Sweden’s famous Icehotel has reopened for its 26th winter and is brimming with hand-crafted, ice-sculpted art. Visitors to the hotel – located in Jukkasjärvi, Lapland – can choose to sleep in an art-themed suite, including one featuring a 3m (10ft) tall elephant carved out of snow. Nineteen of the Icehotel’s 50 rooms feature the unique pieces of ice art created by architects and designers from all over the world. You

International design studio TEN Arquitectos have won the design competition for a multi-million dollar mixed-use luxury resort in the Cayman Islands, fronted by a 1,000ft-long (305m) secluded natural beach. Slated to open in Q3 2018, St James Point will be set on a tropical 16-acre property on Grand Cayman Island, and will be designed to both contrast and complement the exotic environment. Forest, parkland and ocean will surround the US$250m

Château St Pierre de Serjac – a wine estate in France’s Languedoc region – will reopen in February 2016 as an intimate hotel following a two-year, €25m (US$27.5m, £18m) renovation. The project is a collaboration between winemaker Laurent Bonfils and hoteliers Karl and Anita O’Hanlon, who also own the luxury property Chateau Les Carrasses in the area. Restored in 1886 by Baron Cyprien deCrozals and designed by pre-eminent architect Louis-Michel

Private equity management group Z Capital Partners has acquired the historic Waldhaus Flims Mountain Resort & Spa located in Flims, Switzerland. The undisclosed deal further enhances Z Capital’s health and wellness hotel platform, following its acquisition earlier this year of the Carillon Miami Beach. The company said it plans to maintain the property’s storied heritage while upgrading the resort to a five-star luxury hotel. Its strategy includes investing in the

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

Paris-based AccorHotels will buy FRHI – the owner of Raffles, Fairmont and Swissotel – for approximately US$2.9bn (€2.6bn, £1.9bn) in cash and shares. Accor operates Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel and ibis brands, among others, and has around 3,800 properties – nearly 500 of which are luxury and upscale. “This is an outstanding opportunity to add three prestigious brands – Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel – to our portfolio, and a great step

Luxury hotel brand Oetker Collection is expanding into the Americas with the launch of two hotels – one in Sao Paulo and one in New York – within the next three years. The New York location is slated to open in Q2 2018 in the former Sony Tower, originally designed by American architect Philip Johnson. The building is an iconic New York landmark, known for its ornamental ‘Chippendale’ roofline and

Chinese developer Dalian Wanda Group has opened a five-star mountainside hotel within its 5.3sq km (2sq mile) international resort in Yunnan province. Beijing architects Office for Architecture + Design (OAD) designed the hotel – the first operated under the Wanda Vista brand – drawing inspiration from the lush surrounding forests of Xishuangbanna prefecture and the traditional architecture of the region. Stone foundations, curving wooden roofs, peacock motifs, simple courtyards and

A luxury tented resort will join Nayara Hotels, the Costa Rican wellness brand set in the rainforests of Costa Rica’s Arenal Volcano National Park. Nayara Tented Resort will include 24 tented lodges, each 954sq ft (88sq m), with a master bedroom and en-suite bathroom, along with an adjoining tent that can be arranged as a second bedroom or lounge. Each tent will sit on its own platform, furnished with an

A Romanian aquaculture and tourism development company has revealed plans to build the Black Sea's largest holiday resort. AgriEuro Corp owns over 4,000 acres of land in the Danube Delta – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – and has earmarked the area as an ideal location for an “all-inclusive entertainment and accommodation resort with an exotic surrounding landscape, a mild climate and unique geographical features.” The company has hired Romanian

Thai wellness destination Chiva-Som has redesigned 23 of its Ocean Rooms as part of an upgrade to the resort. Designed by US architect Ed Tuttle of Paris-based Designrealization, the decor uses clean lines to deliver cool, contemporary interiors while retaining the essence of Chiva-Som style. The new rooms are light, bright and spacious, having been completely reconfigured to include a separate wardrobe and dressing room. The look is a luxurious,

Rosewood is opening a luxury tent and villa encampment hidden in the jungles of Laos. Located near the city of Luang Prabang and built according to UNESCO guidelines by Bangkok-based American architect Bill Bensley, the resort will be immersed in a virtually untouched natural environment. Set in thick forest amid natural water features, including a meandering river and waterfall, each of the resort’s 22 accommodations will be bordered by a

Five-star resort Keemala, located in the lush woodlands of Kamala in Phuket, Thailand, has opened this week with private pool cottages inspired by the region's indigenous clans. Designed by Thailand-based Architect Space, with Pisit Aongskultong from Pisud Design Company managing the resort’s creative vision and interior designs, the concept behind Keemala is drawn from stories, cultures, traditions and lifestyles of four particular clans. The resort has 38 unique guest cottages,

A sprawling lifestyle resort in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains is due to bring hotels, restaurants, retail, sports and other elements of leisure to the North Carolina wilderness. Former Disney executive Jerry Pospisil is overseeing the development of the US$14bn (€13.2bn, £9.3bn) complex, which will stretch 4,500 acres in the picturesque Jonathan Valley. “The resort will combine wilderness experiences, upscale amenities, family entertainment, casual and fine dining, retail

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

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

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

Seattle-based architects goCstudio have built and launched a floating sauna in Seattle, providing locals with a new perspective of their waterfront city. The designers wanted to create a tranquil refuge which could tour Seattle’s many lakes. Designs were drawn up in January 2014 and a successful Kickstarter campaign raised over US$40,000 to keep the project afloat. Construction was completed in Q3 this year, and the vessel – named the wa_sauna