There’s A Reason Why You’re Seeing More Hotels With Rounded Shapes

If you’ve stepped into a new luxury hotel lately, you might have felt it before you noticed it: spaces that flow, walls that curve, ceilings that arch instead of cut. The sharp-edged, boxy aesthetic that defined high-end design for years is giving way to softer shapes, rounder forms and organic materials. Research explains why: curved lines reduce activity in the amygdala, the region in the brain linked to fear and anxiety.

Yes, curves are harder to build. They demand custom materials, specialized techniques and more time on-site. But they also do something straight walls can’t: they positively transform the mood of a space. And luxury hotels have taken note.

The Brain Reads Curves As Safe And Comforting

“Neuroscientific research shows that simply seeing three-dimensional curved lines, such as those found in furniture, has a calming effect and even boosts our creativity,” says renowned environmental design psychologist Dr. Sally Augustin, founder of Design With Science.

This has already been proven to work with two-dimensional wallpaper. She therefore recommends “biophilic designs” to her clients—organic shapes and round patterns that mimic nature.

Examples include unfolding petals or circular flourishes in naturally grained wood.

“Biophilic design essentially means using natural materials as found in nature, including colors and sounds,” she says. This has a particularly calming effect on the psyche and not only makes us feel more comfortable and relaxed, but also improves our cognitive performance.

Studies back this up. When participants walked through virtual rooms designed with either curved or angular features, a computer tracked their brain activities in real time. The curved spaces triggered responses linked to positive emotions and ease, while the angular ones had the opposite effect.

Ingrid Fetell Lee also researches people's preference for curves and rounded shapes. When she was working on her book Joyful, she asked people to name objects that sparked happiness in them.

Turns out, almost everyone mentioned things that had one thing in common: “lollipops, pom-poms and polka dots”—all round in shape.

Dr. Augustin does not completely reject the use of straight lines. “Straight lines convey efficiency and action. Every hotel has a long corridor or an area that people need to cross quickly,” she says.

Geometric carpets with lots of squares and triangles are suitable for this purpose. “But in the room or lounge, curved lines should predominate,” says the design psychologist.

Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab – Dubai

While Dubai may be associated with its vertical skyline, the recently opened Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab makes a different kind of statement by staying closer to the ground. British star architect Shaun Killa designed the structure to resemble a luxury yacht pulling out of the harbor—smooth, elongated and tapering at both ends.

There are hardly any straight lines. Guests arrive via a winding, jungle-like path that conceals the building from view until the final turn, when the view suddenly opens to a giant round portico, four stories high and 120 feet across that appears to float despite its 3,000-ton weight.

“We designed this arch to frame the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab in the background and to evoke strong emotions from the moment guests arrive,” Killa says. “And with today’s methods we can achieve a softness and complexity that wasn’t possible 20 years ago.”

Inside are 386 rooms with private balconies, a three-level 40,000-square-foot wellness space and 13 spa suites with terraces. Outside: a private marina, four pools, two beaches, nine ocean-view villas and 82 serviced residences. The boldest move, though, is the restraint: you won’t find sharp angles or grand atriums. Instead, a sequence of curved spaces that reveals gradually, one room at a time.

Das Edelweiss Salzburg Mountain Resort— Austria

After a five-year, €80 million ($94 million) renovation and expansion, the family-owned Das Edelweiss Salzburg Mountain Resort now competes on an international stage. Its scale of service, extensive amenities, and standout dining—including one of the nation’s top steakhouses—earned it a place in Preferred Hotels & Resorts, the only Austrian property in the luxury group.

Much of its new identity comes from curved lines and soft shapes, which set it apart in Europe’s crowded luxury ski market.

A prime example of the power of curves is the adults-only sauna. Rounded benches and warm wood wall panels flow into circular ceilings, while soft lighting accentuates the geometry and the warmth of the wood.

“An environment like this puts us at ease immediately. Our bodies respond subconsciously without us even realizing it,” says Augustin. “We start to relax physically and mentally.”

OLM Nature Escape — South Tyrol, Italy

Another striking new hotel is the ring-formed OLM Nature Escape in South Tyrol. Nestled at the foot of the South Tyrolean Dolomites, just 50 miles away Italy’s Bolzano airport. This 33-suite hotel set out to ”slow things down and recharge your batteries.”

The OLM is almost hidden—tucked into the landscape, between rolling hills, grazing cows and small herds of sheep. The two-story, concrete-frame structure feels rooted and natural in its spot at the end of a quiet, winding country lane.

The interior spaces are clad in larch wood, furnished with natural materials and light-filled, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows. The team philosophy echoes Sally Augustin’s words: ”Great work is only possible in an environment that inspires, supports and promotes joy.”

New Shapes Aim To Blend Into Nature

Germany’s northernmost state, Schleswig-Holstein, may soon be home to one of the country’s most ambitious wellness projects to date: a spiral-shaped resort with one of the largest spa areas nationwide. Architect Hadi Teherani’s Lakeside Resort will rise in a slow, continuous loop—like a coiled shell—with no sharp angles, no hard edges and a walkable green roof. Teherani’s goal is to create a slower, more sensory kind of stay for guests.

Teherani is no stranger to fluid design: Four years ago, he drew attention to his work with his unusual curving wellness complex at Austria’s Krallerhof Hotel in Leogang.

Wave-like walls, light colors and local materials like wood and stone create a warm welcome inside. The roof has a path leading to the top of the building from where the views vary from snowy ski pistes in winter to lush green meadows and mountain-bike trails in the summer.

Niemeyer And Hadid: Curves That Appeal

Architects have long embraced fluid forms and even built legacies around them, like Brazil’s Oscar Niemeyer and Zaha Hadid—often called the king and queen of curves.

And some of the world’s most recognizable buildings use them: the Colosseum in Rome, the Sydney Opera House and Dubai’s sail-shaped Jumeirah Burj Al Arab.

Rather than architectural flex or a testing of the limits of engineering, curves have become a design strategy in luxury hospitality. The goal is to connect deeper to guests, to shape how they feel from the moment they arrive.

While curves alone do not guarantee success in hospitality, they can improve guest experiences.

But, as with most things in life, balance matters.

“There is a fine line between taking advantage of curvilinear effects and massively overdoing it”, says Sally Augustin. ”You don’t want a hotel that’s all soft and round, because that could feel cartoonish. But if you create a space that’s relatively more curved than straight—that’s the sweet spot.”

By Katharina Kotrba