Week #32: 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?.

The week’s hot new hotels reveal the opening of a wellness retreat in Majorca specialising in soothing minimalism, 24 cabins with views of the Catskill Mountains and a hotel in Mexico that’s a mezcal lover’s dream. Discover dreamy four-poster beds in Norfolk’s newest hotel and see inside India’s first Raffles hotel.

Raffles Udaipur | Opened 2 August 2021

INDIA: A hotel with its own island, India’s first Raffles “isn’t your average five-star” says Conde Nast Traveller. The hotel “sets a new standard in luxury accommodation in Udaipur” according to Elle Decor. On a 21-acre private island “in the middle of the serene Udai Sagar lake” (Conde Nast Traveller). A decade in the making, architect Clive Gray of Randolph Gray Design, “used the island’s natural topography” to create a hotel that best summarised as “English country estate meets Rajasthan’s royal heritage” (Conde Nast Traveller). This translates into a spa, a library of 1,000 books and “an East-meets-West aesthetic” (Conde Nast Traveller). There’s a Long Bar - “a hallmark of the Raffles brand” (Elle Decor) - a Grand Ballroom and on-site temple. It all amounts to “a nature lover’s paradise” says Elle Decoration.

Our favourite feature: Raffles really knows how to do luxury, and on a private island.

Es Racó d’Artà | Opened March 2021

SPAIN: Taking a “radically new direction” (Conde Nast Traveller), Es Racó d’Artà is a wellness retreat in eastern Majorca, near the small town of Artà, which acts as “a showcase for local artisans” (Wall Street Journal). A “legacy project” (New York Times Style Magazine) for Spanish architect Antoni Esteva, he worked with his children - architect Tomeu Esteva and fashion designer Rosa Esteva - on a farmhouse he’d “long been in awe of” (New York Times Style Magazine). Set on 500 acres with olive groves, grapevines and wheat, the 34 rooms are spread amongst free-standing casitas. The spa is “influenced by Moroccan desert architecture” (New York Times Style Magazine) with rooftop gardens and small courtyards. What was once the stable is now a meditation room and Tomeu’s wife, Gemma Bes, (a nutritionist to Rafael Nadal) runs “courses on healthy cooking” (Conde Nast Traveller). A “study in soothing minimalism” (New York Times Style Magazine), “the result is astounding” (Conde Nast Traveller).

Our favourite feature: The design - minimalist interiors and Moroccan influences.

Piaule Catskill | Opened July 2021

USA: In Hudson Valley, a home goods company has turned to hospitality creating “a 24-room boutique hotel overlooking the mountains” (Vogue); Piaule “has quickly become an in-demand getaway” (WWD). Named after the word for “crib” in French slang, Piaule Catskill cofounders Trevor Briggs and Nolan McHugh have created “a chic, contemporary beacon of relaxation” (WWD) with the restaurant and spa housed under “a dramatically angled zinc roof” (Wallpaper). “Sunken and hidden in the hillside” (Wallpaper), “the spa is the hidden gem of the property” (Forbes). “Only 5 of the 50 acres were developed” (Architectural Digest) at this “design-forward” hideaway (Forbes), created by Garrison Architects of Brooklyn. Combining Japanese and Scandinavian design, “floor-to-ceiling glass doors” (Architectural Digest) and private balconies offer “unobstructed views of the Catskill Mountains” (Forbes).

Our favourite feature: Cabins overlooking the Catskills with a sunken spa.

Casa Silencio | Opening Fall 2021

MEXICO: This new “luxe six-bedroom boutique hotel” (Forbes) from the founders of “award-winning, Mezcal El Silencio” (Pursuitist) is connected to their distillery in Oaxaca, making it “a mezcal lover’s dream” (Vogue). In a part of Oaxaca you wouldn’t normally see - a farming area where “agaves line the road” and “spiky succulents grow like wild ferns” (Vogue) - the rustic hotel is “designed by legendary architect Alejandro D’Acosta” (Pursuitist) and interior designer Martina D’Acosta. Each two-story room is made out of materials like “reclaimed wood, terra cotta tiles, and compressed dirt” (Vogue). One bathroom is “built entirely from recycled mezcal bottles” (Vogue). Drawing on their expertise in mezcal, owners offer a distillery tour, “tastings and immersive guest experiences” (Pursuitist) as well as sunrise hikes and outings into the nearby village of Mitla to see textiles.

Our favourite feature: Mezcal and cool rooms among the spiky succulents in Mexico.

The Harper | Opened May 2021

UK: Chosen by The Observer for its list of “10 of Britain’s best seaside hotels” and named last month by Tatler as “one of North Norfolk’s most exciting new hotel openings”, The Harper is found “in East Anglia’s chi-chiest reaches” (The Telegraph). “Reached via winding country lanes” (Tatler), The Harper is “truly remote” (Tatler), overlooking “a glorious expanse of salt marshes and dunes” (The Observer). Its 32 rooms are “arranged cleverly and carefully around a courtyard” (The Telegraph) with “four-poster beds, yoga, a spa” (The Observer) and “a petite pool” (The Telegraph), making the hotel both family-friendly and “ideal for a spa trip” (Tatler).

Our favourite feature: A spa, pool and cocktails perking up the flatlands of Norfolk.

Previous New Hotel News editions:

Week #31: New Hotel News | Discover the Japanese hotel in the medals, what the ex-Soho House crew did to get on House & Garden’s wishlist and the stunning new hotel just opened on an American island. Forbes puts the spotlight on Piedmont and a luxury Parisian department store gets a new hotel as part of its €750 million makeover.

Week #30: New Hotel News | The “world’s highest hotel”, an arty new hotel in Eastbourne and a luxury resort on the east coast of Sardinia. This week’s top five also puts the spotlight on a new hotel from the world’s wealthiest footballer and a new five-star hotel in Geneva.

Week #29: New Hotel News | The new St. Regis in Cairo comes with views over the Nile, one hotel in Australia makes it onto this year’s Conde Nast Traveler Hot List and an Italianate hotel opens in New Orleans. A colourful hotel bursts onto the Tokyo skyline and Naomi Campbell gives her verdict following a hard hat tour of the coolest hotel in Paris.

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.