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New resorts: more luxury, more intimacy
Today, the most sought-after places for luxury holidays are smaller and more intimate than traditional holiday clubs. Landscape and wellness are key, and the leisure hotel chains are well aware of this.
There are nearly as many rankings of best hotels as there are travel publications, trade associations and sector authorities. Specialised magazines like Condé Nast Traveller and La Dolce Vita Magazine visit the best establishments in the world, evaluate everything from the rooms to the restaurant and service and each year issue their Golden List, in the case of the former, or the Hotel Inspector awards in the case of the latter.
National Geographic Travel and the Zagat and Gallivanter guides do the same, as does one of the major Internet hotel reservation sites, Tripadvisor, which gives its users the opportunity to vote for the best establishments.
Intimacy and oneness with the landscape
The comparison between award-winning hotels allows us to draw some interesting conclusions and gives a very clear view of what the trends are. It is clear what we value most today, above all in terms of hotels and holiday resorts:
- Size and low-lying buildings: low constructions are preferred to high buildings and the smallest establishments (or those that appear to be so) are preferred to the larger complexes.
- Privacy: traditional rooms have given way to isolated villas and pavilions within the same complex.
- Location and oneness with the landscape: the aim is to find spectacular areas, large windows that integrate the exterior and interior and camouflage the construction, which at times is temporary, such as tents or cabins. The over-water bungalows of the mythical St. Regis in Tahiti are today almost an island standard.
- Concept: an increasing number of luxury holiday establishments play the theme card, from environmental concern to Asian aesthetics.
- Design: the big names of interior and exterior design have taken an unprecedented major role.
- Integrated quality service: signings have been announced of the best sommeliers and Michelin-starred chefs, with major brands of bathroom products and luxury cars for transfers. Many offer a butler service and personalised pillows.
- Comfort and an enormous range of leisure activities: no major hotel worth its salt lacks a spa or a long list of sports activities (golf, tennis, sailing, balloon flights...) and many have personal trainers and yoga, meditation and tai chi masters.
New Asian luxury
Another very notable trend is the unstoppable rise of new Asian chains, which are imposing modern aesthetics and concepts. New resorts such as Aman Resorts (founded in 1988 by the Indonesian businessman Adrian Zexha) and Bayan Tree (created in Singapore in 1994) have been topping the lists in recent years. They respond point by point and in outstanding fashion to the new demands of people who want to take a step beyond luxury in their holidays.
Not forgetting, of course, One & Only (owned by the South African magnate Sol Kerzner) and the giant Western chains Starwoods and Hilton (U.S.) or Four Seasons (Canada). There is little room for independent companies, although there is always a place on the lists for exceptional hotels whose only links are membership of select networks such as Relais & Chateaux or Virtuoso.
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Published in Tourist and Adventure Travels by Malena Mangas on 29/03/2010
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