- A boutique hotel in north Bali with rates starting at $43 per night is being called the most beautifully designed hotel of the year.
- The Tiing hotel won the public vote award for best hospitality concept of the year in the third annual Dezeen Awards, which recognizes the best architecture, interior and design projects around the world.
- Over 62,000 people cast votes across award categories this year.
- Located off the beaten tourist path, the Tiing is designed to help guests to unwind and reconnect, architect Nic Brunsdon told Insider.
- Take a look inside the hotel, which comes with 14 spacious guest suites, Instagrammable 'tunnel views' of the ocean and mountains, and private infinity pools.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
A fourteen-bedroom boutique hotel in Bali with rates starting at $43 per night is being called the most beautifully designed hotel of 2020.
Located in the seaside town of in Tejakula on Bali's less touristy north coast, the Tiing Hotel is a two-and-half hour drive through the jungle from the airport in Denpasar.
Architect Nic Brundson calls the Tiing hotel "a reward for the intrepid."
Their reward? Views like this.
After visiting the site for the first time, Brunsdon said he knew that he wanted the hotel to frame the landscape. To do this, he designed seven 'blades,' consisting of upper- and lower-level guest suites, that propel out from a central space.
Both the blades and the walkways between them create Instagrammable "tunnel views" of the ocean and mountain, blocking out views to the side.
The suites are designed to encourage guests to unwind and reconnect, Brunsdon told Insider.
Guests can soak up scenery from their own private infinity pools …
… or relax in an open-air tub after a day of snorkeling and exploring nearby waterfalls.
There are no TVs in the suites, and skylights fill the space with light in place of eye-level windows.
The idea is that "you can only really focus on being there and being present, with the ocean in front of you and the mountain behind you," Brunsdon said.
Brunsdon designed the hotel before the coronavirus pandemic, but he believes that it is well suited for pandemic travel, he told Insider.
When guests want to interact with others, they can head to the shared spaces like the red-tiled pool …
… and the oceanfront yoga pavilion.
But social distancing is built into the hotel's DNA. You can "feel isolated when you want to be isolated, but connected when you want to be connected," he said.
The Tiing is located next to a working fishing village and feels like "traditional Bali," Brunsdon told Insider. On one trip, he remembers watching locals head out to sea on traditional wooden fishing boats and coming back with 50-kilo tuna.
To celebrate the spirit of Tejakuma and Bali, Brunsdon and local studio Manguning designed the hotel using local concrete and bamboo.
"Driving around the island… there are all these concrete slabs and columns, and a lot of them are being held up with bamboo," Brunsdon said.
Textured riffs in the hotel's walls, created by placing bamboo rods in wet concrete, became one of the hotel's signature looks.
"Tiing" means "bamboo" in Indonesian.
Bali is currently closed to tourists until early 2021, but when tourism returns, Brunsdon thinks that the Tiing's location off the beaten tourist path will be a draw for visitors.
"I think we're kind of moving to a place of experiential travel where we're not going to just collect the photos or just check the box," Brunsdon told Insider.
"Everyone's looking for more than just getting on the plane, arriving somewhere, and doing what everyone else has done," he said.
It is important to note that while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer advises against nonessential travel, it does warn that "travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19."
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