Wallpaper - 07.2019

ILLUSTRATOR: EOIN RYAN

ARTFUL LODGE R

Tented adventures in Namibia, wilderness with the

wow factor in Botswana, and local history in Malaga

It’s difficult to believe that Malaga is only

just getting its first luxury boutique hotel,

but on every level, the 68-room Palacio

Solecio has been worth the wait. Interior

designer Antonio Obrador has woven a

subtle narrative of Spanish history into the

revitalised bones of the 18th-century pile,

which has been, variously, a nobleman’s

home, a school and apartments. Millennial

comforts are a given, but it’s the backdrop

that captures the attention, with Obrador

deftly mixing extant archways and murals

with a moodboard of Andalucian and

Moorish influences, not least Cordobanes

leatherwork and custom fabrics. For now,

the best room in the house is the rooftop

suite, with 360-degree views taking in the

Santiago Apostól church and the Alcazaba

fortress, but in the works are a further

49 rooms and a rooftop pool, due to be

completed next year. In the kitchen, chef

José Carlos García offers a modernised

menu of Andalucian classics. Daven Wu

Calle Granada 61, Málaga, palaciosolecio.com.

Rates: from €199

Jao, a Wilderness Safari camp within

Botswana’s Okavango Delta, has been

completely rebuilt, returning as a wildly

improved version of its former self two

decades after it first launched. The original

architects, Johannesburg-based Silvio Rech

& Lesley Carstens, have been tapped for

the redesign, retaining concepts such as the

stilted main area, with its indoor and outdoor

lounges built into the tree canopy, and the

red balau wood walkways, which now provide

a rustic contrast to the slick interiors of the

five rooms and two villas. An understated

colour palette of oatmeal, green, purple and

yellow follows a botanical theme that takes

its cues from the waterlily. The camp’s

highlight is the new museum gallery, which

will display found objects, from local plants

to animal bones, maps and artwork, while

the main swimming pool is the best spot from

which to take in the Delta’s views after a day

spent on game drives, fishing or simply

hanging out at the lodge’s spa. Lauren Ho

Okavango Delta, wilderness-safaris.com.

Rates: from $1,262 per person per night

A year after the opening of Omaanda,

a private lodge near the Namibian capital

Windhoek, Belgian group Zannier Hotels

has launched Sonop Namibia, a luxury

tented camp on the southern edge of the

Namib Desert. Featuring a nuanced

mixture of antiques, modern amenities and

earthy interiors, the ten tents serve as richly

appointed launchpads from which to

explore the surrounding desert dunes and

rock formations. Copper bathtubs and

four-poster beds nod to the refined, 1920s

British explorer aesthetic, as do details

such as flasks, binoculars and vintage

maps. Contemporary amenities – all solar-

powered – include a spa and an outdoor

infinity pool. Dinner is at a communal table,

with butler service. Evenings can be

rounded off at the gentlemen’s club-styled

Cocktail & Cigar Lounge, with billiards

and parlour games, or the open-air cinema,

where screenings may be enjoyed in the

hush of the desert. Ella Marshall

Sonop Farm, Road D707, Karas Region, tel: 264.

84 0000 888, zannierhotels.com. Rates: from £495

Delta force

JAO, BOTSWANA

Moorish flavour

PALACIO SOLECIO, MALAGA

Desert bloom

SONOP, NAMIBIA

18: Waterlily-inspired

vanities that have

been custom-made

for the bathrooms

330: Tons of steel

used to create the

sculptural structures

that form the

framework for the

camp’s new main area,

as well as the guest

rooms and villas

206: Bones that make

up the giraffe skeleton

displayed in the new

museum gallery space

10: Vintage trunks

used as tables

in the guest tents

100: Approximate

age in years of the

terracotta water

vessels that now

decorate the spa

486: Antiques such

as binoculars and

magnifying glasses,

mostly handpicked

in Africa, used as

decorative items

throughout the

camp’s tents

10: Cordobanes –

decorative tanned

sheepskin or goatskin

works – that feature

in the hotel décor

1,290: Hours it took

to carve 68

handcrafted doors

1789: Year in which

the decorative arch

above the staircase

was created

174

Travel

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