Hello, and thanks for stopping by!

The Design Stay Guide is a curated travel site for travellers who care about design, comfort, and value, and who want to experience a city through the neighbourhoods they stay in, not just the sights they visit. We focus on design-led hotels and boutique stays that feel connected to their surroundings and add something meaningful to a trip.

Our recommendations are shaped by how we travel ourselves. We prioritise hotels we would happily book again and confidently recommend to friends, rather than chasing trends or listing everything available.

Who We Are

We are a Canadian expat couple currently based in Singapore. Before that, we lived in Hong Kong, and over the past decade we have travelled extensively across Asia. Most of our trips are short and built around work schedules, long weekends, and public holidays.

Because we travel frequently, we have become selective about where we stay. We compare prices, read guest reviews carefully, and think about how a hotel fits into the overall flow of a trip, not just how it looks online. These real travel habits shape how we curate every hotel and city guide on this site.

How We Choose Our Hotels

We look for hotels with a genuine appreciation for design. That does not mean one specific style. Sometimes it is a beautifully restored historic building, other times a modern hotel with a clear architectural idea, or a contemporary stay in an interesting urban setting. What matters is that the design feels thoughtful and enhances the experience.

Location is just as important as design. We tend to favour hotels in neighbourhoods where the city feels alive. Areas with good coffee, interesting food, local shops, and streets that invite wandering. Staying in the right neighbourhood often makes even a short trip feel more relaxed and complete.

Star Ratings, Value, and What We Actually Book

Most of the hotels we feature are four star and above, particularly in Southeast Asia where hotel quality is consistently high. In cities like Tokyo and Taiwan, where standards are strong across all categories, we are more flexible and place greater emphasis on design, neighbourhood, and overall experience.

We do enjoy the occasional luxury hotel, especially when we find strong value, but we do not pursue luxury for its own sake. What matters most to us is whether a hotel feels worth the price and adds something memorable to the trip.

Why We Started The Design Stay Guide

We created The Design Stay Guide because we wanted a resource we would genuinely use ourselves. A place that brings together design hotels, neighbourhood context, and practical travel decision-making in one guide, without the noise.

Every hotel featured here is selected because it aligns with how we like to travel. We look for thoughtful design, reliable comfort, locations that make exploring easy, and pricing that feels fair. When we include booking links, they are there to make planning easier and help you compare options, not to influence what we recommend.

Who This Is For

The Design Stay Guide is for travellers who appreciate well-designed spaces, enjoy staying in neighbourhoods with character, and prefer a carefully curated list over endless scrolling.

If that sounds like you, we hope our guides help you find a great place to stay on your next trip.

Disclosure

Some links on The Design Stay Guide are affiliate links. If you choose to book through them, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. We only feature hotels we would personally consider booking, and our recommendations are never influenced by commissions.