The developers of a luxury island resort opening this year the Maldives have claimed it will be one of the most eco-conscious ever created in South Asia – with thousands of solar panels used as a design feature. Developer Crown & Champa Resorts claims that the Hurawalhi Island Resort will “put as much back into its surroundings as it takes out.” New York architect Yuji Yamazaki has created a futuristic,

The Welsh Government is funding a masterplan for a multi-million pound wellness village in South Wales. The Llanelli Wellness and Life Science Village is just one of a number of projects being delivered through ARCH (A Regional Collaboration for Health), a partnership between three local university health boards. Located on the Carmarthenshire coast, the Llanelli Wellness Village will include a wellness hotel, sports and wellbeing centre, wellness spa, primary care

England’s Boringdon Hall in the Devon countryside is set to open its 1,800sq m (19,375sq ft) wellness spa on Monday, 1 August. Gaia Spa – named for and inspired by Mother Nature – includes 12 treatment rooms, an infinity pool, hydrotherapy pool, Finnish sauna, crystal salt steam room, aromatherapy steam room, herbal sauna, shower experiences, relaxation room, gym, beauty salon with champagne service, and outdoor area for relaxation and meditation.

An Elemis spa will be a central part of the new Domes Noruz Chania lifestyle hotel on the Greek island of Crete, set to open this month. The 350sq m (3,767sq ft) features traditional artwork motifs and natural materials, and employs various shades of blue in its design. Natural light and diffused, indirect lighting are used to sustain a sense of relaxation, and the wall tiles reference the patterns found

A new 1,500sq m (16,146sq ft) Spa Du Royal at the recently refurbished Art Nouveau landmark hotel Royal Savoy Lausanne in Switzerland has opened. Le Spa Du Royal features eight treatment rooms, a wet zone with indoor and outdoor pools, vitality pools, and several hammams, saunas and steam rooms. A special “Ladies Only” spa features relaxation and treatment rooms, and the spa also includes a fitness room, hairdresser and spa

Dramatic new drone footage has been released to showcase the architectural features of Herzog and de Meuron’s hotly-awaited Elbe Philharmonic building in Hamburg, Germany. The shimmering complex will house three concert halls, a Starwood Westin hotel and spa, 45 private apartments and an indoor public plaza when it officially opens on 11 January 2017. To whet appetites for the curtain-raising, a new website has been set up taking viewers on

Reality television star and socialite Paris Hilton, will open her own eponymous luxury hotel chain, Forbes is reporting. The 35-year-old granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton will open the first locations in Dubai, New York and Las Vegas. Hilton has been working with Century Properties in the Philippines for the past few years, designing its Paris Beach Club for the Azure Urban Resort Residence, and her second Paris Beach

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has announced it will debut its W Hotels brand in Scotland at the 12-storey ‘ribbon’ building designed by Jestico + Whiles in the heart of Edinburgh. The striking building – which has proven controversial due to its eye-catching steel facade and mooted location in the centre of the historic city – is set to complete in 2020. It will be the centrepiece of the Edinburgh St

Four Seasons is opening a resort on the remote island of Desroches in the Seychelles as well as a new luxury hotel in the heart of Tokyo’s bustling Otemachi business district. The Four Seasons Resort Seychelles at Desroches Island is the only resort on the island of Desroches, and is an existing property that will undergo extensive renovations before opening as a Four Seasons in 2017. Featuring 40 beach suites

Designers Rockwell Group and architectural firms WATG and Pacific Asia Design Group will work together to significantly transform the Pacific Beach Hotel in Hawaii. The hotel – which is located next to the former residence of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii’s last reigning monarch – is being renovated and rebranded at a cost of US$115m (€103.5m, £86.5m). The Pacific’s exterior façade, 839 guestrooms and suites, public areas and lobby aquarium will all

Destination spa Miraval is set to buy the historic Cranwell Spa and Golf Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, marking the brand’s first East Coast location and the first “full-blown” Miraval outside of Tucson. “Cranwell is a great fit for us – it’s a large property where we can create the Miraval experiences,” Chevis Hosea, Miraval Group vice president of development told CLAD. “It’s got a great history, great architecture – the

Architecture and property development practice Swisatec have announced new additions to their planned 40-hectare leisure village in Cape Town. A seven-storey mixed-use lifestyle centre and a five-star hotel are among the facilities the studio has revealed will feature prominently at Blue Rock Village – billed as Africa’s “most environmentally friendly estate”. The former, called the Santa Luzia Lifestyle Centre, will be designed to host interactive events such as local produce

Viceroy is set to open a resort and residences in Bocas del Toro, Panama, with dramatic overwater villas and three miles of private white sand beaches. Due to open in 2019, the Viceroy Bocas del Toro will also include a spa featuring private rejuvenation pools tucked in blossoming pockets of the rainforest. The 42 overwater villas will each have their own private plunge pool and direct access to the ocean

A construction agreement has been reached to revamp the Century Plaza, California's iconic crescent-shaped hotel. According to Commercial Property Executive, real estate firm Next Century Partners has secured $1bn (€902m, £752m) in construction financing to begin overhauling the Los Angeles hotel as part of a wider US$2.5bn (€2.25bn, £1.8bn) mixed-use development of the Century City neighbourhood. When finished, the hotel – which has hosted several US presidents and was particularly

Architecture studio Jestico + Whiles have transformed a historic Glasgow bank into a new bar and brewery for food and drink group Glendola Leisure. The former Commercial Bank of Scotland, built in the 1920s, has reopened this month as The Shilling Brewery Company; a 160-seat brewpub with stipped back interior features that highlight the building’s 20ft high coffered ceilings. Fragments of the original bank – designed by the architect James

Spa, fitness and lifestyle consultancy and management firm WTS International has designed the 6,000sq ft (557sq m) Ocean Spa at the Marriott Autograph Playa Largo Resort and Spa, which is set to open in Florida later this year. The first new-build in the Upper Keys in over 20 years, the Key Largo property – which is co-owned by Shaner Hotel Group and Prime Hospitality Group – is also the Marriott

Plans to build a six-star Crown hotel and VIP-only casino in Barangaroo South, Sydney have been approved, after the design was altered to include more public space. The huge development, which is being bankrolled by billionaire James Packer and real estate firm Lend Lease, has split opinion in Australia, as the land it will sit on was originally earmarked as for a public park. Members of the public, design professionals

The W Goa is set to make its debut in September, with a 1,250sq m (13,454sq ft) Spa by Clarins. Designed by architects Eco-ID with interiors from Design Wilkes, the W Goa is set on the Indian coast with a private beach and features 160 bedrooms with design elements that evoke eclectic local traditions. The spa has a sophisticated, luxurious ambience, and will include six single treatment rooms and two

Diners across the world will soon be able to eat 3D printed food using 3D printed utensils in a pop-up restaurant filled with 3D printed furniture. Food Ink is a new restaurant concept created by a collective of architects, artists, chefs, designers, engineers and inventors. The first pop-up recently launched in Venlo, Holland, and one will debut outside a brewery in Shoreditch, London from 25-27 July. A nine-course dinner will

Pine Cliffs Hotel, in the Algarve, Portugal, has completed an “all-encompassing,” US$57m (€51m, £44) 18-month renovation, adding a new contemporary Pine Cliffs Ocean Suites. The resort has also joined Starwood’s Luxury Collection as part of a multi-million dollar investment to restore the brand’s most iconic hotels around the world. “The spectacular transformation of the iconic Pine Cliffs is testament to the collaborative and longstanding relationship we enjoy with United Investments

Wellness real estate firm Delos is expanding its Stay Well hotel room portfolio into a handful of Marriott International hotels. The company has completed the installation of Stay Well rooms at six Marriott properties in the US, including Charlotte Marriott City Center, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Richmond Marriott Short Pump, Residence Inn Orlando Lake Nona, Courtyard Orlando Lake Nona and Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina. “The growing demand for healthy

The 77-villa St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is set to open in September, complete with a 2,000sq m (21,528sq ft) Iridium Spa that includes one of the biggest salt water hydrotherapy pools in the Maldives. Designed by Singapore-based WOW Architects, the St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort was short-listed for the World Architecture Festival Awards last year. The hydrotherapy pool, named The Blue Hole pool, will accommodate up to 12 guests,

South Africa’s Verde Hotels group has won a contract to develop the transformation of an old building in Zanzibar, Tanzania into the archipelago’s “greenest” hotel. Real estate firm Bakhresa Group is developing the property, formerly known as Mtoni Marine Hotel, and wants it to become pioneering as both a luxury five-star destination and a flagship for sustainable development. Verde Hotels is best known for opening an airport hotel in Cape

Natural elements such as spa gardens are increasingly important to today’s spa design, and creating an authentic experience through design and programming is key, said Ashley Scott, principal director of global design and infrastructure services firm AECOM, in an exclusive interview with CLAD. “Spas were traditionally quite internal to the hotel and resort, but now what we are experiencing is that spas are very much destination components of the hotel

Four Seasons has opened a hotel in Jakarta’s Central Business District at the all-new Capital Place, an award-winning architectural landmark by Cesar Pelli. The hotel features a spa that takes its inspiration from Southeast Asian cultures woven together with global influences. Facilities include eight treatment rooms, two couple’s suites, a hammam, relaxation lounge, spa shop, a 24-hour fitness centre and an outdoor pool on the fifth-floor rooftop. A beauty salon,

Crown Hotels is adding a Crown Towers property in Perth to its portfolio, featuring a spa designed by Australian interior designer Blainey North. North was inspired by the beauty of the refraction of light underwater in her Crown Spa design, which is reflected in the aqua-hued treatment rooms. The spa includes male and female wet areas with aroma steamroom, Roman hot tub, sauna and private relaxation areas. Crown Towers Perth

The Ritz Paris hotel has reopened for business after receiving extensive renovation works bankrolled by billionaire businessman Mohamed Al Fayed. Since 2012, a thousand workers and craftsmen have been working on the revamp of the historic building; the biggest to take place since its opening in 1898. Architect and designer Thierry W. Despont has overseen the redesign of 142 rooms and suites – named after famous guests such as Marcel