US tycoon Donald Trump is aiming to step up the £200m refurbishment of the Turnberry golf resort in South Ayrshire, Scotland, bringing in a team of constructors and designers to realise his vision for the hotel element. Trump bought the resort for a reported £36m in April 2014 and has pledged the Turnberry will be ‘a canvas like no other’ when redevelopment work is complete. To that end, he has

Make Architects have unveiled images of the new Temple House hotel in Chengdu, China, which is sited in a restored monastery. This is the third in operator Swire’s House Collective portfolio, following The Opposite House in Beijing and The Upper House in Hong Kong. Located in the heart of Chengdu within the Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, the project was jointly developed by Sino-Ocean Land and Swire Properties. The hotel includes

Six Senses has opened a 33,000sq ft (3,066sq m) spa at Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, in Muscat, Oman. Al Bustan Palace is a beachfront retreat that is tucked away between the rugged Al Hajar Mountain range and the Sea of Oman, and includes 250 guest rooms and suites. A five-minute walk from Al Bustan Palace, the spa is built into the surrounding landscape of towering stone and rock

The Atlantis by Giardino in Zurich – a 95-room urban retreat that has hosted the likes of Steve McQueen, Freddie Mercury, Shirley MacLaine and Muhammad Ali – will open on 1 December, following an extensive renovation programme which has been overseen by Gallery HBA. Originally designed by architects Hans and Annemarie Hubacher and Peter Issler in the late 1960s, the Y-shaped building with three wings is an important example of

Spa consultant and designer Sylvia Sepielli is leading the US$8 m (€7.1, £5.2) renovation of the spa at Henry Flagler’s historic hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, The Breakers. Sepielli, who has just finished work on Bath, England’s Gainsborough Bath Spa, is working in conjunction with Peacock + Lewis architects and landscape architect Gregory Lombardi Design on the indoor/outdoor spa, which will include 17 treatment rooms and a private courtyard and

Hotel giant Marriott International is to expand its partnership with hotel pioneer Ian Schrager with the opening of the group’s first hotel in Iceland. To be operated under the luxury lifestyle brand Edition, the 250-bedroom property in the capital Reykjavik will be located on the city's waterfront adjacent to Harpa – the country’s premier concert hall. Engineering firm Mannvit and T.ark architects have been contracted for the engineering, design and

New York-based Robert D. Henry Architects are working on Ivanka Trump’s flagship spa in development at The Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., and part of the property’s US US$200m (€144.4m, £119m) redevelopment. The spa will be a prototype introducing Ivanka Trump’s “unique positioning within spa and wellness,” said Henry, and will be rolled out in the Trump collection of existing hotels, as well as future properties. “Ivanka has mandated

The 397-bedroom Shangri-La Bengaluru has opened in Bangalore, India, with traditional Indian motifs and interiors. Designed by Adarsh Design Studio in Bangalore and with interior design by Singapore-based Wilson Associates, the 19-storey Shangri-La Hotel, Bangalore features an impressive 9m (30ft) high lobby with nine cylindrical chandeliers – each weighing nearly half a ton – as well as imposing marble columns with intricate Indian motifs. The interiors reference Bangalore (known as

Resort and real estate developer The Hartling Group is opening The Shore Club next year, a 110-suite resort in the Turks & Caicos that will include a luxury spa. The Hartling Group also developed and manages the Turks & Caicos property The Palms, which includes a 25,000sq ft (2,323sq m) spa. Building on the success of The Palms, the Spa at The Shore Club will offer the same quality experience,

Construction is now complete on the Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Zifeng Tower, an eco-themed mixed-use structure in the Gaoxin District of Nanchang, China. The architects were Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The development – a 268m (879ft), 56-storey tower – is an elegant new addition to the city’s skyline and is owned by one of the country’s biggest development companies, the Greenland Group. Its rectangular shape is emphasised by a strong

Dusit International will open a new dusitD2 in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. It will be located within the mixed-use Palm Mall development, which will also include Oman’s first snow village and a large aquarium. The dusitD2, scheduled for completion in 2017, will include 150 guestrooms and 100 suites, some of which will offer views of the aquarium and snow village. Leisure facilities will include a spa, pool and gym. The

Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) has selected Bouygues UK as preferred contractor for Phase 3 of the largest single development project in central London since Canary Wharf. With the long-running Battersea saga apparently on the road to resolution, Bouygues UK has landed the £1bn+ (US$1.6bn, €1.4bn) design and build contract for Phase 3, which features a new pedestrianised high street for London, known as The Electric Boulevard, as well

The Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria are expanding California’s Graton Resort & Casino, adding 200 guestrooms, a luxury spa, plus a meeting and convention space in a US$175 m (€155m, £113m) project. The 342,000sq ft (31,773sq m) addition will expand the amenities at the existing US$800m (€710m, £517m) casino and entertainment facility that opened in November 2013. Located just north of San Fransico, the Graton Resort & Casino is

The new Four Seasons Casablanca is set to open in Q4 2015, including a 700sq m (7,535 sq ft) Le Spa with 10 treatment rooms and an array of luxury treatments. The hotel was designed by architects Foster + Partners. Four Seasons says "Modern Moroccan elegance characterises the design, textures and colour palette of the 157 bedrooms and 29 suites". A highlight is a 329sq m (4,220sq ft), three-bedroom Royal

Jean Michel Gathy is designing the upcoming One&Only Sanya on Haitang Bay in China, set to open in 2016. The property will feature 192 guestrooms, suites and villas and 380m (1,247ft) of private coastline, set amid 11 hectares of coconut palms and ancient rosewood trees. Vast dramatic water gardens ripple throughout the resort, uniting the dining venues, spa villas, fitness centre and kids club. Operated by Kerzner International, in partnership

New Zealand’s Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa has released a plan to build a European-style day spa in the historic Chisholm Ward of the Queen Mary Hospital, located in the Hurunui District of the country, just north of Christchurch. General manager Graeme Abbot said the NZ$15m (US$9.4, €8.4m, £6.1m) investment is required to create the spa and the pools, and he is looking for a joint venture investor to

Owner and operator Minor Hotel Group, in partnership with Dubai developer Nakheel, is developing a 500-guestroom Avani hotel in Dubai, set to open in 2018. Avani Deira Dubai Hotel will be located in Deira Islands, a waterfront entertainment, tourist and residential destination being developed in alignment with Dubai Vision 2020, a strategic roadmap with the objective of attracting 20 million visitors per year to Dubai by 2020. Deira Islands comprises

Starwood’s Le Meridien hotel brand will open in Batumi, the brand’s first property in the Republic of Georgia, in 2018. The 110-room newly constructed hotel will be located in the Batumi Tower, a mixed-use development designed by the Hausart Project that features a unique integrated Ferris wheel on the 27th floor. The eight air-conditioned cabins of the Ferris wheel each can hold 40 people. The tower – reported to be

Hoskins Architects will design a new Rosewood hotel at Edinburgh's former Royal High School, a historic landmark building on Calton Hill in the centre of the Scottish capital that has stood vacant for almost 50 years. The neoclassical, listed building was originally designed by architect Thomas Hamilton and completed in 1829. The plan to invest more than £75m ($115m, €102m) to restore and convert the property is led by Duddingston

Global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm HOK has redesigned 42 suites at the Mandarin Oriental New York hotel to offer guests a unique experience of the city. The HOK-designed one and two-bedroom suites feature panoramic views of Central Park, the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline and aim to invoke New York City life through the course of a day with their distinct theming. To achieve this, the project

Once ranked as the third dirtiest hotel in the US by Forbes, the Desert Inn Resort on Daytona Beach in Florida is set to experience a complete US$20m (€17.4m, £13m) renovation before reopening in Q4 2016. The previously independent resort will then be rebranded as the Westin Daytona Beach Resort & Spa. Owned by Humphrey Realty, a privately held real estate development and ownership firm specialising in hospitality and commercial

Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ first Dutch property, W Amsterdam, is due to unveil a series of gastronomic experiences and some accommodation before the full hotel’s debut in December, designed by Office WINHOV and BK Architects. The historic former KAS Bank building and neighbouring Exchange building – a former telephone exchange – are both part of the W Amsterdam. Parts of the KAS Bank building are already open to guests, including

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts will open a new 116-villa resort on Hainan Island, China in 2018. Rosewood Clearwater Bay Hainan will feature the brand’s signature Sense spa with six treatment rooms and balconies overlooking private gardens. Designed by Bangkok-based architectural firm Blink Design Group, Rosewood Clearwater Bay will also have exclusive access to a 1.6km (5,250ft) beach, and the design will incorporate water features, indigenous timber and stone, and unobstructed

Thompson Hotels has opened its first property in Mexico's Cabo San Lucas, blending an urban aesthetic with a retro, 1960s Southern California-meets-Baja vibe. Located on the southernmost tip of the Baja California Sur Peninsula, The Cape offers unobstructed views of The Arch, the area’s famous landmark, from virtually any vantage point on the property. Perched on Monuments Beach, both the 161-bedroom property and the spa were designed by Javier Sanchez

Henry Chebaane has said he drew inspiration from Azerbaijan’s mineral wealth to design JW Marriott Absheron’s new dining establishment OroNero – choosing oil, gold and jewels as a central theme. Chebaane, the French-born London artist and designer who founded Blue Sky Hospitality, was brought in to design the OroNero (meaning black gold in Italian) restaurant, having created four other concepts for various parts of the hotel in Baku. Styled like

Gucci has become the latest fashion powerhouse to bring its brand into the restaurant business, opening 1921 Gucci in Shanghai, China. The chic new eatery, which can only be accessed via an elevator inside the Gucci Shanghai boutique, follows in the footsteps of Armani's Fifth Avenue restaurant in New York City and Ralph Lauren's Polo Bar, as fashion giants seek to harness their brand power in new markets. Although Gucci

Jestico + Whiles have won planning permission for an egg-shaped hotel wrapped in bronze coils – the centrepiece of a major development in Edinburgh, UK, – despite planning officials urging councillors to reject the idea. The five-star hotel will feature up to 210 bedrooms, as well as a 41,000sq ft (3,809sq m) apart hotel that has the potential to provide 70 suites. The practice envisages a hotel that appears as