Minimalist hotels are now attracting interest well beyond the travelling public. A growing number of creative professionals and business people use them as a less extreme alternative to a retreat in the desert. Companies, meanwhile, hold off-site corporate gatherings for collective brainstorming.
In this article we have gathered 10 minimalist hotels — from expensive luxury properties on the seafront to austere cabins in the depths of the forest — from which you can choose your own place to reset.
1 Mar Adentro, Mexico
Location
The resort town of San José del Cabo is home to Mar Adentro, a hotel situated on the shore of the Gulf of California amid vast pools that create a sense of weightlessness.
Design
Architect Miguel Ángel Aragonés (Miguel Angel Aragones) drew inspiration from the perfectly sharp line of the horizon when designing the hotel. His vision was for the grounds to accentuate the beauty of the point where the ocean meets the sky.
At night, when the hotel's main lighting and the pool lights are switched off, there is a sensation of floating in space, cut off from the surrounding world. Looking out from a window, one has the impression that the buildings are hovering above a void.
Amenities
In addition to the pools, the hotel grounds include 9 villas with integrated smart-home technology, a cinema, a gym, an exhibition gallery, a restaurant, a spa complex and a private beach.
2 Hotel Puerta America, Space Club floor, Spain
Location
Madrid is home to a one-of-a-kind hotel, Puerta America, situated on the outskirts of the city. Visitors note that getting there takes some time and that there are no sights nearby — yet the moment you step inside, any misgivings vanish. It is hardly surprising: this 12-storey hotel conceals twelve distinct architectural worlds beneath its roof.
Design
Twelve celebrated architects and designers each took on a single floor. The most minimalist scheme was conceived by Zaha Hadid. Her floor is called the Space Club.
Stepping out of the lift, you enter a wholly white, futuristic and asymmetrical lobby with sinuous walls, a sculpted ceiling and an enormous curved chandelier. The entire floor, furnishings included, reads as a single continuous surface. Guests may choose between an all-white room and an all-black one.
The entrance doors to the rooms deserve a special mention. On the outside, in place of the usual do-not-disturb sign, there is an LED panel displaying the guest's messages to hotel staff.
Amenities
The hotel's rooftop houses a nightclub known for its transparent floor walkways and panoramic views. A three-Michelin-star restaurant is located next door. The hotel also offers a swimming pool, sauna, gym and a space for business meetings.
3 Sophia Suites, Greece
Location
The hotel Sophia Suites stands on the cliffs of the volcanic island of Santorini. This intimate property sits 350 metres above sea level. The beach is only accessible by car, yet every room offers a bird's-eye view of the Aegean Sea.
Design
The interior has been conceived so that nothing distracts guests from the view beyond the window. The hotel is built from concrete and clay, and the rooms are cave-shaped, with almost no doors. The predominant colours are white, grey and blue.
Each room features a bathroom with a pool that flows seamlessly into the bedroom, and the bedroom in turn opens onto a terrace.
Amenities
The hotel has just 13 rooms. There is no restaurant, but a traditional Greek breakfast is brought to the room each morning. By way of activities, the hotel offers pottery and yoga classes.
4 Aventree Hotel, China
Location
In Hangzhou stands the Aventree hotel. It sits at the top of a mountain, where a quiet forest separates guests from the noisy tourist crowds. Just a few kilometres away lie the region's most visited attractions: temples, tea plantations, the famous West Lake and popular hiking trails.
Design
Tokyo-based architecture firm Kooo architects transformed a former five-storey farmhouse into a minimalist 'misty' hotel.
In designing the guest rooms, the architects took their cue from a distinctive feature of the landscape: thick fog settles here in the morning and evening. Thanks to the light but not stark tones of the finishes and furnishings, the mist seems to seep through the wide windows and envelop the room.
Inside the rooms, the architects removed walls to create a greater sense of space. The transition from, say, the bedroom to the entrance area is marked only by a change in floor covering.
Amenities
On the hotel grounds you will find a restaurant, a barbecue area and a rooftop terrace overlooking the tea plantations and mountains.
5 Hotel Zenden, the Netherlands
Location
The hotel is situated in the historic quarter of Maastricht, known for its creative atmosphere. Here, in buildings dating from the 12th century, a wealth of cafés, restaurants and parks has taken root — favourite haunts of local artists and performers.
Design
The hotel occupies three medieval buildings. The renovation and interior design were carried out by the local firm Wiel Arets Architects. The building contains just nine rooms, each designed for two guests.
The hotel was conceived as a place of 'reset' for creative people. The rooms are therefore furnished with the bare minimum and finished in crisp white throughout. To keep the spaces as open as possible, bedside tables and shelves have been replaced by specially recessed niches in the walls. Televisions are concealed behind reflective glass, and the doors double as mirrors.
Amenities
In the hotel's basement there is a pool that retains its original medieval vaulted ceiling. Beyond the rooms, lobby and pool the building offers nothing further — but a sports centre nearby is available to hotel guests free of charge.
6 Juvet Landscape Hotel, Norway
Location
The hotel Juvet Landscape bills itself as the first landscape hotel in Europe. It is set in a dense forest on a steep bank of the Valldøla river, which runs through the Romsdalen valley — a landscape Norwegians regard as the most spectacular in the country.
Juvet Landscape Hotel served as the filming location for the British science-fiction film Ex Machina.
Design
Norwegian architecture practice Jensen & Skodvin Architects designed nine log cabins on stilts, each with one or two fully glazed walls. Every unit is just 8 sq m. The shower, toilet and other amenities are housed a short distance away in an old barn that has been incorporated into the hotel.
No cabin is visible from another: they are positioned at different levels on the slope, with their transparent walls facing in different directions. The exterior surface of the glass is mirrored, which further dissolves the cabins into the forest landscape.
Amenities
The barn houses a restaurant and a spa with a 15-metre glass wall, while outside there is a hot-water jacuzzi.
7 Koyasan Guesthouse, Japan
Location
The hostel is located in the village of Koyasan. The guesthouse owner, Ryochi Takai, had long dreamed of building a hotel specifically for visitors making the journey to one of Japan's oldest Buddhist temples — Shingon, founded some 1,200 years ago. The surrounding area is home to around a hundred ancient temples and monasteries, and the site itself is considered sacred. Ryochi's vision was realised in 2010.
Design
The architects of Japanese studio Alphaville Architects designed something between a typical capsule hotel and a dormitory. Guests can retreat to a private sleeping space no larger than a single mattress, or mingle with fellow travellers at the bar at the end of the corridor. The entire hotel covers just 96 sq m.
The space is lit by natural light that filters through openings in the ceiling and diffuses along the main corridor and bar. The compact sleeping pods are also fitted with light slots and a few small bulbs for night-time illumination.
Amenities
The guesthouse has a small kitchen where the owner's wife prepares breakfasts (toast, omelette, ham) and lunches (curry rice). At the bar, Ryochi himself mixes cocktails. The hostel also has several toilets and shower cubicles, with washbasins placed directly in the corridor.
8 Containhotel, Czech Republic
Location
A mobile hotel assembled from repurposed shipping containers sits on the bank of the Elbe. The micro-hotel serves as a budget retreat for wakeboarders and travellers seeking to immerse themselves in nature and quiet.
When the cold sets in, the hotel is dismantled and reassembled the following warm season in a slightly different spot. Each year, guests look out to the same river — only from a new angle.
Design
The Czech firm Articul designed this compact micro-hotel from three old shipping containers set on railway sleepers. Inside, the walls and ceiling are clad in birch plywood. On the exterior, the second floor and roof are covered with reclaimed boards from a neighbouring sawmill.
The hotel has 5 rooms accommodating up to 13 guests. Each room features one fully glazed wall, which visually enlarges the compact space and brings guests closer to the natural surroundings.
Amenities
On the ground floor there is a toilet room and 2 shower cubicles fitted with water-saving taps. The second floor opens onto a shared terrace, which each year offers a fresh view of the Elbe.
9 Lake Inari Mobile Camping, Norway
Location
On the shore of a lake near the Lapland village of Inari lies the Lake Inari camping. The site is owned by the proprietor of the Kultahovi hotel, on whose grounds the mobile cabins are situated.
Before settling in, guests travel to the hotel to prepare for their journey through the Arctic landscape. Winter daylight hours in this region are short, giving travellers the chance to witness the northern lights.
Design
The cabins are built from wood and mounted on runners. To ensure travellers never miss the northern lights, the roof and the walls around the bed are made of glass. Total area: 8 sq.m.
Amenities
Each cabin contains a double bed, shelving, a table, a chair and a chemical toilet. For an additional fee, a sauna and a hot tub can be attached to the cabin.
On the grounds of the Kultahovi hotel, guests have free use of the shower, kitchen and barbecue area. The hotel also offers snowmobile excursions, and ski and ice-fishing rod hire.
10 Hotel Shabby Shabby, Hedonist cabin, Germany
Location
In 2014, as part of a theatre festival, 22 tiny hotel cabins were built across the city of Mannheim. They are situated in a variety of unexpected public spaces: rooftops, playgrounds, church grounds, market squares and parks.
The most minimalist and austere of the cabins is the Hedonist (Rus. Hedonist). It stands where two rivers meet: the Rhine and the Neckar. On three sides the cabin is surrounded by parkland and the river, while the fourth side looks out over an industrial zone.
Design
To build the cabins, the hotel's creators used only materials found on the city's streets: wooden pallets, polycarbonate panels, steel beams and corrugated fibreglass. The total construction budget for the Hedonist did not exceed 250 euros.
The cabin was built as a tribute to the German Modernist architect Mies van der Rohe. Glass exterior walls are one of the defining features of his buildings, and it is this idea that the sheets of transparent corrugated fibreglass serve as the walls of the Hedonist. The cabin has a floor area of 12 sq. m.
Amenities
The room's amenities amount to a double bed, two wooden chairs, and a pair of red-light lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
One more thing
Wherever you decide to go, we recommend taking along a print copy of 99U Magazine — a publication we devoted an entire article to. The print edition comes out once a year and brings together the best of everything published on the website to date.
Each issue is packed with practical advice on how to stop procrastinating and finally bring your plans and ideas to life. You will find a wealth of articles on self-development, as well as interviews with successful artists, designers and entrepreneurs.
If a recluse's retreat is not your idea of a holiday, find out where to go for those who crave adventure:
— A luxury camp at the South Pole
— Three transparent igloo hotels in Finnish Lapland
— LeapRus eco-hotel on Mount Elbrus for climbers and skiers
