LUXURY HOTELS STILL OPENING AFTER COVID19
Some people believe the travel industry is dead. The effects of the COVID19 pandemic will be felt for a long time. It will also take a long time before travellers go on holiday again.
​
However, not everyone is pessimistic about the future of the travel industry. Several luxury hotels are still on track to open in the latter part of 2020.
The Chedi Kudavillingili
Located on a 1-kilometre coral island called Kudavillingili, the 99-villa Chedi Kudavillingili plans to open later this year. Additionally, it will have 36 overwater villas and a 150-metre-long central pool.
​
While the villas fishtail off one end of the island, a bridge on the opposite end leads to the spa. Found on a kidney-shaped islet, the spa offers 8 – 10 treatment rooms each with a waterborne perch.
In between are a variety of health and wellness venues. This also includes a long pool, a basketball court, a football pitch; courts for tennis, badminton and volleyball; a yoga pavilion, secret garden and water sports centre.
​
There will be a library and cigar lounge for the more passively inclined; a health club and gymnasium for the fitness-minded; and a potpourri of dining options, from a beach club and bar, an all-day dining restaurant and the Hawker Restaurant plating up international dishes.
Zentis Osaka
With a pedigree that flows from the acclaimed Palace Hotel Tokyo and designs on rewriting the playbook for ‘lifestyle’ brands, the management arm of Palace Hotel Co. Ltd. has announced a Q3 2020 opening of Zentis Osaka, the first property of its new hospitality brand.
​
Top UK designer, Tara Bernerd, has been tapped for the property’s modern interiors while Café Co. – the esteemed operator behind the one Michelin-starred CRAFTALE in Tokyo – will develop and operate the hotel’s restaurant, bar and lounge.
An entirely new build, the 16-storey property will feature 212 guestrooms with a contemporary feel that take inspiration from the intuitive functionality of bento boxes.
​
The culinary direction of UP STAIRZ, the hotel’s dining venue, will be guided by the acclaimed head chef’s wealth of experience in France and Japan. The hotel will also feature a 24-hour fitness center. Zentis Osaka is between the picturesque, riverside area of Dojimahama and the high-end business entertainment district of Kita-shinchi.
Banyan Tree Krabi
Singapore-based Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd announced plans to open a luxury hotel near the town of Krabi later this year. Currently under development on Tubkaek Beach, a 35-minute drive from Krabi Airport, Banyan Tree Krabi fronts white sands and the coast of the Andaman Sea.
​
The new resort, with an opening scheduled on October 1st, will offer 72 pool suites and villas. Facilities also include all-day dining, a ballroom, a wedding chapel, a beach club, a kids’ club, a fitness center, and – in keeping with Banyan Tree’s wellness branding – a rainforest-themed spa. Banyan Tree Krabi is atop a hillside where it commands a view of spectacular karst limestone towers protruding from the sea.
Alma Resort
Emblematic of Vietnam’s maturation as a destination, the Alma resort commands 30 hectares of oceanfront on the Cam Ranh Peninsula; this includes 580 oversized suites and pavilions that afford sweeping vistas of the ocean. The three-bedroom seaside pavilions sprawl over 224 square meter with a living room, kitchen, four bathrooms and a private pool.
Alma features a spectrum of restaurants helmed by top chefs; a food court with ocal and international cuisine; as well as a classical bar, pool bar and beach bar. The resort’s other highlights include 12 swimming pools cascading down to the beach; a waterpark; 13-treatment room spa; and a 70-seat cinema, convention centre.
It also has an amphitheater, art gallery, science museum, gymnasium and yoga room, 18-hole mini golf course, a youth centre, a kid’s club, watersports centre and an ‘Alma Mart’ mini supermarket.