Located in Nam June Paik Art Center, in Yong-In, South Korea, the library houses and circulates the Center’s Nam June Paik Archives Collection, Nam June Paik Video Archives, and rare Fluxus Footages Collection, as well as the user generated materials.American architecture studio NHDM designed the translucent block, dubbed the Library Machine, to store the multimedia archive.

Aha is the modern eclectic restaurant tucked away in Siem Reap’s old market area and is popular for its tapas style starters and international wine list. You can sit outside and people-watch in the arty, pedestrianised Passage, or favour the cool air-conditioned interior with its funky lighting, 30m wooden wave wall and floor to ceiling wine cellar. From the menu, sample three ’small plates’ in one, or choose a dish from the internationally inspired main menu, and enjoy the mix of Khmer and western flavours.

Knai Bang Chatt is an exquisite lifestyle resort, located in Kep, right on the southern east coastline of Cambodia. Three renovated villas built in the 1970s by protégés of Vann Molyvann, a pupil of the world renowned Le Corbusier, are extraordinary historical landmarks .The whole resort is made up of eleven rooms that are individually decorated with its own identity and taste. The villas are designed with large terraces open to  views of the sea and islands. 

Make a reservation at Amantaka

Amantaka is located just south of Mount Phousi in the centre of the picturesque Luang Prabang peninsula. Within walking distance of the many boutiques, bakeries and restaurants along the main street, Amantaka is also close to the banks of the Mekong River and to Luang Prabang’s fabled night market. Set on a large garden estate, Amantaka is housed in graceful French colonial buildings in the UNESCO protected town of Luang Prabang. Airy and elegant throughout, the décor and furnishings reflect the town’s French colonial history.

Amantaka offers 24 suites ranging in size from 70 to 120 square metres each. These include eight Suites, four Pool Suites, eight Khan Pool Suites, two Mekong Pool Suites and two Amantaka Pool Suites. Entered from louvered doors from the courtyard, each suite contains a spacious interior and exterior living area.

Make a reservation at Amansara

Amansara, the former guesthouse of King Sihanouk, once known as Villa Princière is situated on the edge of Siem Reap just 10 minutes from the Angkor UNESCO World Heritage Site. This former royal retreat was built by French architect, Laurent Mondet, in 1962  to accommodate visitors unable to stay at the royal residence nearby. Quintessentially ’60s in character, it featured cool, low-slung chalets spaced around an irregular-shaped swimming pool and a shady lawn. Celebrities like former French President Charles de Gaulle, Jacqueline Kennedy, former Yugoslavian President Josep Broz Tito and actor Peter O’Toole were among the guest in years.

Set in a garden compound, the 24-suite resort has the ambiance of a private home and is the ideal base for travellers seeking to explore Khmer culture and the majestic ruins of Angkor. A variety of temple tours and cultural walks is available as part of the guest experience. With its magnificent service, spa , pool and lap pool, the resort is the best place in Siem Reap.

Make a reservation at Amansara

Naked Stables Private Reserve, located about 2.5 hours away from Shanghai offers ‘wellness as a lifestyle’. Accommodation at Naked Stables is in spacious tree top tillas or single bedroom earth huts, spread across a broad, secluded valley. Access is by foot or electric buggy. No motor vehicles are permitted inside naked Stables Private Reserve. A dedicated butler will take care of you during your stay.

You can chill out by the central pool bar, or enjoy the Jacuzzi on the deck, exercise with the many outdoor activities location offers, from hiking and biking to horse riding, or simply swimming in one of our three stunning outdoor pools.

Hôtel de la Paix is Siem Reap’s most centrally located five star boutique hotel. The original Hôtel de la Paix opened on this site in 1957 was French owned and operated.  A new beginning for Cambodia in 2000’s was also a new beginning  for Hôtel de la Paix, as new owners briefed world famous architect, Bill Bensley to design the new Hôtel de la Paix. With 107 spacious rooms and suites and its award winning Spa the hotel caters to the discerning traveller seeking style and relaxation. 

Over 17 acres of palm-edged, pristine sand rises Viceroy Maldives on an island an hour’s flight from Malé,where only 61 villas encircle a lagoon of startling blue. Guests can choose from villas nestled on the sand with garden-screened privacy or villas that hover out on the surface of the lagoon. Design firm Yabu Pushelberg has created elemental interiors that provide a frame for the awe-inspiring views. Each villa features a private plunge pool, an ensuite bath and generous outdoor areas. With the smallest villa measuring over 1,300 square feet and the largest over 3,000 square feet, guests can choose to be marooned in their villa’s expansive size while enjoying the indulgences of resort living.

Five dining venues, including the central, Moroccan-inspired Treehouse lounge, offer casual beachside cuisine to elegant steakhouse fare while incorporating Asian and European influences. Treatments and yoga at the Ayurvedic spa are balanced by the island’s wealth of outdoor activities accessible from the Dive & Watersports Center. 

Photo by Jimmy Cohrssen

Kanra Kyoto is  a hotel where guests can experience the spirit of Kyoto that embraces the beauty, wisdom, and hospitality of Japan.  Step through the machiya gates and into the lobby much like an inner garden that leads to a main house. Here, you will be welcomed by an emotional and scenic space of light like the sunny patches of light and leafy shades of a garden. The lights change according to the season, the time of day, by sound, and by the movements of the people inside its space. The rooms are like a terrace-style house of a machiya in Kyoto .Various art pieces hang in the rooms bring color to the hotel. Rooms offer the comfort of bath tubs made from aromatic Japanese cypress. In Kanras restaurant fresh Kyoto vegetables and local foods of the season are grilled cooked simple with charcoal fire.

Le Mill is a  multifunctional, lifestyle concept store, housed in a former rice mill bang in the middle of the city’s gritty docks area. The four women behind the store stylishly curate fashion and furnishing that, while made in India, aren’t necessarily easy to find here, as well as goods from overseas. By putting in an organic cafe, a flower shop and a book section, the quartet hopes to foster a laid-back social atmosphere

Uniting the creative visions of artist Rei Naito and architect Ryue Nishizawa, Teshima Art Museum stands on a hill on the island of Teshima overlooking the Inland Sea. Shaped like a drop of water, the museum lies in a corner of the spacious grounds surrounded by once-fallow rice terraces that have been restored with help from local residents. Structurally, the building consists of a concrete shell, devoid of pillars, coving a space 40 by 60 meters. On the ceiling 4.5 meters above, two oval openings allow the air, sounds, and light of the world outside into this organic space where nature and architecture seem intimately interconnected. Inside one finds an ever-flowing fountains and an ambiance that changes from hour to hour and season to season, revealing countless appearances as time passes.

.

208 Duecento Otto is a neighbourhood restaurant and bar located on Hong Kong’s up-and-coming Sheung Wan district. Set in a striking two-storied venue, formerly a meat storage warehouse, the 208 combines a lively bar downstairs with a more intimate upstairs dining room, both with semi-outdoor seating, overlooking Hollywood Road. Istanbul-based designers Autoban have created unique interiors which contrast with the local architecture of the building – stylish, modern yet immensely cosy.- perfectly balancing industrial steel to reflect the architectural landscape of New York, with warm wooden ceilings and floors and beautiful blue and white ceramic tile with Chinese illustrations. A unique feature of the restaurant is a custom-designed Napoletana pizza oven specially shipped in from Italy where busy Pizzaiolos create a lively Italian restaurant atmosphere.

Make a reservation at the Waterhouse

The Waterhouse at South Bund is an intimate boutique hotel located in Shanghai’s historic Shiliupu dockyard district.  The hotel has only 19 rooms and its design has a philosophy based on an “inversion of internal and external spaces” and aims to create a “disorienting yet spatial experience for guests in search of something out the ordinary”.  The hotel is designed by Neri & Hu Design and Research Office and its rooms and public spaces are filled with designer furniture to complete the touch of unique elegance.

For food and wine you can choose from different places. The Table No. 1 by Jason Atherton has contemporary European cuisine and an informal atmosphere with wood and grey brick that’s conducive to shared dining. The Roof at the Waterhouse is a cocktail bar with wonderful views of the Huangpu River.

Make a reservation at the Waterhouse

Make a reservation at Flaknuma Palace

The former residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Falaknuma Palace has been leased by the Royal Family of Hyderabad to the Taj Group of Hotels Resorts and Palaces. Guest can now experience the famed Nizam’s hospitality which was once the sole preserve of royalty.2000 feet above Hyderabad, Taj Falaknuma Palace’s 60 beautifully refurbished and lovingly restored rooms allow you to journey into the clouds and into the glided ages, where grandeur and excess is celebrated and savored in equal measure.Falaknuma Palace is also known as the ‘mirror of the sky’ because at 2000 feet, it was built in the clouds and reflects the ever-changing moods of the sky. Set in 32 acres of land and spread over 19400 square meters, the Palace was commissioned by Sir Nawab Vikar-Ul Umra, a Hyderabadi nobleman from the Paigah family.

The palace-hotel has large Venetian chandeliers, rare furniture, grand marble staircases and gurgling fountains, priceless statues, and objects d’art, stained-glass windows, unique sketches and murals encased in ornate frames, a world-class collection of crystal as well as the Mughal, Rajasthani and Japanese gardens personally conceived by the Nizam. The Palace Library, a replica of the one at Windsor Castle, is a collector’s envy as it is home to the rarest of manuscripts, books and one of the most acclaimed collections of the Holy Quran in the country, all of which were selected and brought back by the Nizam himself.

Make a reservation at Flaknuma Palace

Tazmania Ballroom, Pool Hall, Lounge, Club is Hong Kong’s favorite place to party, shoot pool, play ping pong and dance. Tazmania Ballroom is an exclusive pool bar in Hong Kong’s Central district. Inspiration for the plush interiors is drawn from traditional British games rooms. The space is designed by Tom Dixon and the result is an exclusive and glamorous mix of a pool hall/private club/dance club/night club. Golden pool tables are magically lifted to the ceiling making room for one of Hong Kong’s largest dance floors where resident DJs keep the carefully screened guests hopping with the latest Function One sound system. The British street culture is emphasized with the staffers attire: they wear Doc Martens and Fred Perry.

Set in the heart of the city overlooking Pattaya Beach and the Bay, the stunning Hilton Pattaya has 302-rooms.The highly contemporary hotel challenges traditional notions of hotel design and has been designed to reflect its stunning beach side location overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Thailand. The was designed by the Thai-based architectural and interior design firm “Department of Architecture Co” Upon entering the hotel lobby lounge on level 16, visitors are immediately immersed in the world of the sea.

The lobby’s interior design was designed to complement, but never overshadow, the spectacular views over Pattaya Bay. Full of natural light and boasting floor to ceiling glass windows, the lobby features a spectacular, curved, fabric ceiling designed to look like sand at the beach. At night, strategically-placed strip lights enhance the ceiling’s rippling sand dune-like effect.The vibrant theme of life underneath the sea is also reflected in the interior design of the hotel guest rooms. Guest rooms feature a large circular ball which opens up into a vanity unit. In-room hotel work desks feature smooth, curved edges as do the sofas and seating in the rooms. Guest rooms are painted in soft, neutral tones and feature soft lighting and many of the walls are slightly curved to reflect gentle sea waves

Tote takes the sublime experience of food to the next level in Mumbai. Serie Architects has converted the former betting house  into a spectacular space with a restaurant, bar and a set of banquet rooms.A series of disused buildings from Mumbai’s colonial past set within the Mumbai Race Course are to be converted to form a series of restaurant and bars. The conservation guidelines call for the preservation of the roof profile for three-quarters of the buildings and full conservation for the remaining one-quarter. The combination of dishes and flavors, ranging from traditional brunch favourites like eggs to comfort food in the rains like steaming hot khowsuey and a vast grill section of Western and Indian specialities, especially the Tote brunch is just what you need  after a long week.

Hermes’ fourth flagship store is in the new fashion districy of Seoul, Dosan Park. Maison Hermes Dosan Park is a cube-shaped building with a copper silkscreen façade, consists of four floors. La musee-Promenade, a retrospective on the company, and book cafe Madang are situated in the basement, the first and second floors are the shopping area and the third floor is Atelier Hermes, an exhibition area.

Make a reservation at Four Seasons Landaa

A scenic seaplane ride from Malé, the resort offers 44 acres of unspoilt wilderness flanked by one of the largest natural lagoons in the islands. The Resort designed by Murad Ismail, famed for his contemporary blend of traditional Maldivian and Sri Lankan forms and  is a pure expression of function over form, characterised by clean lines and lack of any unnecessary elaboration, curves, carvings, or decoration. Entry to each of 102 vast accommodation compounds is via its own turquoise gate with the traditional coral walls and lush vegetation resulting in maximum privacy over the water or hidden down dense jungle paths …
 

Located on the island’s western tip, overlooking the two kilometre lagoon (and the resident baby lemon sharks), Blu restaurant serves contemporary Italian cuisine for lunch and elegant Italian in the evening.  A ‘sunset’ swimming pool separates the restaurant and sandfloor bar .The  resorts is well known with its 2.5 acre Spa and Ayurvedic Retreat which stretches from the heart of the island to the middle of the lagoon.
Two Ayurvedic Physicians, a resident yogi and highly specialised team of therapists offer authentic healing and education. The Ayurvedic Retreat is set within its own tropical garden. All Resort guests are offered a dosha determining consultation during their visit.

Make a reservation at Four Seasons Landaa

Make a reservation at Amanpulo

Amanpulo is a private island (known as Pamalican), set among the Quiniluban group of Cuyo Islands, 360km south-west of Manila. Seven square kilometres of reef surround the island. Beyond are sandbanks and a channel where whales, dolphins and sea cows have been glimpsed. At its widest point, the island is only 500m across. The resort is accessed by flying directly to Pamalican Island in a 19-seat, twin-engine turboprop, landing at the resort’s private airstrip. Amanpulo is an escape from mankind and is a dive into island life where nature has been unashamedly boastful. The island is secluded, being private, and offers a variety of sea, sand and tropical  island-retreat–pleasures.

The 40 Beach, Hillside and Treetop Casitas are modelled on authentic bahay kubo dwellings, each with its own golf cart for island exploration. Subtle interiors, warm and sun-dappled, are smoothed out in shades of caramel and bamboo with pristine beds. Each casita enjoys a sprawling wooden sun deck with inviting loungers and dappled shade from vibrant bougainvillea and two deluxe Hillside Casitas have sweeping vistas of the Sulu Sea and neighbouring islands. This romantically remote island is for those who wish to ‘hammock’ and beach comb their days in a paradise.

Make a reservation at Amanpulo