In my last entry, I wrote about the new E-Book, “Checking In: Bringing The Hotel Home” authored by two amazing women and friends, Kissa Castaneda the Editor-in-Chief of Tatler Singapore and Tatler Dining Singapore and the Travel & Design editor of Tatler Asia, and Travel Expert and Marketing Guru, Alexandra Seitz. In the book, Castaneda and Seitz highlights a curated list of 35 hotel properties - all with hospitality tips and inspired ideas from the properties and the people who run and designed them.

“We need to make time for our mental and physical health especially at a tumultuous period like now.” - Kissa Castañeda

Photo of Kissa Castañeda on her Instagram relaxing at one of the resorts featured in “Checking In.”

Proceeds from the suggested donations of the book go to four Hospitality based non-profit organisations; Hospitality Action, Unite Here, Saira Hospitality, and Wild Philanthropy. Saira Hospitality, for example, supports pop-up hotel schools all around the world where hotel properties are being built. We emailed Castaneda to about this amazing initiative and her favourite properties overall.

The Desa Potato Head in Bali, one of the hotel properties featured in “Checkin In: Bringing The Hotel Home.”

JJ: Who came up with making an E-Book that benefits non-profits in the hospitality and tourism sector, and how was the idea formulated?

Kissa Castaneda: Alexandra Seitz and I were already in conversation about doing a project revolving around travel earlier this year. When Covid-19 became a pandemic and we saw how much devastation it caused (and is continually causing), we wanted our first collaboration to focus on helping the travel industry.

Alex came up with the idea of doing a charity-driven book and I suggested doing it on hotels with the angle of replicating that magical hotel experience at home. We both thought this angle achieves three main things: First, it’s a great form of armchair travelling, while generating wanderlust and showcases the importance of travel in our lives; secondly, the book helps improve home life and wellbeing, two things that are so much more important today; and third, the book ultimately supports the travel industry as all the proceeds go to the four causes we chose. As we are all holidaying at home for the foreseeable future, I think the concept is timely, relevant, and hopefully resonates with many travellers.

JJ: Tell me about your relationship with your co-author, Alex Seitz?

KC: I met Alex through mutual friends in Hong Kong and we kept in touch when I moved to Singapore and she moved to the UK. Last time we met was over Peranakan food here in Singapore a few months ago! As we got to know each other better, we discovered that we share the same values (e.g. travel and sustainability are really important to us) and also share an appreciation for a similar aesthetic. The similarity in values and aesthetic are two crucial things when working on a project like this. We did the book entirely via Zoom and WhatsApp calls on the weekend. But truly, it really came to life through the genius of our other collaborator Husam Elfaki, a multimedia designer also based in London whom Alex used to work with.

An outdoor bar at Hotel Il Pellicano, one of the hotel properties featured in “Checkin In: Bringing The Hotel Home.”

JJ: We’ve picked our favourites, but which property is your favourite property on this curated list?

KC: This is an impossible question to answer as we already struggled to narrow down the selection to 35 hotels. The way we chose hotels was simple: those that we have been to and personally love & hotels that we are dying to go to. While it's not a definitive list of the best hotels in the world, we're proud of the roster we ended up with... it's a good selection of some of the very best properties worldwide.

If I have to name one of my favourites it would be Hoshinoya Kyoto. I have a soft spot for Japan as I lived there for 7 years, which I still consider it my second home even after living in other countries, and I think the property itself is divine. The arrival is memorable! You ride a boat and in just a few minutes you're lulled into relaxation. The food, especially the signature Hoshinoya breakfast, is amazing! I also love Raffles Singapore. I was just there over the weekend for my first staycation since lockdown and it was such a treat. I'm drawn to hotels that have a soul and a strong sense of place.

The must-visit list is definitely long! I want to go to Singita Serengeti House (or any Singita for that matter), Hotel du-Cap-Eden-Roc (which celebrates 150 years in 2020), Belmond Andean Explorer (technically not a hotel, but the only "hotel on rails" we included in the book) and Amanpulo. I know it's a shame that I've never been to this particular Aman as it's from the motherland... I'm dreaming of going there every day.

JJ: There are many helpful tips in the book about how the hotel experience can be brought home, which helpful tip among all the helpful tips is the easiest to do at home?

The “Relax” chapter is full of easy ways to infuse wellness practices to your day—from breathing exercises from Como Maalfushi to tips from Anna Bjurstam, a wellness pioneer of Six Senses. We need to make time for our mental and physical health especially at a tumultuous period like now. Of course, as a design lover, I enjoyed the intel from the likes of Andre Fu, who shared how to create a calming space, to Bill Bensley, who shared a Ten Commandments on how to create sustainable, characterful spaces. But perhaps the easiest way to feel like on holiday is to mix yourself a great cocktail—I'm going to try and do the original Bellini by Walter Bolzonello of Belmond Hotel Cipriani - who, by the way, is George Clooney's favourite barman.

Calridge’s in London, one of the hotel properties featured in “Checkin In: Bringing The Hotel Home.”

JJ: What do you specifically look for when you're choosing a place or hotel to stay in?

KC: It really depends on the purpose of travel. If I'm going for a city break then location might matter more but for an island resort, facilities and food are the huge considerations. But generally, here's what I look for:

- Point of View: Picking a hotel is like picking a dinner companion... you want someone who can leave you entertained and inspired. If it's the cookie-cutter type, what's the point? I'm personally drawn to historic places and adaptive reuse projects perhaps because I'm an old soul myself. But essentially I like going to places that offer more than a change of scenery; a place that actually changes your perspective.

- Conscious Approach: Hotels consume more than a single household so all responsible travellers should choose places that make the environment a priority. There are fun ways of doing this like the way they do it at Desa Potato Head or even Ace Hotels, who have always championed local brands (and hence a smaller carbon footprint).

- Stellar Food: If a bad meal can already ruin a day, can you imagine multiple bad meals? A great dining offering is paramount to the success of a hotel, and in some cases, it becomes the calling card of the property itself.

- Genuine Hospitality: Service makes the difference between going once and returning over and over. That's why we dedicated the book to the "people that make the magic happen".

JJ: Tell me about the charities the book is donating to, and how did you pick these charities? I personally love the pop-up hotel schools offered by Saira Hospitality!

KC: We chose four organisations and each of them tackles various challenges in the hospitality industry. Unite Here and Hospitality Action help hospitality professionals and they have programmes for those directly affected by the pandemic. Wild Philanthophy's African Tourism Crisis Fund addresses the African communities, who largely rely on revenues from tourism that has basically disappeared overnight. Saira Hospitality is a non-profit that transforms the way hotels connect with local communities through education. Alex was instrumental in choosing these four organisations, and we went with them as they don't only provide short term solutions but also shape the future of the travel and hospitality industry.

JJ: Tell me what is the biggest revelation you've had in 2020?

KC: I've always considered myself as a city girl and I've lived in big, busy cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Manila, and now Singapore. But I actually relished in the slower pace at the beginning of lockdown and crave a semi-country existence (I'm sure I'm not alone in this fantasy). I realised there is no need to rush and I hope everyone realises that a slower pace is a more humane way of life.

Saira Hospitality, one of the four non-profit organisations supported by “Checking In: Bringing the Hotel Home,” offers pop-up hotel school programmes for locals interested in the hospitality industry and where new hotel and resort properties pop-up.

This blog post was made possible with SquareSpace, all on the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the iPad Pro 2020. All images, unless otherwise stated, in this post come from the e-book, “Checking In: Bringing the Hotel Home”.

FOLLOW Kissa Castaneda @kissacastenda

FOLLOW Alexandra Seitz @lexseitz

DOWNLOAD Checking In: Bringing The Hotel Home

JJ.