Grand Designs: Asia & Oceania

There doesn’t exist a hotel on earth that can match the majesty of a Yellowstone or Banff or Kruger or Komodo. Or does there?

This is part 1 of 4 in our Grand Designs series, featuring hotels in Asia and Oceania. See the whole series here: Part 1: Asia and Oceania // Part 2: Europe and Africa // Part 3: USA and Canada // Part 4: Latin America.

Believe it or not, there are perfectly reasonable people who find a good piece of architecture and design to be as impressive as any earthly scenery — if not more so. You might be reading one of them right now. Nothing shameful about it. We’re not defensive. We’re special. A club of special people for whom a tasteful touch of humanity amid the randomness of nature helps us appreciate both even more.

The hotels listed below are located in or near some incredible national parks. They were chosen because they are monumental works of art and hospitality that club members have deemed aesthetically equal to the spectacular landscapes and cultural treasures that surround them. Read on to see if you’re one of us.
 

Gora-Kadan

Hakone-machi, Japan

Just eighty-five minutes outside Tokyo you could be at Gora-Kadan, a one-time imperial family retreat, now a first-class ryokan inn in the middle of the Hakone national park, a rural idyll in the shadow of Mount Fuji. The construction is contemporary, but the style, of course, is traditional, and everywhere you turn there’s a magnificently framed view of the Hakone countryside.

The Lindis

Omarama, New Zealand

Set in the less-traveled Ahuriri Valley on the South Island of New Zealand, the Lindis is reminiscent of the best Patagonian hotels for the way it melts into the landscape, and for the way it demonstrates that unapologetically modern architecture and design are the perfect complement for their ageless natural surroundings, which here includes Mount Aspiring National Park and, a little further on, Fiordland.

Plataran Komodo Resort & Spa

Flores, Indonesia

On the island of Flores, just across the strait from the islands that comprise the rest of Komodo National Park — yes, that Komodo, of dragon fame — is Plataran Komodo Resort & Spa. Even aside from the park, it’s a phenomenal location for a resort. Waecicu Beach is perfectly picturesque, and its oceanfront villas look out over the islands that rise dramatically out of the waters of the Flores Sea.

Aman-i-Khás

Ranthambhore, India

Staying at Aman-i-Khás means staying in Rajasthan’s Ranthambore National Park, surrounded by acres of wilderness and wildlife, including one of India’s top tiger reserves. The hotel is little more than an encampment of tents, each one heated and air conditioned, but minimally decorated in a combination Mughal/British colonial style, with simple, spare furnishings. As much as it can be, this is a modest form of luxury.

Kayakapi Premium Caves

Urgup, Turkey

It’s true; these really are some premium caves. We’ve come a long way since prehistoric times. And even in Cappadocia — which is pretty much the alpha and the omega when it comes to luxurious cave-dwelling — Kayakapi is a standout, twenty-nine beautifully retrofitted rooms carved into the soft stone cliffs of the Kayakapi neighborhood, in Turkey’s Göreme National Park.

Jusandi

Ishigaki Island, Japan

Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park is at the far southern end of Japan, much closer to Taiwan than to Tokyo. There aren’t many accommodations down here, but there is Jusandi, just one island over. A mere five villas, Jusandi is a distinguished piece of modernist minimalist architecture, custom-tailored to its sublime natural setting of beautiful beaches, crystal-clear water, and lush sub-tropical forest.

InterContinental Khao Yai Resort

Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand

The InterContinental Khao Yai Resort is nothing if not unique: a lakeside jungle escape right outside of the UNESCO-listed Khao Yai National Park, designed by the eminent resort architect Bill Bensley, and featuring an extraordinary collection of suites and villas built from upcycled train cars, inspired by the region’s pivotal role in Thai railway history.

Spicers Sangoma Retreat

Bowen Mountain, Australia

On the edge of Blue Mountains National Park, Spicers Sangoma Retreat is just fifty miles from Sydney, but far enough into the wilderness that the urban sprawl is but a distant memory. That faraway feeling is accentuated by the forest views, and by the African-inspired interiors — Sangoma is the Zulu word for “healer,” and there’s more than a little bit of a safari-lodge accent to these eight lavish modernist suites.

Amanoi

Ninh Thuan Province, Vietnam

If Aman knows anything, it’s how to pick a location. Amanoi, the group’s first hotel in Vietnam, sits on one hundred acres of elevated hillside above the shores of Vinh Hy Bay, surrounded inland by Núi Chúa National Park. Dense forest and rocky outcrops remain in their natural state, but the resort’s architectural style is signature Aman, combining modern design with the indigenous building tradition.

Freycinet Lodge

Coles Bay, Australia

If you’ve made it to Freycinet Lodge, on the sparsely populated east side of Tasmania, a hundred miles off the south coast of Australia, you’ve really gotten somewhere. With Freycinet National Park on one side and Coles Bay on the other, the lodge is a destination worthy of the effort. In keeping with the rugged realities of the landscape, its something like a luxury rethink of the classic camp cabin.

Six Senses Krabey Island

Koh Krabey Island, Cambodia

Krabey Island is a private speck of a place in the spectacular Gulf of Thailand. And if you don’t know Six Senses, take it from us: you can trust them to do luxury villas right. Here there are 40 of them, but from within your own, you’d be forgiven for thinking you had the island all to yourself. But don’t get too comfy. Make time for excursions to the neighboring islands and Ream National Park.

Wild Coast Tented Lodge

Yala, Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan coast is an extraordinary place for a holiday, and the luxury-tent safari camps of southern Africa offer an unforgettable immersion in nature. Put the two together and you’ve got Wild Coast Tented Lodge, on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka, sandwiched between a gorgeous beach and the utterly wild Yala National Park, home to elephants, leopards, monkeys, and much more.

 
 
This is part 1 of 4 in our Grand Designs series, featuring hotels in Asia and Oceania. See the whole series here: Part 1: Asia and Oceania // Part 2: Europe and Africa // Part 3: USA and Canada // Part 4: Latin America.