Issue1 TasteBound compressed - Flipbook - Page 27
Global trends
Cool in the dunes
AlUla – once a vital stop along
ancient trade routes – is today
Saudi’s most spellbinding
escape: think sandstone cliffs,
desert canyons and the country’s
first Unesco World Heritage Site
at Hegra. A world away from
Riyadh or Jeddah, the outpost
is redefining desert hospitality.
First came Our Habitas (2021),
followed by the luxe tented
villas of Banyan Tree (2022,
pictured left), and now the
30-room boutique stay Dar
Tantora The House Hotel (above).
Carved from 800-year-old
mud-brick homes, it’s akin to a
living museum, albeit a luxurious
one – all candlelit cool, handpainted doors and jute floors.
This year marks the hotel’s first
full season – and is surely a sign
of things to come, with a Six
Senses rumoured for 2027.
Modern motels
Once purely functional, the modern motel is getting a design-savvy
reboot – and reshaping how we travel. Still utilitarian, but now cleverly
considered, these are places that favour ease over excess and sharp
design over bells and whistles. No longer just for breaking up a drive,
they are landing in some of the hottest postcodes – offering (relatively)
affordable crashpads for those who’d rather roam than stay put.
1
4
3
2
1 Hotel Wren: 12-room boutique
hotel in Twentynine Palms,
California (USA), launched June
2025. Rooms from £200.
hotelwren29.com
2 The Berry View: 18-room
renovated hostel in Berry,
New South Wales (Australia),
reopened late-2021. Rooms
from £75. theberryview.com.au
3 Three Ducks: 12 rooms
in the heart of the Hamptons,
New York (USA), launched
May 2025. Rooms from £375.
threeduckswesthampton.com
4 Hotel Humano: 39 rooms
in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
(Mexico), launched December
2024. Rooms from £140.
hotel-humano.com
TA S T E B O U N D
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