Hospitality Design - March/April 2018 - 72

perspectives

brand identity two roads
The 230-year-old warrior fort-turned-Alila Fort
Bishangarh crowns a granite hillock in the Aravalli Range

Photos by SHAO FENG and courtesy of TWO ROADS

Housed in a former sugar mill, Alila Yangshuo comprises a mix of
original and ground-up buildings that blend the old and the new

Large jharokha-style windows offer uninterrupted views in
the 18 Heritage rooms at Alila Fort Bishangarh in India
Ventana Big Sur's pool looks out over the
lush landscape and Pacific Ocean

ALILA HOTELS AND RESORTS

> Although the luxe Alila Hotels and Resorts was a
familiar name to travelers from Asia and Australia,
the Singapore-based company, which launched in
2001, was relatively unknown in the U.S. That started
to change late last year when Ventana Big Sur, an
Alila Resort and multimillion-dollar reimagination
of the venerated circa-1975 Ventana Inn, opened.
This first foray into North America is, says Frederic
Flageat-Simon, CEO of Two Roads Hospitality Asia,
"great for getting more people to understand and
experience Alila."
Led by Carmel, California-based Ray Parks &
Associates and San Francisco-based BraytonHughes
Design Studios, the renovation now features glampsites
with safari-style canvas tents, as well as outdoor
Japanese hot baths. "The beauty of the brand is how
eco-driven it is in a quiet way. It's just done right.
From the food to the intent and the materiality to the
construction, it's such a beautiful, mysterious brand,"
says Treviño.
One luxury yacht and 12 Alila properties-
including the recently opened Alila Yangshuo, housed
in a former sugar mill along the Karst mountains
in China from Beijing-based Vector Architects and
Shenzhen, China firm Horizontal Space Design-
are open, but there are ambitious plans for 24 more,
including the Neri & Hu-crafted Alila Bangsar in
Kuala Lumpur; Alila Villas Koh Russey in Cambodia
designed by StudioGoto Singapore; and Alila Koggala
in Sri Lanka, courtesy of Bali-based NXST Architects
and local firm Palinda Kannangara Architects.
Malaysia, Vietnam, the Middle East, and a resort
outside Shanghai are also on the docket. Alila SCBD
in Jakarta, with a Hakkasan outpost and two JeanGeorges Vongerichten restaurants, will merge the
design talents of Bangkok firm IAW, New York-based
Rockwell Group, and GBRH in Paris when it opens
later this year. "The hotel is right in front of the
Indonesia Stock Exchange. You can't wish for a better
location," says Flageat-Simon, noting that this property
is an example of an Alila city hotel. "Generally, they
have big lobbies and are conceptualized as cool New
York lifestyle hotels."
Ventana's success could also spark further
properties in North America and South America. "We
are a brand that is growing in value and represents
what people are looking for, but we still have a lot to
prove," says Flageat-Simon. Although sustainable, local
materials are celebrated at Alila properties, each hotel
is different. "Sometimes brand standards are imposed
when a destination doesn't need it. There is a design
sensitivity to our properties. You will always know it's
an Alila, but for every project, we write a storybook,
and the storybook is based on our understanding of the
destination, the market, and what we think is right for
it," he adds. "The one thing we don't want is for Alila to
be a static brand. It's flexible in that we want to create a
new story every time."

Hospitality Design - March/April 2018

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