Best Urban Hotels 2019
See the winners, meet the judges, and plan your city stays now
It can’t have escaped even the most infrequent traveller that the hotel model is morphing into an altogether more sophisticated creature. Where once you might have checked in to find a pool, a business centre, a restaurant and a gym and considered yourself to be living the high life, these days it’s practically de rigueur to expect a concept store, a bakery, an artisanal coffee joint and a herb garden, alongside a co-working space and a kitchen to cater for midnight munchies.
And while, barely five years ago, your typical hotel guest may have checked in for an average of three nights, now, stays of a few weeks, or even months, are not unusual.
And so an odd hybrid has emerged: a hotel that is part home, part office, and furnished accordingly. A slick serviced apartment that has all the amenities of a five-star hotel, but with the privacy and flexibility of a private residence. No one has yet coined a name for this new model, and we’re still not convinced about ‘co-living’.
How, for instance, would you categorise Hong Kong’s K11 Artus, which features a sky-high garden, a library and a series of short- and long-term residences furnished by André Fu? Or British property magnate Harry Handelsman’s The Stratford, in London, where the short- and long-term-stay lofts are paired with a fire pit and a bar, daily yoga classes and a 24-hour concierge service that will not just book tickets to the ballet, but walk your dog and stock up your fridge?
Fu believes the push for such hybrid accommodation comes from ‘a growing community of globetrotters who are working between cities. They want to enjoy the accustomed luxury and comforts of a hotel service level, but they have a broader, more functional wish list, including storage spaces, pantry and even in-room dining facilities.’
What’s more, hotels have evolved into destinations, Handelsman explains, ‘not just for the overnight guests, but for local residents to enjoy the bars, the restaurants and the atmosphere. This becomes an attraction to overnight guests, allowing them to mingle without ever leaving the premises. This fusion is a template for the future of hospitality.’
Richard Hassell, co-founder of the Singapore-based architecture studio WOHA, who designed the groundbreaking Parkroyal on Pickering in the city-state, points out that what we think of now as the standard-format hotel is actually a phenomenon that only came about from the 1950s to the 1970s, when big hospitality brands evolved to give guests a reassuringly standardised experience. Before that, there was a diverse offering of grand hotels, boarding houses, pensions, bed and breakfasts, inns and public houses that varied from city to city and country to country.
‘But just as these vanished from view and the big brands subsumed all the competition,’ he says, ‘Airbnb roared back with even more diverse offerings of every type and budget. I feel nowadays that “hotel” implies some participation in the public life of the city. Everything else is part of a short- to mediumterm accommodation model, and there needs to be lots of new words to describe the varieties.’ In other words, we’re witnessing the arrival of the hospitality industry’s equivalent of gender fluidity.
That said, what the entrants on our annual Best Urban Hotels shortlist have in common is this quality of flexibility, an ability to adapt, not always in an obvious way, to the personal tastes and needs of different guests. For hotels, it is, as Fu points out, a delicate balancing act in a brave and competitive new world. For guests, there has really never been a more exciting time to check in. Daven Wu Easy to wear and yet impossibly chic, the pared-back, knitwear-focused silhouettes of Barbara Casasola’s eponymous label are a perfect fit for the Brazilian-italian designer, who travels continuously around Italy meeting craftsmen and makers. The brand debuted in London in 2013, and this year the designer relocated to a new studio in Florence, housed in the 13th-century Palazzo Guicciardini. Her new base allows her more direct contact with her manufacturers, and also to spend more time at the Tuscan agriturismo Villa Lena, where she sits on the hotel and artist residency’s advisory board. When travelling, Casasola values ‘breaking out of routine’ and ‘unexpected encounters’. She frequently returns to her home country, choosing Oscar Niemeyer’s family home and Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro as locations for Casasola photo shoots.
100,000 miles flown per year 25 trips taken per year 15 hotels visited per year
JUDGE Bo Young Song Gallerist, Seoul
As the managing director of Kukje Gallery in Seoul, Bo Young Song spends her days promoting contemporary Korean art while driving the translation and digitisation of Korean historical manuscripts for the gallery’s archival programme. It’s a complex juggling act, but the efforts are paying off, with the gallery representing tent-pole talents such as Jenny Holzer and multimedia artist Suki Seokyeong Kang. Currently on Song’s to-do list is the renovation of Kukje Gallery’s K1 space into a cultural complex-cum-commercial gallery that will feature, when it opens this winter, a text-based concept store designed by Scandinavian artists Elmgreen & Dragset, a wellness centre and a restaurant. Not surprisingly, travel looms large in the diary. ‘In order to visualise ideas in refreshing and innovative ways, you have to broaden your horizons – meaning you have to travel, see a lot of things, and build relationships,’ she says. Ever time-pressed, Song looks for a hotel that ‘isn’t just about the visual aesthetic, but also captures the context of the city’ – qualities exemplified, she says, by the likes of Paris’ Hôtel Costes and Tokyo’s Hoshinoya. Daven Wu
150,000 miles flown per year 25-30 trips taken per year 30 hotels visited per year
JUDGE Pulane Kingston Art patron, Johannesburg
Once an advocate of law, Johannesburgbased collector Pulane Kingston is now an advocate of the African art scene and, among other posts, sits on the board of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town and is a member of the Africa Acquisitions Committee at London’s Tate. Kingston lived across the African continent during her formative years and developed a voracious appetite for travel. Although she typically gravitates towards boutique hotels (particularly those with exceptional art collections), the Four Seasons Istanbul at the Bosphorus ranks among her favourite stays – ‘the architecture, views, positioning, service and more are almost unparalleled’. Kingston’s travels are largely guided by the global art calendar – fairs, biennials, exhibitions – but she travels plenty for pleasure, whether it’s a pilgrimage to India or visiting her Californiabased son. ‘Travel is one of the greatest joys of my life, a privilege that is the best gift I could possibly have.’
200,000 miles flown per year 62 trips taken per year 12 hotels visited per year
JUDGE Marriam Mossalli Entrepreneur, Jeddah
Founder of Niche Arabia, Saudi Arabia’s first luxury consultancy helping global brands penetrate the peninsula, Marriam Mossalli is the only Saudi woman on the Business of Fashion 500 list and was a New Wave Creative at the 2018 British Fashion Awards. She has made it her mission to help disseminate information about the Arab world, but through creative industries such as fashion, film, art and design. When she’s not in Jeddah, she’s directing campaigns for high-flying clients, among them Piaget, Burberry, Prada and Givenchy. Her latest project, Neo Nomad, is a joint venture bringing large-scale international entertainment events to Saudi millennials. Her favourite hotels include the Nomo Soho in New York and Rome’s JK Place, but she’s equally passionate about membershiponly chains such as Soho House, which she values for its sense of community and entertainment options. For Mossalli, what truly makes a hotel is its concierge service. ‘Coming from the Middle East, where it’s all about wasta (“who you know”), I like a hotel that can call the most exclusive restaurant and get me a reservation that day.’ 64,000 miles flown per year 20-30 trips taken per year 15+ hotels visited per year
JUDGE Fernanda Canales Architect, Mexico City
Since establishing her eponymous practice in 2002, the architect Fernanda Canales has become as recognised for her academic output as her built work, which includes residences, installations and cultural institutions, mostly in her native Mexico. Regardless of their purpose, Canales’ designs often propose the creation of elegant, minimalistic volumes that still address the geographic concerns of the specific site, yielding dynamic and memorable results. Most recently, teaching engagements, lectures, exhibition openings and awards ceremonies have taken Canales around the world. This year in particular, she has found herself frequent-flying to Connecticut as a visiting faculty member at Yale University, as well as to London. When choosing her hotel, Canales typically looks for a quiet environment with an excellent concierge. ‘I usually don’t like modern hotels,’ she laughs. ‘I like the old-fashioned, classic hotels. The new, cool places can lack the knowledge and tradition of service. So I go backwards in the sense of what’s fashionable.’ Canales treats her hotel as a place of rest where she will not be bothered. ‘I really like to have a very secluded experience. Design plays a part. I care about high ceilings, good light, a good view, but less about stylish, modern furnishings.’ One favourite that hits the mark on all fronts is the Hotel Sanders in Copenhagen. ‘It has the looks, the drinks and the restaurant,’ Canales explains, ‘but it also has the feeling of a small house, in the sense of its quiet, its comfort and there being not a lot of people going in and out. It feels homey and that’s difficult to find.’
82,000 miles flown per year 18 trips taken per year 14 hotels visited per year
B HOTEL Brasilia
The debut of B Hotel in Brasilia – one of our three joint winners – was a homecoming for Isay Weinfeld, who was tapped for both the architecture and interiors. Channelling a command of minimalist textures and an unerring eye for the vanishing point, Weinfeld created a rugged rectilinear block on the Eixo Monumental, investing the sand-hued façade with a sequence of irregularly spaced square-cut windows (pictured). The modernist rooms and public spaces are swathed with dark furniture and geometric lines. The rooftop bar and pool, dappled in shadows cast by traditional cobogó bricks, look over Brasilia’s skyline, while the ground-floor restaurant makes fine use of native baru and pequi nuts and cacao.
Photography: Fernando Guerra Writer: Daven Wu SHN Quadra 5, Bloco J, Lote L, Brasilia, tel: 55.61 3962 2600, bhotelbrasilia.com.br. Rates: from BRL272 ($69)
THE JAFFA Tel Aviv
Contemporary and classic elements sit side by side at The Jaffa, which is located in a renovated 19th-century hospital and distinct new-build designed by John Pawson and architect Ramy Gill. Grand Roman columns with Corinthian cornices branch above a minimalist marble reception desk in the lobby (this page), and stained glass windows throw pillars of mottled colour across austere furnishings. The rooms reflect the warm tones of Jaffa’s rampant stonework, while the furniture nods to the Bauhaus style for which wider Tel Aviv is most renowned. Guests will find a diverse collection of restaurants under the hotel’s pitched roof, from a Jewish deli to a New York-style Italian.
Photography: Amit Geron Writer: Harry Mckinley 2 Louis Pasteur Street, Tel Aviv, tel: 972.3 504 2000, thejaffahotel.com. Rates: from $500
TRUNK (HOUSE) Tokyo
Occupying a 70-year-old former ryotei restaurant and geisha training hall, Trunk (House) is a one-bedroom residence, with an interior riffing on traditional Japanese homes, masterminded by in-house team Trunk Atelier and Tokyo-based studio Tripster. There are brass lights, by Nara-based New Light Pottery, suspended above the ground-floor marble kitchen counters and solid oak dining table, while the living room is similarly cleanlined, with metal-framed leather sofas by Stephen Kenn and a sunken hearth for tea ceremonies (opposite). The bathroom, inspired by traditional sentō bathhouses, is a scene-stealer with tiles featuring whimsical images by woodblock artist Masumi Ishikawa. Best of all is ‘the world’s smallest disco’ (this page), complete with glitter ball, karaoke and neon signage. Photography: Yasuyuki Takagi Writer: Danielle Demetriou
3-1-34 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, tel: 81.3 3268 0123, trunk-house.com. Rates for whole house: from 621,000 ($5,720)
SOHO HOUSE Mumbai
Occupying an 11-storey building in the beachside Juhu neighbourhood, Soho House Mumbai is instantly recognisable. Deep armchairs, textured sisal rugs, patterned wallpaper and familiar Cowshed toiletries all feature, though Indian aesthetics are subtly incorporated by way of cane furniture, cement tiles, vibrant splashes of Rajasthani block-printed fabrics, ornate vintage mirrors, lampshades covered with antique sari fabrics, local antiques, and artworks by the likes of Subodh Gupta. On the ground floor is a public lounge and bar, alongside an outpost of Cecconi’s with views over the Arabian Sea. Elsewhere, there’s a private members’ floor (above), with antique teak floors and cut-glass chandeliers, and that much-loved Soho House staple, a rooftop swimming pool.
16 Juhu Tara Road, Santa Cruz West, Mumbai, tel 91.22 6213 3333, sohohousemumbai.com. Rates: from INR21,000 ($297)
JANEIRO Rio de Janeiro
Janeiro is Carioca designer-turned-artist Oskar Metsavaht’s hospitality debut. Modernist in structure, and crafted from travertine marble and horizontal frames that throw summer shadows, architect Lia Siqueira’s sleek minimalism is warmed by natural highlights, from Brazilian freijó wood to curved raffia chairs and paintings by Metsavaht’s artist-sister Ana. Design books from Metsavaht’s private collection dot the first-floor restaurant, where chef Daniel Pinho crafts dishes from locally sourced organic ingredients in line with the designer’s eco-conscious approach to life. The 18th-floor Omakase bar (above) and the rooftop pool boasts stellar views, best enjoyed with basil-infused mojitos as the beach below applauds yet another flaming sunset.
Av Delfim Moreira 696, tel: 55.21 2172-1001, janeirohotel.rio. Rates: from BRL1,054 ($267)
AUGUST Antwerp
Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen is often approached to work on hotels, but this is his first collaboration, set in motion after Mouche Van Hool, owner of the soigné Hotel Julien in Antwerp, came knocking for help on her second project. A 19th-century, former military hospital and Augustinian convent in Antwerp’s Green Quarter made an ideal canvas for Van Duysen’s trademark blend of feathery light aesthetics and gentle colour palette, with five separate buildings stitched together to form a 44-room cloistered retreat. High ceilings, restored floor tiles and arched windows form a lofty backdrop, which Van Duysen dresses with Flos lamps, black leather sofas, handwoven rugs and custom-made furniture. Chef Nick Bril orchestrates a modern menu both in the cosy red brick-walled restaurant and in the impressive bar (pictured), located in a turn-of-the-century chapel complete with ink-black ceilings and a stained-glass rose window. Daven Wu Jules Bordetstraat 5, Antwerp, tel: 32.3 500 8080, august-antwerp.com. Rates: from €165
ROSEWOOD Hong Kong
Occupying 27 floors of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates’ shiny new 65-storey tower, the Rosewood makes the most of its perch overlooking Victoria Dockside and Hong Kong’s silhouette of neon-charged skyscrapers. The New York-based designer Tony Chi has swathed the interiors in acres of marble, textured wallpaper and discreetly patterned furnishings. There is a two-level wellness spa and eight food and beverage outlets, including The Legacy House, a Chinese restaurant that focuses on Shunde dishes. Concierges can organise visits to local fashion ateliers as well as neighbourhood tours in a long-wheelbase supercharged Range Rover. DW
18 Salisbury Road, Hong Kong, tel: 852.3891 8888, rosewoodhotels.com/hongkong. Rates: from HK$4,800 ($612)