Week #29: 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 The “refreshingly unpretentious” (Travel + Leisure ) hotel came about when couple Jess and Dave Frid found an outdated, red-brick 1980s motel.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.

Previous New Hotel News editions:

Week #28: New Hotel News | The group behind Claridge’s comes to the French Riviera, an eco lodge opens in Costa Rica’s rainforest and a converted vicarage welcomes foodies to Devon. A homely hotel welcomes visitors to Menorca and the first Hilton opens in Crete.

Week #27: New Hotel News | Discover the Dubai hotel Conde Nast Traveller dubbed the “ultra-cool new kid on the block”, an Art Nouveau hotel in Stockholm and an old orphanage given a new life in New Orleans. The Langham launches in a former bank in Boston and in Venice a historic palazzo is transformed into a hotel.

Week #26: New Hotel News | This week’s top five highlights an arty new hotel in Puglia, smart lodgings in Bath and the Ritz-Carlton making a splash in the Maldives. The all-American motel gets an upgrade and a boutique hotel with a minimalist design opens on Milos in Greece.

Week #25: New Hotel News | Andaz opens a new hotel in the Bali, Stockholm based Nobis Hospitality Group brings Scandi style to Spain and Mama Shelter comes to Bahrain. The former home of the Sex Pistols becomes a?rock’n’roll hotel and hip US group Life House transforms a railway terminal into a hotel.

Week #24: New Hotel News | Southern Thailand gets a new eco hotel with a farm-to-table philosophy, a clifftop hideaway comes to Santorini while Wild Rice Retreat brings a centre for arts and wellness to Wisconsin. A luxury hotel launches in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and in Paris’ business district a playful hotel invites guests to relax in pink marble bathrooms.

Week #23: New Hotel News | A romantic new hotel near Bali’s famous Tanah Lot temple, a tropical hotel in Sri Lanka and Helsinki’s historic central station gets a new railway hotel. One family revives historic buildings in Transylvania and in North America a new hotel sets up a vast Roman-style spa.

Week #22: New Hotel News | Waterfront bungalows in Mozambique, new nature-inspired cabanas from Habitas in Mexico and an ultra-glamorous Six Senses hotel in Ibiza. A grand dame hotel revived in artsy Santa Fe and a boutique hotel on a bridge overlooking one of Africa’s largest game reserves - they’re all in this week’s top five new hotels.

Week #21: New Hotel News | Sustainable and stylish, a luxury hotel opens in the Maldives, the world’s first 3D-printed resort becomes a reality and a beachside hotel launches on Lombok. Opera inspires a new hotel in Hanoi and a 17th-century inn is given a top-to-toe makeover by mother-and-daughter duo Olga and Alex Polizzi.

Week #20: New Hotel News | Catherine Deneuve’s former French retreat, a buzzing new hotel in downtown Manhattan and a 17th-century wisteria-clad coaching inn in the Cotswolds. See the Cretian beach retreat Conde Nast Traveler recommends for sundown this summer and discover a secluded luxury hotel in California’s Wine Country.

Week #19: New Hotel News | A restored colonial-style villa on Mexico’s west coast, the Caribbean debut by Soho House and the Dubai hotel with two world records. This week’s five eye-catching new hotels also reveal a luxury riverside hotel in southern China and a trendy aparthotel in Dalston, London’s answer to Brooklyn.

Week #18: New Hotel News | Discover the hotel group giving all-inclusive holidays a high-end makeover, a minimalist hotel with a private beach in Oman and a villa in Croatia surrounded by a thousand olive trees. The best five new hotels this week also reveals a new wellness centre in Italy and one of the biggest UK hotel openings outside the capital.

Week #17: New Hotel News | An off-the-grid Indonesian retreat adds a new private island, a labour of love revives an Italianate-style mansion in North Carolina and Six Senses sets its first foot in Brazil. This week’s top five also includes a wellness retreat on an unspoilt Greek island and a curvaceous brick-built boutique hotel on Mexico’s southern coast.

Week #16: New Hotel News | Sleek newcomer The Londoner sets up the deepest habitable hotel in the UK capital, trendy London brand The Hoxton launches a new hotel in Rome and a secluded countryside hotel settles into a picture-postcard Spanish island.

Week #15: New Hotel News | A new Colonial-era hotel in Puerto Rico’s capital, Japan’s first ‘castle hotel’ and the most hotly anticipated hotel to launch in Los Angeles this year are highlighted in this week’s top five new hotels to open in 2021 across the globe.

Week #14: New Hotel News | This week’s five alluring new hotels include the first of a new brand by the founder of the Aman group, one of the world’s highest infinity pools atop a towering new hotel in Dubai and a cool coastal retreat in Santa Barbara.

Week #13: New Hotel News | Japan’s latest hotel taps into the health benefits of volcanic hot springs, an iconic Italian hotel is given a Parisian makeover and Ibiza’s little sister gets a grown up hotel by Pacha. New Yorkers can escape to a riverside retreat and a former boot factory in Bristol becomes a new arty hotel.

Week #12: New Hotel News | Raise a glass to the new Four Seasons set within a Napa Valley vineyard, enjoy laidback and soulful luxury in Ibiza, and explore a hotel set within the cactus-studded desert landscapes of Mexico. Our five top hotels this week also invite you to discover the vertical garden at the Rosewood in S?o Paulo and a meticulously restored medieval castle in Umbria.

Week #11: New Hotel News | Basketball courts become luxury suites in L.A, an oasis of peace arrives on a Greek party island and a new desert camp is set up in Saudi Arabia. Our five favourite new hotels this week also include a glamorous, grand palazzo in Palermo from Rocco Forte and the first hotel outside America by the buzzy NoMad brand.

Week #10: New Hotel News | Across the globe, from the Maldives to Montenegro, the Israeli desert to the African bush, we explore five stunning new hotels launching in 2021. Book your own private island, sleep under the stars in a baobab-shaped treehouse, dive into the One&Only’s luxury spa, stay overnight in the Negev Desert and see the revamp of the Spanish hotel Cesar Ritz set up over 100 years ago.

Week #9: New Hotel News | This week we look at five of the best new hotels (including one owned by Pharrell Williams) opening across the globe this year. There may be a global pandemic but that hasn’t stopped these new hotels from rising up. From a long list of over 120 new hotels set to open in 2021, we’ve chosen five hip new places to stay in New York, Paris, Nago and Miami – and reveal what the experts say about them.