Where Architects Sleep: The Most Stylish Hotels in the World

by Sarah Miller (Phaidon)

Anyone who has travelled with a hotel designer or architect will have experienced their unique and uninhibited take on the experience; in this spirit and that of Phaidon’s well-received Where Chefs Eat and Where Bartenders Drink, the publisher has extended the idea to hotels, and who better to comment than architects?

This exhaustively thorough tome covers more than 100 countries in all regions across the globe; the first section lists all 250+ designers with their recommended venues, which is followed by regional listings comprised of a seven-point summary for each hotel and a quote from one of the recommenders. Those looking for inspirational imagery to complement the recommendations will be disappointed: this is a resource, pure and simple. But it serves its function well, with a key that denotes all-time favourites, budget-friendly, ecoconscious, luxury, wellness-focused and more, as well as locations such as desert, countryside, urban, mountain or island. Places the architects wished they had designed themselves are noted, as are places considered particularly worth the travel. The roll call includes such luminaries as John Pawson, Kelly Hoppen, Shigeru Ban, Norman Foster, Fumihiko Maki, Sean Godsell, Daniel Libeskind, Yabu Pushelberg and many more.