The luxury hotel and resort industry is big business, with hoteliers striving for the absolute best to ensure guests keep coming through the doors and part with their well-earned cash. So, what is it that sets these luxury facilities apart from the rest? High end design is of course the first factor that comes to mind. Yet while there is a large percentage of guests that strive for 5* luxury hospitality, there is also a segment of the market who yearn for a rawer experience. This issue of INEX highlights the contrasting landscape of this hugely competitive industry.

On page 20 you’ll read how architecture agency AW2 has taken resort experience to another level. In the Costa Rican jungle, the project leaves no scars on the landscape and has been designed to prove architecture and nature can live in symbiosis.

Elsewhere on page 58, we unveil Hirsch Bedner Associates’ newly-completed first Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Beijing, China. Conceptualised as a modern-day courtyard mansion, Mandarin Oriental Hotel conveys and reinterprets the rich history of “Wang Fu”. When you look back to the understated presence of Kasiiya Papagayo in Costa Rica, this hotel is a stark contrast. Yet its bold statements enrich the guests’ experience, and provides a visit that is truly unique and highly memorable.

For designers in the hospitality industry, they have a duty to ensure the interiors – however large or small – leave a lasting impression. Whether functional or purely aesthetic, every element must inflict the wow factor. In this month’s Architectural Hardware focus, we highlight that even door components are important elements for hotel specifiers. Turn to page 56 to find out why Hafele was the number one choice for The Highdown Hotel in West Sussex.

I hope you enjoy this edition. Don’t forget, you can also access all of Inex’s features and product inspiration at your fingertips via the magazine’s state-of-the-art app. To download your version free of charge, simply search ‘Inex-online’ on the App Store or Google Play.