In 1971, young Kerry Hill moved out of his hometown of Perth to accept a job in Hong Kong with Palmer & Turner. Hill’s first project was a hotel to be built in Bali: the Bali Hyatt. Early in his time in Bali, Hill was introduced to legendary architect Geoffrey Bawa, who had been invited to design the Batujimbar Estate in Sanur – this was the beginning of a friendship that was to be of major importance to Hill. Kerry Hill ended up designing the lobby of Bali Hyatt while the rest of the resort was designed by Palmer & Turner and garden by Made Wijaya. Bali Hyatt was opened in 1973, closed in 2014 for renovation, and reopened as Hyatt Regency Bali in 2019.

While in Bali, Hill met Aman’s founder Adrian Zecha who was holidaying there. Zecha later founded Aman but at that time he was just starting Regent Hotels and approached Hill to design a hotel at Jimbaran Bay. A third of the hotel was built due to funding problems and the project changed hands. The new owners demolished all that had been built and started over again without Hill. This final result is now known as InterContinental Bali Resort, designed by legendary Indonesian architect Hendra Hadiprana and opened in 1993.

Kerry Hill’s first project for Aman (Amanusa) was opened in 1992. Kerry Hill eventually went on to design numerous hotels and resorts for Adrian Zecha’s Aman and GHM: The Sukhothai Bangkok (1991), The Beaufort Sentosa (1992 – renamed to Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa in 2015), The Datai Langkawi (1993), The Chedi Bandung (1994 – renamed to Padma Bandung in 2010), The Serai Manggis (1994 – renamed to Alila Manggis in 2001), The Chedi Ubud (1996 – renamed to Alila Ubud in 2001), The Lalu Sun Moon Lake (2002), Amansara (2002), Amangalla (2005), Amanwella (2005), Amankora (multiple lodges, completed in 2007), The Chedi Chiang Mai (2005 – renamed to Anantara Chiang Mai), Aman New Delhi (2009 – renamed to The Lodhi in 2013), Amantaka (2009), Aman Tokyo (2014), The Lalu Qingdao (2014), Amanemu (2016), Amanyangyun (2018), Aman Kyoto (2019), Amanbadu (old project, ongoing) and Aman Niseko (old project, ongoing).