Hotel Missoni, Kuwait

Italian design house Missoni is known for a bold melding of colours; when designing its hotels (there’s already one in Edinburgh), the team uses the location’s natural palette as inspiration. In the Kuwaiti property, the azure waters of the Arabian Gulf artfully clash with the golds of the sand dunes and the mosaics so dominant in Islamic design.

Rooms: 169 rooms with 63 suites featuring Bang & Olufsen TV and high-speed web access.

Play: Keeping with Missoni’s style, the second-storey pool is tiled in a striped mosaic (although the water is notoriously chilly).

Dining: Cucina is the Italian restaurant, Choco Café (surprisingly) focuses on dessert and the Pool Bar also serves food.

Extras: The hotel is above three-storey mall Symphony Centre, and has a Six Senses spa.

Drawbacks: The hotel is very new (it opened in April), so there could be teething problems.

Rates: Rooms start from Dhs1,467 a night, including breakfast, laundry, minibar and limousine airport transfers.
www.hotelmissoni.com.