Stylish, elegant and sometimes quirky, boutique hotels are offering travellers a whole new experience.
Sometimes called designer hotels or baby grands, boutique hotels are the new black in the world of travel lodging. Eschewing uniformity and sameness, they offer travellers an experience that's quite different from what one gets at a regular, cookie-cutter hotel.
Often intimate and luxurious, the hotels can be elegantly minimalist or wildly avant-garde in design, and even have wardrobes and bathrooms that are hidden away-but they are never boring. Here are some of Asia's best.
COSMOPOLITAN CHIC
Jia Boutique Hotel Apartment (Hong Kong)
1-5 Irving Street, Causeway Bay, (852)3196-9000
www.jiahongkong.com
Being Asia's first Philippe Starck-designed hotel says it all for Jia. Its 57 units (1-2 room studio apartments and penthouses) are self-sufficient pods, fitted with modern-home luxuries urbanites could wish for, including high-speed broadband, home theater unit, CD/DVD library and even a microwave oven. Being located in a 15-year-old residential block ups its chic factor too. With its sleek Starck interior contrasting its drab facade, Jia appeals to the hip and style-aware travellers looking for a place to stay in Hong Kong.
Le Meridien Cyberport (Hong Kong)
100 Cyberport Toad, Hong Kong, (852)2982-7788
www.hongkong.lemeridien.com
The cutting-edge Le Meridien Cyberport goes a step above your regular hotel, with its offer of the most upscale amenities. Besides pampering you with an ipod for your workout sessions, you also have little luxuries such as wireless broadband connectivity, tablet PCs, PDAs, cordless digital phones and plasma TVs at your disposal. Located a short taxi ride from the city center, Le Meridien Cyberport is as much for business travellers as for those who can't leave their tech toys behind when they travel.
LUXURIOUS HIDEAWAYS
The Commune by the Great Wall (Beijing)
The Great Wall Exit No. 16 at Shuiguan Badaling Highway, Beijing (86)10-6568-3333 ext.323/8
www.commune.com.cn
One of the Asia's hottest boutique hotels. The Commune by the Great Wall is a private collection of 11 villas designed by 12 of Asia's best architects, each villa boasting its unique avant-garde style. In the steel-and-glass Suitcase House, for instance, you'll find cabinets, trunks, bathrooms and kitchens underneath the floor in hideden compartments. Rental of these 4-6 bedroom villas with designer interiors come with a personal vutler, as well as a magnificent, unobstructed view of the Great Wall of China.
The Manor (New Delhi, India)
77 Friends Colony (West), New Delhi (91)11-2692-5151
www.themanordelhi.com
Originally a small country hotel, the 12-room retreat reopened in 1999 as India's first designer hotel, classily integrating sleek cosmopolitan with traditional Indian textures in its design. Amenities such as cable TV, VCRs and CD players are available in each room, plus a 24-hour concierge and personal assistant service is there to meet your needs-whether it's a cheese sandwich supper or a laptop to check your emails with.
Uma Ubud (Bali)
Jalan Raya Sanggingan, Banjar laungsiakan, Kedewatan Ubud, (62)361-972448
www.uma.como.bz
At Uma Ubud, setting is everything. Hidden on the fringe on Ubud, it overlooks the Ijampuhan Valley, lush fields and coconut palms, with the River Oos running below. Featuring Koichiro Ikebuchi's pared down, elegant designs which blend with local aesthetics, you get palenty of light flowing through the interior plus an unobstructed view of the gorteous surroundings. The highlight here is the Como Shambhala retreat, which ofers morning yoga sessions, spa treatments and massages, plus a restaurant that offers an organic menu alongside a regular one.
ARTY SPACESReflections Rooms in Bangkok
81 Soi Ari, Phaholyothin 7 Rd., Samsennai, Phayathai, Bangkok (66)2-270-3344
www.reflections-thai.com/rooms.html
Try this quirky "art hotel" if you're looking for a way to perk up your stay in Bangkok. Each of the 28 rooms sports a different personality and interior, ranging from hippy (Room 307), to post industrial (Room 402) to Art Deco (Room 201), trflectiong the creative spirit of its designer. Log on to the hotel's website to check out the rooms before you book. It won't be easy deciding which room to stay in, but you'll definitely not want to put up in a bland, ordinary hotel room again.
Hotel 1929 (Singapore)
50 Keong Saik Road, (65) 6347-1929
www.hotel1929.com
Located right smack in a waning red light district, the four-storey Hotel 1929 is one cool budget hotel done right. Once a shabby inn, it's been transformed into a chic, award-winning heritage boutique hotel that's a hit with globetrotters.
Among its many cool design elements are roof top hot tubs and rooms decked with the owner's private collection of vintage chairs. The rooms feature stylishly creative use of space, with roomy drawers replacign wardrobes, while LCD TVs rplace the regular tube.
Gallery Hotel (Singapore)
76 Robertson Quay, (65) 6849-8686
www.galleryhotel.com.sg
It's not difficult to spot the Gallery Hotel with its vivid facade overlooking the Singapore Tiver. In fact, its unconventional architecture drew much interest from the public when it opened. One of its most eye-catching features is its cantilevered lap pool, walled by glass on three sides, with a partially exposed bottom, while another ooh factor would be the "smart wired" rooms that have lights and air-conditioning controlled by computerized sensors.
