BILL BENSLEY: DESIGNING STORIES
In one of your past interviews you mentioned “storytelling in hospitality”. What’s the process that you follow to weave a narrative around a location?
“I am a storyteller by nature – I love to read and write. Therefore, it feels only natural to integrate stories into our designs. To me, creating a hotel is like making a movie – you need a great story that will become the heart of its DNA. Once you have that, you can design anything! One of the projects I’m most proud of is the JW Marriott Phu Quoc, where we told the story of ‘Lamarck University’, complete with a race track and departments like zoology, conchology and chemistry! Once we have the primary DNA, we develop every aspect of the hotel, from the interiors to signage and uniforms. We have stories for
