What’s Hot in Hotels 2025: No.12

Designing Outdoor Destinations That Elevate the Guest Experience

As we reach the final instalment of our What’s Hot in Hotels 2025 series, we turn to a trend that is reshaping guest expectations and redefining luxury hospitality: Enhanced Outdoor Spaces. Today’s travellers crave connection—to nature, to place, and to experiences that feel restorative rather than routine. In response, boutique hotels worldwide are transforming underused exterior areas into immersive, atmospheric environments that offer relaxation, beauty and a sense of escape.

At its core, the message is simple: designing inviting outdoor areas—rooftop terraces, landscaped courtyards, urban gardens, wildflower retreats—creates spaces that guests remember, return to and rave about.

Why Enhanced Outdoor Spaces Matter

Outdoor environments have evolved far beyond the traditional patio or balcony. Guests now expect thoughtfully curated open-air spaces that feel like destinations in their own right. When executed well, these spaces offer:

• Relaxation and wellbeing through greenery, natural materials, and calming sensory cues.
• Scenic views that give guests a sense of place, from dramatic city skylines to peaceful countryside settings.
• Social zones that encourage connection without compromising privacy.
• Memorable photo moments, essential for today’s visually driven travel market.
• 
  

For boutique hotels, outdoor design has become a strategic brand asset—creating differentiation, enhancing perceived value, and increasing length of stay.

Global Excellence: The Six Senses Ibiza

One standout example is Six Senses Ibiza, a property that fully embraces the power of outdoor living. Terraced gardens cascade towards the ocean, meditation decks nestle into natural rock formations, and open-air lounges blur the boundaries between inside and outside. Every element is curated to immerse guests in nature, wellness, and effortless tranquillity.

The success of Six Senses Ibiza lies not only in its aesthetics but in its intention: outdoor spaces are treated as essential guest experience touchpoints, not secondary amenities. As a result, guests feel more grounded, more inspired, and more deeply connected to the destination.

How We Bring Outdoor Excellence to UK Boutique Hotels

While the UK presents a different climate and context, the principles of elevated outdoor design remain the same—and form a core part of how we approach boutique hotel architecture and placemaking.

Our design philosophy includes:

1. Weather-Responsive Outdoor Design

Sheltered pergolas, heated pocket-terraces, retractable awnings, and wind-mitigating landscaping ensure outdoor spaces can be enjoyed year-round—crucial in the British climate.

2. Biophilic Integration

Planting palettes inspired by local ecologies—ferns, grasses, sculptural evergreens, herb-rich borders—help create natural, sustainable and low-maintenance outdoor environments.

3. Sensory-Driven Experience Design

Lighting, fire features, water sounds, and tactile materials elevate mood and atmosphere, turning outdoor zones into destinations.

4. Seamless Indoor–Outdoor Flow

We design transition points—thresholds, glazing, circulation, and views—with as much care as the outdoor spaces themselves. This ensures continuity, warmth, and an intuitive guest journey.

5. Purposeful Zoning

From quiet garden corners ideal for morning yoga to sociable rooftop lounges perfect for sunset dining, we craft outdoor areas that serve multiple guest needs without feeling contrived.

The Result: Hotels That Feel Larger, Richer, and More Alive

Enhanced outdoor spaces expand a hotel’s emotional impact. They allow boutique properties—regardless of size—to amplify luxury and create immersive micro-experiences that guests remember long after their stay.

As specialists in boutique hotel design across the UK, we bring global inspiration and local expertise together to create atmospheric outdoor environments that genuinely elevate hospitality. When these spaces are crafted with intention, detail, and storytelling, they become not just amenities—but defining features of the hotel’s identity.