Sometimes, a hotel isn't just a place to sleep – it's an invitation to feel different in your own skin.
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Staying in a space where someone has thought about how the morning light hits the linen, how a doorway frames a mountain, or how even silence can be curated can truly be transformative. And Asia, with its dedication to hospitality and diverse landscapes, has many such unique spaces.
These are the best in 2025, nominated by our local correspondents across the region, and chosen for their character, design, sense of place, and value for money.
*This is a running list that we update each quarter with hotels that have opened in the past quarter.
Cambodia
Koh Russey
Built for the barefoot hours: This retreat offers guests a private shoreline of Bamboo Island’s abundantly forested beach. Built from local stone, natural fibers and joyous textiles, JATI Koh Russey’s Khmer-inspired villas are simple and unpretentious, opening up onto gardens or pools just steps from the sea. The vibes are choose-your-own-adventure, with days perhaps beginning with a swim, followed by a breakfast of garden-fresh produce, house-made pastries, and gently spiced dishes inspired by Cambodia’s coast.
$$ | Oung Village 180108, Koh Russey Island, 18108, Cambodia.
India
Madhya Pradesh
Quiet majesty in the jungle: Sprawling across 21 wild acres of Bandhavgarh National Park, the luxuries of Oberoi Vindhyavilas Wildlife Resort are defined not by excess but attention: To the hush of jungle air, or the steam from hand-carved teacups warming you before an early morning safari.
Rising dramatically from the earth, canvas tents reveal a world that nods to older cadences, like hand-painted Gond motifs that tell intricate stories along wooden beams and linen walls.
Outside, the jungle unfolds – a paw print of a Bengal tiger, a bird call, a wind that knows its way.
$$$ | The Oberoi Vindhyavilās Wildlife Resort, Bandhavgarh, Ranchha, Madhya Pradesh 484665, India.
Photos: JATI Koh Russey; The Oberoi Vindhyavilās Wildlife Resort
Japan
Osaka
Deliberate urban calm: Designed by Italian modernist master Aldo Rossi, Tones Osaka’s geometric exterior blends seamlessly into the city’s thrumming landscape, echoing Rossi’s belief in architecture as a vessel of memory and urban continuity. Inside, a meticulously crafted world takes shape.
Japanese restraint is expressed through muted organic textures and exposed brick and concrete, while gentle lighting and custom-made vacuum tube sound amplifiers soften the hotel’s deliberate pause from Osaka’s more raucous energies.
Across from Umeda Station, Tones is a natural extension of the city’s dynamism: Less formal than Tokyo, more spirited than Kyoto, and always – as the nation’s kitchen – hungry.
$ | 7-13 Doyamacho, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0027, Japan.
Photos: Tones Osaka; Unna; Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree
Philippines
Romblon
Stark minimalism meets the sea: Unna – on the remote, tranquil shores of Puro Island, in the Philippines – is defined by sustainability. Once a private home, it was crafted by local artisans from discarded marble and salvaged wood, its form drawing deeply from Filipino vernacular architecture.
Its stark, proud minimalism at once underlines and melts into everyday island life.
Here, powdery white beaches melt into the glass-clear waters where fishermen cast nets at dawn, while the rose-tinted dusk carries the sound of kulintang drums telling ancient stories across salted air.
$$$ | Unna, Puro, Santa Fe, Romblon, Philippines 5508.
Singapore
A rare retreat: The lush embrace of Mandai Wildlife Reserve is an invitation to step out of Singapore’s hustle and into the heart of the jungle’s rhythm. And at Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree, the only resort within the reserve, boundaries between indoors and out seem to dissolve. Its 338 rooms are a testament to biophilic design and are in lockstep with the pristine surroundings. Here, the focus is on presence rather than extravagance, with guided walks and wellness practices prompting stillness in one of the world’s busiest cities.
$$ | 60 Mandai Lake Rd, Singapore 729979.
Photos: Kalkudah Beach House by Teardrop Hotels; Uga Halloowella
Sri Lanka
East Coast
Ease, unfiltered: Far from the crowds, Kalkudah Beach House sits quietly on Sri Lanka’s east coast, where the water is warm, the sand pristine, and days unspool without urgency. Rooted in tropical modernism, the house opens itself to the elements with long verandahs, high arched doorways, and expansive picture windows that filter both sunlight and sea air. With just five bedrooms and little between you and the shoreline, it feels less like a hotel and more like being cocooned in someone’s well-kept secret.
$$$ | Kalkudah Beach House, Kalkudah 30410, Sri Lanka.
Central Highlands
Time travel in the highlands: Once home to the deliciously named Major Elton Lane, a World War I fighter pilot with the British Royal Air Force, Uga Halloowella offers a deeply composed stay in a 252-acre tea estate amidst Sri Lanka’s central highlands.
Geoffrey Bawa protege Channa Daswatte’s confident renovation of the wide verandahs, teak flooring and wood-burning fireplaces puts the property’s storied history on its sleeve.
Time here moves at a pace that could have been the Major’s – guests can partake of guided walks through the estate at first light, afternoon tea beneath rain-heavy clouds, and dinner served as the hills recede into the evening shadows.
$$$ | Halloowella Estate, Upcot Road, Norwood 22058, Sri Lanka.
