The shortlist of Best Urban Hotel 2018 has been announced last week with 10 Asia and Oceania finalists. The winners will be announced only in December 2018 meanwhile Design Contract leads the way and shows you the hotels that figure in The Asia and Oceania Shortlist.

See Also: Best Urban Hotel 2018 – The North America Shortlist

Asia Finalists

Andaz Singapore Hotel – Singapore, Singapore

Occupying the top 15 floors of Duo, a massive mixed-use development that its architects Buro Ole Scheeren have conceived as a honey-combed curvilinear twin-tower, the interior design of the 342-room hotel are the work of André Fu.

In this Best Urban Hotel 2018 finalist, the Hong Kong-based designer cannily references the area’s spice trade, cultural and architectural heritage without slipping into obvious clichés.

Hotel Koé Hotel – Tokyo, Japan

Enter Hotel Koé, a new property managed by Japanese fashion retailer Stripe International, this other Best Urban Hotel 2018 finalist is no conventional hotel. Instead, space – clean-lined and light-filled with an industrial edge, as created by Suppose Design Office – has three levels devoted to eating and music; shopping; and sleeping and art.

A wide wood and concrete staircase leading to the first-floor flagship store, where contemporary Koé clothing, the mood changes instantly the moment the doors open on the second floor. In contrast to the sunlight-flooded lower levels, space is dramatically darkened by expanses of charcoal grey walls and night sky blue carpets. The lounge immediately envelops visitors in grey, with its muted matt walls and a minimal, clean-lined bar stretching the length of the space.

Moxy hotel – Osaka, Japan

Launched by the Marriott group the Moxy Hotel geared explicitly towards a more adventurous and socially upwardly mobile Japanese clientele, this Asia finalist of the Best Urban Hotel 2018 is both a gamble and lively experiment in minimizing extraneous elements without sacrificing comfort.

Designed by local based studio Wise Labo, who have taken an 11-story undergarment warehouse and showroom in a quiet neighborhood of hole-in-the-wall eateries, sushi bars, and seal makers, and carved out 155 remarkably comfortable and spacious rooms.

Six Senses Duxton Hotel – Singapore, Singapore

Six Senses Duxton, a theatrical set-piece in Tanjong Pagar that the designer Anouska Hempel has vividly styled as the bolt-hole of a Chinese empress. Whilst architect Faye Moya has sensitively restored the row of eight late 19th-century shophouses, Hempel has carved out 49 rooms, imbuing the spaces with a visual DNA of East-meets-West tropes – think Chinese porcelain-chip friezes, Malay timber fretwork, French windows and Portuguese shutters – that will resonate with those who adored her work for Blakes in Amsterdam.

See Also: From Los Angeles to London, the worlds best beauty stores

The Middle House- Shanghai

The Middle House is the latest grand opening of House Collective brand through Asia. Divided between two 14-story towers clad in a striated façade of rounded aluminum louvers are 111 rooms and 102 serviced apartments whose the interior design have been dressed by Piero Lissoni.

Channeling his customary love for muted hues and streamlined silhouettes, the Milan-based architect and designer have conceived a handsome modern space that artfully incorporates local Shanghainese design elements.

The Murray – Hong Kong

Built by British architect Ron Phillips, the 27-story tower opened in 1969 as a government office. Named the Murray, the new hotel has opened to much fanfare, its 336 rooms, and suites some of the most spacious in the city. The interior design inside, richly textured furnishings in understated tones and bathrooms in black and white Calacatta marble are a vision of relaxed refinement. The pared-back aesthetic continues through the well-appointed gym, indoor pool, and five spa suites.

This finalist of Best Urban Hotel 2018 has a generously proportioned, sunlit lobby featuring a chandelier-like charcoal work by Korean artist Seon-ghi Bahk. A grand staircase leads guests to the garden level, home to a lush terrace and two restaurants – the smart European Tai Pan, and the more laidback Garden Lounge, which offers both dim sum and French patisserie.

Sukhothai Hotel -Shanghai

This Shanghai´s finalist oh the Best Urban Hotel 2018 is located on the edge of the recently opened mixed-use HKRI Taikoo Hui complex.  The hospitality design was in charge of the Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu of Neri & Hu Design and Research Office.

The 201 rooms exude a homey residential warmth with textured clay walls (coloured pale pink, green and cream for ‘freshness and depth’), pale wood floors, and a mix of sleek furnishings- either from Neri & Hu’s own collection or from brands such as Hay, Poltrona Frau, Ingo Maurer and Flos. Plump for the Premier Room where an open-plan bathroom and a central bed create a spacious feel.

Oceania finalists

Macq 01 Hotel – Hobart, Tasmania

This finalist of Best Urban Hotel 2018 explores the Australian island’s eclectic history, Macq 01 weaves together many facets of Tasmanian heritage through a historically sensitive exterior, interior design, and hospitality design. Designed by local architecture firm Circa Morris Nunn, the minimally constructed timber building resembles a shipping shed, capped by a cypress- and glass-clad pitched-roof structure.

The 114 guestrooms are each named after an infamous figure from Tasmania’s past. Interiors are themed accordingly, modeled on traits exemplified by each historic identity. All are furnished by local artists and craftspeople, including timber lampshades by designer Duncan Meerding and photomedia triptychs by Tony Ruffels.

See Also: Get inspired by the hospitality designs of Sydney Rowing Club

Paramount House Hotel – Sydney, Australia

Designed by Melbourne-based architects Breathe, this Best Urban Hotel 2018 finalist has two buildings – the original 1940s former headquarters of Paramount Picture Studios and the adjoining film storage warehouse.

A newly added rooftop copper-clad extension to the warehouse creates visual drama from the outside, while inside, it functions as a privacy screen casting strips of sunlight into indoor-outdoor terraces. These lead into the guestrooms, where an industrial palette of concrete ceilings and bare brick walls are softened with colorful wool rugs, tactile low-slung furniture, and terrazzo-lined bathrooms.

Tribe hotel – Perth, Australia

A new Australian hotel operator has debuted a hospitality design concept that focuses on the things that really matter – not least slick design-led interiors by Travis Walton Architects.

Tribe hotel it other finalists of Best Urban Hotel 2018. Occupying a structure that was built offshore – to save on costs that can be passed onto guests – the 126-rooms are compact, but they are smartly designed with concealed nooks to keep things streamlined, full-length views of Perth’s Kings Park and luxury amenities such as Kevin Murphy toiletries and pod coffee makers.

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