Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has announced a new hotel brand called Dhawa.
News of the brand for "design-savvy travellers" came as Banyan Tree celebrated its 21st anniversary today.
The first Dhawa hotel will open in Bo'ao, an eastern coastal town on Hainan Island in China in March. Dhawa Bo'ao will have 346 rooms, all facing the sea, and facilities will include meeting spaces, a restaurant, and spa and pool.
The brand's second hotel will open in Cuba in July. Dhawa Cayo Las Brujas will contain 516 guestrooms and feature three restaurants, meeting facilities, a swimming pool, gym and water sports centre.
Properties in Pu'er, Leishan and Luo Yang, all in China, and in Bangkok and Phuket will follow.
The brand will call its guestrooms "Cocoons", while bathrooms will be known as "Pods" and will come equipped with a rain shower, LED mood lighting, spa-branded amenities and Bluetooth music speakers.
A statement said: "Dhawa hotels will be casual and contemporary full-service properties that fuse imaginative design, absolute comfort and seamless technology into a single stay experience...
"Dhawa takes its name, philosophy and design from the Dhawa tree (Anogeissus latifolia) in East India."
Graham Smith