What do you think of when you hear the words ‘hotel bedroom’?
Steady on now, let’s keep things safe for work…But it’s true that there is something singularly exciting about a hotel room. The bedroom of a tourist hotel is stripped of all the day-to-day routine we would usually use our sleeping chambers for. Here, the radio alarm is banished, those half-threadbare socks you meant to throw out are far away, and the focus is all on relaxing and having fun.
Hotel designers surely must enjoy putting together this room the most, thinking up a cozy and welcoming space that allows the visitor to feel at home and at the same time very far from home, too.
We’ve rounded up a selection of the world’s most striking and inviting modern bedrooms in hotels that will transport you from your daily routine, just by reading about them.
1. Palazzo Daniele, Puglia, Italy
Palazzo Daniele bedrooms blend Italian neoclassicism and minimalist chic
Let you heart soar at the sight of the rooms in this Puglia palazzo. It's a marriage of old-school aristocracy and modern minimalism that works wonderfully.
In the ten beautiful suites, the original 19th-century frescoes and mosaic bedroom floors are offset with contemporary furnishings and art.
The elaborate ceiling frescoes blend with the pared-down furnishings
The low-key charm of the place matches the location in Gagliano del Capo, a village in the southernmost Salento region. Food on site is even prepared by local cooks employing their own families' recipes.
Book a stay at Palazzo Daniele. Rooms from $380.
Change up your morning shower routine
2. Patina, Maldives
Floor-to-ceiling windows mean guests are practically sleeping on the beach
Patina in the Maldives offers a more pared down alternative to some of the archipelago's flashier resorts.
The luxury bedrooms are tranquil havens of earth tones and smooth lines and offer views out on to the sparkling blue ocean that look, without hyperbole, divine.
A little glimpse of heaven from the bed of Patina's beach villas
Many villas feature their own private landscaped garden and private pool. There are floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, so you feel as close to the beautiful surrounds as possible. Heaven.
Book a stay at Patina. Rooms from $1600.
3. The Fife Arms
Each room has a different feel and finish. This one's a cozy and enchanting 'artist's studio'
The 46 individually designed rooms and suites of this Scottish demure are bursting with bedroom color ideas and personality. There's the "Royal suites", dedicated to different figures from the British monarchy, another set of rooms dedicated to culturally significant Scots, romantic "nature and poetry rooms" and our favorite, the "Croft rooms" featuring traditional box beds that will make you feel like a character in Peter Pan.
The hotel is set within the Cairngorms National Park in Aberdeenshire, in the scenic village of Braemar in the thick of the Highlands.
Interiors are a collaboration between a number of big names on the creative scene. The overall look is masterminded by Russell Sage Studio, who also worked on The Goring and The Savoy) and is overwhelmingly characterful, with just a touch of very British eccentricity. Moxon architects has overseen a careful restoration of the 19th-century listed building, while the gardens were sensitively updated by Jinny Blom.
Of course there are plenty of notes to local Scottish culture, like house tartan and tweed from Araminta Campbell and the sprawling pile is dotted with Scottish and Scotland-inspired art, ranging from the centuries-old to contemporary.
Book a stay at The Fife Arms. Rooms from $526.
4. Chateau de Rosa Bonheur, Ile-de-France, France
The whole chateau has been restored to its original splendor, with some welcome modern comforts
Every detail has been thoughtfully approached
How would you like to stay in the room of one of France's most successful painters and cultural figures?
Rosa Bonheur was one of the most commercially successful French artists of the 19th century and the first French woman to buy her own chateau and to be awarded the prestigious Legion of Honour.
Her spellbinding chateau in Thomery on the edge of the Fontainebleau forest has been lovingly restored and reopened by mother and daughter team Katherine and Lou Brault as a museum tea houses and guest house.
Guests can stay in the artist's own room or her renovated winter studio amid legendary artworks and dreamy romantic gardens, but with all the modern amenities. It's a rare treat for art and design lovers alike.
Book a stay at Chateau de Rosa Bonheur. The suites are €350 per night.
5. Glenburn Penthouse, India
Bedrooms are eclectic and atmospheric in this top-floor retreat in Kolkata
The Glenburn Penthouse is located behind the121-year-old facade of the Kanak Building on Russel Street facade.
There are nine suites, all of which have dramatic solid-wood four poster frames , polished parquet floors and white shutters on the elegant windows that meet in a curved arch at the top.
Gloriously loud interiors at Glenburn Penthouse
We particularly appreciate the gloriously clashing fabrics of the common areas and the standalone tubs in the marble-accented bathrooms. On the terrace there's an infinity pool with a backdrop of the Kolkata skyline.
Book a stay at Glenburn Penthouse. Rooms from $350 including breakfast.
6. Life House, Miami, USA
The Life House, Little Havana building is a historic 1920s icon that incorporates elements of Mission Revival style architecture. It reopened after a full refurb at the end of 2021 and it manages to look somehow entirely retro and entirely contemporary.
The hotel sets out to represent the "diverse plurality of cultures" in the Little Havana neighborhood, with nods to Cuban culture but also the local Ecuadorian, Colombian and Venezuelan communities too.
Inside you'll find an explosion of patterns and colors, including wallpapers from House of Hackney and details that pay homage to the heritage of the area, like photography from a local Cuban photographer and Afrocuban ceramics. The dining options offer an "elevated" take on Latin American street food.
Book a stay at Life House, Little Havana. Rooms from $189.
7. Arijiju Safari Lodge, Kenya
The rooms are spacious and bathed in light
When this hotel's elusive owner, who prefers to remain behind the scenes, began constructing this hotel in Laikipia county in the Kenyan highlands, he wanted it to be a different kind of safari lodge to what already exists. Architects Nick Plewman and Alex Michaelis eschewed the A-frame structure favored for safari lodges and instead went for unobtrusive leveled structure that blends into the bedrock of the conservancy land.
Interiors are mostly modern and stripped back with some elements of the colonial style more typically associated with safari lodges
Visitors report a deep sense of seclusion and serenity when staying in the property and the architects have cited influence from religious sites: a12th-century monastery in Provence and the early Orthodox churches of Ethiopia.
Interior details come courtesy of Johannesburg-based designer Maira Koutsoudakis. The three suites and two cottages are grouped together and all feature freestanding copper baths and striking arched windows, ideal for appreciating the equatorial sunrise or star-specked night sky.
Book a stay at Arijiju Safari Lodge. Lodges start at $9000 for up to six people, more detailed pricing on enquiry.
8. Cuixmala
There's a feeling of space and height thanks to the reaching curved lines and whitewash
This delightfully colorful and striking Mexican mansion, designed by Robert Couturier, was previously the private residence of billionaire James Goldsmith. The main property is nestled in a sprawling 30,000-acre estate with its own three-miles of stretch of Pacific coastline, idyllic lagoons, coconut groves, savannah and even a working biodynamic farm.
Goldsmith’s daughter Alix oversaw the transformation of this ultra-luxe family hideaway into a high-end hotel. Inside the suites, bungalows, villas and casitas that comprise the accommodation are characterized by bright white walls contrast with the bold, juicy colours of the soft furnishings and artwork.
We love the look of the bedrooms. The space, height and light feels like a big gasp of oxygen, embellished by the judicious and joyful use of color.
Book a stay at Cuixmala. Rooms from $570.
Details are playful and colorful
You don't need much color in the bathroom when the views outside are that vibrant
9. Hotel Particulier Montmartre, Paris
Lazy Leopardess suite
This five-suite hotel is one of Paris's best-kept secrets. It's hidden away in a private mews off the Avenue Junot, the prestigious street that climbs the Montmartre hill in the north of the city.
The bar and restaurant here are favorites with locals in the know and visiting creative types, and are laid out around an elegant garden and courtayrd.
The characterful accommodation offerings, designed to feel like the guest rooms of a (very stylish) friend have recently been refreshed by Pierre Lacroix. We love the slinky leopard-print wallpaper in the "Lazy leopardess" suite and the velvet-decked irreverence of the "Grand Tralala" suite.
Book a stay at Hotel Particulier Montmartre. Rooms from $500.
Grand Tralala suite
Attention to detail continues into the bathrooms
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