Kiwi Curated
A Love Affair with Open Air
by Joy PecknoldOver the last 11 months, we have fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with open-air rooms. We can’t stop fanaticizing about them. The way they let the outdoors in, allowing all those breezes to flow through. They really know how to keep things fresh and they don’t put up walls—at least if they do, they’re easily opened. Allow us to introduce you.
A Love Affair with Open Air
Two hyphenated words that are music to the ears: open-air and adults-only. Casa Chameleon Hotel at Mal Pais delivers on both. In Costa Rica—one of our 2021 Hot List destinations—the boutique resort is ensconced by jungle on Nicoya Peninsula’s southern tip. Its 10 villas come with grand glass doors that fold open to reveal plunge pools, swinging hammocks and dreamy sunsets—along with letting all that fragrant tropical air in.
VIEW HOTELA Love Affair with Open Air
Just as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character in Fleabag delightfully breaks the fourth wall, so too does Jade Mountain. All 24 mountainside rooms, or “sanctuaries” as they call them, are completely open to the outside, with unbroken views of the Caribbean Sea and St. Lucia’s iconic Pitons. Each one comes with its own infinity pool too. There’s also no technology to interrupt the natural beauty, so it’s a choice spot to wind down.
VIEW HOTELA Love Affair with Open Air
Throwing open all the sliding, windowed walls lets in all that glorious Caribbean air at Secret Bay. Peeking out from the rainforest on the isle of Dominica, 2021’s Wow Pick of the Year is a jaw dropper. Every one of its 10 villas are designed to open up to the outside, along with a private plunge pool to really soak it all in. The service here is lauded and highly personalized.
VIEW HOTEL
A Love Affair with Open Air
Meaning “the windows to paradise,” Las Ventanas al Paraiso isn’t exaggerating. On the tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, the resort’s rooms open up to let big views and Cortez sea breezes come in. The villas blur the inside-outside boundaries further with bedrooms opening up to expansive terraces and infinity pools.
VIEW HOTELA Love Affair with Open Air
The air is particularly fresh high up in the Blue Mountains where Strawberry Hill is nestled into the hillside. Each cottage is tucked into the trees to provide utmost privacy so guests are free to swing open all the shutters and let those sweet Jamaican breezes sweep in. Sting, Trent Reznor and Bob Marley all enjoyed this coffee plantation turned creative retreat.
VIEW HOTELA Love Affair with Open Air
Thankfully there is no shortage of open-concept rooms in Indonesia, and that includes the award-winning COMO Shambhala Estate. The sumptuous suites at this wellness retreat have glass walls, many of which open to the jungle outside so you truly feeling immersed in all the green. Naturally, yoga and spa sessions are also done in the open air.
VIEW HOTELA Love Affair with Open Air
Among the many reasons to love Amangiri—just as the Kardashians do—is the way it frames its out-of-this-world setting. The indoor living area of each suite expands when the tall glass doors separating it from a private outdoor lounge are pushed open. Whether kicking back inside or fireside, the desert landscape is right there with you.
VIEW HOTELA Love Affair with Open Air
Situated on one of South Africa’s largest game reserves, Lion Sands Ivory Lodge is just six airy suites that open onto decks with outdoor showers and plunge pools, and beyond, the banks of the Sabie River where there’s a chance to spot elephants and zebras when they pop by for a drink.
ViEW HOTELA Love Affair with Open Air
Encircled by white sand, remote and completely private, Mnemba Island Lodge is a fantasy come to life. Located off the coast of Zanzibar, it’s 12 thatched cottages are seductively simple. The bedroom, surrounded by windowless windows, open to outdoor living rooms so there’s nowhere where you can’t hear the lulling sound of lapping waves. A romantic walk on the beach may entail green turtle sightings—it’s a protected nesting place for them.
VIEW HOTELA Love Affair with Open Air
Petit St. Vincent Resort dishes up private island living. The 22 stone and terracotta cottages at this Caribbean resort have floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that open wide to the outside. The most enticing of which exit straight onto the beach for the ultimate barefoot luxury.
VIEW HOTEL