Leading By Design

Awe-inspiring aesthetics, thoughtful décor and compelling concepts make these hotels the stays of our lives

- Clement Huang

If you pay attention to travel products, you may have heard of the term “design hotels” or “design-led hotels.” It has become such a trend that there is even an alliance dedicated to it. The Design Hotels group, established over 20 years ago, provides small, independent properties with the much-needed support that these hotels would otherwise be unable to receive, including sales, marketing and public relations, along with yield revenue management and business development deals. The group started with ten member properties, which has since blossomed into a collection of some 300 design hotels.

But what constitutes a “design hotel”? The term first emerged in the 1980s in North America and Europe, where it was most often used in relation to small, independent hotels. Beyond that, there is no cookie cutter definition for this hotel concept, because the whole point is that these hotels are, by definition, not cookie cutter. Members of the Design Hotels group range from Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita – a five-star hotel built into ancient stone caves in southern Italy – to Mira Moon, a 91-room hotel located in downtown Hong Kong, which highlights Chinese traditions as its main theme.

Perhaps it’s easier to highlight what a design hotel is not – conformist, generic or appealing to the mass market. However, things have become a little cloudier with the entry of large hotel groups into the arena. The success of the pioneers has resulted in commercial exposure, with multi-national hotel groups latching on to the attractiveness of the concept, and launching their own “design” brands.

Small Trend Goes Big