned fabrics, and a color combination of pure white and natural materials such as stone, wood, and earth stimulate the senses. The hotel’s Opio Bar & Restaurant serves Mediterranean and Asian fusion cuisine, while the bar is a perennial favorite in the city. The rooftop terrace is the perfect place to watch the sunset, relax on a Balinese bed, take a dip in the small pool, or have delicious meal.

163

Europe

Boutique Hotel Sant Jaume

Spain

NEW

Mallorca, Spain

36 Rooms / EUR 160 – 600

Inside a reanimated 18th-century mansion in Palma de Mallorca’s historic quarter, Boutique Hotel Sant Jaume immerses guests in the Palma way of life through contemporary urban design and one of the Spanish island’s top culinary offerings.

The Tomeu Restaurant amb Arrels — under the first Mallorcan chef with a Michelin star, Tomeu Caldentey — serves much-loved Mallorcan classics with a fresh twist, and paired with signature cocktails and fine vermouth at Bartomeu Macerados & Co. cocktail bar, the 36-room property enjoys its status as one of the Old Town’s most indulgent establishments. The rooftop terrace also boasts a pool, solarium, lounge, and views over the Old Town and Palma Cathedral.

Hospes Palacio de San Esteban Salamanca, Spain

51 Rooms / EUR 100 – 270

Housed in a restored 16th-century Dominican convent, the Hospes Palacio de San Esteban melds Castilian heritage with contemporary elegance. Within its thick stone walls, sumptuous amenities offer an oasis of tranquility. You can dine on fresh local cuisine in the restaurant, El Monje, located in the convent’s original kitchen, take a steam in the Turkish bath, or sip cocktails on the terrace overlooking the Old City’s splendid cathedrals. Fetching details accent the hotel’s 51 externally facing rooms, from exposed ceiling beams to lights emphasizing the golden warmth of the stone quarried from nearby Villamayor.

Hospes Las Casas del Rey de Baeza 41 Rooms / EUR 140 – 500

Seville, Spain An 18th-century multidwelling in the fiery city of Seville is the privileged retreat of Hospes Las Casas del Rey de Baeza.

Drawing on Arabian and European styles that have influenced the Andalusian capital for centuries, the hotel is a relaxed, sophisticated fusion of past and present. Rustic natural touches abound, such as woven pull-string window shades and idyllic riverbed rock paths. Global modernity is evident in dark ­chocolate-colored furnishings, including wooden beds from Indonesia, sweeping beech paneling, esparto carpets, and oversize floor cushions.

164

Spain / Sweden

Europe

Hospes Palau de la Mar Valencia, Spain

66 Rooms / EUR 140 – 700

Flying on the high honors bestowed upon them for some of the hottest restaurant and hotel interiors in Spain, the Hospes Design Team remodeled two adjacent 19th-century palaces in the center of Valencia. In the interior, modernist principles reign. Carefully coordinated design elements, mainly using Wenge wood, have been chosen for the guestrooms.

Fabriken Furillen 18 Rooms / SEK 2,090 – 4,190

Gotland, Sweden Experience a side of Sweden you’ve never seen before at Fabriken Furillen, a cocoon of comfort in a surreal landscape that combines post-industrial stark beauty with natural splendor. The eco-friendly hotel is located in a former limestone quarry turned nature reserve on the Furillen peninsula of Gotland, Sweden’s largest island. Creative mastermind Johan Hellström used the factory’s existing infrastructure and recycled materials to create a truly unique travel experience.

Hotel J Stockholm, Sweden

158 Rooms / SEK 1,290 – 4,590

Just at the water’s edge, Hotel J is a short drive or sail away from Stockholm’s city center. Inspired by the J-class yachts of America’s Cup fame, the original 1912 brick building has been redone in a boat-house style reminiscent of the American seaside city of Newport, using wooden boards, durable cotton textiles, and solid oak furnishings.

Hotel Skeppsholmen 77 Rooms / SEK 1,895 – 10,000

Stockholm, Sweden On the small island of Skeppsholmen, in the center of Stockholm, Hotel Skeppsholmen resides in two long buildings that date back to 1699, when the “Long Row” was built to house Sweden’s Royal Marines. The Swedish historic landmark is paired with the very best of contemporary Swedish cuisine, art, design, fashion, and music, partnering with iconic brands such as Acne and the renowned Swedish Museum of Modern Art. Casually luxurious, ultramodern, and historically protected, this quaint design hotel gives visitors to Stockholm a taste of the old, a twist of the new, and a whole lot of charm.

165

Europe

Sweden / Switzerland

Miss Clara by Nobis Stockholm, Sweden

92 Rooms / SEK 1,890 – 11,000

A city treasure has been revitalized. Behind a celebrated edifice lies Miss Clara; a sleek business hotel with a palpable sense of heritage at its core. The chic intermingling of marble bathrooms, furniture installations, and contemporary riffs on the building’s Art Nouveau history come courtesy of architecture firm Wingårdhs, who have honored the property’s historic ­significance. A lively bar and restaurant reinforce Miss Clara’s position in Stockholm’s evolving City district, while a sauna readily buffers the din of this lively city.

Nobis Hotel Stockholm 201 Rooms / SEK 1,590 – 25,000

Stockholm, Sweden The two grand 19th-century buildings housing the 201-room Nobis Hotel Stockholm were originally built and used as ­residential apartments. On the historic Norrmalmstorg Square, the hotel offers guests an oasis of calmly luxurious Scandinavian design as well as a scenic central launching pad to discover everything Stockholm has to offer.

Stallmästaregården Stockholm, Sweden

49 Rooms / SEK 1,095 – 6,000

Stallmästaregården, Stockholm’s first ever inn, has attracted gourmands since Queen Kristina’s visit in the mid-1600s.

Hotelier Alessandro Catenacci has transformed the waterside retreat into a peaceful place for an idyllic getaway. The rooms and suites emulate Swedish decor of the 18th century and there are historic meeting rooms for up to 200 visitors. In the classically Swedish main restaurant, chefs serve local dishes from an open kitchen. Just a walk from the city center, the hotel offers uplifting views over the bay of Brunnsviken.

The Cambrian 71 Rooms / CHF 190 – 1,700

Adelboden, Switzerland In the heart of the idyllic Swiss Alpine village of Adelboden, The Cambrian looks out on one of the world’s most spectacular landscapes. With some of Switzerland’s best ski slopes and hiking trails, this out­standing location is the ideal destination for both winter and summer. Adelboden, meaning “noble ground,” is conveniently situated about an hour from Bern and two hours from Zurich.

166

Switzerland

Europe

Giardino Ascona Ascona, Switzerland

70 Rooms / CHF 350 – 1,150

Located in a spectacular sunny bay on Switzerland’s Lake Maggiore, along a tranquil parkland setting next to one of Europe’s finest golf courses, Giardino Ascona, with its 54 rooms and 16 suites, is awash in Mediterranean joie de vivre. Here, Tuscan-style villas are surrounded by a garden where the broom blooms in an intensive yellow, the scent of lavender and mimosa sweeps across the green, and water lilies open their blossoms on the lake surface. This peaceful venue is deliciously augmented by a two-star Michelin ­restaurant and a world-class spa focused on Ayurvedic cures and therapies that preserve one’s health holistically.

Chetzeron 16 Rooms / CHF 255 – 745

Crans-Montana, Switzerland Chetzeron is very high up in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. For one, you can only reach the hotel by foot, ski, or snowmobile (a snowcat shuttle is available in winter). At 2,112 meters above sea level, the 16 rooms and suites have panoramic views of the Rhone Valley and the majestic Alpine peaks, from Matterhorn to Mont Blanc. There are terraces on three levels, dotted with hammocks, sun loungers, and other plush seating; private or public bars, and the “refined Alpine” restaurant that serves local and seasonal cuisine along with the best selection of Valais wines.

Huus Gstaad Gstaad, Switzerland

136 Rooms / CHF 150 – 750

In a glorious Swiss Alp setting, the 136-room Huus Gstaad rises as a classic Alpine chalet where one can embrace the pinnacle of adventure, taste, and comfort. Set some 1,111 meters above sea level near Gstaad in the Bernese Oberland, the hotel has been reshaped with a passionate eye toward creative concepts, engaging experiences, and visual storytelling. Inside, one finds warm, welcoming rooms with traditional materials accented by modern touches, fine restaurants, fun eateries, a stunning wellness and spa area, conference facilities, and a library / lounge with unparalleled views. Outside, guests enjoy 250 kilometers of slopes, bike tours, and much more.

Rocksresort 122 Rooms / CHF 250 – 1,000

Laax, Switzerland Eight rough-hewn stone cubes, clustered around a town square and containing 122 two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments make up Rocksresort, one of the most unique and spectacular ski resorts in the world. Located at the Laax base station, it is the only fully integrated ski resort in Europe, which makes for an extremely convenient, satisfying, and fuss-free holiday in winter as well as summer.

167

Europe

Switzerland

Giardino Lago Minusio, Switzerland

15 Rooms / CHF 255 – 535

The designers of Giardino Lago, a 15-bedroomed retreat on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore, have taken inspiration from the region’s Mediterranean climate — blessed with 2,300 hours of brilliant sunshine a year — to create a hideaway that’s both calming and enriching. Whether visitors are dining al fresco by the lake, or taking in the views from the 400-square-metre roof lounge, they’ll benefit from first-class service and an exclusive range of facilities.

Hotel de Rougemont 33 Rooms / CHF 275 – 1,260

Rougemont, Switzerland Set in the fairytale landscape of Pays-d’Enhaut, 1,007 meters above sea level, Hotel de Rougemont boasts breathtaking views of the Gstaad Dolomites. The 19 bedrooms and 14 suites use clean lines and handpicked natural materials to give each room its own character. The hotel’s Alpine brasserie, Le Roc Restaurant, serves dishes that are innovative as well as traditional and in tune with nature. There’s also a cozy lounge with a fireplace, a wine bar with the best Swiss varietals, and a ­gold-onyx-and-wood-accented bar. The luxurious spa offers treatments using Pure Altitude products made from organic alpine plants.

Giardino Mountain St. Moritz, Switzerland

78 Rooms / CHF 355 – 2,270

Daniela and Philippe Frutiger have created a fusion of modern and traditional comfort through sensuous interior design and attentive service. Here, guests can experience the first five-star hotel in Switzerland to offer Ayurveda cures and therapies.

When not at the spa, guests can savor a meal prepared in the two-Michelin-starred restaurant Ecco St. Moritz. Taken together, this cozy mountain retreat is truly an experience that nourishes the soul.

Nira Alpina 70 Rooms / CHF 255 – 925

St. Moritz, Switzerland With covered access to the Corvatsch cable cars and an enviable location just five kilometers south of St. Moritz, Nira Alpina is the perfect base for travelers to explore the rugged natural beauty of Switzerland’s captivating Alps — from the hotel’s exciting and fresh food and beverage offerings to the 70 rooms and suites where local materials have been combined with stretches of glass that let the outside world shine in. The Nira Spa by Pure Altitude is a haven of calm with colored mood lighting and five large treatment rooms, offering authentic treatments for holistic, stress-free living.

168

Switzerland

Europe

Hotel Nevaï Verbier, Switzerland

35 Rooms / CHF 159 – 1,695

Situated at an altitude of 1,500 meters, Verbier is surrounded by more than 400 kilometers of slopes for skiers of all levels.

Its boutiques, restaurants, and world-famous après-ski nightlife make this gorgeous village one of the most exclusive and exciting European ski destinations, with Hotel Nevaï as one of its most important trendsetters. The stylish Alpine resort has 33 rooms and two spectacular Penthouse Suites including a fireplace and private outdoor Jacuzzi with magnificent views of the Swiss Alps.

Cervo Mountain Boutique Resort 36 Rooms / CHF 240 – 5,000

Zermatt, Switzerland Native Alpine materials like felt, loden, and stone are fused together at Cervo Mountain Boutique Resort, a charming mountain hideaway in the Swiss resort town of Zermatt. Guests are greeted with warm textures and welcoming smiles. Young visionaries Daniel and Seraina Lauber have managed to retain much of the main building’s original 1940s features. The 36 sunlit rooms and suites have captivating views of the mountains and village and there’s direct access to some of Europe’s best skiing. Spa treatments are offered in each of the hotel’s six chalets, truly making Cervo a place to savor the charms of the real Swiss Alps.

The Omnia Zermatt, Switzerland

30 Rooms / CHF 350 – 3,500

A structural and stylistic study of traditional European ­influence meets American modernism; The Omnia, perched on a mountain in Zermatt, with views of the Matterhorn, ­combines architect and interior designer Ali Tayar’s timelessly tasteful sensibility with midcentury modernist pieces. Subtle textile patterns, original furnishings, exquisite craftsmanship, and environmentally conscious design make this an authen­ tically comfortable retreat for those seeking a streamlined Alpine experience.

Atlantis by Giardino 95 Rooms / CHF 590 – 4,410

Zurich, Switzerland Close to the heart of Zurich, at the foot of Üetliberg hill, Atlantis by Giardino offers the best of the urban and natural worlds. A post-war modernist gem with views of lush forests and cityscapes, it once played host to numerous pop stars, from Grace Jones to Freddie Mercury to Frank Zappa. Today, the 95-room hotel, which was completely renovated in 2015, presents the ultimate in luxury combined with tranquility and Mediterranean hospitality. The Hide & Seek restaurant offers fusion dishes with an Ayurvedic twist, while the Michelin-starred restaurant Ecco serves up culinary magic

by Stefan Heilemann, following the concepts of the Michelin-starred Ecco restaurants in Ascona and St. Moritz.

169

Europe

Chandolin Boutique Hotel

Switzerland

NEW

Chandolin, Switzerland

29 Rooms / CHF 205 – 600

Amid the pines and larch trees of Switzerland’s mountainous Valais canton, Chandolin Boutique Hotel is an expression of classic alpine luxury housed inside an environmentally conscious and typically Swiss grand chalet.

While the hotel’s Wine Bar offers over 400 vintages, Le Restaurant serves seasonal specials from Switzerland and beyond in a fireside setting. At the foot of the slopes, the Sunset Chalet Bar is an ideal spot for a postpiste fondue, raclette, or aperitif, and the Moonclub lounge tempts merrymakers after dark with handcrafted cocktails. The Altitude Wellness spa and Salon des Étoiles also offer the perfect spot for downtime.

170

The Netherlands

Europe

Sir Adam Hotel Amsterdam, The Netherlands

108 Rooms / EUR 189 – 850

Located in the iconic A’dam Tower, built in 1971 on the Amsterdam IJ-river waterfront, the 108-guestroom Sir Adam offers stunning views of the historic city and is in close vicinity to many of the city’s hippest movers and shakers. Internationally renowned music and entertainment companies MassiveMusic and ID&T are also tenants of the tower, as well as Ma’dam, Amsterdam’s highest nightclub, on the top floor. Sir Adam includes a state-of-the-art gym, the BeerGarden, and creative studios where guests can collaborate. Icrave, the renowned New York-based design studio, is responsible for the rooms, a “living lobby” called The Butcher Social Club, and a music library with carefully curated tracks.

Sir Albert Hotel 90 Rooms / EUR 169 – 750

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Facing the Rijksmuseum, Sir Albert is set in Amsterdam’s ­pulsating De Pijp district — a cultural melting pot alive with shops, restaurants, and stylish bars. Housed in a 19th-century diamond factory, the hotel greets guests in a welcoming, cozy study in lieu of a reception and well-informed hotel staff are available to cater to every need. Amid Sir Albert’s sublime furniture and art, one often finds city locals who have come for an exquisite Japanese dining experience at Izakaya Asian Kitchen & Bar and the restaurant’s adjoining private terrace with sweeping city views.

Kruisherenhotel Maastricht Maastricht, The Netherlands

60 Rooms / EUR 244 – 544

A beautifully renovated Gothic monastery complete with a church is the rather spectacular stage for an unusually stylish hotel in Maastricht’s city center. The harmonious result of a collaboration between famous Dutch designer Henk Vos and world-renowned lighting designer Ingo Maurer, the Kruisherenhotel proves that design has come full circle over the centuries.

Mainport 215 Rooms / EUR 115 – 750

Rotterdam, The Netherlands Located on Rotterdam’s inner harbor, Mainport provides guests with a butler service, flexible meeting spaces, and a fresh perspective on Europe’s largest port city. Its 215 rooms allow access to wellness facilities and the self-contained spa on the eighth floor offers a Turkish steam room and hammam complex. Its quayside restaurant, Down Under, fuses flavors from right around the world and the bar, On the Rocks, is famous for its signature cocktails. The harbor-side terrace is complemented by Mainport’s private dock and water-taxi’s ready for take-off.

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Europe

Turkey

Gezi Hotel Bosphorus Istanbul, Turkey

67 Rooms / EUR 200 – 1,500

Gezi Hotel Bosphorus’s gently curved façade seems to hold the city in a tender embrace. 100 percent pure Istanbul inside and out, the hotel’s rooms offer priceless views of the Bosphorus, Taksim Gezi Park, or the property’s own garden.

Luxe materials combine with a contemporary design ethos to provide a homey atmosphere. A quiet refuge mere steps from Istanbul’s bustling Taksim Square, the green-certified Gezi Hotel Bosphorus offers an all-round carefree package, including first class conference facilities, relaxing hammam and spa ­services, and a vibrant restaurant with sweeping channel views.

The House Hotel Bomonti 51 Rooms / EUR 69 – 350

Istanbul, Turkey The House Hotel Bomonti pays homage to the bold industrial heritage of it’s cosmopolitan district through a refined aesthetic.

This innovative, mixed-use development, comprising 51 hotel rooms and 155 residences, inspires guests with its industrial and monochromatic palette. Here, concrete floors and walls, natural stones, and black-framed factory-style glazing offset elegant detailing and rich textures of marble and timber. Care­ fully considered artwork and furniture create a counterpoint to the base materials, creating a sophisticated, modern style that does not rely on the traditional manifestations of luxury.

The House Hotel Bosphorus Istanbul, Turkey

26 Rooms / EUR 180 – 900

With 26 guestrooms and an unbeatable waterfront location near Ortakoy Mosque, The House Hotel Bosphorus is the third property by Turkish entrepreneurs Canan Özdemir and Ferit Baltacıoğlu. Designed by the same dynasty of architects that created Istanbul’s finest Ottoman landmarks, this palatial retreat now has interiors by local design group Autoban.

Along with a fitness area and meeting space, the hotel offers three panoramic penthouse suites with vitalizing views over the Bosphorus, the strait that separates Europe from Asia.

The House Hotel Nişantaşı 44 Rooms / EUR 160 – 349

Istanbul, Turkey Above a Prada store on Istanbul’s classy Abdi İpekçi Caddesi is The House Hotel Nişantaşı, the second property by café pioneers Canan Özdemir and Ferit Baltacıoğlu. With five floors of lavish forms by Turkish design duo Autoban, the hotel ­successfully connects fashionistas with the city’s vibrant, eastmeets-west shopping scene. Guests can sightsee — Old Istanbul is within easy reach — book a personal pilates session, or kick back in one of the 44 elegantly paneled rooms or deluxe suites.

172

Turkey / Ukraine / United Kingdom

Europe

Witt Istanbul Hotel Istanbul, Turkey

18 Rooms / EUR 95 – 325

Situated in a vibrant and stylish residential neighborhood not far from Taksim Square, the Witt Istanbul Hotel features 18 full-service suites outfitted in subdued colors, natural ­materials, and eclectically bespoke furnishings. Private ­balconies with captivating views of the Bosphorus and Istanbul’s glistening skyline create a refreshingly mellow yet modern atmosphere with all the comforts of home.

The House Hotel Cappadocia 29 Rooms / EUR 129 – 600

Ortahisar, Turkey At The House Hotel Cappadocia, one gets a spectacular insight into life in the 6th century. Set in a complex of adjoining caves and traditional homes, the hotel is a world of ancient carved stones. The 29 rooms are each uniquely designed and feature frescoes, crown moldings, and other original elements that evoke Cappadocia’s rich heritage. The hotel’s locally inspired restaurant and spa with Turkish hammam are part of its mission to provide a truly authentic experience. Guests are encouraged to engage with and become part of the community here in the town of Ortahisar.

11 Mirrors Kiev, Ukraine

49 Rooms / EUR 230 – 765

Experience the many facets of modern Ukraine at 11 Mirrors, a sophisticated and elegant design hotel that is the first of its kind in Kiev. A stylish, comfortable, and relaxing destination for business leaders and creative travelers alike, 11 Mirrors showcases reflective surfaces such as mirrored decorations and panoramic windows throughout its 11 stories and 49 luxurious rooms and suites. The result is a representation of contem­ porary Kiev that also reflects guests’ inner selves, their values, and their desires.

Blakes Hotel 45 Rooms / GBP 228 – 720

London, United Kingdom Converted from a collection of period Victorian townhouses into a stylish “couture” hotel, Blakes Hotel draws celebrities and designers to the aristocratic neighborhood of South Kensington and Chelsea. The hotel, a short taxi ride from Harrods and Knightsbridge, is easily accessible by underground and just a five-minute walk can take you to the fashionable Old Brompton Road or Kings Road. The hotel is also close to several noted museums such as the Design Museum, V&A, and Natural History Museum, and London’s famous Royal Parks, which include Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and The Royal Albert Hall.

173

Europe

United Kingdom

Boundary London, United Kingdom

17 Rooms / GBP 190 – 730

Boundary is located in Shoreditch, London’s most fashionable, culturally vibrant, and diverse area. Its focus on art and design pays direct respect to Boundary’s environment: A mainstay of the city’s art and design worlds, as well as one of the most ­historically stimulating areas of Great Britain’s bustling capital city. Visitors can benefit from the Boundary experience on offer to them throughout their stay through the numerous ­dining opportunities. Tratra restaurant, wine bar, and private dining room, by best-selling food writer and chef Stéphane Reynaud, is the latest addition to Boundary, which also boasts a rooftop cocktail bar and grill, and the famed Albion café, bakery, and shop.

Charlotte Street Hotel 52 Rooms / GBP 230 – 1,450

London, United Kingdom Kit Kemp has created yet another enticing abode at the Charlotte Street Hotel, where paintings by the famous early 20th-century Bloomsbury Group hang comfortably alongside French stone fireplaces and deliciously overstuffed armchairs and sofas. Joining Kemp’s collection of modern British art are pieces especially commissioned for the hotel, such as the mural

by Alexander Hollweg in the Oscar Bar and Restaurant.

Covent Garden Hotel London, United Kingdom

58 Rooms / GBP 255 – 1,845

In the midst of the theater district’s drama, this refined, modern hotel certainly holds its own among the stars. Guests are greeted by grand curtains at the reception before entering the stage of aged woods, dignified architecture, and head-turning interiors by Kit Kemp. Her trademark abstract and figurative upholstery patterns turn up in demi-canopies, decorative headboards, flowing drapes, and even matching wallpaper.

The bustling Brasserie Max is a favorite pre- and post-theater haunt for locals and visitors.

Dorset Square Hotel 38 Rooms / GBP 155 – 425

London, United Kingdom The husband and wife team of Kit and Tim Kemp reacquired their very first property, the Dorset Square Hotel, extensively refurbished it, and stamped it with Kit Kemp’s signature style: bold colors, contrasting fabrics, and one-off pieces from around the globe. The interiors are intriguing and engaging, from the plush guest drawing room with an open fireplace, to the buzzing bar and brasserie, and the 38 individually designed bedrooms, many of which look onto the leafy private garden square.

174

United Kingdom

Europe

Ham Yard Hotel London, United Kingdom

98 Rooms / GBP 275 – 2,950

The 98-room Ham Yard Hotel, just behind Piccadilly Circus and tucked behind five majestic oak trees, is Firmdale’s largest project to date. Providing a spot of green to the area, a wild flower rooftop garden provides sweeping views of the Soho skyline. British art is a big part of the experience at Ham Yard with artists such as Tony Cragg prominently featured. The hotel also boasts a 190-seat theater, a spa, a four-lane vintage bowling alley, and a curated pedestrian shopping area.

Haymarket Hotel 50 Rooms / GBP 240 – 3,600

London, United Kingdom A bold step away from cookie-cutter minimalism, the Haymarket Hotel fuses contemporary and classical references in an ultra-central London location. A landmark building designed by the legendary John Nash, the hotel’s façade ­features a dramatic row of columns that runs the length of Suffolk Place. Honoring the hotel’s lineage, the interiors are a rich, modern take on English classicism — a theme that’s extended to the sumptuous drawing rooms designed for guests to relax in and the Brumus Bar & Restaurant that serves fresh seasonal cuisine. The sublime swimming pool bar, which is hypnotically illuminated, is a definite highlight.

Knightsbridge Hotel London, United Kingdom

44 Rooms / GBP 215 – 730

Within walking distance of Harrods and Harvey Nichols, the Knightsbridge Hotel is a chic addition to the luxury hotels owned and designed by Kit Kemp. Contemporary British art and African woodwork bring surprises to the otherwise traditional lobby, drawing room, and library. Bold fabrics envelop the suites and rooms, running riot with stripes, florals, and geometric designs.

Number Sixteen 41 Rooms / GBP 155 – 410

London, United Kingdom With its wrought-iron balustrades and column-supported ­porticoes, Number Sixteen’s crisp, white-stucco Victorian ­terrace feels almost residential. As always, designer Kit Kemp pays attention to subtle detail, creating a modern English ­sensibility that extends outdoors to an elegant conservatory and private garden. The garden’s reflecting pond, fountain, and lush foliage offer the kind of privacy that perfectly tops off a London afternoon.

175

Europe

Nobu Hotel Shoreditch

United Kingdom

NEW

London, United Kingdom

148 Rooms / GBP 158 – 845

Headed by celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and actor and director Robert De Niro, Nobu Hotel Shoreditch is an extension of the renowned Nobu hotel and restaurant portfolio. As well as being a synergy of suave Japanese minimalism and East London’s industrial aesthetic, the property serves chef Nobu’s signature Japanese-Peruvian dishes, while a fireside Lobby Lounge & Bar offers small bites and handcrafted cocktails in a more casual setting. Hidden behind a striking façade of glass, concrete, and cantilevered steel beams on Shoreditch’s Willow Street, Nobu Hotel Shoreditch offers 148 guestrooms and private dining as well as event spaces for up to 200.

176

United Kingdom

Europe

The Soho Hotel London, United Kingdom

96 Rooms / GBP 240 – 2,780

At 96 rooms, The Soho Hotel is one of hoteliers Tim and Kit Kemp’s largest London properties. Kit Kemp’s contem­ porary British style is firmly founded on using top-notch ­furnishings and materials in artful combination with a plethora of styles, colors, and patterns. It’s hard to miss the impressive three-meter-tall Botero sculpture in the lobby.

Town Hall Hotel & Apartments 98 Rooms / GBP 160 – 3,000

London, United Kingdom The Town Hall Hotel & Apartments is located in the heart of East London in the former Bethnal Green Town Hall, just two minutes from Bethnal Green tube station, with ideal connections to West London and the city’s financial district.

The beautifully restored establishment elegantly incorporates a restructured, contemporary interior into the period property — an ideal space for any business or luxury traveler, situated in one of the city’s hippest, up-and-coming neighborhoods.

Oddfellows On The Park Manchester, United Kingdom

22 Rooms / GBP 155 – 395

Brought about by the restoration of the 19th-century Bruntwood Hall, Oddfellows On The Park offers an English country retreat just a short drive from Manchester, one of the country’s most culturally and commercially important cities. Set amid 120 acres of parkland dotted with mature oak trees, streams, ponds, and lawns, the hotel embraces its natural setting and boasts on-site activities, such as archery, golf, and a BMX cycling track; as well as a restaurant in the old ballroom; a cocktail bar clad in tweed and tartan; and a salon de beauté called The Pigsty, with a “mudroom” to pamper guests. Original Victorian design elements abound, while contemporary touches bring the aristocratic hospitality experience up to date.

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7 Hotels

Morocco

Israel

Kenya

Tanzania

Mauritius

South Africa

Africa & Near East

Israel / Kenya

Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel Zichron Ya’akov, Israel

95 Rooms / USD 208 – 455

After a meticulous eight-year restoration, the Mivtachim Sanitarium, Yaakov Rechter’s award-winning masterwork of postwar Brutalism, reopened as the Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel, an innovative boutique property overlooking sloping forests and the Mediterranean Sea. Elma is the brainchild of Israeli philanthropist Lily Elstein, whose dream to combine luxury hotel and cultural center is realized throughout Elma’s 95 guestrooms and 750 square meters of gallery space.

Elma also features two state-of-the-art performance halls, Chef Gil Aviram’s Oratorio restaurant, and a sumptuous spa.

Tribe Hotel 137 Rooms / USD 245 – 1,350

Nairobi, Kenya Warm, earthy shades and a handpicked collection of tribal crafts invite guests at Nairobi’s Tribe Hotel to explore the richness of African culture. Throughout the public areas and the 137 rooms and suites, the Ehsani and Shah families have carefully incorporated an airy feel, reminiscent of urban lofts, giving guests an abundance of space to appreciate the building’s atypical angles. An authentic Kenyan vibe can be felt throughout the property, from the sophisticated Jiko restaurant, the well-stocked library, and the garden-wrapped pool, to the adjacent shopping complex, which hosts a weekly Maasai market.

Trademark Hotel

NEW

Nairobi, Kenya

215 Rooms / USD 179 – 299

Located within the Village Market shopping and recreation complex in Nairobi’s Gigiri neighborhood, Trademark Hotel is a strident work of concrete contemporaneity with 215 guestrooms, two bars and two restaurants, a ninth-floor swimming pool, and event spaces for up to 500 people. Gigiri is the Kenyan capital’s embassy district, and the Village Market is home to myriad dining and entertainment options.

With privacy at the forefront, Trademark’s terraces and courtyards allow guests to enjoy the Kenyan sun on-property while other communal spaces flow into the ­surrounding mall. Cocktails, coffees, and international dishes, meanwhile, are served in well-lit spaces characterized by abundant greenery, natural materials, and colorful furnishings.

180

Mauritius / Morocco / South Africa / Tanzania

Africa & Near East

Shanti Maurice Resort & Spa Saint Félix, Mauritius

61 Rooms / EUR 325 – 3,420

Set on a pristine coral-sand cove on the southern coast of Mauritius and surrounded by tropical gardens, sugarcane fields, lush hills, and the turquoise Indian Ocean, Shanti Maurice Resort & Spa offers a world-class Nira Spa, traditional Mauritian cuisine, and 61 spacious ocean-facing suites and villas that are set directly on one of the region’s best beaches, with each villa boasting a private pool. The resort creates an authentic local experience with a vivid and easy-­ going ambience through the use of locally sourced products, food, and materials. This is high-styled luxury in one of the world’s most exotic and intimate settings.

AnaYela 5 Rooms / EUR 190 – 490

Marrakech, Morocco AnaYela, a gorgeous 300-year-old palace transformed into an opulent hotel, is the jewel of Marrakech. After a full-scale ­restoration in 2007, the luminous two-suite, three-room city palace offers a lush indoor courtyard, a heated limestone pool, and a beguiling rooftop terrace overlooking Marrakech’s historic quarter. With so much mystique, it’s no wonder guests report feeling as if they’ve stepped into a mirage.

Ten Bompas Johannesburg, South Africa

10 Rooms / ZAR 3,750 – 4,000

A suite-only hotel, Johannesburg’s Ten Bompas maximizes design diversity. Its public spaces, featuring graceful curves and neutral walls set off by lively prints on custom-built ­fur­niture, provide relief from the bustle of the business district.

The Winehouse restaurant serves simple, delicious French fare from the hotel’s own garden. The striking architecture of Space, the hotel’s function and events center, adds a new dimension to Ten Bompas. Proprietor Christoff van Staden charged a different top designer with creating a home away from home in each of the 10 suites.

Zuri Zanzibar

3 Villas / USD 1,400 – 4,650 52 Rooms / USD 312 – 1,400

Zanzibar, Tanzania The Zuri Zanzibar offers 300 meters of private, pristine beach, a lush spice garden, and gorgeous African sunsets, thanks to the property’s west-facing location on the northern edge of the main island of Unguja. The award-winning studio Jestico + Whiles has created a garden-like landscape shaded by palm trees and cooled by the sea breeze. The 55 bungalows, suites, and villas offer the perfect tropical hideaway for guests close to the mesmerizing ocean. Here, traditional African design blends with chic modernism, while a swimming pool bar and grill, a beachside cocktail bar, and three restaurants make for memor­able and indulgent experiences.

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South Korea China

Taiwan India

Hong Kong

Thailand

Cambodia

Malaysia

Singapore Indonesia

Japan

Australia

40 Hotels

Asia-Pacific

Australia

Hotel Hotel Canberra, Australia

68 Rooms / AUD 285 – 915

An integral cornerstone in Canberra’s NewActon precinct, Hotel Hotel harnesses the community, art, culture, and unique charm of the Australian capital through thoughtful, sustainable architecture and design. On three floors of the Japanese-inspired Nishi building, artists and designers created a hotel typology where guests are seamlessly integrated into a new urban hub. The 68 hotel rooms range from cozy hideouts to sprawling suites, furnished sparingly but thoughtfully with new, recycled, and vintage pieces. No two rooms are alike, providing an individualized hotel experience for each and every guest.

Adelphi Hotel 34 Rooms / AUD 275 – 1,000

Melbourne, Australia Set in the heartland of Melbourne's top food, gallery, fashion, coffee, and street culture, Adelphi Hotel is a boutique property that’s captured the affections of international and local travelers alike. With a dessert-inspired design, Adelphi’s aesthetic is playful yet elegant. With 34 beautiful rooms, an openair rooftop pool and deck, the famous Om Nom Kitchen, a 10-seater Boardroom or private dining space, and all that Melbourne has to offer at your door, Adelphi awaits.

QT Sydney Sydney, Australia

200 Rooms / AUD 380 – 2,200

Set within two of the city’s most iconic buildings — the heritage l­isted Gowings department store and the State Theatre — QT Sydney revives the rich and colorful history of theater and retail. In the heart of Sydney’s central business district, this 200-room hotel is surrounded by culture, art, fashion, cuisine, and design. The stone cladding, gargoyles, and façade detail have been carefully restored, while interior elements reference the building’s past. The lobby, linked to the bustling Market Street, invites guests in with a lively buzz, while the luxurious day spa, as well as the restaurant, lounge, and bar, attract ­stylish locals.

The Old Clare Hotel 62 Rooms / AUD 300 – 1,500

Sydney, Australia In Sydney’s up-and-coming neighborhood of Chippendale, the iconic Old Clare Hotel opened in September 2015. The rooms and suites, divided into heritage and contemporary loft styles, play up the soaring ceilings, timber paneling, and a mix of vintage furniture and bespoke designer joinery. The food is a big highlight at The Old Clare, where choices include ­contemporary Australian cuisine with an ever-changing menu at Automata, helmed by Executive Chef Clayton Wells, and Michelin-starred Chef Jason Atherton’s first restaurant in Australia, Kensington Street Social, which is the perfect ­everyday eatery with its casual dining menu.

184

Cambodia / China

Asia-Pacific

Phum Baitang Siem Reap, Cambodia

45 Villas / USD 415 – 830

Forty-five breezy, spacious villas at Phum Baitang invite guests to step into the rare, rural beauty of Cambodia near Siem Reap. At the gateway to Angkor’s World Heritage Sites, the resort is an elegant hideaway tucked in eight acres of paddy fields and lush gardens. A world unto itself, Phum Baitang offers two restaurants serving local cuisine and fusion, a pool bar, a cigar and cocktail lounge, a gym, and a kids’ club housed in a centuries-old farmhouse. A spa temple with a yoga pavilion ensures that both body and soul are taken care of in this ultimate luxury retreat.

The Waterhouse at South Bund 19 Rooms / CNY 1,380 – 4,000

Shanghai, China The Waterhouse at South Bund, located on the banks of Shanghai’s Huangpu River, inexorably raises the city’s ­boutique hotel stakes, leaving its competitors trailing hopelessly behind. With magnificent views of the Pudong skyline, in an area where the city’s quaint low-rise architectural ­heritage is still largely intact, The Waterhouse at South Bund prides itself on integrating into the traditional local environment while challenging its boundaries, distinguishing itself as an unforgettable experience.

Vue Hotel Houhai Beijing

NEW

Beijing, China

80 Rooms / CNY 1,538 – 4,038

Set in a verdant park-like area of the Chinese capital, the stunningly unique Vue Hotel Houhai Beijing presents visitors with a variety of architectural styles and approaches. Boldly realized by the internationally acclaimed studio Ministry of Design, the hotel’s 80 rooms and suites — several offering private gardens or views of the park or lake — are spread across a series of buildings designed primarily in the Chinese vernacular. Upon entering, guests discover landscaped gardens, as well as a bakery café fronting the bustle of the hutongs, a signature restaurant serving Spanish-influenced global tapas, a rooftop bar overlooking the lake, a gym, and rooms that reflect the area’s cultural heritage yet are infused with a whimsical twist.

185

Asia-Pacific

Hong Kong / India

Mira Moon Hong Kong

91 Rooms / HKD 1,500 – 12,000

Hong Kong’s Mira Moon was conceived under the creative direction of Wanders & yoo and overseen by businessman Martin Lee. Characters from China’s Moon Festival mythology are artistically reinterpreted throughout the 91 rooms, while also reflecting the surrounding neighborhood’s colorful nightlife. Guests can enjoy Spanish delicacies at Supergiant Tapas and Cocktail Bar or wind down at the alfresco Secret Garden.

Ovolo Southside 162 Rooms / HKD 1,150 – 5,200

Hong Kong Hong Kong’s first warehouse-turned-hotel, Ovolo Southside, is something you might expect to find more in New York’s Meatpacking District than in Wong Chuk Hang, located just minutes from the MTR train station. The hotel references the area’s industrial past in its design, façade, and the utilitarian look of its Lo Lounge. Graffiti and art installations spread throughout the hotel’s public spaces are a striking mix of local and international artists. Free WiFi, minibar, self-service ­laundry facilities, and flexible check-in and checkout options are but some of the many reasons that Ovolo Southside is the perfect springboard from which to explore this emerging cultural hub.

The Mira Hong Kong Hong Kong

492 Rooms / HKD 3,300 – 48,000

The Mira Hong Kong is an innovative urban retreat overlooking the banyan trees and mazes of Kowloon Park in Tsim Sha Tsui, one of Hong Kong’s shopping districts. The hotel’s 492 rooms are vibrantly decorated featuring modernist chairs and glass-walled bathrooms. Inhale the soothing vapors of Chinese herbs as you’re massaged in the award-winning MiraSpa, or sample contemporary Western cuisine at Whisk, one of six specialty restaurants and bars. Stay conveniently connected when discovering the neighborhood with a portable WiFi device for use on-the-go anywhere in the city.

The Park Bangalore 109 Rooms / INR 15,000 – 28,000

Bangalore, India India’s first contemporary boutique hotel, The Park Bangalore is still a dynamic hub and meeting place in this fast growing, high-tech city. A clever mix of modern design with Indian accents, the hotel is a reflection of its location in the city’s most exciting upscale retail district. Each of the four floors showcases a different design and color scheme, crowned by the ­top-floor luxury residential area and private lounge — The Residence — which rewards its guests with sumptuous style and what Priya Paul calls “white glove service without the gloves.”

186

India

Asia-Pacific

The Park Chennai Chennai, India

214 Rooms / INR 6,750 – 25,000

Built on the former site of one of India’s largest film studios, The Park Chennai was designed to blend the site’s cinematic past with its new incarnation as one of India’s most design-­ forward hotels. An oversize movie screen greets guests in the light-filled lobby, dramatic curtains veil poolside beds on the rooftop, and the 214 guestrooms are enveloped in sensual, muted tones of silver and gold.

Anya Hotel 117 Rooms / INR 5,500 – 16,000

Gurgaon, India Anya presents sophistication with a splash of Indian panache and contemporary cool in the soaring commercial hub of Gurgaon. Located on the prestigious Golf Course Road, the hotel has a fitting mantra — “luxury with an undercurrent of minimalism” — and it comes alive everywhere, from the spacious suites to the Amaltas Spa, which presents wellness with an Indian soul. Anya Hotel also introduces Gurgaon’s only tapas bar and beer garden. The hotel is adorned with works by such contemporary Indian masters as Bose Krishnamachari and Chittrovanu Mazumdar, and commissioned work by Remen Chopra.

The Park Hyderabad Hyderabad, India

263 Rooms / INR 15,000 – 100,000

This iconic modern palace overlooking the magnificent Hussain Sagar Lake was inspired by the renowned jewels of the Nizams, who ruled Hyderabad for two centuries until India’s independence. The result is a unique collaboration of design talent from across the globe, showcased throughout the 263 sleek white rooms, the airy, light-filled Verandah ­all-day dining restaurant, and bar Aqua with a view onto the hotel’s pool and the lake beyond.

The Park Kolkata 149 Rooms / INR 7,250 – 20,000

Kolkata, India After an extensive reinvention, The Park Kolkata opened in 1967, the same year that the Beatles came to India to learn transcendental meditation. Today, the 149-room hotel has a completely new look thanks to the hands-on involvement of design gurus Conran and Partners. The current interiors are influenced by Indian psychedelia from the 1960s and Hindu meditation, which links the seven bodily chakras to the seven colors of the human body. Against a dramatic ­background of black and white, colors pop and inspire an ­electric state of mind.

187

Asia-Pacific

India / Indonesia / Japan

The Park New Delhi New Delhi, India

220 Rooms / INR 8,000 – 30,000

The Park New Delhi features a stunning interior concept by British designers Conran and Partners, playing upon modern concepts of movement and transparency. Originally opened in 1987 and lovingly updated, the 220-room hotel offers a mix of Eastern hospitality and Western chic. The richness of the Indian visual tradition and globally inspired minimalist design span the hotel’s public and private spaces.

Luna2 14 Rooms / USD 350 – 600

Bali, Indonesia Uniquely known as a “studiotel,” Luna2 is located just steps from the beach in fashionable Seminyak, Bali. Luna2 founder and designer Melanie Hall’s design ethos is to “respect the past, welcome the future, and have fun in the process!” As such, elements of nostalgia, futurism, and fun permeate every aspect of the interiors, including 14 open-plan studios, the award-winning Orbit restaurant, and a 25-meter Mondrianinspired pool. Underground is the groovy Pop! lounge bar and the ultra-plush Lunaplex 16-seat cinema, while Space rooftop bar offers the ultimate ocean views. Superstar, personalized service is provided by an internationally trained team.

The Elysian Boutique Villa Hotel Bali, Indonesia

27 Rooms / USD 364 – 514

Presenting a refined blend of traditional Balinese architecture and modern clean lines, The Elysian offers the facilities and services of a resort with the privacy of a secluded retreat. The central clubhouse is surrounded by 27 individual villas that each feature a private walled garden, pool, and sundeck. The villa cluster mixes a traditional village aesthetic with contemporary design and versatile living spaces to create the ideal long-term or short-term visit.

Kimamaya Boutique Hotel 9 Rooms / JPY 17,000 – 76,000

Hirafu-Niseko, Japan At Kimamaya Boutique Hotel, a nine-room mountain lodge in Niseko, one of Japan’s most popular ski resorts, the list of activities is endless. From snowboarding in the winter to ­hiking and mountain biking in the summer — after a busy day outside, you can relax with other guests in the hotel’s timber-­ floored Living Lounge. French-born owner Nicolas Gontard has ensured that the flavors of his homeland are represented at The Barn restaurant, which serves fresh Hokkaido produce.

But it’s the unexpected combination of Scandinavian and Japanese design that creates the toasty and homey ambience.

188

Indonesia

Suarga Padang Padang

Asia-Pacific

NEW

Bali, Indonesia

36 Rooms / USD 247 – 1,631

Suarga Padang Padang lovingly showcases the delicate balance between age-old values and a multicultural 21st-century lifestyle in an exceptional environment. Set along Bali’s evocative southern peninsula, in the heart of one of Indonesia’s premier surf breaks, the property’s 36 distinctive rooms, pavilions, and villas are spread across a generous one-and-a-half hectares, and all feature panoramic views of the ocean, resort, or gardens.

The property is a masterwork of Balinese architectural craftsmanship and includes a remarkable bamboo structure that covers an area of 1,600 square meters, with a sublimely quiet and inviting central area of the resort where guests can relax in a lounge bar and dine in a stunning restaurant while enjoying locally grown ingredients, typically sourced within a 50-kilometer radius, and expansive 220-meter cliff-front ocean views.

189

Asia-Pacific

Trunk Hotel

Japan / Malaysia

NEW

Tokyo, Japan

15 Rooms / JPY 32,659 – 689,472

In Tokyo’s fashion-focused Shibuya neighborhood, the 15-room Trunk Hotel combines the tradition and the trend of Tokyo to create a “made in Japan” e­ xperience.

Indulgences include Japanese-Western fusion cuisine at the Trunk Kitchen restaurant and skewered “Shibuya soul food” at the Trunk Kushi stand, as well as hojicha tea, sake, shochu, and craft cocktails.

Trunk’s in-hotel store also offers unique Tokyo-made keepsakes and locally sourced treats like honey and beer, while event spaces can host up to 250 guests and include four banquet halls, an exhi­ bition space, a lounge, and a clean-lined chapel on the rooftop. The concierge also organizes everything from tours of Tsukiji fish market to photography hikes up Mount Fuji.

Satoyama Jujo Niigata, Japan

12 Rooms / JPY 43,200 – 69,120

Satoyama Jujo not only borrows the Japanese terms for “mountain village” and “10 stories” for its name, but the 12-room hotel in the country’s Minami-uonuma region also conceptually tells its own stories throughout the 150-year-old structure and modern extension. A story of organic growth and harvest comes alive through the restaurant’s farm-to-table process, while the daily forest excursions, monthly events, and communal spaces — such as the lounges, bars, and meeting space — tell a story of togetherness. And with an outdoor ­spa-bath in most guestrooms and a chef that has a three-­ Michelin-star restaurant on his résumé, Satoyama Jujo offers top-notch indulgence amid mountainous rice paddies.

Macalister Mansion 8 Rooms / MYR 990 – 1,660

Penang, Malaysia A renovated and restored 100-year-old colonial mansion is the setting for Macalister Mansion in George Town, a quirky yet sophisticated lifestyle-oriented residence where visitors can experience Penang’s rich heritage and dynamic present-­day without even leaving the building. The hotel was conceived as a single holistic vision by Penangite owners Dato Sean and Datin Karen in collaboration with celebrated Singapore firm Ministry of Design. The historic building’s eight customized suites feature bespoke local artwork, while its dining, bar, and pool areas offer personalized service and gourmet food and beverages.

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Singapore

The Warehouse Hotel

Asia-Pacific

NEW

Singapore

37 Rooms / SGD 285 – 685

The 37-room Warehouse Hotel, by The Lo & Behold Group, is located in the vibrant Robertson Quay ­neighborhood and raises the hospitality bar in Singapore. Set in a unique, listed godown (warehouse) from the late 19th century, the hotel cleverly combines the building’s heritage with a love of all things local.

Award-winning agency Asylum has reinvented “industrial” in a warm and distinctly Singaporean way for the interior design. Even the restaurant, which is spearheaded by local hotshot Willin Low, pays homage to tradition alongside Low’s signature spin on quintessentially Singaporean flavors.

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Asia-Pacific

Singapore / South Korea

Wanderlust Singapore

29 Rooms / SGD 300 – 650

Created with adventurous travelers in mind, the aptly named Wanderlust, in Singapore’s colorful Little India neighborhood, will delight guests with its smart yet whimsical design. The hotel’s 29 rooms are spread over three floors, each of which was created by a different design studio. Just taking the elevator to the lobby is a journey in itself! The hotel’s industrial-­chic lobby, bar, and restaurant Audace, which serves modern bistro fare, have quickly drawn in the locals, making Wanderlust feel like the center of the action.

Nest Hotel 370 Rooms / KRW 330,000 – 2,000,000

Incheon, South Korea The first Design Hotels™ property in South Korea, Nest Hotel is very much in keeping with its neighbor, the future city, Seoul. Located on Northeast Asia’s cultural hub Yeongjongdo island, Nest Hotel has been designed as the ultimate retreat.

The hotel’s building is a Cubist-meets-modernist masterpiece, cleverly designed to afford guests maximum views of nature and the Yellow Sea. The hotel is overflowing with services, including those you’d expect, such as a library café, mini-­theater, spa, heated outdoor infinity pool, and world-class dining, to the unexpected, such as glamping (glamorous camping) facilities for nature lovers and watersports for the adventure-minded.

Glad Live

NEW

Seoul, South Korea

210 Rooms / KRW 105,000 – 150,000

Set in Seoul’s fashion-conscious, upmarket Gangnam district, Glad Live is a beacon of vibrancy that serves as an urban playground for cosmopolitan revelers, both homegrown and international. Offering a “curated lifestyle” that is in full harmony with Seoul’s chic nightlife experiences, the 210 rooms and suites are design-­ conscious hubs for the stylish at heart.

Here, amid sleek monotones that are informed by the stark, sweeping cityscape below, one finds exhibitions of contemporary art and design on the hotel’s 20th floor, accompanied by live music. These two elements — culture and entertainment — are the heart and pulse of the Glad Live experience, with the hotel’s afterhours club, DStar, intensifying one’s escape into music and the moment.

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Taiwan

Gloria Manor

Asia-Pacific

NEW

Kenting, Taiwan

60 Rooms / TWD 14,850 – 41,800

Inside former president Chiang Kai-shek’s official guesthouse in southern Taiwan’s Kenting National Park, Gloria Manor is an eco-conscious retreat sandwiched between a mountain and a beach. Built in 1958 as a Forestry Bureau building, the new renovation is now an impressive work of white modernism, home to the former president’s old study room and such indulgences as Mu Restaurant and Mu Lounge, offering contemporary Taiwanese cuisine and cocktails. A therapeutic yoga program and pool also allow guests to bask in Taiwan’s natural beauty while still enjoying the comforts of this luxury eco escape. Gloria Manor is also a go-to destination for corporate affairs thanks to its conference space for up to 156 people.

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Asia-Pacific

South Korea / Taiwan / Thailand

Glad Hotel Yeouido Seoul, South Korea

319 Rooms / KRW 240,000 – 700,000

In the glimmering skyscraper-filled district of Yeouido, aptly nicknamed Seoul’s Manhattan, Glad Hotel Yeouido is already turning things on its head. The hotel’s façade, with its unusual brick pattern, at once stands out from its neighbors’ modernist glass buildings. Bricks have also been wittily used in the hotel’s interiors. Thanks to an honest approach to design, rooms are cozy and practical with no hidden or confusing features and the hotel’s Greets restaurant and café serves fresh, seasonal food. Bar Mark’ T, inspired by Mark Twain’s favorite tipple, offers the city’s most extensive collection of Single Malt Whisky.

Hotel Proverbs Taipei 42 Rooms / TWD 17,325 – 24,255

Taipei, Taiwan Fronted by a rectilinear façade of black mesh, the 42-room Hotel Proverbs Taipei is inspired by the surreal scenes of Goya’s Proverbios through abundant copper, natural wood, leather, stone, and delicate fabrics. The hotel is topped by a rooftop pool overlooking the lively Da’an District, and plays host to the TK Seafood & Steak restaurant and a cocktail bar led by prize-winning mixologists. While the L’Idiot Bakery tempts guests from their king-size beds with freshly baked breads, pastries, and cakes, the butler service means that one need not lift a finger to enjoy what’s on offer. The hotel also features a multifunctional event room for up to 32 guests, ideal for business meetings in the center of Taipei.

Humble House Taipei Taipei, Taiwan

235 Rooms / TWD 12,000 – 102,000

Located on the top floors of a “Diamond-rated Green Building” in the heart of Xinyi — the capital’s vibrant shopping, commercial, and entertainment district — the 235-room Humble House Taipei merges design, green living, and art into one breathtaking property overlooking the city’s rooftops.

Deceptively simple in design, the architecture serves as a backdrop for over 600 exquisitely integrated works of art. Guests can enjoy the allure of traditional tea ceremonies, relax at the spa area, and savor gourmet Italian at the restaurant La Farfalla.

To top it off, Humble House Taipei boasts an innercity perk: a lush sixth-floor garden.

Hotel Bocage 6 Rooms / THB 6,000 – 22,000

Hua Hin, Thailand A neo-Brutalist stamp on the beachfront of Thailand’s original high-society resort town, Hua Hin, Hotel Bocage feels like a six-room monastic getaway. The hotel contains open-plan rooms and suites where geometric furniture in muted colors encourages guests to turn their gaze to the stunning views outdoors, in this case the Gulf of Thailand. Luxury here is a mix of high design — with furniture from Italian brands such as Living Divani, Porro, and Antonio Lupi — and quality leisure in the form of Thailand’s first beachfront community retail space, Seenspace, located directly under the hotel with everything from art / coffee shops to hip eateries and boutiques.

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Thailand

The Sukhothai Bangkok

Asia-Pacific

NEW

Bangkok, Thailand

210 Rooms / THB 6,000 – 73,600

Amid six acres of lily ponds and gardens in the center of the Thai capital, The Sukhothai Bangkok offers regal escapism with more-than-modern indulgences. Named after the ancient city of Sukhothai and the “golden age” of architecture and art, this Bangkok institution comprises open-air arcades, courtyards, tropical gardens, Oriental pavilions, and low-lying geometric buildings, and offers an array of renowned culinary options — from authentic Thai to Italian and international — as well as a wellness center with a pool and sauna. Add private dining spaces, a ballroom, and event spaces for up to 500 people, and The Sukhothai Bangkok becomes a delightfully anachronistic modern-day escape.

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Asia-Pacific

Thailand

Casa de La Flora Khao Lak, Thailand

36 Villas / THB 10,530 – 65,260

A dazzling addition to the lushly tropical Khao Lak, this tranquil beachfront resort of 36 low-rise villas provides spacious privacy in unspoiled surroundings. A heady amalgamation of minimalism and cutting-edge architecture, the resort features an intimate spa and expansive landscaped gardens.

The villas by VaSLab Architecture have their own private pool, and the expert staff provides “genuine Thai hospitality” to those in search of the hotel’s pervading philosophy of “rest and relaxation.”

The Beach Samui 21 Rooms / THB 8,000 – 28,000

Koh Samui, Thailand Nestled on the southern tip of Koh Samui, overlooking an archipelago of humpbacked tropical islands, lies Thong Krut, a traditional Thai fishing village, home to The Beach Samui.

This consciously designed boutique retreat invites you to rediscover life’s simple pleasures, be it floating gently in the panoramic infinity pool, dining on organic island produce in the Botanical Bar and Restaurant, enjoying a holistic treatment in your suite, catching a movie screening under the stars, or snoozing in a beachfront cabana. There are even yoga and meditation classes to leave you both physically and spiritually prepared to explore Koh Samui’s natural wonders.

The Library

20 Villas / THB 45,106 – 73,594 26 Rooms / THB 16,618 – 33,236

Koh Samui, Thailand Like a good book, The Library contains an assortment of interesting chapters, each enticing guests to learn to live harmoniously with nature. The hotel’s library binds the property; its collection of over 1,400 books to borrow, provide a satis­ fying alternative to modern distractions. With its 26 stunning suites and studios, and 20 secret pool villas ranging in area from 220 to 360 square meters, this minimalist resort provides ample space to read, roam, and reflect.

The Naka Phuket

91 Villas / THB 26,200 – 83,400 3 Rooms / THB 16,030 – 23,900

Phuket, Thailand Snuggled in an ancient valley on Phuket’s western edge, The Naka Phuket is a discreet tropical hideout, with glass-built villas cantilevering from the mountainside to give guests ­endless panoramas of the sparkling Andaman Sea. Duangrit Bunnag’s daring design makes visitors feel as though they are floating among the trees, while the spa, Olympic-sized infinity pool, and wave-lapped private beach provide space for them to seek a natural equilibrium.

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Thailand

Asia-Pacific

The Slate

7 Villas / THB 25,000 – 80,000 177 Rooms / THB 6,000 – 46,000

Phuket, Thailand An industrial-inspired resort in Thailand’s Phuket, The Slate offers a wealth of surprises. For starters, it is located on the secluded Nai Yang beach on the northwest coast of the island.

Then there are the interiors: Details include heavy doors on pulleys and locally crafted furnishings, all skillfully integrating the tin-mining heritage of the island with avant-garde design.

The tropical resort provides plenty of opportunities, both nearby and within its perimeters — three pools, holistic therapies at Coqoon Spa, a Thai cooking school, and even an award-winning golf course next door.

The Surin Phuket 103 Rooms / THB 20,000 – 50,000

Phuket, Thailand Amid the seclusion of coconut palms and gentle slopes leading to the island’s finest shore, The Surin Phuket by Ed Tuttle is an easy blend of simplicity, serenity, and attention to nature.

Elegant cottages house natural materials, such as shuttered doors, granite floors, panels of woven palm fronds, and earth-colored fabrics. Outdoors is a patch of paradise with a private verandah and secluded sundeck.

Mason

NEW

Pattaya, Thailand

35 Villas

A new masterpiece by award-winning ­studio VaSLab on Pattaya’s quiet Na Jomtien beach, the new Mason seems like a natural extension of the rock hill it sits on, providing unparalleled views of the world-famous Pattaya Bay. Each of the 35 grand villas boasts a private pool, a dreamy bathroom replete with double bath or double shower, a walk-in closet, and a large sundeck terrace from which to enjoy the lush tropical garden or the cerulean sea. For the best views, guests needn’t stray farther than the Zila Bar & Restaurant whose rooftop location merges sea and sky. At the hotel spa, the treatments combine new techniques with traditional Thai practices for the ­ultimate pampering.

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