More than just a hotel stay

AS TRAVELLERS become more demanding, hotels are catching on that butler services, fine-dining restaurants and selected chocolates on their pillows are no longer enough.

Get ready for “post-experiential hospitality” – where hotels go beyond the physical trappings of a room and facilities to curate memorable experiences for their guests within the local community. This week’s BT Lifestyle looks at this growing phenomenon.

In Tokyo, for example, boutique hotel Soil Nihonbashi is fully entrenched in the neighbourhood it’s located in – even encouraging residents to donate potted plants and old cassette tapes for guests to listen to. In Sichuan’s Lugu Lake, The ArcadiaPlace brings visitors and locals together to learn about the region’s Mosuo matrilineal traditions.

Find out more about this next stage of travel, where it’s not about what you did on holiday, but how you found deeper meaning in the places you stayed in.

Meanwhile, in Design, read about the complete transformation of an awkwardly shaped apartment – narrow rooms and wasted spaces get turned into a luxurious, Instagram-worthy home.

And in Dining, get a taste of Kobe beef at Nikuya Tanaka, a Ginza import that brings you fine wagyu, but at a fine price. Let’s see if it’s worth it.

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For all this and more, don’t miss this week’s edition of BT Lifestyle.