Insights
Adaptive Reuse at Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Cartagena
A 16th-century cloister and temple, the 1920s Club Cartagena and several historic theaters, each built for a different purpose, now form a single luxury destination in Cartagena’s Getsemaní neighborhood. In this piece, Monica Cuervo, Managing Director, The Americas, traces WATG’s role in the 14-year conversion, from site planning shaped by heritage regulations and a high water table to frescoes uncovered during construction and restored as focal points. Working with Wimberly Interiors and local preservation specialists, the team adapted the design to the architecture, preserving open corridors and the 400-year-old trees that still shade the cloister courtyard.
Featured
- Strategy + Research
Hospitality Trends 2026 by WATG Advisory
Hospitality Trends 2026: WATG’s Advisory Team spotlights 2026 hospitality trends, from evidence-based wellness to the expansion of luxury into unprecedented realms.
- Design + Innovation
Back-of-House Design: How Architecture Shapes Luxury Service
Efficient back-of-house operations have direct and significant impact on guest experience and on staff wellbeing, and this is especially important in luxury and ultra-luxury hotels. Thoughtful design, that properly considers the flow of back-of-house, not only maintains service speed but also helps to create an element of ‘magic’ in terms of seamless service around the hotel.
- Project Stories
Limelight Boulder: A Study in Intelligent Design
Limelight Boulder is a lifestyle hotel defined by environmental responsibility, technical innovation, and a civic presence at the gateway to the University of Colorado Boulder and the city beyond.
Recent insights
- Design + Innovation
Adaptive Reuse at Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Cartagena
A 16th-century cloister, a 1920s club and historic theaters, brought together as Four Seasons Cartagena. Inside 14 years of adaptive reuse.
- News
WATG and Wimberly Interiors in the Global Press: October 2026
WATG and Wimberly Interiors in October: renovated landmarks from Laguna Niguel to Mayfair, plus new projects in Las Vegas and Anaheim.
- Inside WATG
WATG Expands its Advisory Team with New Global Leadership
As owners and investors look for proof that a project works before design begins, WATG is growing its Advisory team, with new leadership in Abu Dhabi, Singapore and London.
- News
Six MICHELIN Keys for Five WATG and Wimberly Interiors Hotels
The 2026 MICHELIN Keys recognize five destinations designed by WATG and Wimberly Interiors, from a private island in Palawan to the banks of the Ishim River in Astana. Each earned its place by being unmistakably of where it stands.
- Design + Innovation
The Future of Design Education
AI might make it faster to produce work, but human judgment is required to produce good work. Sean Harry, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, and Sandra Whipp, Chief Talent Officer, discuss the future of design education.
- Project Stories
Connecting Historic Preservation and Wellness Design
Umari Spa brings together adaptive reuse, historic architecture, and Colombian wellness traditions within the centuries-old fabric of Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Cartagena.
- Strategy + Research
Phu Quoc at a Turning Point: Lessons for Long-Term Island Planning
Phu Quoc's tourism boom is testing island planning limits, with lessons from Bali and Phuket for lasting destination growth.
- Design + Innovation
Lagen Island Resort, El Nido: A Shared Legacy of Responsible Luxury
Inside the thinking behind Lagen Island Resort's renovation — a conversation on preservation, Filipino craft and design restraint.
- News
WATG and Wimberly Interiors in the Global Press: August 2026
WATG and Wimberly Interiors' August 2026 media coverage: Lagen Island Resort's press spread, Four Seasons Cartagena recognition, and Hospitality Giants ranking.
- Design + Innovation
The Guardians of Lagen Island
Setting a new benchmark for how legacy properties can evolve responsibly.
- News
Wimberly Interiors is #7 in World’s Top Hospitality Design Firms
Interior Design magazine's 2026 Giants of Design ranks Wimberly Interiors seventh among the world's leading hospitality design firms.
- Design + Innovation
Bringing Hospitality Design to Renovation and Amenitization
Owners and developers are rethinking amenity strategy. Hospitality design principles now turn renovation into lasting value.
- Project Stories
In Conversation: HUALUXE Zhongshan City Center
Wimberly Interiors turns a former office tower in Zhongshan into the brand's first HUALUXE 2.0 property, translating its "Five Beauties" philosophy into a hotel built around craft, cuisine, and a sense of place.
- News
WATG and Wimberly Interiors in the Global Press: July 2026
WATG and Wimberly Interiors' July 2026 media coverage: new APAC leadership, Wimberly F&B insight, and global project features.
- Strategy + Research
Beyond Growth: Designing What’s Next for the Sunbelt
WATG explores why Sunbelt hospitality's next phase depends on design quality and place-specific differentiation, not just population growth.
- Project Stories
Thanh Xuan Valley: Why BIM Land and WATG Let the Landscape Lead
BIM Land and WATG reflect on 30 projects together and the design philosophy behind Thanh Xuan Valley, a 167-hectare Vietnam destination built around forest, lake, and terrain rather than against them.