“We believe being sustainable doesn’t mean you need to compromise the experience for the consumer,” says founder Ronald Akili. “It’s been designed to unleash the creative spirit in everyone and beyond aiming to deliver the best experience, we also give back in a big way.” That means serious carbon offsetting, zero-waste kits in the OMA-designed rooms and the involvement of local communities in the production of everything from the Balinese red bricks to the patchwork rugs and volcanic ceramics.

Ritz-Carlton Nikko

If Tokyo is “the big city” and Kyoto is “the temples”, then Nikko is “nature”.

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Just under three hours by train or car from Tokyo takes you into the mesmerising landscape of Nikko National Park, all conical mountains, glassy lakes, fragrant pine forests and roaring waterfalls, studded with extraordinary bright Shinto shrines. Rather than the usual day trip from the capital, this area merits at least three days of your time, so it’s a mystery why international hoteliers haven’t put it on the map before now.

Step forward the Ritz-Carlton Nikko. “Our hotel is purposefully situated in this lesser known destination,” says general manager Masanori Hosoya. “And our goal is to be a part of Nikko’s story in a meaningful way while also providing our guests access to its unique experiences along the way.”

Those experiences might include visiting a sake microbrewery or hiking to the source of the hotel’s thermal waters, practising Zazen meditation with a ruby robed monk or staring at the stars from Chuzenji Lake.

Raffles Bali

In July, Raffles Bali threw down the coconut welcome mat on the shores of Jimbaran Bay, declaring itself the first Raffles hotel with a focus on emotional well-being. What exactly does that mean?

“It’s based on the understanding that true luxury is not about what you own but what you feel,” says general manager Katya Herting. “We want our guests to immediately feel at one with the stunning setting and for them to have meaningful experiences that connect them to the natural environment and local culture.”

This holistic approach includes aromatherapy sleep kits in the rooms, daily complimentary yoga and the services of “wellness butlers”, who will not only unpack suitcases and book tables but may also lead you on visits around Loloan temple or set up a private dinner in a candle-lit cave.

The hotel also has an immense swimming pool, tennis courts, jogging trails, a meditation terrace, kombucha with breakfast, healthy menus and chakra balancing rituals in the spa.

Ace Kyoto

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma (who was behind the new pavilion at Amanpuri Phuket, the extraordinary Odunpazari Modern Art Museum in Turkey and a number of Ace Hotels in America) was commissioned to come up with something fresh and different in a city laden with traditional ryokan and sober luxury hotels.

Asked why Kyoto was the chosen destination for Asia’s first Ace, chief brand officer Kelly Sawdon says, “Since Ace’s inception in 1999, we’ve always dreamt about Japan. Kyoto is Japan’s cultural capital – a place where craftsmanship and local traditions are a part of daily life.”

Behind the brickwork and arched windows of a 1920s telephone office lies a brilliant clash of matt and shiny textures, traditional and contemporary techniques, warmth and cool; copper walls brush up against concrete panels; vulcanised rubber flooring meets George Nakashima rugs, timber eaves recall Kyoto’s temple architecture.

The rooms – all 213 of them – are equally stimulating, mixing colour with Japanese craftsmanship. Downstairs, there are three restaurants and a Stumptown coffee shop, straight out of Portland.

Taj Fateh Prakash Palace, Udaipur

A wedding cake of white plaster, domed havelis and delicately latticed jharhoka windows set on the banks of Lake Pichola, the Taj Fateh Prakash Palace looks as though its been torn from the pages of a romantic Indian myth. It is part of the city palace complex, and the new little sister hotel to the Taj Lake Palace (immortalised as the floating hotel in the James Bond movie Octopussy).

“The Fateh Prakash was built during the reign of Maharana Fateh Singh in the early 20th century as an exclusive venue for royal functions,” general manager Mr Mohanchandran says.

The hotel focuses on a range of experiences, from airport pickups in a vintage car to jewellery shopping to private dinners in centuries old chowk (courtyards). Aside from 65 heritage rooms, there’s a crystal gallery, containing the world’s largest privately owned collection of crystal objets d’arts, including a Cinderella-like crystal bed.

If you visit, don’t miss sunset drinks on the terrace, swooning over the Taj Lake Palace hotel hovering in a pink Lake Pichola – a sight you can’t fully appreciate if you stay at the hotel’s more expensive sibling.

Still to come …

Japan may have had to delay the Olympics but that hasn’t stopped a raft of new hotels from going for gold. Giving the Ace some competition, Hotel The Mitsui, designed by Hong Kong’s own Andre Fu, is scheduled to open in Kyoto in December. And joining the Four Seasons Tokyo at Otemachi will be the Edition Tokyo.

Bangkok is preparing to welcome two long-delayed luxury hotels; the Four Seasons and Capella Bangkok, both slated to open in October. In neighbouring Vietnam, hip new local brand Wink will soon launch the first of 10 hotels. The debut property will be in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 (the SoHo of Saigon, apparently) and contain 237 artsy rooms affordably aimed at twenty-something travellers. Second and third properties will follow in Da Nang before the end of the year.

And if it’s more of a tropical getaway you’ve got in mind, the first all-spa resort in the Maldives – Kagi Spa Island – will begin pampering this month, and the Legian Sire will open on the serene northwest coast of Lombok, Indonesia in December.

Here’s hoping we’ll be able to see for ourselves what all the fuss is about at one or more of these places before too long.