Dubai developer Nakheel has clinched a deal with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to operate a new hotel featuring one of the world’s highest infinity pools. Located on the 50th floor of Palm Tower in Dubai – some 210m (689ft) above the ground – the pool will border all four sides of the building, offering 360 degree views of the surrounding Palm Jumeirah island and out towards the Arabian Gulf.

Akaryn Hotel Group plans to open a private island wellness retreat in Cambodia, with interiors by famed Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada, best known for his Kenzo brand of clothing, perfume and skincare. Designed by Bangkok-based architect Duangrit Bunnag and due to open in June 2016, Arovada by Akaryn will be located on the private island of Koh Krabey – a 20-minute boat transfer from Sihanoukville – and will embrace

A Parisian hotel created inside a 19th century bathhouse, once frequented by novelist Marcel Proust, has won the top prize at the 2015 European Hotel Design Awards at a ceremony in London. Les Bains in Paris – designed by Tristan Auer and French studio RDAI – claimed the Hotel Design of the Year Award for the sophisticated new interiors which have been created within the existing 1885 building. Located in

Indian wellness retreat Vana will unveil a new 12,464sq ft (1,158sq m) Tibetan Healing Centre in the next couple of months, complete with its own meditation cave. Launched in 2014, Vana is a 21-acre estate surrounded by clusters of Sal forest, and is set within its own mango and lychee orchards in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. It includes 66 bedrooms, 16 suites, two restaurants, 55 treatment and consultation

Liz Terry, CEO of Leisure Media and editor of CLAD, was invited to identify two architectural trends for the wellness industry in a Trends Jam brainstorming session at the Global Wellness Summit in Mexico City last week. Terry's first trend was Living Buildings. She said that in the future, buildings that are alive will be able to sense our every need: "One day, we'll live and work in structures which

After seventeen years, Amsterdam’s original Supperclub – a mixture of restaurant, lounge, gallery, bar and club – has moved to a new home, complete with a colourful interior design by Dutch concept creators Concrete. Located in the old Odeon brewery building in the heart of the city’s canal belt, guests to the new Supperclub arrive through the kitchen and enter an oval hall with lavish ornamental elements and a grand

Boston studio CBT Hospitality Design have drawn on an eclectic range of influences for a US$7.9m (€7.5m, $5.2m) renovation of California's Chaminade Resort & Spa. The property, located in the city of Santa Cruz, is transforming all of its 156 guestrooms to feature a more bohemian style, reflective of the local artisan community. Given Santa Cruz's close proximity to Silicon Valley – home to some of the world’s largest high-tech

National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise the Sacramento Kings has lifted the lid on plans for its US$507m (£336m, €476m) Golden 1 Center arena. Sports architect AECOM – creators of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 olympic parks – are designing the centre, while ICON Venue Group and Turner Construction are serving as project manager and lead builder respectively. Renderings of the design show the Golden 1 Center will feature outward-facing

JW Marriott has opened its latest luxury hotel as part of a US$500m (€470m, £331m) expansion of America’s largest mall. The JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America – which is located to the north of the mall building – has been designed in collaboration with Nebraska architects DLR Group and hospitality industry consultants Design Force Associates. The hotel’s architecture is a combination of classic lines and stylised touches intended to

The Lane Pettigrew-designed Zemi Beach House is set to open in the Caribbean island of Anguilla in February 2016, featuring architecture inspired by Anguilla's natural environment. A blend of modern, clean lines with classic Caribbean building details, Zemi Beach House will also include interiors by Miami-based designer Cuba Fernandez and a 15,000sq ft (1,394sq m) Thai House Spa decked out with lavish materials. "Zemi Beach House will be a touchstone

The Shangri-La group will launch its first hotel in Saudi Arabia in early 2018, the Shangri-La Jeddah. The 65-storey building’s dramatic design, by global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will, received the MIPIM Architectural Review ‘Future Project Award’ for ‘Best Tall Building’ in 2009. Situated perpendicular to the shoreline to maximise water views and optimise solar exposure, its exterior ‘skin’ features synthetic fabric architectural sails that shade interior spaces, protect balconies

Health and wellness will be at the core of a groundbreaking billion-dollar urban development in Tampa, Florida. Real estate company Delos – which is collaborating on high profile wellness schemes with the likes of actor Leonardo DiCaprio – has masterminded the US$2bn (€1.8bn, £1.3bn) scheme, which will stretch to 40 acres. While the district will feature familiar hallmarks of a city – including an urban waterfront and 200,000sq ft (18,500sq

Mandarin Oriental is to manage a new luxury hotel and branded residences in Boca Raton, Florida, US, currently under development by Penn-Florida Companies and scheduled to open in late 2017. The hotel will include 158 bedrooms, a fitness centre, rooftop pool, and a spacious Spa at Mandarin Oriental, which will offer holistic rejuvenation and relaxation, though further details are still being determined. “We will of course have a magnificent spa,

Hotel giant Hyatt is launching the Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Spa, a 201-bedroom property in Arizona, US, with mid-century, desert-inspired interiors. With stunning views of Camelback Mountain, the complex features interiors conceived by San Francisco-based EDG Interior Architecture + Design. Guestrooms and suites will be configured in bungalow-style clusters of six units, designed to provide guests an authentic and intimate desert resort experience. The design draws its inspiration from the

Marriott International is buying its rival, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, for US$12.2bn (€11.4b, £8bn), creating the world’s largest hotel company, with 5,500 hotels and 1.1 million bedrooms worldwide across 30 brands. “The driving force behind this transaction is growth,” said Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive officer of Marriott International. “This is an opportunity to create value by combining the distribution and strengths of Marriott and Starwood, enhancing our competitiveness

Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay – famous for its emerald waters and thousands of jungle-covered limestone karsts – is now home to a five-star private island resort, which guests can only reach by speedboat. Architects SRSS Singapore have designed the Vinpearl Ha Long Bay resort on the island of Dao Reu, which opened in late October. The neoclassical building contains 384 guest rooms and suites with private balconies overlooking the open

The architects behind a remote five-star hotel resort in Zanzibar have told CLAD how they are pushing sustainability to its limits on the project. Jestico + Whiles have been tasked by Czech developer RSJ Private Equity with creating Zuri Zanzibar; a hotel and wellness retreat on the African island which will stand out for its positive environmental, social and economic impact. “The whole concept behind the project reflects an ethos

A boutique hotel spread across a maze of waterside houses in Amsterdam’s famous canal district is embarking on an expansive renovation programme. Interior designer Jacu Strauss is leading the revamp of the Pulitzer Amsterdam hotel’s twenty-five 17th Century canal buildings. Rooms are being stripped back to emphasise their historical features, with vintage furniture brought in to complement newly-introduced contemporary stylings. Four themed suites – dedicated to books, music, art and

London-based architecture studio PHASE3 have developed a digital 3D masterplan for ‘The Life Above’ – a Croatian leisure development stretching along the Adriatic coast. The company’s director, Tyen Masten, revealed to CLAD that the latest 3D technology has been used to map out a 3.59sq km (1.38sq miles) complex of high-end hotels, villas, spas, restaurants, retail and entertainment facilities in Dubrovnik. In an exclusive interview, he said: “The use of

The industry’s most prestigious awards have been handed out at the World Architecture Festival, held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, with OMA and Buro Ole Scheeren's Interlace housing development in Singapore scooping the top prize of Building of the Year. More than 2,000 architects from more than 60 countries attended the three-day event, which draws to a close today (Friday). Seminars and presentations by some of the world’s

Center Parcs has today (30 October) submitted a formal planning application for a new £167m (US$257m, €233m) Village in Ireland – the leisure resort operator’s first venture outside the UK. Having been bought earlier this year by Canadian property giant Brookfield, Center Parcs is eager to maintain the momentum from the successful launch of its Woburn Forest in June 2014. The Ireland resort – to be named Center Parcs Longford

The multi-billion dollar Hollywood-inspired Studio City Resort in Macau, which as its centrepiece offers Asia’s tallest and the world’s only figure-8 ferris wheel, has opened its doors in China. Masterplanned and designed by the Goddard Group, the US$3.2bn (€2.9bn, £2bn) cinematically-themed gaming and leisure destination resort from Melco Crown Entertainment opened to the public on 27 October. At the heart of the 1,600-bedroom development is the Golden Reel – a

Miami Beach’s legendary Saxony Hotel, originally designed by Art Deco architect Roy F. France in 1948, has been transformed by (and named for) Argentine real estate developer Alan Faena, and is set to open next month. With what promises to be stunning interiors designed by filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and his wife, Academy Award-winning costume designer Catherine Martin, The Faena Hotel Miami Beach will also include a 22,000sq ft (2,044sq m)

The Foster + Partners-designed hotel at the heart of London’s £8bn (US$10bn, €8.8bn) redevelopment of Battersea Power Station will feature a dramatic rooftop swimming pool with views of the London skyline. The Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) has revealed more information about the highly-anticipated 160-room project, including the fact that the PPHE Hotel Group has agreed to operate the hotel under its art’otel brand when it opens in early

The JW Marriott will open a location in Los Cabos, Mexico next month, with a 21,000sq ft (1,951sq m) Jasha Spa with 12 treatment rooms. Designed by architect Jim Olson in collaboration with Mexico City-based design firm IDEA Asociados, the 299-room JW Marriott Los Cabos is situated in the Puerto Los Cabos community, amid the desert dunes of Baja California Sur, Mexico. The spa will include an outdoor garden and

A 1940s mansion in the Mexican city of Guadalajara has been transformed into the city's first design-led hotel, Casa Fayette. Casa Fayette sits in Guadalajara’s booming Lafayette district. It comprises of a new nine-floor modernist tower – which houses a rooftop spa and the hotel's 37 rooms and suites – and the original mansion's Art Deco structure. The latter contains a retro-inspired bar and restaurant. The hotel was designed by

The Mandarin Oriental Marrakech, set amid 20 hectares of landscaped gardens and 100,000 roses, is now open. The hotel features 54 private villas inspired by Berber and Moorish influences, all with secluded walled gardens, swimming pools and hot tubs, as well as nine suites – seven with their own rooftop plunge pool. The 1,800sq m (19,375sq ft) Spa at the Mandarin Oriental Marrakech was designed by French duo Gilles &