Hilton Cape Verde sits on Sal Island, an international resort with a local soul to find. The task was to tie a global brand to the place it stands in, for guests who travelled to be in Cape Verde, not simply at a Hilton.

We made the culture the collection. Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva, the voice of the islands, anchors the public space as a mural at full height, her portrait crossed by her name in neon: street energy meeting national memory. Deeper in, a set of dark, dramatic portraits holds the private dining room in a quieter key. In the guest rooms, works drawn from nautical motifs and the life of the island carry the story inward, the same sense of place, met alone rather than in passing. The programme lets an international property speak Cape Verdean, proudly, and in its own accent.