Five Impressive Resort Gardens from around the Globe

We take a closer look at five impressive resort gardens from around the globe Just like holidays, landscape gardens take on many shapes and are designed to elicit certain moods or emotions. For some, the garden is there to relax in and enjoy, others the plants take center stage, whereas for many the landscaping complements and softens the buildings it surrounds. The perfect garden is subjective to the wanderer who visits it – just like the perfect holiday. Many travelers go on holiday to relax, unwind and re-charge their batteries, and what better way to do that than in a beautiful garden? Those are certainly things to take into consideration when designing a resort garden, along with logistics, client requests and so much more. Let’s take a look at a few resorts from all over the world that understand the importance of a beautifully landscaped garden in reinvigorating the body and mind.

Resort Gardens

1. Bodysgallen Hall and Spa, Wales The UK is full to the brim with beautiful and historic buildings that have been transformed into hotels and resorts for our holidaying pleasure. A stand out, for us, is the Bodysgallen Hall and Spa in North Wales. This impressive building was built in the 17th century and sits on 200 acres of parkland. Celebrated for its garden, the Bodysgallen boasts both formal and wild landscaping. If you’re lucky enough to visit then you’ll be treated to a walled garden, follies, lily-pad-dotted ponds and a 17th-century French-style parterre of box hedges filled with herbs. And after you’ve worked up an appetite roaming the gardens you can have a full Welsh breakfast in their formal dining room or relax in their spa.

2. Crown Perth Resort The Crown Perth is an impressive resort. This is a contemporary, modernist building with elegant rooms. It has a resort-style pool, a spa and a nightclub and an incredible 32 restaurants and bars. For people who like their action non-stop, there is also a 24-hour casino that sits in a ziggurat-type building with many windows and has hosted big money poker events such as the PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour. Complementing the modern building is an equally contemporary garden. Set on the banks of the Swan river, the landscape reflects its surroundings with mirroring water features, rolling banks and indigenous plants that had been grouped together to create a naturalistic look. Within the walls of the resort buildings themselves, lusher plants have been used to soften hard concrete edges and add color and depth to walkways, corners and entertainment areas. 3. Villa D’este, Italy Lake Como is the backdrop to this luxurious Tivoli resort ,which has 25 acres of landscaped gardens. Like most of the resorts in the area, the Villa D’este is an upscale hotel that was built in the 16th-century. Sophisticated rooms compliment the style of its surroundings, and guests can enjoy three restaurants, three bars, and a pool on the lake itself. The real attraction, however, is their garden. Italian and Baroque style gardens, that date back to the Renaissance, delight with multiple parterres, bridges, and a tree-lined avenue that leads to a statue of Hercules throwing Lichas into the sea. This garden is also home to a 500-year-old plane tree (Platanus occidentalis) that grows between the main building and the Queen’s pavilion. Last time it was measured, the circumference of the tree was roughly 26 feet. 4. Langham Huntington, California The Langham Huntington sits within 23 acres of grounds in the stylish neighborhood of Pasadena. This luxury hotel features a restaurant, casual terrace bistro, a stylish bar, chic spa, tennis courts, heated pool and a sundeck. There’s a reason that they celebrated their 100th anniversary last year, and their gardens certainly contributed to this. The Langham has a horseshoe garden, which is positioned behind the hotel. Wandering the grounds you will see magnolias, roses and creeping figs. They have a Japanese garden which features a step-down waterfall pond which is spanned by a curved footbridge. Here you will also find bamboo trees and date palms – which thrive in the Californian weather. 5. Boath House, Scotland The Boath House is an attractive Georgian mansion that is set on a 22-acre property, 2.5 miles from Nairn and close to the Cawdor Castle. Another upscale hotel, this venue boasts individually decorated rooms, free-standing baths and 4-poster beds. To feel like the Laird of the manor and wander your grounds you must stay as a guest at the hotel, or dine in one of their restaurants. But it’s worth it, as the grounds have a beautiful lake, a wildflower meadow, woods, and a walled garden. You may also run into the odd goose, swan or duck. Although this is a historic listed property, and the landscaping is largely formal, they have managed to include several contemporary touches such as a newly-planted grass garden that was inspired by the Dutch design movement. There are many more equally beautiful landscape gardens around the world, in many more resorts. Here we have merely touched upon some that we enjoy. Here’s to exploring many, many more. Article by Nicky Mirando Featured image: By Adrian Pingstone (Arpingstone) – Own work, Public Domain

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