PERSONALITIES
and if guests can learn something they will remember your hotel .”
As a designer , a lot of what Bensley does today is design experiences . “ I was just sketching out the samurai junk [ ship ] for Okinawa ,” he says . “ Every hotel should be able to provide an experience . I don ’ t seeenough engagement .”
Recruited to do multiple luxury properties — among his latest is the Capella Ubud in Bali — today he says a big trend is being able to provide outdoor space that is perfectly private and gives guests the ability to be very comfortable in a wild space that pushes them beyond their norm and out of their comfort zone .
“ Trusting the host to help do that is a huge luxury right now . That is the next luxury — ‘ re-wilding ,’” Bensley says . “ I grew up backpacking and camping , and my house and office in Bangkok are like a big jungle ,” says the man who goes to Mongolia for three weeks each year and returns so invigorated he feels like he can jump over a house . “ Spending hours each
BENSLEY HEROES
Suwanna Gauntlett , founder and CEO , Wildlife Alliance : Bensley says Gauntlett has been spending her personal fortune for some 20 years to protect wildlife in the national parks of South Cambodia . His Shinta Mani Wild project and Shinta Mani Foundation is working closely with the Wildlife Alliance and has arranged for former poachers to become rangers and protect the animals . Designer Kelly Wearstler : She has worked with Viceroy Hotels and is currently working on Proper Hotels and Residences properties in California and Austin , Texas . “ She is my design goddess ,” Bensley says . “ She is not afraid of anything and doesn ’ t get nearly as much credit as she should . I wish she would do more .”
I ’ D REALLY LIKE TO SEE EVERYONE BRING HEART AND FEELING INTO WHAT HOSPITALITY SHOULD BE .
day in the wild , shutting off the phone and being with nature is now accepted as a better health method , and a doctor calls it ‘ re-wilding .’”
THE FUN PARTS Bensley says he can find inspiration anywhere as “ the imagination is infinite , endless ,” but he often finds it shopping around the world and near locations where he is building . “ About four years ago shopping in Paris , I found a Vietnamese bamboo hat covered in white and pink polka dot fabric — clearly from the 1920s . It showed very clearly how Indochine hill tribe people inspired the couture of France in the early part of the last century . That one little shopping trip inspired a new hotel — an M Gallery in Sapa , north Vietnam . The entire hotel ’ s story and design is about the relationship between tribes people and the French colonists . It turned out really cool .” Bensley adds , “ You have to look and use your head . That is the fun part of this game we are playing , especially shopping . My motto about shopping is buy first and think later .”
BILL BENSLEY
With a lot of his projects about upcycling ( creative reuse ), Bensley says he is always on the lookout for beautiful objects he will never be able to find again . “ I do a lot of shopping in England and France , fill up containers and bring them to my warehouse . I ’ ll buy something for US $ 100 and sell it to my clients for the same . l like that a lot . It gives me the flexibility to do many things perhaps others cannot .”
A lingering question is how Bensley will outfit an upcoming project , a W-branded hotel in Phuket , Thailand . Admittedly , he has not been a fan of the brand and wants to point it in the right direction . “ Out here [ in Asia Pacific ] W is trying too hard , trying to be so trendy that even before they get built they are out of date ,” he says . “ They are trying to be so high energy . But , in fact , when you walk in the front door they are so annoying … Now I have to figure out what to do . I think it can be sexy but it doesn ’ t have to try so damn hard to be trendy .”
Sounds like another shopping trip or a hunt in the warehouse is in order .
20 hotelsmag . com November / December 2019