"Is it true Thomas Merton was staying at the Oriental a few days before his death?"
"If he had been staying here, he wouldn't have died. No one dies at the Oriental."
It's a brief conversation but it has many meanings, at least for me. It reminds me of people such as that Trappist monk who studied oriental religions or the elderly lady who spent her whole life at the legendary Bangkok hotel reminiscing of meetings with writers and secret agents. It triggers a sequence of lost stories rediscovered in travel journals, published and unpublished articles, and little notes.
All of this just to talk about a book: "Sophisticated stays in Southeast Asia".
Initially, I'll admit, it seemed excessive to me. In the end it's just a book about hotels, no matter how fascinating and “smart” they may appear. However, the book did involve a great deal of work and lots of travelling. The photographer Andrea Pistolesi and I thought it was worth presenting to the best of our ability. So, little by little, while looking for ideas, I realised the book is not merely a collection of hotels; it's a concentration of stories that happened at those places and that continue to replicate with different characters.
I remember something Matsuo Basho wrote: “I decided to note down my impressions in no particular order, just like the ramblings of a drunkard or a person talking in their sleep, about the unforgettable places I visited: do not give me all that much attention…”.



At this point I'd better reproduce the introduction to the book.

"There is the culture of luxury and the luxury of culture," a wise man once said. He was no hermit or philosopher, but the director (and a bit of a hermit and philosopher) of a hotel at the foot of the Himalayas (so not featured here). His aphorism is useful for understanding the spirit of this book: “the luxury of culture”. The hotels featured here are luxurious, at times extremely so. But luxury does not just mean excellence or exclusivity; it can also describe a place that enables us to live in the moment, to appreciate the natural and cultural space in which we find ourselves. They are places of eminent history, art or design because they are indicative of a trend. Unlike “non-places”, spaces devoid of identity, these are charged with meaning; they are remarkable spots on the Asian landscape, models of that architecture and life style that is redefining the Orient and spreading from there to the West. Intelligent places.

That being said, this book is not aiming to be any kind of guide. Nor does it claim to be comprehensive (over time, who knows, given it is a work in progress). In order to be featured here, the hotels must have been actually visited and experienced by us. The idea is luxurious in its very simplicity: to offer a useful tool for sophisticated travellers. For those discerning travellers for whom a hotel is not just a place to go to (or to get bragging rights from), but a part of the journey. Intelligent travellers.


“Sophisticated stays in Southeast Asia” can be downloaded as an e-book from various platforms (at a cost of approximately 4 euro) or ordered in print (32 euro). Also available in English. All references here