Located less than an hour from New York City, a new property from Pendry Hotels & Resorts, Pendry Natirar, will open its doors on 400 acres of rolling hills, manicured lawns, and conserved woodlands in New Jersey’s Somerset County this summer. Originally built in 1912, a 68-room Tudor-style mansion—previously owned by the King of Morocco—is being restored by CosciaMoos Architecture and DesignAgency. Pendry Natirar will also include 24 adjoining contemporary residences. Onsite restaurant Ninety Acres will feature farm-to-fork culinary offerings with seasonal produce sourced from the estate ..read more

Diane Hang Nguyen, director of design at LUCID (Highgate‘s in-house design and construction studio), offers a sneak peek of what’s to come during her session, Leaning Luxury: Defining the Segment, at HD Expo + Conference 2024 in Las Vegas, April 30th–May 2nd. What’s top of mind for 2024? Diane Hang Nguyen: Ensuring the highest level of design for our pipeline projects consisting of new builds and renovations/conversations and continuing to represent Highgate as a timeless design leader within the hospitality industry. What’s the biggest trend you’re seeing in terms of guest expectations? DHN ..read more

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), in collaboration with executive architect BNIM and the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design, has unveiled Makers’ KUbe, a new mass timber building for learning and collaboration. BIG’s vision for the KU School of Architecture & Design consolidates all architecture and design programs into three interconnected buildings, tying together the existing Marvin Hall and Chalmers Hall with the new six-story Makers’ KUbe. The timber framework of the Makers’ KUbe Makers’ KUbe is a 50,000-square-foot mass timber cube structure sporting a distinct diagr ..read more

The San Francisco office of hospitality design firm HBA has completed the design of Makoto Vail, the latest restaurant from chef Makoto Okuwa. The 110-seat restaurant is located within the Grand Hyatt Vail, a luxury ski-in/ski-out resort nestled along the banks of Gore Creek. Makoto Vail embraces the style of Japanese interiors, combining wabi-sabi elements and natural forms in a palette inspired by Vail’s natural landscape. The all-wood aesthetic of the space is punctuated by dark metal that accentuates the restaurant’s modernity. Upon entry, large shoji screens offer a filtered glimpse of t ..read more

Following the success of Numo Ierapetra in Crete, Numo Hotels & Resorts will launch its second project, Numo Mykonos, at Kalafati Beach in June. The design of Numo Mykonos The hotel was brought to life by design studio Hotel IM in collaboration with Amsterdam-based architectural office What the Studio. The design draws from the surrounding environment and the carefree era of the 1960s and ’70s, which shaped the island’s DNA. Housed in an authentic Mykonian building, Numo Mykonos preserves and highlights traditional Cycladic elements, evidenced in its curved architecture, the stone ar ..read more

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, part of the IHG Hotels & Resorts portfolio, is gearing up to open a boutique hotel in Santo Domingo. Marking the brand’s first property in the Dominican Republic, Kimpton Las Mercedes will be an extension of its natural and historic surroundings when it launches this summer. The hotel is set within a 16th-century structure, revitalized by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, that reflects the transformation of its historic neighborhood into a bustling cultural hub. Original materials were preserved and repurposed where possible, while a modern addition was con ..read more

Universal Orlando Resort has unveiled details for two new hotels: Universal Stella Nova Resort (opening January 2025) and Universal Terra Luna Resort (opening February 2025). The combined properties will add a total of 1,500 rooms to the brand’s hotel portfolio. Brought to life by the Universal Creative team, and co-owned and operated by Loews Hotels, the hotels will transport guests to the center of the galaxy with cosmic-inspired designs. The Universal Stella Nova Resort reflects the vastness of the universe, where swirling galaxies and unknown worlds inspire a color palette of serene teals ..read more

Wellness concept TROVE will launch its first location this month in Toronto, providing an oasis away from the city’s hustle and bustle through holistic wellness services and experiences. Venturing from successful careers commercial real estate and law, TROVE founders Tanya Kololian and Zoë Paliare made the decision to launch a wellness business because of their personal experiences with burnout. “One thing wellness isn’t meant to be is complicated,” says Paliare, cofounder and president of TROVE. “As avid users of wellness services, we understand the need for an offering that takes the stress ..read more

As the hospitality sector makes immense strides toward greater sustainability, carbon emissions are proving to be one of the trickier challenges for many brands to tackle. Shrinking a property’s carbon footprint often requires significant changes to how it is built and operated. And unlike other, more visible sustainability practices, improvements in the type or amount of energy a building consumes likely won’t mean all that much to its average guest. Consequently, green development has been slower to take hold in the hospitality sector compared with other industries. Of the more than 110,000 ..read more

Aman CEO Vlad Doronin sits down with The Wall Street Journal, Kartell’s iconic chair designs get the Barbie treatment, and Amsterdam issues a sweeping hotel ban. All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.   Eight artists represent Nigeria at its second-ever Venice Biennale pavilion Light Cream Pods (Excerpt) by Fatimah Tuggar, shown in the Nigeria Pavilion at the Venice Biennale; photo by Marco Cappelleti Studio and courtesy of MOWAA The Venice Biennale opens to the public on Monday. Among its extensive cultural exhibitions, the 60th edition of the event includes Nigeria’s second ..read more