Claus Sendlinger
Founder of Design Hotels™ &
Co-founder of SLOW
Sept
An Industry Pioneer
As co-founder of SLOW, Claus Sendlinger dedicates himself and all his endeavors to the cultivation of arts, crops and inner gardens. An intention, a wish, a recourse: SLOW embraces the imperfect, the strange and indigenous; it defies conventions and reframes the way people live, work and interact in times of haste and acceleration. With a farm in Ibiza, a treehouse in Tulum and soon a campus in Berlin and a noble-house in Lisbon, SLOW provides more than mere physical spaces for a journey to an altered state of being.
Sendlinger has been on the forefront of innovation in travel and design since he started his career in 1987 with the founding of an event agency and, some years later, as a tour organizer for high-end travel experiences. With his out-of-the-box mindset, he realized early the need for alternatives to conventional ways of traveling and became part of a movement that aspires to create original travel experiences ever since he set foot in the industry. In 1993, Sendlinger founded Design Hotels™, the first hotel marketing consortium that dedicated its efforts to the arising boutique hotel movement of the early 1990’s. With this fine collection of privately owned hotels, he established a platform for the travel community, offering unparalleled places to connect, exchange, unwind and experience togetherness.
Sendlinger strives for perpetual transformation and understands the catalyzing effect of trends in the travel and design markets on other industries, and beyond that, on society in its entirety. A German native yet global nomad, he created a culturally sophisticated network of artists, architects & designers, hoteliers, journalists, and like-minded travellers who share his vision and beliefs.
An authority in travel and design, Sendlinger is frequently engaged as a speaker, panelist and jury member. He was honored at the European Hotel Design Awards for outstanding contributions to the industry and received the Special Award from German hospitality publications, AHGZ. In 2018, Condé Nast Traveller listed Sendlinger among the 48 top influencers worldwide from filmmakers and artists to architects and entrepreneurs changing the way people travel.