Six unique MO design destinations

With innovative ‘green’ architecture and an influx of business creatives, the Qatari capital’s sustainable neighbourhood of Msheireb Downtown Doha has revived a commercial district that had fallen quiet. “Msheireb now has one of the world’s largest groupings of ‘LEED’-certified buildings, for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” says journalist Sakhr Al-Makhadhi. “But in many ways, the contemporary architecture here takes its cues from the energy-efficient courtyard houses of old.”

Msheireb has a hotel to match its ambitions in the form of Mandarin Oriental, Doha. The water pouring into those glamorous oversized bathtubs is heated by solar panel, and the wastewater heads to Downtown Doha’s water treatment plant. What guests will notice first is none of this, but the extraordinary hotel environment of David Collins Studio and architects John McAslan + Partners, which combines the design language of Qatari culture with the highest sustainability standards.

It takes some doing to upstage Lake Como with a water feature, but the pool at Mandarin Oriental, Lago di Como probably comes as close as anything ever will. The 16-metre outdoor swimming pool appears to ‘float’ on the lake’s surrounding waters – and is worth lingering in until your skin prunes, just to take in the romantic drama of its surroundings on the southeast banks of Lake Como. This rock star of a hotel pool has proved a draw for location scouts and has been the setting for photo shoots for international fashion brands such as Orlebar Brown. The hotel joined Mandarin Oriental in 2019, reinvigorating much of the look and feel of this storied landmark, which centres on the historic Villa Roccabruna: once the home of perfectly named soprano opera singer, Giuditta Pasta.

A hotel for more than 144 years – putting most other accommodations’ boasts of being to be ‘heritage’ properties in the shade – Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok sits right on the Chao Phraya River. Among the hotel’s lasting claims to fame is The Bamboo Bar, which was the city’s first jazz bar when it opened in 1953 and was the top-rated bar in Thailand in 2020. Its rakish appeal emanates from the low, reflectively lacquered ceilings, plush banquettes and low-slung wicker armchairs. Ian Fleming famously enjoyed a drink here when he was dreaming up James Bond, but we’d wager that you’ll be more interested in the exceptional cocktails.