Stay and play
Moving away from the cookie-cutter luxury
hotels that have come to deine Dubai’s
hospitality scene, this 136-room property
aims to provide a tailored experience
by ofering a series of optional extras,
including architecture and food tours, and
private yoga sessions. There’s also a butler
service. The hotel interiors, by global
outit Architecture-Studio, are understated,
with bespoke furnishings in muted timber,
brushed brass and marble. Located near
Dubai Creek, Form is a ten-minute drive
from downtown Dubai and its profusion of
shops and restaurants, but if you’re staying
in, the hotel boasts a rooftop pool and bar, a
boutique and a 24/7 café serving wholesome
meals. Jessica-Christin Hametner
Al Jadaf Street, Culture Village, tel: 971.4 317
9000, form-hotel.com. Rates: from £49Pole position
Kraków’s historic Jewish quarter, Kazimierz,
is having something of a moment, luring
artists and creative types with an attractive
mix of art galleries, old-world workshops
and millennial cafés. With perfect timing,
the 228-room Puro has opened on a prime
spot in the neighbourhood, in a new
building featuring architecture by ASW
Architekci and slick interiors by Conran +
Partners. At its restaurant, Halicka, chef
Miłosz Kowalski serves up Polish standards
such as trout and cottage cheese dumplings;
we’re partial to the bitter chocolate and
halva dessert. For a therapeutic treat,
try the Prisma spa, stocked with products
by local brand Alba1913. DW
Halicka 14a, tel: 48.12 8899 000, purohotel.pl.
Rates: from €100Claiming to be Japan’s irst ryokan with
a focus on art, Kai Sengokuhara has an
on-site atelier and is decorated with the
works of 12 diferent artists, produced
during a residency programme. With art
materials on tap, guests are encouraged
to explore their creativity – which should
low, considering the hotel’s location in
the scenic Hakone mountains in Kanagawa
Prefecture (the area is a hub for aesthetes,
with a string of museums and galleries
scattered among its villages). Layered with
tatamis, shoji screens and cypress-wood
latticework, each of the hot spring ryokan’s
16 serene rooms has its own outdoor bath.
At dinner, a multi-course kaiseki menu
features dishes such as fast-smoked salmon
and grilled abalone. Danielle Demetriou
817-359 Sengokuhara, Hakone, kai-ryokan.jp/en.
Rates: from ¥37,000 ($330)Hot spring action
KAI SENGOKUHARA, KANAGAWAFORM HOTEL, DUBAIPURO, KRAKÓWPhotography: Anna Stathaki212 ∑
Travel