In hindsight, it wouldn’t really have mattered if InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort wasn’t on an immaculate private bay shrouded by an ancient rainforest. Or if this enchanting escape wasn’t so easily accessed from Danang International Airport. It’s been 12 years since architect Bill Bensley unleashed his breakthrough project onto this glorious scallop of Vietnamese coast. In that time it’s come to light that the hotel auteur’s fandom would follow him into the wildest of wilds (Rosewood Luang Prabang, Laos) and to the frosted tips of the earth (Shinta Mani Mustang, Nepal).
Two years ago, the architect, landscape architect, artist and interior designer returned to Danang to renovate his masterwork. The original design, informed by his study of Vietnam’s temples, shrines and palaces, was a series of rich spaces over four levels with a funicular railway down to the beach. For the refresh, the inspiration was the surrounding wilderness, home to critically endangered red-shanked douc langurs. In a fun twist on Indochine and Vietnamese style, the old-world monkeys pop up in wallpapers, light fittings and ceramics across the new four-bedroom residence, updated spa, new restaurants and club lounge. More critically, building footprints were minimised to conserve the jungle and monkey bridges were constructed to let wildlife roam freely through their habitat. For guests, Bensley’s aim is for them “to wander and wonder”, “have their curiosity aroused”, “sleep well” and “help with the mission of the hotel”.
The renovation confirms Bensley’s rank among the hotel industry’s most bankable design stars, joined by Kit Kemp of Firmdale Hotels, André Fu, India Mahdavi, Kelly Wearstler and rising hotshot Martin Brudnizki. Like Hollywood’s heavyweights, these are names that get ambitious projects bankrolled and alert press and list makers of impending greatness. Their heat transfers to the brands they work with and collaborators they enlist. And as Bensley attests, the power to pick and choose comes with responsibility. In his case, to shine his light on sustainable luxury. Bensley says, “Let’s all lose the greenwash and do something real.”
Bill Bensley
Signature style: Conservation chic. A designer using his star power for good.
Selected project: InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, Vietnam.
A visit to a Bill Bensley-designed hotel hits at a spiritual level. The designer taps into the history and traditions of his locations and the mysticism of its landscapes to celebrate sustainability and conservation. At InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort that meant protecting habitats while celebrating local craft and culture. This ethos carried over to the resort’s flagship restaurant, La Maison 1888, helmed by Michelin-starred chef Pierre Gagnaire, which tells the story of a fictitious French family living in a Vietnamese mansion.
Martin Brudnizki
Signature style: Escapism by way of maximalism.
Selected projects: The Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York; Le Grand Mazarin, Paris.
Dubbed the “enchanter of hospitality,” Brudnizki is a master of colour, pattern and richness. His work cuts through social media trends to create a stage for hotel theatrics. Forging his reputation with the big-budget renovation of Annabel’s nightclub in Mayfair, the designer brought high-octane wonder to The Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York where wallpapers, oil paintings and antique rugs set a slinky tone. In Paris at Le Grand Mazarin, pastels and tapestries cast guests as players in a Gertrude Stein-era salon.
Kit Kemp
Signature style: Posh and plush layering meets United Kingdom cool.
Selected project: Warren Street Hotel, New York.
Much copied but rarely matched, Kemp creates whole worlds within hotel rooms, pairing travel necessities with gleeful vignettes. As founder and creative director of Firmdale hospitality group, Kemp dishes up big helpings of whimsy and eccentricity in all her projects, including three in New York and nine in the UK. One-of-a-kind artworks are layered with upholstery, pin-tucked bed skirts and drapery galore. In less capable hands the look would be chaotic and chintzy, but Kemp’s go-for-broke style always lands on the edge of chic. Take note of the buttercup-yellow lobby at Warren Street Hotel in New York’s Tribeca neighbourhood or the piping on the velvet roll back dining chairs at the hotel’s all-day brasserie.
Ian Schrager and collaborators
Signature style: Elite party palace.
Selected project: The Singapore Edition.
The man that gave the world era-defining club, Studio 54, Schrager is also responsible for conceptualising such gems as the “boutique hotel”, the “urban resort” and “lobby socialising”. More of a big-picture thinker than a hotel designer, Schrager scouts top talent for his projects, often propelling them into the starchitect stratosphere as he did with long-time collaborator Philippe Starck in the 1990s (Mondrian Hotel Hollywood; Hudson Hotel New York). Now, under the Edition Hotels banner in partnership with Marriott International, Schrager is tapping more designers for greatness. At The Singapore Edition, the CAP Atelier team, led by Henry Leung and Shirley Tsui, got the call up. Here, tropical foliage is amassed under a gold leaf-domed ceiling while quiet moments – a spiral Venetian plaster stairwell; minimalist furniture – go toe to toe with bolder design statements – a back-lit pink Lobby Bar; an Yves Klein-blue Punch Room.
André Fu
Signature style: Cinematic glitz refined to crisp-edged perfection.
Selected project: St. Regis Hong Kong.
Hong Kong-raised and Cambridge-educated, Asia’s most sought-after interior architect makes modern elegance seem effortless. At St. Regis Hong Kong his studio envisioned a mansion at the overlap of East and West, dipping into the nostalgia of Hong Kong in the 1960s and ’70s. The Great Room is elegantly airy with its double-height windows and lacquered wood. This is in contrast to the moodier bar in dimly lit green marble. Then at the two-Michelin-starred restaurant L’Envol, Parisian flair enters the frame.
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