5 Culturally Rich Global Getaways

From South Africa to Spain, these hotels and resorts draw deeply on the cultural and natural richness of their locations.

How Stunning Resorts are Embracing Culture and Nature

Kimpton Los Monteros

PrevNext

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Born in nearby Málaga, Pablo Picasso is a presiding spirit in the renovation of all the public spaces at this venerable, 195-room celebrity haunt designed by El Equipo Creativo. Defining seating alcoves, the lobby’s abstract blue-and-white murals could have come from the artist’s hand, while the reception desk’s painted front evokes his way with color and form. The hotel’s Andalusian location is referenced in the extensive use of its signature tilework on floors, columns, and bar surrounds, while the region’s distinctive natural palette—ochres, greens, and aquas—is backdropped by its famed whitewashed plaster walls. Drawing inspiration from the Marbella, Spain, property’s ’70’s architecture, the colors, textures, and patterns of the upholstered seating suggest the era with fresh, updated flair.

The Cove

PrevNext

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The revamp of this 40-acre, 22-room resort in Eleuthera, Bahamas, including new bungalow suites and villas by Gluckman Tang, finds BAR Architects & Interiors’s interiors drawing inspiration from its extraordinary setting: two private white-sand coves framed by stone cliffs and lapped by azure waters. Extensive teak millwork echoes the island’s ubiquitous driftwood, white-painted shiplap walls and ceilings conjure its powdery beaches, and limestone floors evoke its rocky outcrops. Windy Chien’s knot sculptures, crafted from Sunbrella cordage, enhance guest rooms and public spaces—including the lounge, which leads to the restaurant: an airy, 9,000-square-foot space anchored by a marble sushi bar and overhung with circular fixtures trailing lush vines.

Villa Radici

PrevNext

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Comprising three main buildings and several standalone garden villas in a parklike setting, Augustus Hotel & Resort in Forte dei Marmi, Italy, adds seven more suites with the acquisition and renovation of Villa Radici, a two-story, 1930’s house once owned by the founder’s sister. Discreet Architecture enhanced structural features like wide arches and generous volumes, while De.Tales populated the interiors with furnishings and artworks—some original to the villa, others of more recent vintage—that harmonize with the historic home’s Liberty-style aesthetic. For instance, the organic form and mocha acrylic shade of Gae Aulenti’s ’70’s Quadrifoglio floor lamp complement the common living room’s palette of ochre, green, and pink—tones that not only echo the project’s natural surroundings but also its signature colors.

Sleeping Lab·Tang

PrevNext

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

An abandoned attempt to transform this single-story street-corner building in Beijing into a B&B left the premises in a state of disrepair. Brought in to revive the project, Atelier d’More radically reimagined the property—inside and out—while preserving much of the original framework and its 2,150-square-foot layout. The addition of smoothly curved facade elements gives the white stucco exterior a Cycladic look. The interior is an oasis of calm, with reception, lounge, and dining areas occupying a central space flanked by two existing courtyards, around which the six guest rooms—two featuring attic lofts—are arranged. Simple plywood built-ins and custom furniture, all crafted on-site, complete the minimalist aesthetic, which emphasizes harmony and comfort.

Mylos Hotel

PrevNext

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Orma Architettura has literally incorporated Corsica’s earthy colors and textures into the fabric of the property’s three buildings by mixing soil and rubble excavated from the hillside site into the concrete that forms them. Chzon’s interiors for the 35-room hotel in Cargèse, France, also reflect its location, with particular allusions to the town’s Greek heritage. Subtle references to that past appear in a marble reception desk with rounded ends suggesting the volutes of an Ionic column and in wavelike friezes etched into plaster bathroom walls. Other nods to regional culture include cutout headboards recalling the shape of hats worn by Corsican shepherds and, in the restaurant Teos, biomorphic booths and alcoves—an homage to French architect Jacques Couëlle’s white-cave interiors, which epitomized mid-century Tyrrhenian-resort chic.