SEEK THE UNIQUE

More than just a home for the night, these hotels serve as destinations offering a chance to experience masterful architecture, thoughtful interior design and boundless inspiration on how to live better

- Kissa Castañeda

SIX SENSES BHUTAN Bhutan Soulful escapes are par for the course in Bhutan, a country with a careful approach to tourism that has resulted in authentic experiences that are becoming rarer by the day. One of the few luxury hotels to set up here is Six Senses Bhutan, a collection of five lodges in Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey and Bumthang that opened between 2018 and 2020.

Designed in collaboration with Thai studio Habita Architects, the hotel’s ethos is grounded in simplicity and harmony, expressed through the use of local materials such as hemlock wood and ashlar stone. The hotels are meant to be experienced together as a circuit, and at each stop travellers are welcomed into spacious, light-filled rooms—even the smallest is a generous 645 sq ft. Floor-to-ceiling windows and oversized decks allow one to take in the towering peaks, quiet valleys and flowing rivers; views that can also be enjoyed from the vantage point of expansive baths and private pools that feature in some of the lodges. The most impressive detail is the commitment to pursue the greenest route possible in construction and design, befitting the first carbon-negative country in the world.

HEALING STAY KOSMOS HOTEL Ulleungdo Island, South Korea 

Untouched, rugged places are fodder for architects looking to create a statement. Case in point: Healing Stay Kosmos Hotel in the geological marvel that is Ulleungdo Island, a long drive east plus a three-hour ferry ride from Seoul.