Wallpaper - 07.2019

(Nancy Kaufman) #1
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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