Towards the end of 2016, Bespoke had the honour of sponsoring the inaugural Haute Grandeur Awards, an innovative new platform for recognising outstanding hotels worldwide. With more than 200 delegates from the hospitality sector in attendance, the first ever Haute Grandeur Global Hotel Awards gala ceremony took place in October in Abu Dhabi.
Orchestrated by Marinique de Wet, formerly one of the key figures behind the World Luxury Hotel Awards, Haute Grandeur's originality lies in its rating system, which aggregates reviews from TripAdvisor, Facebook, Booking.com, Hotels.com, Expedia, Agoda, Google+, Yelp, Laterooms.com, Orbitz, HolidayCheck, 4travel.jp, Tablethotels, Hotelchatter, Priceline.com and AsiaRooms. By relying on such data, generated by real paying customers, de Wet believes she has created the most unbiased and independent rating system around.
In attendance at the black-tie event in Abu Dhabi was Nicolas Shammas, Bespoke's Editor-in-Chief. "Given that the global luxury consumer has never had such a wide variety of choices in terms of products and places, the question is how can you rise above the competition?" he remarked from the podium to present the award to the overall winner. "We, at Bespoke, believe the answer to that question is actually quite simple, and it is passion. For if you are truly passionate about what you do, and if you can inspire those around you to be like you, then the consumer will invariably reciprocate in kind."
Naturally, there were too many winners to list them in full, so we narrowed it down to our favourites. For Best Desert Resort, a couple of hours from Abu Dhabi and close to the Saudi border, you will find the epicentre of the Empty Quarter, as well as the Qasr Al Sarab, a resort managed by Anantara, which emerges, mirage-like, amid the towering dunes. Resembling an old fortress marrying Islamic design with modern touches, the hotel offers 206 large rooms, camel trekking, desert walks, outdoor yoga, fat biking, sand boarding and dune bashing, as well as archery. The spa combines mainstream techniques with local ingredients such as ground dates and sand for exfoliation, and even the culinary experience has been localised with offerings like maq'louba, machbous and camel milk available for a private dinner in the desert during cooler months.
Best Beach Resort went to LVMH's Cheval Blanc resort at Randheli, staking a claim as the finest in the Maldives among the white sands and turquoise waters of the northwestern Noonu Atoll. In all, there are 45 supremely elegant and incredibly spacious one- and two-bedroom villas. Each comes with seven-metre-high ceilings, indoor and outdoor relaxation areas, private access to the powder sand beaches, and its own 12.5-metre-long swimming pool connected to a lagoon-side pontoon. There is plenty to do by way of watersports, tennis courts, indoor virtual golf, a Guerlain spa island and various restaurants, but most guests are so happy in their secluded sanctuaries that they rarely venture out.
Best Spa Retreat was awarded to Laucala Island, a 1,400-hectare, almost totally self-sufficient paradise in northern Fiji, which once belonged to the Forbes family and is now owned by the billionaire owner of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz. There are 25 thatched-roof villas, an 18-hole golf course, an equestrian centre, five restaurants, a fleet of 14 boats to explore the reef, and a vast man-made lagoon of terraced pools complemented by a 25-metre-long glass-cube lap pool and a spare-no-expense hilltop spa.
For Best Design Hotel, the ION Luxury Adventure Hotel in Selfoss, Iceland, is built from sustainable material and powered by hot water from a geothermal source, offering a truly unique experience just an hour's drive from Reykjavík. The location is ideal for watching the Northern Lights, and while the hotel's 45 minimalistically stylish rooms are not all that spacious, they do incentivise you to explore the surrounding lava rocks, waterfalls and natural hot springs. There is hiking, horseback riding, fishing and even a Unesco World Heritage Site close by; or you can kick back at the hotel's Lava Spa, with its 10-metre hot pool and glass-fronted sauna.
The overall Winner of the Haute Grandeur Hotel Award was the Raffles Jakarta, sitting at the southern tip of Indonesia's capital in an area comprising luxury hotels, malls and skyscrapers. Sandwiched between the upscale Lotte Shopping Avenue plaza and the Ciputra Artpreneur Centre, an art gallery and theatre complex, it makes local culture, in the form of contemporary art, a key role. Though the splendid rooms, memorable food and top-notch service are all impressive, it is on the 14th floor where this business hotel is most compelling, with indoor and outdoor pools, a lush terrace, kids club, gym and superb spa.
Finally, Best Family Resort went to Lake Kora, once owned by the Vanderbilts and now available for exclusive hire. Located in upstate New York, around a five-hour drive from NYC, it is set on a 400-hectare estate. Fully staffed with a gourmet chef, general manager, housekeepers and outdoor instructors, this all-inclusive rustic paradise features 19 exquisite guest rooms spread among eight log cottages near the lake's edge, a heritage bowling alley, tennis and squash courts, vintage board games, billiards, an outdoor roller rink and lake activities including sailing boats, canoes and motorboats. In short, it is a magnificent playground for adults and children alike.
