Singaporean Hospitality design firm LTW have completed a design-led Pullman hotel in Kaifeng, China that references the architecture of it’s neighbour – an ancient imperial palace. The city was the capital of ancient China during the Northern Song dynasty, and as such is steeped in history and culture. LTW were commissioned to reflect this in their design for the Pullman Kaifeng Jianye, which subsequently features an expansive layout, sloping roofs

The Delta Development Group has signed an initial agreement to drive forward plans for a Dutch-inspired theme park and leisure destination near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The scope of the project has also widened to include plans for on-site hotels providing up to 4,000 rooms. Delta signed the deal with the City of Haarlemmermeer, a large suburb south of Amsterdam and the municipality where Schiphol Airport is located. Concept drawings

A husband-and-wife design team have transformed their own beachfront holiday home into a new resort; the first of a new brand of “ultimate wellbeing destinations.” Soo K. Chan, the founder of SCDA Architects, and hospitality designer Ling Fu, have used holistic design and environmental practices to create Soori Bali in Indonesia. The revamped resort will feature 48 private pool villas and residences, a cantilevered platform jutting over the Indian Ocean

British street artist Banksy has returned with his latest politically-minded project: a nine-room hotel located next to the controversial barrier wall separating Israel from the Palestinian territories. The Walled Off Hotel, located in the Israeli-controlled part of Bethlehem, has been opened as both a genuine business venture and a piece of protest art. Work by Banksy and other artists, a themed bar and interactive exhibits all feature. The hotel directly

The Eden Project in Cornwall has been granted planning permission to build a new 109-bedroom on-site hotel. Accessibility, energy-efficiency and sustainability are the key features of the design, by architectural studio Tate Harmer. In order for the £8.5m (US$10.4m, €9.9m) hotel to blend into the surrounding countryside, and with the Eden Project’s famous two plant-filled biomes, its two blocks will be clad with prominent timber poles. Existing features in the

The Silo Hotel – a luxury property located within Heatherwick Studio’s re-imagined Cape Town grain storage facility – opens today (1 March). The hotel is built in the grain elevator portion of the silo complex, occupying six floors above what will become the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA). It has 26 guest rooms, including one bedroom penthouse, that are all more spacious vertically than horizontally due to the

One of Thailand’s largest hotel and property development companies has announced plans to expand Bangkok’s famous Dusit Thani hotel and develop a new US$1bn (€948.3m, £808.2m) landmark in the heart of the metropolis. The Dusit Thani company has today (1 March) signed an agreement with the quasi-government Crown Property Bureau to extend its lease for the land where its popular hotel stands. It can now develop the site over the

Wanda Hotels & Resorts will become the first Chinese hotel management company to export one of its brands overseas, following an agreement to open a Wanda Vista property in Istanbul, Turkey. The company will act as the hotel operator, while Turkish development firm Mar Yapi will fund the project. It will be located close to the city’s busiest shopping district and a five-minute drive from Ataturk International Airport. Wanda Vista

For his latest grandiose Southeast Asian resort project, designer Bill Bensley has taken his inspiration from an unlikely combination of themes: the work of pioneering French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, the importance of higher education, Lewis Carroll's novel Alice in Wonderland – and mushrooms. Bensley’s typically whimsical design touches feature throughout the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay resort in the south of Vietnam – a project the designer has described

Architecture firm Benoy have released their latest designs for a retail-led leisure destination on China’s reclaimed Hexin Island in Hainan province. The 32,000sq m (34,400sq ft) project is the second phase of the wider Sanya Eyot scheme – a resort, billed as “the largest of its kind in the world”, being developed by the China International Travel Service to integrate leisure, high-end hospitality and natural attractions. Benoy have visualised a

Architecture studio HKS have been brought on board to design h.Club LA; the first international extension of London’s famous Hospital Club for film stars, musicians and members of high society. The owner of that establishment, Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, wants to build a new private "club for creatives" by renovating a five-storey hotel building in the shadow of the Hollywood Hills, next to the headquarters of Capitol Records. He

The concepts of “old world design and the glory of British craftsmanship” have inspired the designers of a 73-bedroom hotel that will open in London this summer. The Pilgrm has been conceived as reinterpretation of the traditional hotel. Despite being located in a historic Victorian building in Norfolk Square, Paddington – with many of the original exterior and interior features retained by design studio 93ft – any items or services

Hotel giant MGM Resorts International has opened its latest luxury resort in America; the US$1.4bn (€1.7bn, £1.4bn) MGM National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Located on a site overlooking the Potomac River, the 1.7 million sq ft (158,000sq m) mixed-use development took three years to build and is conceived by MGM as “an entertainment destination offering an unrivalled collection of attractions.” Architectural firm HKS Hospitality Group oversaw the project,

David Rockwell has designed Starwood’s first Luxury Collection hotel in Tokyo – an “ethereal dream-like environment” that has now opened in the historic heart of the Japanese capital. The designer’s vision for The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho was inspired by “the sprawling sky and kaleidoscopic colours of the surrounding city,” which the hotel overlooks from its position across the top seven floors of the new 36-storey Tokyo Garden Terrace tower

Swiss luxury hotel operator Kempinski will open a five-star hotel located within the historic Manzana de Gomez building in Cuba in Q2 of this year. The 246-bedroom hotel is located within a UNESCO World Heritage Site and will be known as the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana. Markus Semer, chair of the management board and CEO of Kempinski Hotels, said that the hotel’s location within a famous historic building

A 1,300sq m (13,993sq ft) spa has opened on the sixth floor of the new Hamburg Elbphilharmonie concert hall, a shimmering, glass-covered building designed by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron. The elb spa features six treatment rooms on the upper floors of the Westin Hamburg, and has views of the spot where the port and city meet on the River Elbe. German skincare brand Babor has created exclusive

Mandarin Oriental will open a new hotel and branded residences in Honolulu in 2020. The new Hawaiian hotel will be the anchor of Mana ‘olana Place, a 36-storey, mixed use tower with gardens and public plazas, which is being developed by Los Angeles-based Salem Partners. It will include a Spa at Mandarin Oriental that will offer holistic rejuvenation and relaxation, with eight treatment rooms. Further leisure options include a comprehensive

W Hotels Worldwide has announced it is planning to to open a property in Melbourne, Australia, in 2020 as part of an ambitious and controversial mixed-use scheme. The lifestyle hotel brand, now part of Marriott International, has partnered with real estate firms Daisho Development Melbourne and Cbus Property to open the W Melbourne within Collins Arch – the forthcoming mixed-use AU$1bn (US$765.5m, €713m, £613.5m) luxury development designed by SHoP Architects

Legendary South Florida retreat The Surf Club has been reimagined by Four Seasons and is slated to open early 2017. In the 1930s, the property was a favourite destination for world leaders, artists and Hollywood film stars, and now the iconic club has been brought back to life by architect Richard Meier and Paris-based architect and designer Joseph Dirand with 77 guest rooms, 119 private residences and a 15,000 square

Italian architect and ‘vertical forest’ pioneer Stefano Boeri has unveiled his design for a pair of towers in Nanjing, east China, covered by 1,100 trees and 2,500 cascading plants and shrubs. The Nanjing Green Towers complex will house a museum, a green architecture school, a private club and offices in one of the buildings, and a Hyatt hotel with rooftop pool in the other. A 20m high podium will support

Architecture practice Michaelis Boyd have designed an eight-storey boutique hotel in the heart of Brooklyn, described as “a sincere love song” to the industrial heritage of the New York neighbourhood. The 150-room Williamsburg Hotel has opened on the corner of Wythe Ave and North 10th St – a site once home to wooden water tower factory. Brick, glass and Corten steel have been heavily used in construction to honour the

Luxury hotel operator Aman will open a location outside of Shanghai in Q3 2017 that is the culmination of years of restoration and conservation efforts to preserve an ancient forest and historic Ming and Qing dynasty dwellings, and is described by the company as its “most ambitious project to date.” Amanyangyun, as the retreat will be called, gets its name from the phrase ‘Yang Yun,’ meaning ‘the nourishing of clouds,’

Architecture studio Foster + Partners have been announced as the winner of a design competition for a new luxury hotel and serviced apartments in the heart of Mecca, Saudi Arabia – Islam’s most sacred city. Over 3.7m people are estimated to travel to Mecca (known locally as Makkah) each year for the Hajj Islamic pilgrimage. The hotel project – overseen by the Jabal Omar Development Company – is a response

The government of Saint Lucia has launched a public consultation on its plans to green light a sport and leisure resort dubbed “the Pearl of the Caribbean”. The proposed project on the south of the island comprises a marina, a racecourse, a shopping mall, a casino, a Free Trade Zone, entertainment and leisure facilities, and a series of holiday villas and residential apartments. Government officials have joined with the Invest

Nobu Hospitality has revealed new design information about its hotly-anticipated Shoreditch property, which is scheduled to open in London in the next few months. Nobu Hotel Shoreditch, located on Willow Street, will be the first European hotel for the food and hospitality company – which was formed by chef Nobu Matsuhisa, film producer Meir Teper and Hollywood legend Robert De Niro. The 150-room hotel has been designed by Ben Adams

In a move that illustrates the explosive growth of wellness tourism, Hyatt Hotels has acquired wellness resort provider Miraval Group for US$215m (€201m, £175m) from an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners. The deal includes Miraval’s flagship property in Tucson, Arizona, as well as the Miraval Life in Balance Spa brand; Hyatt will also continue Miraval’s plans to redevelop the recently acquired 220-acre Travaasa Resort in Austin, Texas and pursue the

Chinese architecture and design firm Golucci International have completed a Shanghai hot pot restaurant inspired by Asia’s spa heritage. Si-Pu Nabe, located in the Tianshan neighbourhood, has been designed as an intimate space where diners can choose either to reflect in isolation or socialise in a relaxed atmosphere. To provide a platform for contemplation, the restaurant has no public areas and instead consists of 27 private dining rooms of various