From the Journal
Exceptional Hotels & Concepts
Architecture, operator logic and positioning — exceptional hotels from around the world, professionally assessed.
HIDE Ella: when design replaces the stars
A glass pavilion cantilevered over the steep slope of the Ella Gap: how a single architectural gesture makes a house desirable beyond its service category.
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LIANGSU Yangshuo: the hotel as a photograph
Private pools, round beds before the karst mountains and a photo session as a service: what the photo-hotel LIANGSU teaches about photogenic hotel concepts — and what owners can apply.
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Shebara: A Resort Begins With Operations
73 villas on an island in the Red Sea: what prefabrication, solar power and a sensitive coastal site teach about hotel development — and which questions owners should ask early.
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La Residencia: the village as hotel product
When the village becomes the hotel product: two manor houses in Deià, no beachfront — and what owners and investors can learn about heritage, place and brand.
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Villa Padierna: a hotel without beachfront
Why guests deliberately choose a hotel without direct beachfront — and what owners, investors and operators can learn from the Anantara Villa Padierna Palace.
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Bürgenstock Resort: three hotel worlds
Above Lake Lucerne: several hotel concepts, dining and spa on a mountain ridge — and what owners and developers can learn from its product architecture.
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Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc: an icon on Cap d’Antibes
Why true hotel luxury cannot be copied: the location, history and brand value of one of Europe’s most famous grand hotels.
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Passalacqua: 24 rooms on Lake Como
The small house that conquered the luxury world — historic architecture and private gardens made it a global hotel icon.
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Badrutt’s Palace: a hotel icon in St. Moritz
Where wealth has no need to be shown: how a location becomes a brand spanning generations — and a property becomes an asset.
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Hôtel de Paris: Belle Époque in Monte-Carlo
Where luxury becomes a centre of power: since 1864 the palace on the Place du Casino has shown how location, brand and history create a global icon.
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Aman New York: brand as value driver
How a hotel brand changes the value of a historic building — in the Crown Building through adaptive reuse and branded residences.
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Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay: luxury through space
Not through room count: 55 suites and villas on 10 hectares on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast — why deliberately low density becomes a business model.
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Renting an entire hotel exclusively
Privacy on a new level: renting a whole hotel for private celebrations, families and retreat — and the step from renting to ownership.
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Cap Rocat: from fortress to luxury hotel
How a coastal fortress became a luxury hotel — and what adaptive reuse reveals about the value of existing buildings.
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The Oberoi Udaivilas: a modern palace
On Lake Pichola, a building from 2002 feels like a centuries-old Mewar palace — and ranks among the world’s best hotels.
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Four Seasons Formentor: the operator makes the value
From the legendary Hotel Formentor (1929) to the Four Seasons Resort (2024): what its reopening reveals about operator choice, repositioning and value.
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Roomers: from station quarter to Luxury Collection
How Micky Rosen and Alex Urseanu turned a house in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel into the design brand Roomers — all the way into Marriott's highest tiers.
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Atlantis The Royal: experience over room count
Some hotels benefit from their location. Others become part of the identity of their location — Atlantis The Royal on Palm Jumeirah belongs to the second category.
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Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos: arrival as theatre
Some hotels impress with their lobby, others with their rooms or their view. At Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, the real experience begins before the guest even enters the hotel.
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The Guitar Hotel: architecture as a logo
Most hotels hang their logo on the facade. Hard Rock turned its trademark into an entire building.
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Raffles Doha: a landmark as brand
How a landmark becomes a hotel brand: some hotels need a logo to be recognised — at Raffles Doha the building itself becomes the logo.
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J Hotel Shanghai Tower: luxury at height
Shanghai does not lie in front of this hotel. Shanghai lies beneath it. High above the Lujiazui financial district, the most exceptional feature is neither marble nor room size nor service — but something that can neither be renovated nor added later: height.
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Pan Pacific Orchard: a city hotel as resort
The city hotel that thinks like a resort: Pan Pacific Orchard in Singapore offers a built answer — and turns it into a question of operator and investor logic.
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Cinnamon Life Colombo: engine of urban development
A hotel can be a building, or a destination — and in rare cases a hotel project can even help reposition an entire location. Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Sri Lanka in Colombo belongs to that last category.
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Aurika Udaipur: modernity with Rajasthan’s soul
High above Udaipur stands a hotel that looks like a historic Rajasthani palace — and yet is a modern new build. Its real idea lies precisely in that apparent contradiction.
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KK Sapa Hotel: the view as product
Some hotels deliberately set themselves apart from their surroundings; others are strong precisely because they take up the landscape and carry it on architecturally. KK Sapa Hotel in Sa Pa, northern Vietnam (Lào Cai province), clearly belongs to the second category.
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Conrad Macao: not offering everything itself
Why a hotel doesn’t have to offer everything itself: at The Londoner Macao, the Conrad shows that a hotel need not own everything to offer its guests an exceptional amount.
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Studio City Macau: hotel, stage, attraction
Some hotels are recognised by their brand, others by their location — and then there are properties whose architecture itself becomes a symbol. Studio City Macau, the integrated resort in Cotai, clearly belongs to this third category.
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The Windsor Hotel Toya: landscape as concept
There are hotels where architecture, interior or brand take centre stage — and there are properties whose greatest strength can barely be engineered: their location. The Windsor Hotel Toya Resort & Spa in Hokkaido, high above Lake Tōya, clearly belongs to the second category.
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Grand Hyatt Macau: hospitality at resort scale
There are hotels that primarily provide accommodation — and there are hotels that become a destination in themselves. Grand Hyatt Macau clearly belongs to the second category.
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