Issue #26: 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?.

Everything you need to know about the first boutique hotel by French fragrance brand Fragonard, a new hotel in one of Hong Kong’s coolest neighbourhoods and the glamorous Hollywood hotel by British designer Tara Bernerd. Discover the small boutique hotel is one of the best in Puglia, according to Vogue, and a new London hotel where Singaporean hospitality meets British design.

La Maison Fragonard Arles | Opened 22 June 2021

FRANCE:?Sisters Agnès and Fran?oise Costa, of?“the illustrious French perfumery”?(Marie Claire) Fragonard, have created the?“fragrance brand’s first guesthouse”?(New York Times Style Magazine) in Arles - a small city that’s?“a magnet for the art crowd”?(Telegraph).?“Behind yellow shutters”?(Vogue Paris) are six?“expertly decorated”?(Marie Claire) bedrooms in?“three different styles”?(WWD). Each floor has its own kitchen while the third-floor suite offers?“exclusive access to the rooftop terrace”?(New York Times Style Magazine). The 18th-century building,?“formerly a pharmacist’s laboratory”?(New York Times Style Magazine), has been imagined by the be-poles studio, executed by architect Renzo Wieder, with?“old-fashioned bathtubs”?(Vogue Paris) and?“original terra-cotta floors and wood ceilings”?(New York Times Style Magazine). In the?“well thought out boutique”?(Architectural Digest France) below you can shop for scented candles and?“cushions printed with poetic messages”?(Vogue Paris).

Our favourite feature:?Chic guesthouse with its own French fragrance.

the Arca | Opened May 2021

HONG KONG:?In?“one of Hong Kong’s coolest up-and-coming neighbourhoods”?(Tatler Asia) new hotel the Arca offers 187 rooms and an?“impressive rooftop infinity pool”?(Time Out). A?“hub for art and culture”?(Lifestyle Asia), the art-filled and pet-friendly hotel overlooking Aberdeen Harbour is?“a playground for millennial explorers”?(Lifestyle Asia). With?“meticulous attention to detail”?(Tatler Asia), luxury rooms and suites are?“stylishly designed”?(Time Out) by local design studio, Design Eight Five Two (DEFT), and come in a choice of seven styles. From a family with property in its DNA, Justin Ma and his father?William Ma are behind the?“design-focused”?(Tatler Asia) new hotel.

Our favourite features:?The rooftop infinity pool and sky bar.

Thompson Hollywood?| Opened 6 August 2021

USA:?The?“glamorous”?(Architectural Digest) Thompson Hollywood is?“the first California property”?(Travel + Leisure) by British designer Tara Bernerd and Hyatt’s luxury lifestyle brand. A stylish collection of 190 rooms and suites near Sunset Strip, the 11-floor hotel includes a Martin Brudnizki-designed restaurant by acclaimed LA-based chef Lincoln Carson. From the?"French Riviera-inspired rooftop lounge"?(Hollywood Reporter) and?“wood-clad rooftop”?(Variety) pool you get?“unparalleled city views”?(Latte Luxury News). The?“state-of-the-art on-site gym”?(Variety) has been?“masterminded by celeb trainer Gunnar Peterson”?(Variety) while guests at the Presidential Suite can?“soak in the oversize bathtub”?(Variety). Altogether, it?“makes a convincing case for boutique hotels”?(Architectural Digest).

Our favourite feature:?Luxury rooms and a pool with a view - overlooking LA.

Paragon 700 Boutique Hotel & Spa?| Opened January 2021

ITALY:?Directing us to?“The Best Hotels in Puglia”?Vogue?highlights this 11-room boutique hotel which?“lords over Ostuni”?(Conde Nast Traveller). In Puglia, in a town you'd expect to find?“in the pages of a fairy tale”?(Forbes), this?“weird and wonderful”?(Vogue) hotel is an?“enchanting, eccentric restoration”?(Cool Hunting) of a 17th century palazzo, once home to Ostuni's first mayor. The hotel -?“fast becoming the haunt of thespians, epicureans and hedonists seeking romantic seclusion”?(Conde Nast Traveller) - comes from?“noted architects and interior designers”?(Forbes) Pascale Lauber and Ulrike Bauschke. Behind?“the ‘Pompeii Red’ fa?ade”?(Forbes) are?“thoughtful surprises”?(Cool Hunting) - a signature of ID Living, Lauber’s architecture and design firm. Stand-out features include a sunken circular bath and a bar that’s?“Baroque by way of Tim Burton”?(Vogue).

Our favourite features:?Eclectic design and drinks in the eccentric bar.

Pan Pacific London?| Opened 1 September 2021

UK:?In a full page feature?Conde Nast Traveller?asks:?“Is this new London hotel the ultimate staycation?”?Housed?“in a newly constructed 43-story tower”?Forbes?highlights the Pan Pacific London as one of?“8 New London Hotels To Plan Your Next Trip Around”. Design duo George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg has recently created not one but?“two new landmark properties in London”?(Forbes), along with The Londoner. But this hotel?“just moments from Liverpool Street station”?(The Handbook) stands out as the?“first European property”?(Forbes) from the Singaporean hospitality group. Next to Bishopsgate Plaza, the hotel has five places to eat and drink, Diptyque products in the bathrooms, a?“fourth-floor infinity pool”?(Conde Nast Traveller) and the largest ballroom in the square mile. Adjoining it is Devonshire House which will have a cocktail bar?“with interiors by Tom Dixon”?(Conde Nast Traveller).

Our favourite feature:?Singaporean hospitality combined with British design.