3 hotels
Art Hotels
Hotels where the building, the craft and the setting carry as much weight as the room itself.
Three hotels, three very different ideas of what design can do. One is a fort. One is a pair of islands. One sits on a reef in the Indian Ocean. What links them is intent: every one was built with a clear point of view.
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Alila Fort Bishangarh
Rajasthan, India
Start with the walls. They belong to a warrior fort raised on a granite hill in the late eighteenth century, and they are thick enough to hold whole rooms inside them.
The conversion kept that weight. Suites sit within the old ramparts and lookout towers, and window openings follow the original lines of the stonework. New additions borrow from Jaipur craft traditions rather than competing with them.
Outside, the view runs over farmland and village rooftops towards the Aravalli range. Jaipur is roughly an hour and a half away by road.
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Amilla Maldives
Baa Atoll, Maldives
Baa Atoll is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and the resort leans into that. The island is ringed by reef, and much of the design points guests towards the water.
Villas range from beach houses to raised treehouse villas set in the island canopy. Interiors are light, open and modern, with large glass walls and plenty of timber.
It is a family-owned property and it shows in the details. Expect a relaxed, residential feel rather than a formal one.
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Song Saa Private Island
Koh Rong Archipelago, Cambodia
Two small islands, joined by a wooden footbridge. That is the whole footprint.
Villas stand over the water, along the beach and in the rainforest. Much of the timber is reclaimed, and the look draws on Khmer building and the fishing villages nearby.
The surrounding waters are protected as a marine reserve, which the founders set up alongside the hotel. Conservation and community projects sit close to the centre of how the place is run.