International luxury lifestyle hotel brand SO/ will open its first hotel in Auckland on 1 November 2018.

Occupying the former Reserve Bank, SO/ Auckland will join a portfolio of just seven hotels worldwide, which are an extension of AccorHotels’ Sofitel brand.

Each of the property’s 130 rooms feature natural light, a bathtub and separate rain shower, complimentary non-alcoholic mini bar and a choice of harbour or city views.

“The arrival of SO/ brings a new level of design audacity and boldness to the Auckland hotel scene,” says general manager Stephen Gould.

“The decision to launch SO/ in Auckland comes at a time when tourism in New Zealand is booming and reinforces that this stunning natural beauty is also a bustling metropolis and the must-visit destination of the South Pacific.”

The hotel features creative meeting spaces such as The Vault, with capacity for up to 200 guests.

Each SO/ hotel is brought to life by a celebrated name in fashion and design. Fashion label WORLD has worked with the SO/ Auckland team for more than three years to create an emblem, a signature design print, artwork, wallpaper designs for the signature suites and attire for the staff.

“We created a stylised topographical map of Auckland and over-inflated the role of volcanoes,” says Benny Castles, designer and director at WORLD.

“The emblem needed to be both nostalgic and futuristic, appealing to Auckland’s mythical past but setting itself in the future of what this city will become.

“The swirling, hypnotic effect feels as though you’re looking directly into the eye of a volcano, reflecting that feeling of stepping into a boutique hotel; a hypnotic experience where the outside world is left behind and a new experience begins.”