Issue #20: New Hotel News

What’s happening in the world of super cool new hotels? Check out our latest five most noteworthy openings of 2021 as featured by the editors at HotelMap? & Roomcard?.

See panoramic views of the Nile from the new St. Regis in Cairo, explore the only hotel in Australia to make it onto this year’s Conde Nast Traveler Hot List and discover an Italianate hotel in New Orleans with a grand interior. See a colourful hotel burst onto the Tokyo skyline and hear what Naomi Campbell had to say after her hard hat tour of the coolest hotel in Paris.

The St. Regis Cairo?| Opened January 2021

EGYPT:?Overlooking the Nile, The St. Regis Cairo offers?“unparalleled views of the river”?(Vogue Arabia). In an?“enchanted destination”?(Forbes), this 39-storey hotel designed by?“renowned architect”?(Vogue Arabia) Michael Graves is?“a destination in itself”?(Gentleman’s Journal). Decor details include?“arabesque lanterns, latticework-covered windows”?(Forbes) and?“flashes of shimmering gold”?(Gentleman’s Journal). There are eight restaurants covering Southern Italian cuisine to Singaporean flavours. With room for up to 1,000 guests, the grand ballroom has a vaulted triple-height ceiling with a?“strikingly imposing Swarovski chandelier”?(Vogue Arabia) overhead. The brand’s attentive?“butler service is a highlight”?(Gentleman’s Journal) while the 1,000-square-metre spa is complemented by indoor and outdoor swimming pools. The luxury St. Regis brand will?“nearly double its resort portfolio by 2024”?(Forbes) and Marriott is expected to?“open 30 new luxury hotels in 2021”?(Hotel Designs).

Our favourite feature:?Floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views of the Nile.

The Sunseeker, Byron Bay | Opened January 2021

AUSTRALIA:?The only hotel in Australia on the?Conde Nast Traveler Hot List 2021, The Sunseeker is officially?“The Coolest Stay Byron Bay”?writes Chloe Sachdev in?Travel + Leisure. Noting its?“retro-cool interiors, tropical tiki bar and lo-fi surfer vibe”?The Telegraph?calls it?“a design destination”. The?“refreshingly unpretentious”?(Travel + Leisure) hotel came about when couple Jess and Dave Frid found an outdated, red-brick 1980s motel. They worked with?“some of Byron’s best creatives”?(Hunter & Folk) to update it with home comforts and modern design, creating?“a love letter to Byron Bay”?(Travel + Leisure). With six freestanding bungalows as well as the 12-room main house,?“wicker, terrazzo... and chubby Seventies-style furniture”?(Conde Nast Traveller) help create?“vintage LA vibes”?(Hunter & Folk). Guests are a mix of?“sunbathing models”?and?“road-tripping young families”?(Travel + Leisure), splashing about in the kidney-shaped pool.

Our favourite features:?Retro cool designs and the old school kidney-shaped pool.

Columns, New Orleans | Opened 4 February 2021

USA:?Called a?“delightfully enchanting new boutique hotel”?by?Vogue, Columns is a wonderful example of Italianate houses in New Orleans by?“famed local architect Thomas Sully”?(Architectural Digest). The 1893 building with a?“grandiose interior”?(Vogue) has been?“meticulously renovated”?(Forbes) by Jayson Seidman, the man behind the beloved Drifter hotel. Now a?“whimsical spot to hang your hat”?(Architectural Digest), the 20-room hotel in New Orleans’?“famous moss-draped Garden District”?(Forbes) makes bold use of?“patterned wallpaper and period furnishings”?(Architectural Digest). Original features like the?“mahogany staircase and stained-glass skylight”?(Monocle) and?“formidable white columns”?(Forbes) have been updated. The bar is an?“irresistibly snug spot”?(Monocle) and the restaurant, serving sophisticated Southern American cuisine, is?“helmed by the same team behind the award-winning Coquette”?(Vogue).

Our favourite feature:?History in the very fibres of the building & that mahogany staircase.

Toggle Hotel, Tokyo | Opened 1 April 2021

JAPAN:?An urban hotel that’s?“a colour lover’s dream”?(Design Anthology): Cast your eye over the Toggle Hotel, Klein Dytham Architecture’s 85-room hotel in Tokyo with a?“Pantone colour of the year exterior”?(Dezeen). This?“eye-catching two-tone”?(Time Out) hotel - a new-build that spans nine floors - can be found in the central Suidobashi district. It presents?“60 different colour combinations to suit every mood”?(The Spaces), from pink lower-level rooms with loft-style beds to the all-purple Room 501. Occupying a triangular corner of the hotel, an added attraction of this particular room is the cars which?“zoom, computer game-style, past the bed”?(Design Anthology). If speeding cars don’t appeal, opt for the rooms with?“views over the outer moat of the Imperial Palace”?(Design Anthology).

Our favourite feature:?The bold use of colour in the heart of Tokyo.

Castiglione, Paris | Opened May 2021

FRANCE:?Naomi Campbell’s verdict on the new Castiglione? Simply?“it’s beyond”?reports?Travel + Leisure. Questioning?“Is This The Coolest Hotel in Paris?”?Conde Nast Traveller?makes the case for Castiglione - a?“sophisticated sister property”?(Travel + Leisure) to H?tel Costes. While the original Costes was famous for its soundtrack and the?“semi darkness of its womb-like downstairs”?(Conde Nast Traveller), this new addition - in an adjacent wing but connected?“via a secret doorway”?(Conde Nast Traveller) - is?“a place for minimalism and daylight”?(Travel + Leisure) with a more grown up look created by?“legendary minimalist”?(Travel + Leisure) Christian Liaigre. The 38 bedrooms are?“far larger than those in the old place”, says?Conde Nast Traveller?who claims the spa will have?“the biggest indoor pool in Paris”.

Our favourite feature:?The minimalist styling and sense of space.