Cool Hotels. Kim Inglis

      The New Asian Hotel: A Sanctuary for the Senses

      Recent years have seen an Asian design boom, with Oriental-influenced spas, architecture, interior design, furnishings and handicrafts gaining recognition in the world arena. Global attention is focused on the East—for inspiration, ideas and aesthetics—and increasingly as a holiday destination.

      India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have always been visited, but it is only in the last decade or so that they have begun to build ground-breaking, internationally acclaimed hotels, villas and resorts. In this book we showcase what we consider to be the best the region has to offer. Often trendy, and definitely seductive, jaw-droppingly beautiful, knock-your-socks-off stunning, sometimes modern minimalist, other times simply stylish, each property is unique. There are chic urban resting holes, modish rustic retreats, sybaritic sea-sand-and-sun resorts, even a private island or two. Places to escape to, to surrender to the power of pure visual artistry—and chill. Places where your soul will be soothed and your senses seduced. Places where high-style hedonism has been elevated to an art form.

      Until reasonably recently, cultural tourists to the area would have restricted their visits to the Delhi-Agra-Jaipur triangle and the kaftan-and-kiff set would have settled for a beach in Goa, Sri Lanka or possibly the Maldives. But with better transport links, a more demanding clientele and some stunning off-the-tourist-track properties, the scene is changing. Be it the joy of the remote, the thrill of the city, a beach, jungle or mountain location, or a combination of the above, the region delivers. And in environments that are design-worthy and intelligent.

      Individuality is key. Some hotels are incredibly simple (one even has no electricity, phone or running water), others are swanky, six-star and super-deluxe. At some there's an eco-friendly ethos, at others the emphasis is on heritage and history. There are city-slick modernist cubes, home-away-from-home hostelries, hip hideaways and renovated forts and palaces. Some are recognized brands, others are privately owned and run. Many are recently opened, representing a new wave of consumer-led hotel architecture that offers peace, privacy and escape in drop-dead gorgeous surroundings.

      All the hotels in this book dare to be different. Visually, architecturally and in terms of size, location and amenities, they vary widely; where they are similar is in their commitment to quality. They are also ravishingly photogenic. Enjoy.

      The Imperial New Delhi, India

      For those who know India well, it is somehow comforting to arrive in Delhi, see a cow nonchalantly walking in the middle of the road, note the mayhem of traffic, and reminisce about the noise, confusion and Indian-ness of it all. For first-timers, however, it

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