COMO Hotels and Resorts is gearing up to reopen their Cocoa Island private island resort in the Maldives on 9 January following a seven-month refurbishment. “The Maldives has become a highly competitive market,” said Olivier Jolivet, COMO Group’s CEO. “Luxury hotel companies keep raising the ante, from building ‘reclaimed islands’, to tunnelling out underwater wine cellars. Sometimes we forget that nature is powerful, and simplicity has a very important role

COMO Metropolitan hotel in London has opened ten luxury residences, offering private apartment-style accommodation adjacent to the hotel and opposite Hyde Park. The Residences offer the same five-star facilities and service as the hotel, which is a one-minute walk away, including access to the hotel's holistic wellness centre, COMO Shambhala Urban Escape. Inside, designer Linzi Coppick of Forme UK has prioritised a sense of home. Natural daylight floods the apartments,

Mandarin Oriental, Lago di Como opened this week, following the renovation of the historic lakefront property. The hotel is located in Blevio, and is surrounded by natural beauty, enjoying a private, serene setting on the sunlit shores of the lake, nestled within verdant botanical gardens. Mandarin Oriental acquired the resort, which was previously CastaDiva Resort & Spa, last year. The 19th Century Villa Roccabruna is at the heart of the

Family-owned COMO Hotels and Resorts will open its first hotel in continental Europe next month, the COMO Castello del Nero in Italy. The Tuscan hotel will be the fifteenth property in the Group’s global portfolio. The 740-acre historic estate is situated in the Chianti wine region of Italy, a 30-minute drive from Florence and Siena. At the heart of the estate is a 12th century castello, featuring 50 rooms and

Como Hotels and Resorts is opening its third location in Bali in February 2018, the Como Uma Canggu. With 119 bedrooms, the Como Uma Canggu will be the brand’s 14th location worldwide and will include a Como Shambhala Retreat with seven treatment rooms. Asian-inspired therapies – including the signature Como Shambhala Massage, a deep-tissue massage – will be offered, along with yoga and Pilates classes and personal training at the

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from a planned anime theme park to an ice rink frozen using solar power. Monday • The soon-to-be-built 60,000-capacity Perth Stadium could be the centre point for a Commonwealth Games bid after the Western Australian city threw its hat into the ring to host the 2022 edition. Read here. • A new scientific and cultural complex exploring the

Boutique hospitality group Sereno Hotels has announced the opening of Il Sereno Lago di Como – an “intimate, design-driven” hotel designed by Patricia Urquiola on the banks of Italy’s Lake Como. The picturesque location is a popular beauty spot, drawing tourists with its dramatic vistas of the southern Italian Alps and idyllic small towns, and George Clooney, Madonna and Donatella Versace have all snapped up properties on the lake. Il

Sereno Hotels is opening a second property on the shores of Lake Como at Villa Pliniana, a 16th century Italian palazzo set on 18 waterfront acres. This marks Sereno Hotels’ third location, and second on Lake Como after the recently-announced Il Sereno, Lago di Como, located less than 1,000 yards from Villa Pliniana and set to open in July 2016. The company also owns Le Sereno in St. Barths. The

Ten years after opening luxury boutique hotel le Sereno in St. Barths, Sereno Properties is set to open a new location, il Sereno Lago di Como, on the shores of Italy’s legendary Lake Como. Scheduled to open in Q2 2016, il Sereno will feature interiors by Milan-based designer Patricia Urquiola. Guests can arrive at il Sereno by boat, thanks to the hotel’s private docking facility. Boat maker Cantiere Riva is

Como Hotels & Resorts has recently opened Como The Treasury – its fifth city property – in Perth, Australia. The hotel occupies a group of late Victorian stone and brick buildings – known locally as the ‘State Buildings’ – that have played an important role in the city’s history for the past 140 years, serving variously as a post office, land titles office and treasury, and also once home to

Design Hotels’ latest property aims to offer an authentic and quintessential Italian experience having secured the services of designer Alessandro Agrati. Filario Hotel & Residences is located by Lake Como, in Lezzeno, Italy, and features 21 rooms and apartments, each with their own private terrace. In creating the hotel’s décor, Agrati implemented his signature style of “dressing” interiors with textiles and light and strong-tempered objects. Guestrooms have been designed to

COMO Hotels and Resorts is to open a secluded island retreat - Maalifushi by COMO - in the Maldives next October. The resort will be located on a 20-acre private island in south Thaa Atoll and will be the company's second resort in the Maldives. Designed by Japanese architect Koichiro Ikebuchi, the 66-room property will be the first luxury resort on the unspoilt Thaa Atoll and will offer a range