Capella Sanya, China
Capella Hotel Group has unveiled Capella Sanya on Hainan island, a 190-key resort with accommodation categories ranging from ocean-front and garden rooms, grand ocean and garden suites, one-to-four bedroom pool villas, up to a 440m2 chairman’s penthouse.
The hotel was designed by Jean-Michel Gathy and Bill Bensley, with inspiration drawn from the fabled history of China’s ancient Maritime Silk Road. Dining concepts include Lan Ting, a modern Cantonese restaurant styled after a traditional Chinese teahouse; Silk Road, which presents daily menus featuring cuisine from the Mediterranean and Middle East to India, Singapore and Thailand; The Library & Library Bar; and a pool and beach restaurant.
The resort’s 4,020m2 spa features what’s said to be Hainan’s first authentic hamman and a snow cabin that provides a wintry experience amid Hainan’s year-round tropical warmth.
Capella Sanya also offers 2,000m2 of meeting and function facilities, including a ballroom for up to 400 guests in banquet style.
Treeline Urban Resort, Cambodia
Bangkok-based Hospitality Management and Development Asia is now welcoming guests at its first managed property, the Treeline Urban Resort, in Siem Reap. The new-build boutique designed property has a riverfront location in Siem Reap’s historic quarter, featuring 36 rooms and 12 suites, together with modern culinary outlets including a rooftop pool and bar.
Mӧvenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives
Mӧvenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives has opened its doors on a private island in Noonu Atoll, marking the brand’s debut in Maldives. The resort features 105 villas and suites comprising 72 overwater pool villas, 30 beach pool suites and three beach spa pool residences, each with a private plunge pool.
Guests can choose from four dining experiences: the market-style all-day diner, ONU Marché restaurant and bar; Mövenpick Coffee & Wine Lounge; pool-side restaurant Latitude 5.5; and the overwater Bodumas Seafood Restaurant. Mӧvenpick Chocolate Hour, a key brand signature, will also be staged in the resort lobby daily offering complimentary tasting of chocolate presented in novel ways.
Facilities include the Mӧvenpick Little Birds Club, which offers family-friendly activities and babysitting services, a diving centre, tennis court, gym, water sports centre and spa.
The resort is 45 minutes from Malé by seaplane, and come early 2019 will be accessible by a 15-minute speedboat ride from the new airport on Maafaru island.
Ovolo the Valley, Australia
Ovolo Hotel Group has launched its Queensland flagship, Ovolo the Valley, the result of a a multi-million-dollar transformation of the iconic Emporium Hotel.
Each of the hotel’s 103 rooms come with 24-hour room service, Google Chromecast, phone chargers, Amazon’s Alexa voice service and other amenities. Designed to invoke fun and whimsy, rooms feature colourful elements and commissioned art pieces including eccentric furniture and illustrations. Among other highlights are the rock star suites in honour of the late David Bowie, complete with 1970s inspired velvet lounges and a gold bar.
Facilities include a rooftop swimming pool, gym, sauna, meeting rooms and Ovolo’s standard complimentary inclusions – breakfast, Wi-Fi, in-room mini bar, laundry and happy hour drinks.
Artyzen Habitat Hongqiao Shanghai, China
Located in the greater Hongqiao area, Artyzen Habitat Hongqiao has 188 guestrooms with city views. Artyzen Habitat’s rooms are designed to resemble a home, complete with a living space where guests can relax, and a separate area for sleeping.
Guests will also have access to the hotel’s 24/7 self-service laundromat, gym, as well as the Townsquare cafe. For functions, there is an amphitheatre – where the hotel will organise pop-up events and hold TED talks in – as well as several meeting rooms.
Bangkok’s newest riverside landmark, Iconsiam, hosted its grand opening on Friday to tens of thousands of people in attendance as well as South-east Asia’s largest-ever flying drone display with 1,500 drones.
Built on a 8.8ha plot on Charoen Nakhon Road by the banks of the Chao Phraya River, the US$1.7 billion, 750,000m2 project is a joint venture of Siam Piwat, Magnolia Quality Development Corporation (MQDC) and Charoen Pokphand Group.
Chadatip Chutrakul, director of Iconsiam, dubbed the mega development “a destination – not a mall or a mixed-use development”, as it “brings together, in a single destination, a great riverside location with art, culture, lifestyle pursuits, endless dining options, super-luxury residences and shopping”.
Among Iconsiam’s key features is the River Park, a 10,000m2 riverside community space; SookSiam, a 16,000m2 space spotlighting products from across Thailand’s 77 provinces; and South-east Asia’s longest multimedia water feature, which is designed to be a global iconic attraction “and do for Bangkok what the London Eye does for London and the Botanic Garden at the Marina Bay Sands does for Singapore,” Chutrakul said.
Coming up in July 2019 will be a high-technology auditorium that aims to boost Thailand’s international incentives and convention industry, and the River Museum Bangkok.
Iconsiam also offers more than 7,000 Thai and international retail brands, including Japanese department store Takashimaya and Thailand’s first flagship Apple Store.
Iconsiam also houses two luxury residential condominium buildings developed with MQDC, the Magnolias Waterfront Residences and The Residences at Mandarin Oriental Bangkok – the first Mandarin Oriental branded residential development in South-east Asia.