What can travelers expect from the next generation of hotel rooms?

To find out, Hamish heads to the top secret innovation lab at Marriott Headquarters — where more adaptable, interactive, and locally connected hotel rooms are being crafted as the ideal home base for millions of travel journeys to come.

He learns why the near future of hotel rooms isn’t a dogpile of technology for technology’s sake. Instead, it’s a future where we can adjust our room to be what we need right in the moment, by pressing a single button or pulling on a single handle.

In this episode, Hamish gets a glimpse of that future by going behind the scenes at a massive workshop, where (with the help of a power saw, foamcore, and VR headsets) new ideas can become new hotel rooms in a single day. Then, just across the street he explores an entire floor of prototype rooms, where travelers are invited to stay the night and help shape their final form.

And along the way, Hamish meets the passionate designers who strive to help travelers get immersed in their destination — and walk away from every trip with a feeling of perpetual discovery.

Featured Hotel: Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ

Featured Designers: Jeff Voris, Senior Vice President of Global Design Strategies at Marriott; Jason Robertson, Vice President of Global Design Innovation at Marriott; Aliya Khan, Vice President of Global Design strategies at Marriott

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Eleven stories above the arctic circle, a panoramic view — of Norwegian mountains, fjords, and the Northern Lights — sweeps travelers into the natural world.

That’s the first thing you’ll see when you check in at Moxy Tromsø, because the hotel lobby is intentionally perched on the top floor. A welcome drink and an uninterrupted view make this a one-of-kind introduction to one of the most breathtaking landscapes on Earth.

Sculpted by Copenhagen-based designer and longtime mountain backpacker Mette Fredskild, the hotel is designed to help travelers embrace mother nature, whether that means taking in the vista or putting on their boots and trekking into the mountains.

In addition to being a great home base for hiking, sledding, whale watching, and other outdoor adventures, Moxy Tromsø immerses travelers in a multilayered interior design that pays homage to the Northern Lights, the midnight sun, and the community huts that Mette visits during her trips through the mountains.

In this episode, Mette shows Hamish why she chose to “flip the hotel upside down,” how she used adaptive lighting to ensure that nature would always be front and center, and why it was so critical to offer travelers a space where it’s easy to let go of the modern world.

• 01:56 — Why and how Mette “flipped the hotel upside-down”
• 04:50 — How it feels to trek through the mountain hiking trails of Tromsø
• 07:20 — How to design interiors for a great view of the Northern Lights

Featured Hotel: Moxy Tromsø

Featured Designer: Mette Fredskild, Mette Fredskild Studio

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What do an airport terminal, the set of a Broadway show, and one of the most revered parks in New York City have in common?

They’ve all been shaped by renowned designer David Rockwell — and they all reveal the hidden choices that go into designing a public space.

David’s work shows a deep understanding of gathering places, in-between spaces, and transitions. He can shape a lobby, an atrium, or even a staircase to connect people with their surroundings in unseen ways. And there’s no better place to explore this masterful sculpting of public spaces than New York City, where David first designed W New York - Union Square during the late 1990s.

For nearly 25 years, this hotel towered over Union Square Park, within the historic Beaux-Arts Guardian Life building. Then, David was invited back to completely reinvent the hotel — the first in a series of transformations being made to W hotels across the world.

In this episode, David shares how his love of theater and his knowledge of Union Square’s history helped him to bring “one of the great living rooms of New York” into the hotels’ architecture and interior design, celebrating the many ways that Union Square Park acts as a stage for the city that never sleeps.

• 01:37 — What do an airport and a hotel have in common, and why did David work with a choreographer to design an airport terminal?
• 04:45 — How has Union Square, New York evolved since the year 2000, and how can that evolution be reflected in a hotel’s design?
• 08:00 — Why focus on a single staircase when overhauling a hotel lobby?

Featured Hotel: W New York - Union Square

Featured Designer: David Rockwell, The Rockwell Group

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Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, is a rising destination for travelers who want to visit a vibrant European city with a fantastic local food scene, access to breathtaking countryside excursions, and centuries of historic architecture.

Tapping into that history is The Marmorosch Bucharest, an Autograph Collection Hotel. This hotel was crafted inside the Marmorosch-Blank Bank Palace, a stately building in the heart of old town Bucharest that was originally constructed in 1912. Previously critical to the modernization of the Romanian economy, the bank building is now a protected national monument — with intricate woodwork, stained glass, and marble tiling throughout.

To keep the heritage of the Marmorosch intact, architect Indre Sangus had to untangle a labyrinth of design challenges. From encasing carved wood panels in glass so they could function as shower walls, to preserving marble by hiding above-ground plumbing inside furniture, she came up with solution after solution to preserve over a century of history at the heart of Bucharest.

In this conversation, Hamish and Indre clarify why it’s important to protect and restore this kind of heritage architecture and design, what it takes to restore over a century of craft for the public to see and touch once again…  and what it was like to repurpose a two-story bank vault, deposit boxes and all, into an otherworldly speakeasy bar.

• 02:18 — Why do old banks make for wonderful hotels?
• 05:17 — Why is it so important to preserve the heritage features of this building?
• 06:50 — How did Indre solve problems like turning hundred-year-old, wood-paneled rooms into fully functional hotel bathrooms?
• 12:25 — What was it like to turn a bank vault into a speakeasy bar? 

Featured Hotel: The Marmorosch Bucharest, Autograph Collection

Featured Designer: Indre Sangus, YES.design.architecture

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On the southern tip of the Indonesian island of Bali, the Nusa Dua peninsula offers travelers some of the most stunning beaches in Southeast Asia. But the area surrounding Nusa Dua is also home to majestic cliffs, lush hills, and stone temples. These settings offer a chance to connect with Bali’s local landscape, architecture, and culture — an experience that goes beyond a beach-side getaway.

The Renaissance Bali Nusa Dua Resort, secluded from the hustle and bustle of beach-side hotels, makes good on that offer by paying homage to Balinese architecture. The resort is nestled into the hills like a villa, with traditional pitched roofs perched around a courtyard of peaceful walking paths and walled gardens. And the interiors showcase designer Carl Almeida’s deep appreciation for Balinese theater and dance, which he’s cultivated by visiting the island over the course of 18 years.

In this episode, Carl shares a formative travel experience of his — seeing the Whirling Dervishes perform at a historic site near New Delhi — which inspired him to give travelers an experience rooted in culture. From emulating the use of traditional charcoal lava stone to designing rooms based on Balinese dances, he explains how he meticulously crafted this resort to help guests connect with Balinese culture. And at the end of their conversation, he offers Hamish a local travel tip to make his next trip to Bali unforgettable.

• 01:52 - How a life-changing experience with dance in India shaped Carl’s mission as a designer
• 03:50 - What does Bali have to offer beyond a wonderful time at the beach?
• 06:09 - How did Carl draw on Balinese dance to give travelers a connection with Balinese culture?
• 11:18 - When visiting Nusa Dua, where exactly should travelers go to have a life-changing cultural experience, like Carl did?

Featured Hotel: Renaissance Bali Nusa Dua Resort

Featured Designer: Carl Almeida, P49 Deesign

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The Riviera Maya, a coastal paradise on the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, is home to peaceful mangroves, stunning beaches, and breathtaking freshwater pools known as cenotes. And nestled amongst the mangrove trees is the St. Regis Kanai Resort, Riviera Maya — a 620-acre reserve that immerses travelers in a heavenly natural setting and pays homage to over 4,000 years of Maya heritage within greater Mexico.

In this episode of Travel by Design, host Hamish Kilburn chats with designer Tatiana Sheveleva, who spent seven years painstakingly sculpting a seamless indoor-outdoor experience at the St. Regis Kanai. Fascinated by Maya culture and especially the Mayas’ mastery of astronomy and architecture, Tatiana worked with architect Michael Edmonds to build out a cluster of white circular buildings. These elegant structures not only offer magnificent views of the beach, they also reflect the stars of the “Seven Sisters,” honor the Mayan lunar calendar, and recognize that in the Yucatan this place is called Kanai — which translates to “Where the sky is born.”

In their conversation, Tatiana shares how she and Edmonds incorporated starlight (including sunlight) into the hotel interior design and architecture. Then she recounts what it was like to descend into the crystal-clear waters of an underground cenote for the first time, and explains how this spiritual experience inspired her guest room designs. Finally, Tatiana and Hamish connect over the importance of designing to create once-in-a-lifetime memories for travelers, and Tatiana shares an unforgettable moment from her first trip to the newly opened hotel.

• 00:50 - What is the Riviera Maya, and what do travelers love about it?
• 02:17 - When building a coastal resort in a mangrove reserve, why center the design of this resort on a starry night sky?
• 08:24 - What is it like to descend into the serene waters of an underground cenote?
• 14:19 - How does the importance of comfort shine through in this design process?

Featured Hotel: The St. Regis Kanai Resort, Riviera Maya

Featured Designer: Tatiana Sheveleva, Chapi Chapo Design

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George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg have been partners in design (and in life) for decades, creating award-winning hospitality spaces that span the globe and never deliver the same experience twice.

When they were asked to design the interiors for two distinct hotels built inside the same 37-story building in Downtown Los Angeles, George and Glenn decided to craft the spaces for two contemporary “protagonists” — rooted in the lifestyles of Southern California artists. For The Moxy Downtown LA, they imagined a desert nomad, who would imbue the hotel with a vivacious, mismatched aesthetic and restless energy. For The AC Hotel Downtown LA, they built an elegant Southern California atelier for an artist in residence, constructing a precise, focused space for creatives to host business and social calls alike.

In this episode, host Hamish Kilburn — a longtime fan of Yabu Pushelberg — gains deep insights into how George and Glenn create the personalities who drive their hotel designs. He learns how they approached the new Moxy and AC hotels in Downtown L.A. as siblings of the same family,  standing completely on their own but sharing a cultural lineage and a grounded aesthetic that sets them apart from more sleek, nouveau buildings in the neighborhood. And George and Glenn share what’s changed in the hotel design world, what remains the same — and how both are revealed by the decisions they’ve made in shaping the Moxy and AC.

• 00:00 Describing the Moxy and AC as “twins, but not twins”
• 01:00 Introduction to George and Glenn of Yabu Pushelberg, and the distinct hotel brands they were tasked with designing for within the same building in downtown LA
• 03:54 How the Moxy and AC create their specific moods visually, and how these two moods can be enjoyed by the same person
• 06:17 Glenn’s “secret degrees” and Yabu Pushelberg’s creative process for design
• 11:17 The evolution of public areas in hospitality, from structure and prescription to a more fluid lifestyle
• 13:43 Why George wants to challenge the feeling that everybody wants to belong to a tribe when they’re enjoying life in public
• 15:20 How to create a lived-in “artist’s home” as opposed to a more expected, stereotypical “downtown studio”
• 17:00 Reflecting on the ultimate purpose of good hotel design and the journey that George and Glenn are on as lifelong designers

Featured Hotels: Moxy Downtown Los Angeles and the AC Hotel Downtown Los Angeles

Featured Designers: George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, Yabu Pushelberg

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The Maldives, an archipelago of more than a thousand islands off the southern tip of India, is renowned for pristine beaches and unparalleled ocean views. The natural setting of these islands, which sit atop shimmering waters and reflect colors of emerald and royal blue, is the perfect place for an island resort getaway.

But while any number of resorts in the Maldives offer snorkeling among the coral reefs and overwater villas that let travelers dive into the lagoon from their hotel rooms, Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa stands out — with its careful curation of the island spaces and bold interior designs, inspired by Bauhaus style and the glamorous histories of 20th century fashion and air travel.

In this episode, host Hamish Kilburn meets with Singapore-based designer Dan Kridsada to trade Maldives travel stories and reveal all the careful decisions that go into constructing an overwater villa. Dan explains how he turned every room inside-out to establish a seamless connection between travelers and the natural features of the Maldives, then brought in striking visual elements and carefully structured framings to set every room apart, in a way that ultimately heightens the experience of being dropped onto an island in the Indian Ocean.

• 00:00 Pro tip for your arrival to the Maldives
• 00:45 Introduction to Dan Kridsada and the first design question for today’s episode: How do you create such a distinct personality for the hotel, without disrupting the traveler’s connection with the island setting?
• 02:00 Hamish shares his parents’ experience visiting the Maldives when it wasn’t a luxury destination, and Dan explains the balancing act that Le Meridien’s luxury overwater villa is accomplishing, in how it makes guests feel at one with nature
• 07:45 Why Bauhaus? Dan and Hamish talk about the choice to create a bold and striking interior design — including Bauhaus, mid century style, and patterns that layer fashion influences on top of traditional Maldivian references
• 11:08 How to design furniture with sustainability in mind
• 12:30 How to design the perfect sunset experience, starting with an “infinite canvas” and ending up with a one-of-a-kind outdoor bar and pool that overlooks the ocean

Featured Hotel: Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa

Featured Designer: Dan Kridsada, Bluette

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Discover how design, blended with nature, puts you right inside a mangrove, so you can immerse yourself in the jungles of Costa Rica at the El Mangroove Hotel and Residences. Host and hotel design reviewer Hamish Kilburn speaks with owner Andres Pacheco and architect Ronald Zürcher to find out how they worked with the mangrove to build their hotel.

Read more about El Mangroove's design on Marriott Bonvoy Traveler.

Featured Hotels: El Mangroove, Autograph Collection

Featured Designer: Ronald Zürcher, Zürcher Arquitectos

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For the longest time, Airport hotels have been treated as nonchalant, transitional places — simply somewhere to rest your head during a layover, en route to your true destination. With their focus on business clientele, airline staff, and people seeking refuge from a canceled flight or missed connection, airport hotels haven’t always provided an experience that guests could relish as destination-worthy.

However, major design overhauls at the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center and the Sheraton Toronto Gateway Hotel showcase a big leap forward for what airport hotels can offer. By completely reconstructing their interiors to enable a seamless blend of business and leisure, by orienting public spaces around multiple ways to meet and gather, and by infusing the guest experience with genuine ties to local culture, these next-generation airport hotels are charting a new path for travelers who want make the most of every step of their journey.

In this episode, host Hamish Kilburn dives into the re-making of the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel with local designer Colin Finnegan, of FG Stijl. They reveal the nuanced spatial design choices and deep understanding of a traveler’s perspective that informed Colin’s work to re-imagine that hotel experience — from the first moment a guest looks out the window as their flight descends into Schiphol Airport.

Then Hamish speaks with Lauren Holmes, Interior Design Manager at Marriott International, about how airport hotels are being reimagined writ large — and what she’s learned from transforming the Sheraton Toronto Gateway Hotel into a more inviting space for repeat travelers and locals looking for a better place to spend their workday.

• 00:00 What exactly is “the airport hotel experience,” and why is it so forgettable?
• 01:45 Hamish’s conversation with Colin Finnegan, founder of FG Stijl and lead designer for the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel, begins with a walk-through of how the guest’s arrival check-in journey has been completely changed through spatial decisions and visual cues
• 07:23 The thought process behind making an airport hotel feel like a welcoming social space
• 09:04 How to ensure guests feel a genuine sense of place and a strong connection to the local setting
• 13:45 Hamish’s conversation with Lauren Holmes, Interior Design Manager at Marriott, begins with an exploration of who business travelers are and what they want in the next generation of airport hotels
• 18:14 What’s changed in airport hotel guest and client needs, especially with regards to work settings, flexible spaces, and the need to blend leisure with business

Featured Hotels: Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center and Sheraton Toronto Gateway Hotel

Featured Designer: Colin Finnegan, FG Stijl

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