Azerai — Luang Prabang, Laos

In hotel circles, the million-dollar question of just what Adrian Zecha would do next has finally been answered. With no fanfare much less advance publicity, the legendary hotelier and founder of the Aman resorts has quietly opened Azerai, a 53-room hotel in Luang Prabang’s historic town centre. (The name is a portmanteau of Zecha’s initials and caravanserai, a traditional inn and pit-stop for ancient Persian caravan travellers.)
The Thailand-based architect Pascal Trahan has converted a bungalow built for the French military brass in 1914 – next to the local night market and royal palace, and which later became the Phousi Hotel – into a cosy pleasure dome, its roofline, wraparound balconies, and façade quietly merging into the surrounding streetscape of colonial architecture.
Inside, Trahan doesn’t stray from the Laotian aesthetic as he swathes public spaces and rooms in hand-stitched and waxed batik, cement tiles, and local timber.
Like the Aman properties with which he revolutionised the idea of a modern resort, Zecha insisted that at Azerai, the contemporary touches be quietly delivered. And so, the 25m pool stretches out in the shade of an ancient Banyan tree. Post-prandial cocktails are sipped on the edge of a fire pit. And in the dining pavilion, chef Ben Faker blends bistro fare with Laotian dishes served family style.
ADDRESS
Ban Hua Xieng
Sethathirath Road
Luang Prabang
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
New London show ‘Hardcore’ probes the power dynamics of desire
At Sadie Coles HQ, London, the provocative exhibition ‘Hardcore’ is a bold, explicit exploration of carnal desires and intimacy
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Parisian jewellery brand Héloïse & Abélard is championing secondhand diamonds
Héloïse Schapiro marries fluid jewellery design with sustainable methods
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Vauxhall Astra hybrid is sober and stealthy
Once a mainstay of the best-seller lists, the Vauxhall Astra’s star is fading. Can hybridisation put this modest machine back on the radar?
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Villa One at the One & Only Palmilla — Los Cabos, Mexico
By Chadner Navarro • Published
-
Martim — Wroclaw, Poland
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
Tattersalls Hotel — Armidale, Australia
By Dimity Noble • Last updated
-
KLoé Hotel — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
By Jennifer Choo • Last updated
-
Casa Hoyos — San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
Littlenap — Hangzhou, China
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
Casa Santa Teresa — Corsica, France
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
K5 — Tokyo, Japan
By Danielle Demetriou • Last updated