While Dublin’s restaurant scene has flourished, the stock of decent design-minded hotels hasn’t stirred much – until now. The former industrial area north of Merrion Square has been revived with a 103-key affair overseen by interior architect John-Henry Boyle of Dublin-based practice 21 Spaces.

The Alex Hotel’s open lobby leads to a fetching dining area dotted with low fabric-covered banquettes, a peachy colour scheme and 1950s-style furniture. Up front you’ll spy a brace of sturdy Belfast-made walnut desks on which itinerant freelancers and lingering guests are chatting, usually with a coffee from the adjoining Steam Café.

Upstairs, the rooms are generous in size and adorned with soft throws from Foxford Woollen Mills, walnut armoires and leather headboards made in (not of) Cork. “I’ve always tried to look at the materials we use. They’re very precious and I don’t take them lightly: timber is a scarce commodity, as are ceramics or marble,” says Boyle, in his distinctive Donegal brogue, of the space owned and run by O’Callaghan Hotels. “I don’t need people to react but I like the idea that they might be touched by some aspect of the design.”
thealexdublin.ie

Buddhist awakenings aren’t the first thing to spring to mind when visiting buzzing Psarou beach on the party island of Mykonos – but Kensho strives to provide a peaceful and comfortable seaside retreat. “Absolute relaxation is what we offer,” says George Semertzakis of Kensho Hotels. “Mykonos is known for its partying but you can’t party all day; you need a few hours to relax.”

The boutique hotel strives to distinguish itself with every detail of its architecture and services. The 70-strong staff are discreetly familiar with their guests. “We contact our customers prior to their arrival as we want to understand their needs,” says front-office manager Apostolos Michalovits.

Architect Alexandros Kolovos has interspersed aged wood and stone to instil a sense of continuity between the Cycladic white bungalows and the sun-soaked landscape. The 32 rooms, furnished with Gervasoni teak chairs, acacia tables by Kenneth Cobonpue and white linens by Crist, come with plunge pools or hot tubs, as well as sea views.

In the kitchen, chef Ippokratis Anagnostelis mixes local food with Peruvian and Japanese influences. We recommend the ceviche made from Greek sea bass and scallop skin, kiwi and zesty leche de tigre.
kenshomykonos.com

The Bomporto Hotels Group, established in 2015, has made it its mission to transform historic buildings in need of restoration into boutique hotels. The Lumiares Hotel & Spa in Lisbon, housed in an 18th-century palace, was its first project. “When we saw the building it was just three walls, scaffolding and graffiti but what attracted us to it was its location and the building itself,” says founder Chris Eddis. Together with business partner Peter Lowe, Eddis found a way to keep the palatial structure intact while incorporating 53 rooms, two restaurants and a spa within.

Creative director Sam Lawrie oversaw the interior design and drew inspiration from the hotel’s buzzing neighbourhood of Bairro Alto. All the rooms, meanwhile, come fitted with a kitchen, Smeg appliances and a fully stocked complimentary minibar.

Peckish guests can visit Mercado, the hotel’s informal restaurant, where chef Miguel Castro e Silva serves traditional pastries and petiscos (finger food). Another pleasant way to wind down is at the spa. “Lisbon is very hilly and the best way to get around is by foot, which can be exhausting,” says Eddis. “With the spa we are hoping to offer guests a relaxing end to the day.”
thelumiares.com

The Nishi Building has been a game-changer for the formerly humdrum Australian capital. When it opened in 2014, the building and the surrounding precinct of New Acton gave the bureaucratic centre a design-led cultural hub, complete with a cinema, shops and workspaces. Its centrepiece is the 68-room Ovolo Nishi (formerly Hotel Hotel), recently acquired by Hong Kong’s expanding Ovolo Hotels brand.

“This hotel is unlike any other in Canberra,” says Ovolo Nishi’s general manager Nicole Short. “It’s helped attract a new market of leisure travellers. We get staycationers and visitors from surrounding areas who come to Canberra for the art galleries and food.”

First impressions count: Ovolo’s lobby features an impressive timber installation by Melbourne’s March Studio and the rooms marry concrete and cork to create cosy and simple spaces. The developers of the hotel, Nectar and Johnathan Efkarpidis of the Molonglo Group, personalised each room with bespoke furniture, colourful fabrics and eclectic artwork.

The hotel’s bar-restaurant Monster has Italian terrazzo flooring studded with old-fashioned floral carpets and sofas; the Efkarpidis brothers wanted it to look like their Greek grandmother’s living room.
ovolohotels.com.au/ovolonishi

It’s hard to fathom that a sofa could be the highlight of a house tour but the cushions in a sunken section of the living room are where Yuri Kikuchi beckons first-time visitors to sit. “From here you see the rice paddies behind the house and the sea through the glass front door,” he says.

This is the view that Akira Minagawa, fashion designer and founder of Japanese label Minä Perhonen, had in mind for the renovation of the two-storey house on Teshima, a small island of 800 in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea. The house opened in April as a holiday rental called Umitota (“sea and field”). “Minagawa wanted the landscape to be visible from every room,” says Kikuchi, whose employer, Circle House, owns and manages the property.

While modest in scale, Umitota is a sign of change on Teshima. Since the first Setouchi Triennale contemporary-art festival in 2010, thousands of visitors have come by boat every year for the island’s art installations and slow pace. The island is covered in red pine forests, olive and lemon orchards and twisting two-lane roads; in summer it attracts cyclists and blossoms with wildflowers. Its beaches are pristine and boars and storks roam the fields. “It’s idyllic and there are still few tourists,” says Kikuchi, who moved here from Tokyo a year ago.

It’s hard to believe that for decades Teshima had been associated with rubbish. The island’s western tip was the site of an illegal industrial-waste dump from the late 1970s until court battles and grassroots activism brought attention to the plight of the island’s residents. In 2000 the government began removing the waste and contaminated soil from the island and dismantling the facility. Art has since broadened the island’s appeal but accommodation remains rustic.

Two years ago, Circle House’s owner Mitsuko Fukutake asked fashion designer Minagawa to give the disused property a makeover. Built in the 1970s, the house had been a getaway for a family of longtime Teshima residents.

Together with Shinichiro Ogata of Tokyo design firm Simplicity, Minagawa set out to preserve the wooden building’s original structure while reimagining its interior as a mix of Nordic and Japanese design. With its hip-and-gable roof covered in fired-clay tiles, the house resembles others on the island – but with some Minagawa alterations. He moved the entrance to the building’s sea-facing side and hired stone masons to make the countertops and bath tubs from volcanic rock found around Teshima.

Minagawa also recruited volunteers to join him in covering the exterior walls with abalone shells. “I wanted this house to have a place in the history of the island,” he says.
umitota.jp