Any good marketer will tell you that what sells one luxury good versus another all comes down to storytelling.
What’s Chanel without Coco and her suite at the Ritz? BMW without its Bavarian badge? Walt Disney without his disrepute?
New products, though, need to “create” their stories, and that is where the “clans” of the Keemala resort in Phuket, Thailand, come into play.
Some hotels are so old they have moats that were used for their original purpose.
Others need to improvise.
That’s what the Keemala has done with the stories of four fictional, Game of Thrones-esque clans who, if nothing else, inform the design brief for four different sectors of the resort.
For example, we have the wanderers of the Khon-Jorn Clan, whose nomadic lifestyle inspired “tent like structures.” (Note: the villa isn’t actually a tent, just “tent like.”)
Then we have the Pa-Ta-Pea Clan, whose love of the earth (the literal earth) inspired a clinging-to-the-ground profile and earthenware materials (“Even the beds they slept on were made from soil and clay”).
Next, the We-Ha (“Sky”) Clan, with their towering views from villas suspended two floors off the ground.
And finally, the Rung-Nok Clan (Nest Clan), who “enjoyed an opulent way of life.” They inspired lodgings with private pools, monsoon showers, and ocean views.
And then there’s the Rapunzel figure with her coronary hairband who reps the stories. We can only imagine she’s some type of beatific Helen of Troy figure whose hand you’ll be contesting during your stay.
First one in the pool gets the spoils.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
