The Four Seasons AMAALA resort on the Red Sea wins twice at the Gold Key Awards 2026 for hotel design

The Four Seasons AMAALA resort, on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, wins two categories at the Gold Key Awards 2026, the hospitality interior design prizes: best resort and best luxury guestroom. The winners of this 46th edition were revealed on 9 November 2026 in New York. In Florence, the jury also singled out La Réserve Firenze, six serviced apartments opened in October in a 15th-century palace.

☰Contents

1. Two trophies for the Four Seasons AMAALA
2. More than 440 entries and eight judges
3. Florence: six apartments in Palazzo Segni
4. The Chanler’s lobby wins in Newport
5. Shura Island takes the wellness award
6. In Kenya, a sustainable safari camp

Two trophies for the Four Seasons AMAALA

According to the organisers, Boutique Design, Four Seasons Resort & Residences AMAALA at Triple Bay wins the Resort category and also takes the Guestroom Luxury award, for the best-designed luxury room. The resort stands at Triple Bay, within the AMAALA destination, in Saudi Arabia.

Both trophies recognise the work of London studio Goddard Littlefair, which handled the interior design. The architecture is by U+A Architects, a Dubai practice, on behalf of Red Sea Global, the project’s client.

In the Resort category, AMAALA saw off other finalists including Rosewood Mandarina, in Mexico, and ZOLAND·Emei, in Leshan, in China’s Sichuan province. On the same coast, the destination is also home to Six Senses AMAALA.

More than 440 entries and eight judges

The Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design reward the interiors of hospitality venues across some twenty categories: hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars and wellness. Organised by Boutique Design (part of Emerald), they are now in their 46th edition. The finalists were announced on 11 September 2026, and a panel of eight experts chose from more than 440 entries.

The winners were revealed on Monday 9 November 2026 at a ceremony held at Cipriani 42nd Street, New York, alongside the BDNY (Boutique Design New York) trade fair. On the same evening, Boutique Design honoured Islyn Studio, named Design Firm of the Year 2026.

Florence: six apartments in Palazzo Segni

In the Hotel Luxury category, the trophy goes to La Réserve Firenze, which is anything but a conventional hotel: it comprises six serviced apartments in Palazzo Segni, a 15th-century palace at 6 via Santo Spirito, in the Oltrarno, the district on Florence’s left bank. They opened on 16 October 2026.

The interiors are by Paris duo Gilles & Boissier, the architecture by Florentine firm PLS Design, for La Réserve Hotels and Private Homes (Michel Reybier Hospitality). All the details are in our article on the opening of La Réserve Firenze.

In this category, Six Senses London, already awarded a Michelin Key, and Shangri-La Kunming, in China, both designed by AvroKO, were finalists but missed out on the trophy.

The Chanler’s lobby wins in Newport

The Lobby Luxury award goes to The Chanler at Cliff Walk, in Newport, Rhode Island. Its interiors are the work of Studio Valerius, a New York firm.

Shura Island takes the wellness award

The second Four Seasons property among the winners, Four Seasons Resort & Residences Red Sea at Shura Island, in Saudi Arabia, takes the Wellness award. Its interiors are by New York’s Meyer Davis and its architecture by Foster + Partners.

Together with AMAALA, the two Four Seasons resorts on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast thus claim three trophies in this 2026 edition.

In Kenya, a sustainable safari camp

The Eco-Conscious / Socially Conscious Hotel category, which recognises a hotel mindful of the environment and of its social role, goes to The Ritz-Carlton, Masai Mara Safari Camp, in Kenya. Dubai-based studio LW Design is behind both the interiors and the architecture.

→ All our coverage of La Réserve Firenze (2 articles)