World-Renowned Designer Bill Bensley on His Favorite Hotel Projects
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- Courtesy Bill Bensley
Belle Mont Farm, St. Kitts
“The world’s first edible golf course and resort garden. Everything we planted is edible, and we created a stock of edible plants we’re distributing throughout the local community to make their lives better. They were growing one type of banana, and we brought in 22 types. Even the lawnmowers we use are edible—goats!”
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
Park Hyatt Siem Reap
“A combination of Khmer architecture and Art Deco. They’re extremely compatible—if you look at Angkor Wat it’s all about squares inside of squares. Same thing with Art Deco.”
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
St. Regis Resort, Bali
"One idea was to create the world’s largest, longest swimming pool, 167 meters long. You can swim all the way to the beach from the pool. I should really get some good drone shots of that for our YouTube channel."
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
The Royal Istana, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia (Palace 1)
"It’s all about showcasing the very specific design language of Kuala Terengganu, which is different from anywhere else in Malaysia, and taking that into the 21st century. The biggest challenge was how to keep the smallness of traditional Terengganu architecture intact while constructing a larger building."
- ShoppingA New Season of The White Lotus Just Dropped, Along With a Ton of CollaborationsParis Wilson
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula, Da Nang
"As research, I went to 50 different Vietnamese temples, because in any Asian culture the temple is where society put their effort. In Europe they put money into the churches, so they’re the best examples of architecture we have in Western society. So I brought the idea of a temple into the resort in a very light-hearted, innovative way.”
- ShoppingA New Season of The White Lotus Just Dropped, Along With a Ton of CollaborationsParis Wilson
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
DC Beach House, Phuket
"For one of Thailand’s art collectors. He wanted something that’s representative of himself, eclectic, and curated like a museum. He’s a pal and we traveled together, and in Sri Lanka we bought some antiques. He has a bottomless pocket of money, which is really nice!"
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
Howie's HomeStay, Chiang Mai
"I built a series of pavilions set in a garden at the base of the Himalayan foothills. That's how every Asian society built every single house, each pavilion, for a specific use. The beauty of that is you’re then allowed to bring air, light, and circulation to all sides of each room, which you would never have in the western context."
- ShoppingA New Season of The White Lotus Just Dropped, Along With a Ton of CollaborationsParis Wilson
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
Capella Golf Clubhouse Foshan, Foshan, China
"This started as a Baccarat project with a strong French look and aesthetic, but during the process it changed hands to Capella management and the emphasis became more Chinese. Now, all the 12 Chinese horoscope animals are represented there."
- ShoppingA New Season of The White Lotus Just Dropped, Along With a Ton of CollaborationsParis Wilson
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
The Siam Hotel, Bangkok
"What makes The Siam so nice and different is it’s a big property with very few rooms. Like forty-percent public space, whereas others are more like ten-percent. You feel a bit more special, not like a nameless guest."
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
Shinta Mani, Siem Reap
"That’s my own hotel, and for the last 12 years we’ve had a hospitality school, which is free for the kids we select. When we first started we had 3,000 kids vying for 30 positions in the school. Now it’s a lot better."
- ShoppingA New Season of The White Lotus Just Dropped, Along With a Ton of CollaborationsParis Wilson
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
Maia Resort and Spa, Seychelles
"The site was fantastic, and has the world’s oldest rocks, which are granite, and huge boulders. We placed wooden bungalows among the boulders, to make one feel as if it grows out of the earth. There was not one tree felled."
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
Ritz Reserve Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico
"That was all about context, building a series of spaces and barns that evoke turn-of-the-century Puerto Rico in five-star style—especially the spa, which I’m very proud of."
- ShoppingA New Season of The White Lotus Just Dropped, Along With a Ton of CollaborationsParis Wilson
- Courtesy Bill Bensley
Indigo Pearl, Phuket
"This was the rebirth of the first resort in Phuket, formerly Pearl Village. It’s still a work in progress, as resorts have to be. A really good resort goes through major facelifts every five years."