Views of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge surround the residence

Our hotel of the month has grandeur, a high-energy Japanese-Chinese restaurant, jazz under an Imperial dome and much more, right next to the Tower of London

What drew us there?

Arriving at the Four Seasons, Ten Trinity Square, is a monumental experience. Literally. The building, in the city of London, and directly facing the Tower of London, is the former headquarters of the Port of London Authority. Walking up its entrance steps you feel as if you are due to be summoned inside for a meeting with the First Sea Lord about the Imperial Fleet in the South Pacific.

Mei Ume offers traditional Chinese and Japanese dishes with a modern approach to the cuisine

Those days have long gone, but fortunately, the building’s new incarnation as a Four Seasons hotel is rather more user-friendly. After checking, in, waft into the domed lobby area with its bar at the far end, the former rotunda at the heart of the orginal building, and you feel you are in a different world to the busy city outside. This is the only true luxury hotel in the city of London, and given that it is also a souvenir’s throw from the Tower of London, it offers an excellent location for an alternative view of the British capital.

The Experience

Our rooms, or should we call them chambers, with vast and high ceilings, were on the ground floor, with a palatial bedroom, connecting into an equally palatial living room, cupboards the size of small apartments, and a bathroom that looked like it might have been a bank vault in a previous incarnation.

Decor is rich, dark and masculine, and you feel you are secure in the heart of the establishment – in this case, the luxury hotel establishment. The Four Seasons also has a significant pool, running across a large portion of its footprint downstairs, with a bank of wellness pools and an adjoining spa.

The bedroom in the Heritage Suite

We were staying one night, it was hard to decide whether to eat light bites in the Rotunda bar under the dome of the lobby, which featured a live jazz band, or go for a more celebratory dinner in the Mei Ume Chinese and Japanese restaurant beyond.

We went for the latter, a vibey place with groups of slickly dressed people in their 20s and 30s looking highly photogenic for their instagrams. The Negronis were cutting edge, and we loved being able to dip into both cuisines: a signature beef rice bowl (with wagyu sirloin, egg and fried rice) along with some Har Gu and Chiu Mai dim sum, ginger and spring onion chicken buns that were just the right puffiness and bite, unagi and cucumber uramaki…it was not fusion cuisine, rather two distinctive cuisines in one high-energy restaurant. And then, we mellowed out with a digestif glass of champagne and some piano jazz in the bar. Beautiful.

The indoor swimming pool at the Spa

Anything else to know?

For business travellers, the hotel is super convenient for the city, and pretty close to Canary Wharf. For tourists, it is right next to the Tower of London had a short walk along the riverbank promenade to the Tate Modern. However, it is a little further from the traditional sites of the West End.

Rates: From £700 per night (approx. €795/$875)

Book your stay: www.fourseasons.com/tentrinity/

Darius Sanai

Four Seasons Private Residences New Orleans

Four Seasons is not only world renowned for its luxurious hotels but also its private residences. Here, LUX speaks to Paul White, President of Four Seasons Private Residences about the success and growth of the brand

Paul White, President Four Seasons Private Residences

1. For the high net worth individual, what makes a Four Seasons Private Residence singularly attractive over a standalone home?

The goal of our residential strategy is to extend the Four Seasons lifestyle experience, creating the very best homes in the world – in the best locations, of the highest quality, and accompanied by Four Seasons legendary service. We are a “people powered brand” so this service is a fundamental part of our residential offering.

Alongside our renowned service offering, residents can enjoy the best of both worlds with exclusive and private homes that provide hotel-inspired amenities that they have come to love when staying with Four Seasons around the world. These amenities include incredible communal areas, private amenities and spacious lobbies and social areas.

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A major benefit to homeowners is that Four Seasons acts as the property managers of every residential property in our portfolio – we do not outsource to third parties like some other brands. If owners are only spending a portion of their time in-residence, they can trust that Four Seasons is on the ground and will care for and maintain their asset while they are away. This also safeguards their investment for the future.

2. Unlike unbranded residences, Four Seasons have a premium on trust and credibility in the luxury real estate sector. How has this buttressed the growing consumer desire for security and peace of mind amid the instability of the past year?

During the pandemic and as our industry looks forward to recovery, the trust and confidence in the Four Seasons brand, paired with our legendary service, is what residents are looking for and what is most appealing to prospective buyers. Especially in a lockdown scenario, they have all they need within the Four Seasons experience they know and trust.

During the height of the pandemic, more and more of our residents stayed in place in their Four Seasons home, a testament to the comfort, confidence and peace of mind they feel in the asset and in our service. Additionally, with guidance from internationally recognized experts, Four Seasons also developed Lead With Care, our enhanced global health and safety program focused on providing care, confidence and comfort to all guests, employees and residents within the new COVID-19 environment.

The use of technology to offer contactless service has become even more important in light of COVID-19, which is why we extended the award-winning Four Seasons App and Chat platforms to create a digital experience for our residents, accessible through their phones, tablets, or computers. The residential digital experience allows residents to further customise their residential lifestyle experience, including securely managing and maintaining their home, connecting with their designated Four Seasons team members, and requesting services with ease and convenience.

Four Seasons Private Residences Dubai

3. Owing to the phenomenal success of Four Seasons Private Residences, the brand is expecting to double its portfolio. How do you sustain its reputation for uniqueness and curation while pursuing growth on a global scale?

Our formula is to blend high profile real estate with the concept of lifestyle, to create the ultimate in luxury living for discerning homeowners who are in the market to purchase an amenity-rich and serviced residence or vacation home. Whether you live with us or vacation with us, a Four Seasons residential experience marries the world’s finest real estate and personalised, integrated service.

Our focus with both hotels and residences has always been to offer a world-class product in the best locations. We seek developers who can help us achieve this, and whose goals for offering the highest quality of location, architectural stature, interior design and amenities are aligned with ours. Our partners are equally as committed to excellence, and choose Four Seasons to deliver exceptional personalised service to residence owners.

As a brand, our residential offering is not new, but an important and growing part of our business. We have been a leader in branded residential since 1985, when the company opened its first private residences in Boston. Today, we operate 46 Private Residences globally, designed and built to Four Seasons standards in both global urban centers and gateway cities, as well as resort destinations.

4. Four Seasons branded residences have been around since 1985. Has there been a shift in the type of clientele since then?

Branded residential offerings are well suited to meet the changing needs of today’s buyer, not only by offering spacious, beautifully designed homes, but through the trust and strength of the brand and knowing that you and your home will be cared for.

Four Seasons buyers are not only looking for luxury and prestige – but also security, peace of mind and privacy – and are prepared to pay premium prices for a brand that goes above and beyond to deliver in these areas. A Four Seasons Private Residence make the perfect investment choice for both local and internationally mobile buyers, giving clients the opportunity to buy into a home with a globally recognised, reputable brand with both cache and credibility. As a result of the pandemic, we have also seen the lines blur around first, second, third homes. With the ability to work from anywhere, residents are using their homes differently than they have before.

Four Seasons Private Residences. 20 Grosvenor Square

5. The private residences’ clientele ranges from full- and part-time occupants to those looking solely for an investment property. How do you cater to these various needs while maintaining an overall sense of cohesion and community?

The Four Seasons buyer profile varies from market to market – Four Seasons trends indicate that buyers are local who know the market and brand. There are also many UHNW buyers with an affinity to the Four Seasons, an affinity for a given location, and who are pre-disposed to buying real estate for personal use and enjoyment and/or as an investment.

While we are dedicated to upholding our brand standards, we recognise that the best real estate in the world is a genuine reflection of its locale. Each Four Seasons property is reflective of the unique culture, history and aesthetic of the destination in which it sits. We work closely with our designers and developers to understand the buyer profile in each location and optimise the design and amenities accordingly to meet the unique needs of the luxury consumer in that market and connect them more deeply with the local environment.

Read more: Luxury Travel Views: Four Seasons Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, Côte d’Azur

6. You are in the midst of growing your portfolio of standalone residences, with projects in London, Los Angeles, Marrakech and San Francisco. Tell us more about the process involved in these projects, and what differentiates them from other residences in the brand’s portfolio.

As a brand, Four Seasons is strategic and deliberate with the markets we choose to operate in. These standalone residential projects are unique in that they exist separately from hotels and resorts. They are a distinct yet complementary Four Seasons living experience, and in many global gateway markets we offer both standalone residential projects as well as residences that are connected to a hotel.

As we continue our robust residential expansion, our focus is on offering Four Seasons Private Residences in key destinations where our residents want to live, looking at the latest buying trends and understanding their residents and their needs. Our biggest differentiator is our service and this has always been driven by our people. It is our teams on the ground, led by a dedicated Director of Residences, who bring the Four Seasons experience to life, delivering the genuine, personalised service that defines our brand the world over.

Find out more: fourseasons.com

The grand exterior and park of the Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa in Baden-Baden

Our editor-in-chief reflects on travels to some of the world’s great hotels, old and new, across Europe and Asia

Brenners Park, Baden-Baden

Swing open the balcony door at the Brenners, and you are in a fairytale land of luscious trees and deep lawns, with a stream running along the end of the garden in front of you. Locals and tourists stroll along the path beyond, kids run in the flower-bedecked meadow.

Not that long ago, Baden-Baden in Germany was pretty much the place in the world to come to get away from it all. In the days before jets, the view from the Brenners Park, overlooking the gardens, with the tops of the hills of the Black Forest immediately beyond, and the opera house just down at the end of the park, was as good as it could possibly get.

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It feels pretty good right now. I ease myself into one of the balcony chairs, listening to the birdsong, reflecting that we are in the heart of Europe, a tiny distance from my home, somewhere unencumbered by the over-commercialisation of modern tourist destinations, and without hurricanes, typhoons or sweltering heat.

The hotel is in a little valley which itself is the centre of the spa town of Baden-Baden. Walk out through the grounds, over a little bridge, turn right and you are in a Baroque town centre within around four minutes’ walk. The park itself feels like the hotel’s back garden. Arriving at the grand entrance, you are aware of drawing up at an institution that has attracted the world’s great and good since 1872. Emperors from Germany to Persia stayed here. The reception area has the feel of the ground country house, rather than a city hotel, and a short climb up an oak-panelled staircase (or in a cute vintage lift) took us to a grand corridor with our suite at one end, and the connection to the adjoining villa containing the hotel’s famous wellness and spa area.

True to its history, the Villa Stéphanie is a health, medicine and recuperation centre in its own right. Sure, you can swim lengths in the conservatory pool and chillax on wooden sun loungers inside facing the park, or outside in the park in summer. You can also have a treatment and a tour of the wet facilities in the 5,000sq m spa, with its pool areas overlooking the gardens. You can also get proper medical consultations and physiotherapy along with everything else – the medical centre is housed in yet another building, adjacent to Villa Stéphanie.

The subtly modernised Fritz & Felix restaurant

I settled for an excellent analysis and treatment session of physiotherapy regarding my tennis elbow (conclusion: too much phone use, and too little actual tennis) after which a refreshing 50-length swim gave me an appetite. We wandered down for dinner at Fritz & Felix, an art-deco styled but distinctly contemporary culinary concept, a restaurant/ bar/kitchen. It was a refreshing contrast to our expectations of a historic German hotel. The menu, all in lower case, featured a delicious looking selection of high-quality but simple dishes: sole with capers, parsley, lemon and olive oil; local pike perch with lentils, balsamic, thyme and olives; fillet of beef with chimichurri and broccoli. The rack of lamb with chick peas, raisins and cumin went down particularly well.

The Brenners Park is part of the same group as the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the south of France and the Bristol in Paris, and you can tell with every flutter of perfect service. Pure class.

Book your stay: oetkercollection.com

Mandarin Oriental Singapore’s swimming pools with views across Marina Bay

Mandarin Oriental Singapore

It was late when I arrived at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore. The transfer from the airport was quick, only 15 minutes. But the flight had been delayed, we had circled during a storm, and I had missed my dinner arrangement, so was feeling rather irritable.

I explained this all to the pleasant young lady who met me at reception and took me to my room (in-room check-in is such a slam dunk for a luxury hotel that they should all be required to do it to retain their five-star status) and she sympathised and, in that luxury Asian hotel way, immediately came up with a solution. Why didn’t I go to the poolside lounge bar, Bay@5, still open, for a glass of wine and a bite to eat?

Read more: Back to school with Van Cleef & Arpels

There aren’t many city hotels in the world where the swimming pool bar will be open, let alone tempting, at 11 o’clock at night, but this Mandarin, it turns out, was very much one of them. On exiting onto the pool terrace, I was greeted with a night-time-hued blue pool and surrounding tropical foliage and, across the waters of Marina Bay, an archipelago of black liquid and skyscrapers that is one of the most intimate yet dramatic night-time cityscapes in the world. Being on the fifth floor, we were just raised above the streetscape of the bay area.

The storm had passed over, the sky was starry with a warm breeze. The terrace of the bar area had a few couples and a small group sipping wine, and 80s music playing. I sipped on a beer so cold the condensation poured and reformed and poured again onto my lap, and instantly I felt much improved.

The bar at Mandarin Oriental Singapore

The food was exactly what you might want after a long and jet-lagged journey: I had a vegetarian pizza with San Marzano tomatoes and grilled vegetables, and a hamachi ceviche with coriander. There was a selection of cocktails from Mandarin Oriental bars across the world, some fine Australian wines, and Ruinart Blanc de Blancs champagne, but the draft beer suited me fine that evening – I was the last to leave, and back in my room I was half tempted to leave the curtains open so the harbour lights lulled me to sleep, although in the morning I would have been woken by the tropical sun.

I had a morning in my room before meetings in the afternoon, which was nothing if not invigorating. The decor was contemporary Asian luxury: lots of greys and taupes, some piano blacks, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Fortunately, Mandarin Oriental has not yet fallen for the trend of assuming everyone works lying down propped up on pillows in their beds, and there was a proper office chair and desk, which I shunted around to face the view. On my final morning I had an hour spare, and went back to the pool deck, this time to do some lengths of the huge pool and spend 10 minutes lying under the overhead sun. With a view directly across the harbour and out of the sea, it felt like we were on a tropical island, and in a sense we were. Pretty impressive for a city-centre hotel, and I can’t think of anywhere that beats it for a resort in a city of glamour.

Book your stay: mandarinoriental.com

The Four Seasons Hampshire brings a modern style to its 18th-century English manor house and park

Four Seasons Hampshire

The clouds were dramatic as we headed up the drive towards the brick manor house that is the Four Seasons hotel in Hampshire. The hotel is on a slight hill above open fields of English countryside, and on a sunny day, puffs of white and slabs of grey fought each other for places in the Atlantic-washed sky. Arrival was made even more atmospheric at the sight of three fawn-coloured horses, their riders gently leading them across a lawn to the stable block.

The feeling here is of space and light; you (or your kids) are free to roam down the slope leading around the hotel to the restaurant, café and eventually the shooting field at the back. Inside the building, a covered passageway in the conservatory leads to a spa block with a big indoor pool with a glass roof, and outdoor Jacuzzi and sunbathing area, completely private on an Italianate terrace.

The lounge are of the Wild Carrot restaurant at Four Seasons Hampshire

Our room was a blend of traditional English coloured cushions – pinks, dark pastels, and burnt orange – a combination of leatherwork, ornate wallpapers, with windows looking over the open fields. Less than 40 minutes from Heathrow, you are plunged into a serious English country house experience.

Read more: High altitude luxury at Riffelalp Resort 2222m, Zermatt

We were expecting a slightly formalised English dining experience, but fortunately the management had more sense than that. Wild Carrot, the main restaurant, has been reborn as a kind of grand Parisian bistro. There were leather banquettes, bare wooden floors and no tablecloths, and a menu featuring lots of raw and local ingredients. Typical was the very welcome lightly torched house-cured mackerel with pickled radish and hollandaise, and a main of Somerset salt-marsh lamb rack with roasted cucumber, Greek yoghurt, tomato chutney and mint. All the vegetables are locally grown.

The hotel’s pool is attached to the converted stables

Unlike some traditional English country house hotels, signs proclaim children and dogs are welcome, and there are plenty of activities for both. The riding stables offered us a trek across the fields and around the lakes and hacking around the woodland on horses which had been perfectly matched to our height, weight and experience. There is also a high-wire adventure park, which involves zip wires, ladders and perilous bridges to clamber across, all with highly professional instructors.

There is also tennis, clay pigeon shooting, cycling, croquet and an immensely satisfying spa. The grounds are vast – a walk down to and around the lake and back is enough to work up a full day’s appetite. Altogether, it’s impossible to think of another English country house hotel which offers such a complete range of experiences in such luxury, let alone one so near Heathrow Airport and the capital.

Book your stay: fourseasons.com

The Gstaad Palace was once called, for good reason, the ‘Winter- Palace’

Gstaad Palace

A memory of a place is first recalled by rapid-fire still or moving image (or maybe now a GIF?) in your brain. A few weeks after my visit, my instant memory of the Gstaad Palace was our table at Le Grill restaurant. Wood-panelled walls and ceilings and a thick Alpine carpet, and veneered wooden chairs and occasional tables gave it a mountain chic. Formally dressed waiters bustled around, chatting with guests they have known evidently for years or decades.

They were no less courteous to us, to their credit, although of course we had no common anecdotes to share with them. With Alpine flowers on the thick tablecloths, and cuisine rich and local ingredients, including flambéed dishes prepared at the table by the waiters like a glorious piece of 1970s revival, it was an evening experience unlike almost any other.

Read more: The Thinking Traveller’s Founders Huw & Rossella Beaugié on nurturing quality

There was a fantastic Hungarian traditional string band playing in adjacent bar, alternating with a soulful jazz band. The house Burgundy, poured from magnums, accompanied everything extremely well. You could choose Le Grill to propose to your other half, for a family get-together, or a casual dinner for one – it’s that versatile.

When we drew back the thick red curtains of our suite in the morning, we were greeted by the Alps as drawn by Laurent de Brunhoff, creator of Babar the Elephant. Big, forested round hills dropped into a broad bowl, above which jagged rocky peaks loomed. The Palace is the cornerstone of Gstaad, the reason the village has become one of the epicentres of wealth in Europe. In winter, after dinner at Le Grill or one of the other restaurants, you would roll down to the GreenGo nightclub, with James Bond and Pussy Galore sitting on corner sofas sipping two olive martinis as Julio Iglesias rocks the dance floor.

Today, the hotel’s modern spa adds a warmer kind of seclusion from the outside world

In summer, when we went, the nightclub is a swimming pool, connected to the spa (open year round) and looking out onto a garden with a cute kids’ playground, and lined by the hotel’s famous clay tennis courts. Here, you can play as if you were born with a pro living in your garden house (as many guests likely were) with a 270-degree view of the mountain bowl of the Bernese Oberland. If you need something bigger than the hotel’s internal pool, wander up to the Olympic-sized pool the hotel shares with the village (it has its own sun-lounger area, and this is a very posh village). We loved our simple, abundant mountain-food lunch at the pool bar.

The Palace is the kind of place which makes you feel very welcome, but at which it is always evident that there are layers of society into which money simply won’t buy. In its lavish lounge and bar area, just behind reception, old families from Germany, Switzerland and Italy, whose forebears have been coming here for generations, chat easily about art, girls and boys, and schools. The windows in the corridor leading down to the restaurant contain watches and jewellery, from famous brands, that simply might not be available to you unless you know them personally.

The service, however, is sublime for everyone – there was not a flicker of an eyebrow when we booked a tennis court, arrived on the court, and realised we didn’t have any rackets or balls. They were served up in an instant. I just enjoyed sitting on the terrace at breakfast, picking out a gluten-free croissant, looking out over the view, and catching snippets of cultured conversation in several European languages. Perhaps we will be coming back here for generations also.

Book your stay: palace.ch

This article was originally published in the Spring 2020 Issue.

The Four Seasons Hong Kong towers over the exclusive IFC mall complex in Central, the heart of Hong Kong, and has spectacular views over the water to the Kowloon side of the city

Why should I go now?

Summer is hot and steamy in Hong Kong and traditionally a stopover in this most exciting of Asian cities at this time of year involves spells of freezing inside air-conditioned rooms and baking while strolling the streets of Central in search of dim sum, art, or cocktails. Stroll out to the pool terrace of the Four Seasons, though, and you are greeted by a very refreshing alternative: two huge outdoor pools with an extensive terrace, made of beautifully carved marble, with views across the sea to the mountains of the New Territories. Ferries, speedboats and bigger ships waft through the harbour beneath you, and you are at once in the very heart of Hong Kong, and in a resort hotel on an island in the South China Sea.

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What’s the lowdown?

For further relaxation, turn left just indoors from the pool area and you are in the vast spa zone, where you get your own butler to tend to your every need and show you around (it’s easy to get lost between wet rooms and plunge pools and treatment suites and relaxation rooms). A tip: take your treatment in the evening, when the whole city seems to surround you with a light show reflecting off the waters of the Harbour. We do this just before setting off for the airport for our overnight flight back to London, and it’s the most spectacular way to get a treatment in any city we have seen.

The infinity-edge pool is equipped with underwater speakers

We also recommend getting a room with access to the Club Lounge on the 45th floor; this takes the concept of such a lounge to another level, with endless dim sum, afternoon tea, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs champagne on tap and a mesmerising view. You’ll have no reason to visit the hotel’s Blue Bar on the ground floor, which would be a shame as it is surprisingly funky – no old-style Four Seasons wood and leather here – although the view is at ground level.

The hotel’s two Michelin star French restaurant, Caprice

The Four Seasons is located at one end of the prestigious IFC mall and tower complex, meaning it also hosts two of the city’s (and by extension, greater China’s) most significant power venues for lunch and dinner, Lung King Heen and Caprice. We loved dining in the private room (with private chef) at Sushi Saito with some of the butteriest nigiri outside Tsukiji Fish Market.

Getting horizontal

Our bedroom looked out over the Harbour and Kowloon; at night you could stay up for hours looking at the lights, and this was a distraction as the capacious desk was located right by the window. The things we suffer in the name of research. Everything else was Four Seasons-correct, from the vast, bright, marble-clad bathroom to the huge bed and array of amenities.

Read more: Former Cognac warehouse becomes luxury hotel, Hôtel Chais Monnet

The luxurious bedroom in the presidential suite

Flipside

If there’s a summer storm, the rush for drivers and taxis outside the hotel and IFC complex in general can mean it’s a little congested outside; but you can, in fact, walk almost anywhere within Central Hong Kong from the hotel by strolling through a series of interconnected (and indoor) luxury malls.

Rates: From 4,092 HKD (approx. £400 / €450 / $500)

To book your stay visit: fourseasons.com/hongkong

Darius Sanai

Bangkok-based designer, Bill Bensley is renowned for his original approach to luxury

Bill Bensley is the go-to designer for one-of-a-kind luxury hotels. The Bangkok-based architect has masterminded over 200 properties in 30-plus countries, including the world’s first edible golf course at Belle Mont Farm, St. Kitts, the art-deco inspired boutique The Siam and The Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle buried in the depths of the Thai jungle. Digital Editor Millie Walton speaks to Bensley about escapism, sustainability and fly fishing for trout on the Mongolian border.

LUX: All of your hotels are remarkably unique. What’s your process when creating a concept?
Bill Bensley: Well thank you. Very kind of you to say so. While I don’t have a set process for generating good ideas I do listen very carefully to what an environmentally sensitive piece of wilderness tells me. An ear to the ground, or an understanding of how a natural environment works is key. When building in a new region, I also listen to and understand with great interest the idiosyncrasies of the culture presented. I never force my style anywhere.

The Shinta Mani Angkor hotel in Cambodia’s temple city, Siem Reap

LUX: Do you have a favourite hotel that you’ve designed?
Bill Bensley: Hands down it is the Shinta Mani Angkor in Siem Reap as we have used the hotel as a vehicle to help thousands of less fortunate Cambodians from housing to free dentistry, to water wells and water purification, to schooling of hospitality, starting small businesses and distributing little known agricultural crops for villagers to grow and reproduce…. and besides that it is a damn good value for money with wonderful staff that cannot do enough to make your stay comfortable and memorable. Last year it hit #1 in the world on Trip Advisor!

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JW Marriott Emerald Bay

LUX: We recently stayed at your newest hotel, JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay. It was like being in another world. Is escapism something you try to achieve with your designs?
Bill Bensley: Escapism, in the purely positive sense, is a great goal. I also think that in the building of a new hotel it is important to teach guests something new. Something they never knew. Something to take home other than sunburn.

LUX: The JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay has been a huge Instagram success (especially the shell pool!). Did you consider the influence of social media when designing the hotel?
Bill Bensley: My brain does not work that well yet! But I do think that if a multi-storied guest tower is part of the picture, as with Lamarck University, then I strive to make that landscape graphic visually.

LUX: What excites you the most about your work?
Bill Bensley: The fact that folks pay me to play. I have never worked a day in my life. I am excited about the publics response to my out of the box, crazy / sane approach to designing new hotel properties.

Bill Bensley’s latest luxury resort, the JW Marriott Emerald Bay on Phu Quoc island off the coast of Vietnam

LUX: How do you think the luxury hospitality industry has evolved in recent years?
Bill Bensley: It is more and more sophisticated, and specialised. Soon we will be designing hotels that appeal to specifically to the jovial lesbians, 23-29 years of age, with rescued three legged dogs that love indoor snow boarding. Hot trend!

Read next: Inside the workshop of the world’s most luxurious artisanal glassware company

LUX: You’ve designed hotels in many interesting and remote locations around the world. How do you celebrate local culture whilst creating something new and unique?
Bill Bensley: To do so one requires a deep understanding of that culture. I am an avid reader. I love to visit places of worship which is usually the paramount of culture in most societies.

Shinta Mani Wild luxury camp in Cambodia

LUX: Is sustainability important to you?
Bill Bensley: Sustainability is paramount. I hate green-washers. Before my life as a resort architect and an interior designer I was trained as a landscape architect. About 6 years ago I purchased the logging rights to 1400 acres of Cambodian forest, with no intention of becoming a lumberjack. By way of Shinta Mani Wild Bensley Collection, a 15 tent very high end, low impact high yield product, we have created a wilderness sanctuary that will remain wild for at least the length of my 99 year lease. At 1800 USD per night per couple my wilderness experience promises more adventure than most can handle, unlimited spa services, foraging, and a deep understanding of the wilderness that is Cambodia.Our National Geographic Lodge experience is about regenerating a small part of our disappearing fragile natural environment.

Inside one of the tents at the Shinta Mani Wild camp, Cambodia

LUX: What are you working on now?
Bill Bensley: Bags of projects. The new Shinta Mani Bensley Collection hotels in Siem Reap and the Cardamom National Park in Cambodia are keeping me hopping right now, but that aside we are soon to open the Rosewood in Luang Prabang, the Capella in Keliki near Ubud, Bali, the Ritz Carlton in both Hainan, China and Phu Quoc, Vietnam, and a fabulous MGallery hotel in Sapa, North Vietnam and a St Regis on the gorgeous Cham Island just off of Hoi An in Vietnam, another Four Seasons (I have designed 12) in the Chinese Himalayas, and a Banyan Tree in Goa, India, a zillion GBP residence in Mayfair, new Oberoi hotels in the Maldives, Kathmandu and Bhardia (West Nepal), an Indigo in Jakarta, shall I go on? I can….for days.

LUX: Where do you go to escape?
Bill Bensley: I just returned today to my home of 30 years: Bangkok. My Thai partner and travel a great deal. We have visited 92 countries and counting. Just visited Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, Slovenia, Morocco. Warsaw, surprisingly was the highlight of the trip. Every year we escape for 2-3 weeks to the Mongolian Russian border to fly fish for trout and taimen. This past summer was great…. 48 in one day. Biggest trout? 44”.

bensley.com

Two of the rescued elephants at the Four Seasons Tented Camp

Digital Editor Millie Walton steps into a nostalgic world of romance at the Four Seasons Tented Camp in the Golden Triangle region of Thailand to learn more about life in the jungle and to meet the resident elephants who have been rescued from the nastier side of the country’s tourism industry.

It’s just after sunrise and the sky is bleary eyed. The sunlight shines through the haze over the jungle and the morning song of the cicadas reverberates rounds us. We’re at the northernmost edge of Thailand on the banks of the Ruak River, overlooking Myanmar straight ahead, to the right is Laos and beyond that the distant mountains of China. Our safari tent is high up in the trees, a secluded hide-out harkening back to 19th-century style travel with hardwood floors, leather furnishings, intricate hammered metal surfaces, hurricane lamps, a grand stand-alone bathtub and an outdoor shower. It’s indescribably romantic.

A Deluxe Tent perched high up in the trees overlooking Myanmar and Laos

Minutes after arriving, by long-tail boat skimming gracefully over the dark green water of the river that visibly changes shade as you enter into the thin strip separating Thailand and Myanmar, we were cast into a narrative of old-world adventurers. This is the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, a natural retreat and foundation for rehabilitated elephants. Elephants are one of Thailand’s most popular tourist attractions with so-called “sanctuaries” flogging package experiences where you can bathe and ride an elephant. But what most visitors don’t realise is that many of these highly-intelligent animals are illegally captured, separated from their families and forcibly tamed through cruel training practices involving beatings and stabbing with bull-hooks. The Four Seasons in partnership with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation works hard to rescue such mistreated elephants, providing them with a loving home in a humane and natural environment where they are cared for by their own mahout. They’re still used for trekking, as they cannot be released back into the wild, but it’s gentle work and only voice commands are used.

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At breakfast, I’m nudged on the back by the tip of a long trunk. I pick up a banana from the table and very gently the trunk plucks it from my hand, curls under and feeds it into a gaping mouth before returning for more. The grace and patience of such a huge animal is overwhelming. “Yuki is cheeky,” Rain, one of the resort’s tour guide tells us as we sit down to eat. “When I was her mahout, she used to pull me down off her back with her trunk.” He laughs, and we smile weakly taking in the towering height of the elephant, the largest of herd and the youngest of the group, but it’s an important reminder that whilst these elephants are trained, they’re still animals and you have to earn their respect and trust, especially since many have had bad experiences with people in the past.

A Mahout sits with two elephants at breakfast

Later, we’re standing in a barn ready for our own training. We’re dressed in the traditional Mahout costume – matching blue denim shirt and trousers – that the elephants are familiar with, as one of the camp’s mahouts talks to use about handling the elephants: “You can stroke them, but don’t try to hug their trunks, the underside is very sensitive,” he explains, patting the side of a huge cheek. “Speak softly, but firmly and try to avoid speaking too loudly or shouting around the elephants.” We all nod silently. Then he demonstrates how to climb onto the elephant’s back in three different ways. “Okay, now you’re go,” he points at me. On command, Puang Phet, my elephant for the afternoon, slowly lowers her head, and with help, I vault behind her ears so that I’m sitting backwards. Feeling slightly dizzy, I cautiously turn myself around. We trek slowly to the river that afternoon, for the elephants to bathe with us clinging on their backs as they squirt water at us and plunge their heads beneath the surface. It’s an honour to be so close to such beautiful animals and whilst I still wince at the thought of elephants being held in captivity, it’s obvious the mahouts at the camp deeply care for their elephants and have developed a relationship of mutual respect. It’s humbling to be around.

Bathing in the water with the elephants

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In the evening, we wander along the lamp lit path, deeper into the jungle, to the spa for open air massage on a private suite deck surrounded by the bubbling sound of frogs. The therapists, like the rest of the camp’s staff, are locals from the Golden Triangle region who have grown up in the exotic wilderness of Northern Thailand, foraging plants for natural remedies, cooking and healing. Thai women are traditionally taught the art of massage from an early age so they are experts at what they do and so serene that they diffuse calm into the atmosphere as they move, gently washing our feet with kaffir lime before guiding us to the treatment beds. For the massage, I choose a sensual blend of ylang-ylang and jasmine oil. The oils used are all natural, with many homegrown on the premises, as we’re shown on a foraging walk the next day, and we’re advised to leave them to sink into our skin for a few hours to enhance the benefits so we arrive at the Burma Bar that night glistening. It’s here guests meet for cocktails and canapés before being given a lift to the wine cellar in the camp’s jeep for cheese and wine tasting, followed by a long, indulgent dinner at the rustic Nong Yao restaurant. It’s all very casual and relaxed, even more so since it’s all-inclusive with a limited menu so that you don’t spend ages agonising over which wine to order with which dish, and the hearty cuisine is divided into Asian and Western options – the chef’s Gaeng Kiew Warn Goong (green curry prawns) is the best I’ve ever tasted: fresh, rich and flavoursome.

The entrance to the Wine Cellar where tastings are held every evening before dinner

We find our tent has been prepared for nighttime with a plate of local sweet treats to try before bed and the back and sides zipped down providing privacy, with the front still open so that we can watch the fireflies dancing in the dark and fall asleep to the sound of wild. It’s a beautiful example of how luxury and nature can live harmoniously. Whilst there are plenty of resorts are built into unique and stunning settings elsewhere in the world, there are few that manage to present the highest level of indulgence and service as the sideline attraction to the natural wonder of its surroundings and the majestic animals that share the space. It’s a truly unforgettable place.

All images by James Houston

fourseasons.com/goldentriangle/

Russia’s grandest hotel: The Four Seasons Moscow

Why should I go now?

Moscow in summer is vibrant, unexpected. In the warm, dry, continental sun, the city’s streets and parks have a Mediterranean vibe. The Four Seasons has the best location in the city bar none, next to the Kremlin; you can watch Russian tourists wander in and out of Red Square, eating their marozhonye (ice cream) from your balcony.

What’s the lowdown?

The Four Seasons is an edifice and a historical artefact. Those interested in Soviet history will be fascinated to know it was formerly the Hotel Moscow, a pet project of Joseph Stalin, opened in 1935 – the Lubyanka, headquarters of Stalin’s NKVD security police, is a five minute walk. Those interested in cocktails will know its façade from the labels of Stolichnaya vodka. Transformed after many years of work into a luxury hotel, it is now the grandest hotel in Russia.

The 25 metre indoor pool at Amnis Spa

Its 25 metre indoor pool, occupying the internal courtyard, with a glass roof, and surrounding ultra-luxurious spa, are the central symbols of the transformation. We balanced out the yin of exercising and spa purifying with the yang of hanging out in the Moscovsky bar on the ground floor, where immensely strong cocktails are served in an atmosphere more New Orleans than Moscow; the Moscovsky Mule is the hotel’s take on the classic Moscow Mule, and has a moreish kick.

The Moscovsky bar

Getting horizontal

Our suite (bedroom, living area by the bedroom, and living/reception room) had balconies facing out onto Red Square, with the Kremlin to the right – you don’t realise exactly how much of a castle the Kremlin is until you have a chance to examine it at night and wonder at what has happened there over the centuries. Furnishings were plush, light and contemporary, while thick carpets and swathes of marble in the bathrooms will ensure that traditional Four Seasons fans (and visiting dignitaries) are not upset. It’s worth upgrading to a room with a view of, and balcony onto, Red Square; one of the most momentuous city views in the world.

Some of the hotel’s Premier Rooms have balconies onto the Red Square

Nitpicking

This is a Four Seasons, so an element of grandeur and formality go with the deal, from the moment you walk into the immense lobby and stride down the marble corridors. Service is impressive at every touchpoint, as is security; the lobby areas are probably more suited to those with an entourage of bodyguards than a casual cabal.

Rates: From RUB 28,000 excluding breakfast (approx. USD $500/€400/£300)

Darius Sanai 

fourseasons.com/ru/moscow