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LONDON — This year, the hot new hotel trend is hammock floors, or small trapeze nets built into the bottom of a hotel patio, rather than slung from trees. The design takes a cue from the catamaran, whose seating almost always comes in the form of an aerodynamic net that acts like a stretchy sun deck on the back of the boat.
The advantages over traditional hammocks are manifold. First, there is no limit on how large you can make one, since each is custom-built. Also, a hammock floor can be built on almost any overhang, regardless of whether there are trees or walls to serve as structural supports. Think the private pool deck of an overwater bungalow, or a dizzying perch high up in a treehouse.
They are made of bouncy, tightly woven netting, making them feel almost like trampolines. And perhaps the icing on the cake: You need not awkwardly clamber in — tipping over into a net is easier and more fun.
They can be found in many properties these days, such as the Soneva Jani in the Maldives and Gansevoort in Turks and Caicos.
Closer to Singapore, you will find hammock floors at the Four Seasons Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai, Thailand and the St Regis in Langkawi, Malaysia.
The new Explorer’s Lodge at the Four Seasons’ five-star elephant camp has two-bedroom suites spread across two pavilions, each flanking a full-sized private pool. The most novel feature is the built-in hammock floor that lines an entire side of the compound, acting like a sunken deck. Dive in early in the morning, and watch the sun rise while you listen to the elephants rumbling in the distance. Prices start at US$5,008 (S$7,005) per night; the room sleeps four.
And when it opened nearly a year ago, the St Regis Langkawi introduced Andaman Sea-facing hammock floors off the back deck of its pan-Asian Kayu Puti restaurant; they proved so popular that they were built into every one of the 77 overwater villas at the recently opened St Regis Maldives.
“The closeness to nature that these floors provide is really special,” said Lisa Holladay, global brand leader at St Regis Hotels & Resorts, who noted that the hammock floors are also gold mines on social media. “We have been excited to see the hammocks appear as the ultimate Instagram picture!” Rooms in Langkawi start at $650 per night. BLOOMBERG