Design Hotels

'Modern hotel design is responsible for more bold, colourful and imaginative creations than any other architectural genre. Never before has there been such amazing diversity, such a potpourri of styles or such extravagant playfulness. Today's hotel scene is like a box of chocolates – full of delightful confections, which present business travellers and holidaymakers alike with deliciously agonizing choices' New Hotel Design by Otto Riewoldt

Like 'boutique hotel', the phrase design hotel has become overused since the concept burst upon the hotel scene in any meaningful way ten years ago. Today many hotels which do not class themselves 'design hotels' have nevertheless incorporated spectacular design, while others which do call themselves design hotels have nowhere near the level of detail to put them amongst the best. However, the concept goes beyond simply the architectural detailing - it is a much deeper shift than that, reflecting the emergence of what has been termed the 'experience economy'. Today, travellers seek transitory experiences of the highest order, and hotels have become the canvases on which these experiences - fantasies even - can be lived. Ian Schrager compares his hotels with a play: the lobby is the prelude, the first act of the hotel's drama, which has its finale in the guest rooms. These are places where one's personal identity can become changed, uninhibited, where for a short while and surrounded by undreamt of luxuries you can pretend to be different from who you are in everyday life... The hotels which embody this new trend of leisure as entertainment and experience are the new breed of design hotels.

In our selections, we have included only those hotels which we feel deliver an experience. They can be minimalist, warm or cold, soft or romantic or cerebral. They are authentic, and never dull.

To browse our key destinations, see below or click on popular cities or popular regions. For a full range of all the hotels we have on our database, both reviewed and not, where you can also filter by categorisations such as 'boutique hotels' (for example boutique hotels in Paris), 'grand dames', 'childfriendly and family hotels', 'budget hotels', 'eco resorts', 'charming hotels', 'townhouse hotels' and so on. Alternatively check out our inspirational hotel hotlists of reviewed hotels in a variety of other destinations below.


Design Hotels

Design Hotels in Amsterdam

Design Hotels in Barcelona

Design Hotels in Brighton

Design Hotels in Lisbon

Design Hotels in London

Design Hotels in Madrid

Design Hotels in Mallorca

Design Hotels in New York

Design Hotels in Paris

Design Hotels in Prague

Design Hotels in Rome

Design Hotels in Sydney

Design Hotels in Venice