The story of the Capella Hotel group actually begins with London’s famous hotel manager César Ritz and renowned chef, Auguste Escoffier, who opened the Ritz-Carlton restaurants on board the Hamburg-Amerika ocean liners at the turn of the 20^th century. With the success of the restaurants, the two men took the business to the next level, and the first Ritz-Carlton Hotel  opened its doors in 1911. From there, the Ritz-Carlton became synonymous with the word “luxury” and by 1983, in stepped a 40-something, German hotelier who had started in the business cleaning ashtrays as a busboy in a German resort town. Horst Schulze became of the founding members of The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company in 1983. After retiring 20 years later, he declared he wasn’t yet finished and started the Capella Hotel Group based on his idea of the customer “determining the type of experience they will enjoy.”

Schulze named his company after the Capella star – the sixth brightest star in the night sky. True to his European roots, Schulze chose two castles and two beaches as the sites for his first boutique hotels and resorts — each with no more than 100 rooms — ensuring an immaculately tailored stay from start to finish. The setting itself was always at one with the destination — from stunning green rocky coasts in Ireland to extraordinary sandy beaches in Mexico.

When Singapore’s Kwee family took over the operation of the Capella Hotel Group in 2017, the company shed most of its Western properties and looked Eastward. It now runs seven hotels and resorts from Sydney to Shanghai with seven more to come by 2027. All adhere to the same standards and code of hospitality set out as the company’s celebrated founder, who once said that his simple mantra for the best customer service results was “to be nice to clients.” Here are four of the best Capella Resorts for winter tennis destinations.