ANDRÉ FU’S QUIET LUXURY: ARCHITECTURAL STORYTELLING IN MODERN ASIAN HOSPITALITY

ANDRÉ FU’S QUIET LUXURY: ARCHITECTURAL STORYTELLING IN MODERN ASIAN HOSPITALITY

In an era when discerning travellers crave authenticity over opulence, architect André Fu has emerged as a visionary of quiet luxury hotels. From Hong Kong to Kyoto and now Bangkok, Fu’s projects exemplify an understated yet experiential approach to high-end hospitality. His hallmark style blends Eastern and Western sensibilities into a narrative-driven design language – a form of architectural storytelling that prioritizes how a space feels as much as how it looks. The result is a portfolio of emotionally resonant hotels setting a new standard for modern Asian hospitality.

ANDRÉ FU’S QUIET LUXURY: ARCHITECTURAL STORYTELLING IN MODERN ASIAN HOSPITALITY

The Philosophy of Quiet Luxury and Storytelling in Space

ANDRÉ FU’S QUIET LUXURY: ARCHITECTURAL STORYTELLING IN MODERN ASIAN HOSPITALITY

Fu’s design ethos centres on what he often calls “relaxed luxury” – an intimate, quietly sumptuous experience that eschews flashiness. “It’s the pursuit of relaxed luxury — a sense of luxury that is not limited by formality, it is more genuine and honest in a way,” he explains. In contrast to gilded lobbies or ostentatious décor, quiet luxury emphasizes effortless exclusivity: high-quality materials, subtle craftsmanship and comfort tailored to the guest. As one hospitality trend report notes, this refined approach speaks to travellers “who value authenticity, comfort, and meaningful experiences over flashy displays of wealth”. Fu was ahead of this curve. From the beginning, he saw luxury not as ornamentation but as a feeling of intimacy and ease within a space – achieved through tactile materials, balanced proportions, and a deep understanding of place.

Crucially, Fu treats each project as a story waiting to be told. “I regard myself as an approach-driven architect and I believe my role is to interpret my client’s vision into a spatial narrative,” he says. This notion of architectural storytelling means every design element – the layout, lighting, textures, art pieces – works together to convey a sense of place and purpose. Having grown up in Hong Kong and trained in the UK, Fu seamlessly fuses East and West, creating interiors that feel both timelessly global and contextually local. “My exposure to both cultures has enriched my view of the world… allowing me to embrace the sensibilities of different cultures, creating design solutions rooted in each country’s heritage,” he notes. In practice, this translates to hotels that borrow from their locale’s culture in subtle, meaningful ways. It’s less about pastiche, and more about capturing the spirit of a location through design details – what Fu calls celebrating a project’s sense of place.

ANDRÉ FU’S QUIET LUXURY: ARCHITECTURAL STORYTELLING IN MODERN ASIAN HOSPITALITY

Designing for the Senses, Not Instagram

Fu’s hotels are deliberately crafted as experiential journeys for guests. In his view, true luxury hospitality focuses on how a guest feels moving through the space, rather than just creating photo moments. “It’s much more about the guest instead of the pursuit of a decorative environment,” he emphasizes. This human-centric approach means pragmatic comforts and aesthetics go hand-in-hand. Every texture you touch, every angle of light, every scent in the air is considered. At The Upper House in Hong Kong, for example, stepping off the elevator one is greeted with the subtle fragrance of ginger and verbena drifting through a dimly lit atrium – an ambience carefully composed to soothe the travel-weary soul. Such details exemplify how Fu uses spatial narratives to orchestrate mood and memory. “A sense of place is no longer about things that are superficial,” he says, “People have to go a lot deeper into the thought process”. In other words, luxury today isn’t about marble for marble’s sake; it’s about the story and emotion each element evokes.

This philosophy also aligns with a broader shift in luxury travel. Many modern hoteliers have noted that guests now seek understated elegance and authenticity. “Everyone is pursuing something Instagrammable, but there are many places that look amazing in a photo and when you physically experience it, it’s not that great,” Fu has observed. By contrast, his work resists the mere stage set; it invites immersive, multisensory engagement. Whether it’s through dappled light on a handcrafted screen or the calming patina of natural oak, Fu’s interiors whisper their luxury quietly. This understated approach doesn’t scream for attention – it earns it by making guests feel genuinely looked after. As Fu puts it, “The high-end niche consumer has experienced everything in life… they are very particular in terms of what is meaningful and fulfilling to their desires”. In response, he delivers meaning through design that unfolds gradually, rewarding those who take the time to savour it.

The Upper House in Hong Kong

ANDRÉ FU’S QUIET LUXURY: ARCHITECTURAL STORYTELLING IN MODERN ASIAN HOSPITALITY

The Upper House, Hong Kong: A Sanctuary Above the City

Perched atop a Pacific Place tower in Admiralty, The Upper House (Hong Kong) exemplifies André Fu’s signature of quiet luxury and was his breakout project. Opened in 2009, this boutique haven was conceived as an urban retreat “perched above the chaos below,” offering a tranquil, residential vibe that stood in stark contrast to the city’s fussy five-star hotels of the past. Fu envisioned the guest experience as an “upward journey.” Upon arrival, visitors ascend 39 floors to reach the hotel’s sky lobby – a theatrical procession that “begins with a dramatic… ascension to the lobby, continues in the sweeping vertical lines of the architecture and is congruent with the theme of being whisked away to a tranquil eyrie”. The design narrative is one of escape and elevation, both literal and spiritual. Each step upward peels away the city’s din until one emerges into a hushed atrium and spacious suites with panoramic views of Victoria Harbour and the green hills beyond.

The Upper House in Hong Kong

Everything about The Upper House feels residential and quietly bespoke. Fu “wanted to create a small luxury hotel reminiscent of a private residence,” and indeed he succeeded. The palette is restrained and natural – honey-toned bamboo, blonde oak, travertine stone – applied in meticulous proportions that imbue calm. Daylight and the nighttime city glow are diffused gently through sheer curtains and lantern-like screens, fostering an ambience of intimate serenity. The cumulative effect is, as one reviewer noted, a pervasive “sense of tranquillity and seclusion… it feels like you’re in a luxurious home, not a hotel”. Service is similarly unobtrusive and personalized (famously, there’s no traditional check-in desk; instead, staff equipped with iPads greet guests and escort them directly to their rooms). This holistic, home-like experience at The Upper House captured what “relaxed luxury” can mean in a modern Asian metropolis – and it established André Fu as a storyteller in space. It’s no surprise the hotel remains a touchstone for design aficionados seeking refuge in the city.

ANDRÉ FU’S QUIET LUXURY: ARCHITECTURAL STORYTELLING IN MODERN ASIAN HOSPITALITY

Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto: Heritage and Modernity in Balance

When André Fu turned his sights to Japan, the brief was to honour centuries of culture while crafting a plush contemporary haven. Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto (opened in 2020) sits on the site of an Edo-period aristocratic residence, directly facing the UNESCO-listed Nijō-jo Castle. Fu led the interior design, working alongside Japanese architects and artisans to root the hotel firmly in Kyoto’s legacy. “Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto celebrates local heritage as a contemporary interpretation of the city’s rich cultural history,” notes one architectural review, explaining that Fu aimed to infuse an authentic spirit of Kyoto into the design. In practice, this meant seamlessly blending old and new. Guests enter through a dramatically restored 300-year-old Kajiimiya gate – transplanted from the original estate – which now serves as the portal to the hotel. Passing beneath its heavy wooden eaves, one steps into an artfully curated journey: a pathway lined with swaying bamboo leads to a lobby overlooking a Zen-like courtyard pond, where a solitary cherry blossom tree stands as a seasonal centrepiece. Modern interventions coexist with historical touchstones. For instance, sleek screens of vertical timber slats in the lobby abstractly echo Kyoto’s bamboo groves, and a tunnel-like passage pays homage to the famous torii gates of Fushimi Inari shrine through contemporary design.

Fu’s material choices here are an ode to craftsmanship and nature. Walls clad in native woods and an immense washi-paper lantern suspended from the lobby ceiling impart warmth and intimacy. Bespoke ceramics by local artists add a rustic, human touch amid the clean lines – a dialogue between artisanal imperfection and modern elegance. All these layers are guided by three keywords Fu set for himself: “authentic, mystical, and artisanal.” “From a personal note, I’ve always been fascinated with Kyoto as a city… I hope my design will convey the heritage of Kyoto as a city. I would like guests to experience the same sense of serenity and tranquillity that I feel when I am here,” he says. Indeed, serenity is the Mitsui’s defining mood. The colour palette draws from nature’s quieter tones – mossy greens, stone greys, soft earth hues – allowing historical features like the old gate and a centuries-old well to shine as focal points. By preserving a sense of heritage while overlaying it with a contemporary interpretation, Fu created a place that feels deeply connected to Kyoto’s soul yet unquestionably luxurious. It’s a masterclass in cultural storytelling: guests at The Mitsui Kyoto don’t just visit the city; in a sense, they time travel through it, all while enveloped in modern comfort.

Dusit Thani Bangkok: A New Chapter of Thai Hospitality

If one project encapsulates André Fu’s evolution and the larger trend toward understated luxury, it is the reimagined Dusit Thani Bangkok, unveiled in 2024. Tasked with reinventing a beloved 1970s hotel icon for the 21st century, Fu approached it as both a preservation and a progression. “We started with a vision to create a hotel that seeks to celebrate Thai culture on the global stage,” Fu says of the project. Collaborating with the Dusit team, he delved into the original hotel’s history – its modernist Thai flair and 50-year legacy – to extract an essence that could be woven into a brand-new skyscraper. The result is a property that bridges eras: it pays homage to the heritage of the old Dusit while firmly embracing contemporary design and technology. “The design narrative revolves around paying homage to the original hotel’s warmth and distinct character, while also offering something fresh and innovative,” Fu explains. He imagined the guest experience as a “visual journey” that becomes progressively more modern as one ascends toward the hotel’s new iconic spire  – a clever parallel to the way the original Dusit Thani led guests from traditional Thai motifs at ground level to a futuristic tower above the Bangkok skyline.

Walking into the new Dusit Thani Bangkok, visitors are greeted by a grand lobby that feels at once familiar and novel. Signature elements of Thai design are present – such as tiered structures evoking a traditional pavilion and a palette of warm teak wood and brass – but they’ve been reinterpreted with a cleaner, lighter touch. Two hand-painted antique columns salvaged from the old hotel stand proudly in the lobby, bridging past and present, while above, a striking hexagonal ceiling (inspired by lotus petals) catches the eye. Throughout the interiors, Fu introduced what he calls his language of relaxed luxury: rich oak panelling and Thai bronze detailing are juxtaposed with fresh accents of sage green, mauve and teal – a nod to Bangkok’s vibrant spirit. Artisanal Thai crafts are layered subtly, from locally made earthenware pottery on display to a jade-green marble cocktail bar anchoring the lobby lounge (a contemporary take on the original hotel’s beloved bar). The overall effect is neither retro pastiche nor cold modernism, but an elegant fusion. It feels like the Dusit Thani reborn – Thai at heart yet global in outlook.

Fu views this project as “a turning point for Thai hospitality”, a chance to show how a heritage brand can evolve with the times without losing its soul. In an exclusive interview, he reflected that what intrigued him most was “the notion of what Thai hospitality is in this day and age”. The new Dusit Thani answers that question by providing a luxury experience that is polished and cosmopolitan but imbued with the gracious warmth Thailand is known for. It exemplifies the movement toward experiential luxury: guests are enveloped in storytelling from the moment they arrive, whether they consciously notice it or not. As they move from the heritage-infused lobby up to the sleek sky lounge with its city panoramas, they are, in essence, travelling through Thailand’s past and future at once. With this project, André Fu has not only honoured a hotel legend; he’s also demonstrated how understated design can deliver true grandeur. By blending cultural memory with modern comfort, the Dusit Thani Bangkok stands as a beacon of quiet luxury in a city famed for its vibrancy.

ANDRÉ FU’S QUIET LUXURY: ARCHITECTURAL STORYTELLING IN MODERN ASIAN HOSPITALITY

Understated Luxury as the New Experience

From the gentle minimalism of The Upper House to the cultural richness of The Mitsui Kyoto and the reinvented splendour of Dusit Thani Bangkok, André Fu’s work encapsulates a pivotal shift in luxury hospitality. In a world where high-end travellers have “experienced everything,” as Fu notes, the measure of luxury has moved toward depth, meaning, and personal resonance. Hotels are no longer just places to sleep, but stages for emotional connections and memories – something Fu intuitively understood from the start. His “quiet luxury” approach, with its East-meets-West sensibility and narrative layers, feels especially apt for our globally minded age. Each of his designs invites you to slow down and savour the moment: to run your hand along a silk-panelled wall, to pause beneath a bespoke art installation, or to simply bask in the dappled light of a courtyard garden. In these seemingly small moments lies the soft power of quiet luxury.

As more travellers seek out hotels that offer refuge, inspiration, and a sense of place, the influence of Fu’s philosophy is likely to grow. Already, many new properties around the world are echoing elements of this understated, experiential ethos – prioritizing local context, fine craftsmanship, and the comfort of a home over generic glitz. The trend isn’t about East or West, old or new; it’s about blending the best of all worlds to create something timeless. André Fu’s hotels feel like intimate sanctuaries amid urban skylines and cultural crossroads. They remind us that true luxury is, at its core, quiet, personal, and full of story – a design journey that speaks softly, yet leaves a lasting impression.