Shinta Mani Wild — Bensley Collection
Arriving at your hotel by zip-lining some 1,250 feet over rivers and waterfalls may not sound like your typical luxury experience, but that’s exactly the point of this swanky tented retreat that’s a three-hour drive (or quick chopper transfer) south of Phnom Penh, in Cambodia’s Southern Cardamom National Park. The brainchild of hotel-designer extraordinaire Bill Bensley — known for his work throughout Southeast Asia, not least for the Siam and the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, both in Thailand — the property seeks to re-create the luxe safari experience that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis would have had when she toured the country with its king in the late 1960s. To that end, butlers serve guests staying in its 15 plush and playfully appointed canvas-clad accommodations; gourmet meals incorporate freshly foraged local ingredients; and adventure options extend from mountain biking and bouldering to sailing aboard a Bensley-designed boat outfitted with kayaks.
Waldorf Astoria Bangkok
This storied brand — which, of course, got its start in Midtown Manhattan — has finally made it to Southeast Asia, opening in a 60-story tower in the Thai capital’s central Ratchaprasong district. Hong Kong design star André Fu, the aesthetic force behind Seoul’s Four Seasons and Singapore’s Fullerton Bay Hotel, has conceived the 171 rooms and suites here as quietly luxe pied-à-terres, nearly all with walls of windows offering knockout views of the cityscape. Throughout these and the various public spaces, he’s incorporated art deco elements that reference the original New York hotel. NYC’s own AvroKO, meanwhile, designed the three food and drink venues (a steak-and-seafood spot, a Big Apple-inspired bar and a Champagne lounge) on the uppermost levels. And to (literally) top it all off: a rooftop urban oasis centered on a seductively curvaceous, blue mosaic-tiled pool. Anyone for a swim?
Shanghai Edition
This spot opened in September as the second Chinese location — and the first in a major Chinese city — of the Edition brand, a collaboration between Marriott and Studio 54 co-founder-turned-master boutique hotelier Ian Schrager. The 145-room stay occupies a 1929 art deco gem on storied Nanjing Road and a new postmodern tower. Among its enticements: seven floors of unique eating and drinking destinations (all curated by Michelin-starred British chef Jason Atherton), including Japanese and Cantonese outlets, a cocktail bar and a clubby lounge, plus Electric Circus, an after-hours hangout that puts Schrager’s nightlife prowess front and center. With its bar, cinema and 360-degree city views, the tropical roof garden — a Shanghai rarity — will prove a powerful draw come warmer weather.
Anantara Quy Nhon Villas
Quietly opening this month with a full debut in January, Anantara plants a five-star flag in a relatively untouristed stretch of the central Vietnamese coast, about 250 miles south of the centuries-old former capital city of Hue. Its 26 contemporary-style villas — each with a private infinity-edge plunge pool, sun deck and soaking tub in front of floor-to-ceiling windows — dot nearly 18 acres of tropical gardens planted with bamboo and coconut palms, all leading to 800 feet of beachfront and the emerald sea beyond. In the thatched-roof, glass-walled spa, treatments include a Vietnamese herbal steam bath. A menu of off-site adventures immerses you in your surroundings — all rice paddies, fishing villages and ancient stone temples and towers — as well as the people who live and work nearby.
Six Senses Bhutan
Much delayed and even more hotly anticipated, the five individually designed lodges of the Six Senses Bhutan will add another layer of luxury to the Himalayan kingdom when they begin opening next month. The first debuts in a pastoral setting, between apple orchards and pine forests, just outside the capital of Thimphu. (The others will follow in Paro and Punakha in January and Bumthang and Gangtey in May.) The premier location’s 20 suites, five villas and common spaces — including an indoor pool, a five-room spa and a lobby pavilion set amid placid reflecting pools — take aesthetic cues from traditional fortresses and cloud patterns, combining natural wood and stone to achieve a certain Zen appeal. The hotel can arrange such immersive experiences as a tea tasting, an archery match and a visit to a 16th-century Buddhist monastery for an astrology reading by a monk.