Week #37: 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?.

We reveal which hotel Vogue calls the most beautiful in Paris, a new Dutch hotel offering a refuge by the sea and an Art Deco hotel topped by a bottle of champagne. Nelson Mandela’s former home is now a boutique five-star hotel and London’s tallest hotel in the sixties reopens after a ￡100 million refurbishment.

Pendry Chicago ?| Opened 26 May 2021

USA:?The top of this hotel?“resembles a glittering champagne bottle”?(The New York Times ). The?“gold-crowned Art Deco”?(Conde Nast Traveler ) Carbide & Carbon building has been?“turning heads on Michigan Avenue since 1929”?(The New York Times ). Reborn as the Pendry Chicago hotel, its 364 rooms and public spaces are topped off by a 24th floor terrace, which has?“never been open to the public”?(The New York Times ). The rooftop bar overlooking the Windy City?“pays homage to Art Deco’s French roots”?(Architectural Digest ), the modern brasserie is lead by Don Young -?“Chicago’s youngest Michelin-starred talent”?(Architectural Digest ) - and?Conde Nast Traveler ?notes the?“high-ceilinged, midcentury-style”?in all 364 rooms.

Our favourite feature:?Art Deco features; the polished black granite facade in particular.

Le Cheval Blanc Paris | Opened 7 September 2021

FRANCE:?It is?“The Most Beautiful New Hotel in Paris”, says?Vogue , and?“a splendor in itself”?(Forbes ). But within this LVMH-owned hotel - a?“pet project of Mr. Arnault”?(Wall Street Journal ) - is something entirely unique: the underground Dior Spa -?“the most opulent spa in Paris”?(Wallpaper* ) and?“the only one of its kind in the world”?(Vogue ). Its?“30 meter?swimming pool”?(Forbes )?is?“the largest in town”?(New York Times ). Within La Samaritaine department store and occupying an Art Deco building, the 72-room hotel is in an?“idyllic location”?(Forbes ). Fresh from a 16-year restoration, the hotel's?“handcrafted interiors”?(Forbes ) -?“a new showcase for artists and craftsmen”?(Wall Street Journal ) - were designed by?“acclaimed architect”?(Forbes ) Peter Marino. The result:?“cool elegance with a bit of grooviness”?(Vogue ).

Our favourite features:?The Dior Spa and balconies overlooking the Pont Neuf.

The Carlton Tower Jumeirah ?| Reopened 26 July 2021

UK:?Closed for close to two years, The Carlton Tower has reopened after?“an all-encompassing ￡100 million renovation”?says?Forbes ?featuring the hotel in its article on?“The Most Exciting Hotel Transformations To Be Revealed In 2021”. At?“the centre of Swinging Sixties”?(Evening Standard ), it was the tallest tower hotel in London when it first opened in 1961. Today, the famous Knightsbridge hotel?“with an illustrious past”?(Forbes ) boasts a 20-metre pool,?“said to be the biggest of any hotel in London with natural light”?(Evening Standard ). Its 216 guest rooms have been reduced to 186 so rooms are larger and the?“brand new design”?(Forbes ) by 1508 London is?“nostalgically classic and refreshingly modern”?(Wonderland Magazine ).?“Bright and buzzing”?(Olive Magazine ) Italian restaurant, Al Mare,?“has a sense of theatre”?(Olive Magazine ).

Our favourite feature:?London’s largest naturally lit swimming pool.

Benedict Noordwijk | Opened July 2021

THE NETHERLANDS:?With interiors by a designer who has worked on the Royal Opera House in London and the Rijksmuseum, Benedict Noordwijk is a?“restful retreat”?(Frame )?“dedicated to slow living”?(Elle Decor ). Halfway between The Hague and Amsterdam, in the?“picturesque Dutch seaside resort town”?(Elle Decor ) of Noordwijk aan Zee - a land of?“dunes, forests and flower fields”?(Elle Decor ) - two 1904 buildings have been carefully restored into high-end apartments. The success of Paul Linse's stylish design is underpinned by the?“owners’ extraordinary art collection”?(Elle Decor ) which includes a?“hand-painted dinnerware set by Ann Demeulemeester”?(Elle Decor ) and, with no TVs,?“tranquillity predominates”?(Petite Passport ).

Our favourite features:?Calming colours and high-end interiors, surrounded by nature.

Sanctuary Mandela | Opened 1 September 2021

SOUTH AFRICA:?Nelson Mandela’s home is now a boutique five-star hotel?“where guests can experience a more personal side of the former South African leader”?(The Telegraph ). The unique hotel has?“all the things which the late leader would never have dreamed of”?(The Telegraph ) during his 27 years of captivity: a swimming pool, a luxury spa and flat-screen televisions. The nine curated rooms are designed to celebrate Mr Mandela’s life, with?“his old master bedroom aptly named the presidential suite”?(The Telegraph ). The Johannesburg house where Mr Mandela?“hosted world leaders”?(The Telegraph ) - including Bill Clinton - is now?“a place of reflection”?(Soweta Live ) and includes letters Mandela wrote while in the house.

Our favourite feature:?A unique hotel with an immersive take on South Africa’s history.

Previous New Hotel News editions:

Week #36: New Hotel News ?| 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.

Week #34: New Hotel News ?| An eco hotel on the slopes, a stylish new townhouse from the people behind the Beaverbrook and a sparkling new hotel at the heart of a $300 million urban redevelopment project. Lifestyle hospitality brand Locke continues its rapid expansion and Ritz-Carlton reveals its first hotel in a Turks & Caicos hotspot.

Week #33: New Hotel News ?| Vogue calls it “Los Angeles’s Coolest New Beachside Hotel”. We visit the first new luxury hotel on the Amalfi coast in 15 years and see where St. Regis has launched its latest resort. In Slovenia, a new timber hotel sets down roots and in Canada’s biggest city an eco retreat opens with a rooftop pool.

Week #32: New Hotel News ?| We unveil 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.

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.