One of travel’s most brilliant, eccentric and innovative designers was given the Contribution to Luxury Travel award at this year’s TTG Luxury Travel Awards – we look at the life and work of Bill Bensley
As a professional, I cut my teeth in Asia, finding this place exuberantly life-confirming, and I have loved this job from the start, from early days in Singapore and Hong Kong, to setting up shop in Bangkok.
I started out building exotic gardens, mostly in Bali, but honestly, I did not like many of the hotel buildings I was engaged to tart up with my tamed jungles! As time went on, I learnt the spoken and architectural languages of south-east Asia, and became erudite of all things Bali.