Week #48: 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?.

Bulgari unveils its latest jewel-like hotel, New York gets a hotel that’s both stylish and affordable plus Richard Branson’s celebrity hideaway opens up to a wider audience. The first W hotel in Italy is unveiled near the Spanish Steps and - renowned as the world’s best spa - Chiva Som helps bring luxury health and wellness to the north coast of Qatar.

Bulgari Hotel Paris | Opens 2 December 2021

FRANCE: “It blew my mind” said The Telegraph travel writer Steven King on seeing the Bulgari Hotel Paris for the first time. In an article featuring “The World’s Most Amazing Penthouse Hotel Suites” The Times name checks the Bulgari as “a beacon of style” and says its uppermost suite is “as bling as you might imagine”. One of “the two most impatiently awaited” (The Telegraph ) new hotels to open in Paris this year (alongside Cheval Blanc, see Week #37: New Hotel News ), the hotel by the Italian jewellery brand has been designed by “world-renowned” (Architectural Digest ) architects, there’s a 75-foot pool, spa, and restaurant and “bar with a courtyard garden” (Architectural Digest ). All this is across the street from the famous Four Seasons Hotel George V but the Bulgari “meets its gaze and winks teasingly” (The Telegraph ).

Our favourite feature: Italian glamour & a spa in the heart of Paris.

Civilian NYC | Opened 24 November 2021

USA: “Civilian is that rarest of birds” says The New York Times , “a midtown hotel that’s both stylish… and affordable”. Conde Nast Traveler calls the property in New York’s Theater District one of “The Most Exciting Hotel Openings This Fall” - its editors drawn to “the pop of fun and color it brings to the area”. Owned by Sixty Collective hotelier Jason Pomeranc and designed by Tony-winning David Rockwell, the hotel has 27 stories and 203 “boldly painted suites” (Conde Nast Traveler ). It has a secret garden, rooftop bar and a library with a piano but “the jewel of the hotel”, says Broadway World , is the theater-focused Olio Collection. Items including a crown from Hamilton and the Kinky Boots are “sure to attract Broadway fans and creatives alike” (Variety ).

Our favourite feature: A theatrical stay to give guests an insider’s view of Broadway.

Moskito Island | Opened 1 October 2021

CARIBBEAN: You can “live like a billionaire” (Travel + Leisure ) at Richard Branson’s private hideaway on the British Virgin Islands. At $19,000 a night, a stay on the recently opened Moskito Island is “the stuff of daydreams and bucket lists” (CNN ). Among 10 private estates are two new houses: The Oasis Estate - “a sleek, ultra-modern nine-bed” (Forbes ) house on the highest point of Moskito - and the 8-bedroom Point Estate which comfortably sleeps 22 people. They join “Branson’s own 11-bedroom mansion” (Architectural Digest ), a three-villa compound which opened in 2020. “14 years in the making” (Forbes ), each estate has its own “different yet equally striking design”. With “125-acres of idyllic island land” (Travel + Leisure ) it amounts to “the best of coastal living and the pinnacle of luxury” (Town & Country ).

Our favourite feature: Live like a billionaire - for a week, at least.

W Rome | Opens December 2021

ITALY: Enticing us with “11 Exciting New Hotels in Rome” Travel + Leisure alerts us to “the first W hotel in Italy”. “Perfectly situated near the Spanish Steps” (Forbes ) and next to Villa Borghese, the biggest park in Rome, the hotel has a rooftop bar called Otto, “where guests can enjoy Aperol spritzes and pizza poolside” (Travel + Leisure ). Partnering with the “hot maths teacher” (The Guardian ), Pietro Boselli, for its gym and wellness center, the hotel offers everything from boxing to yoga. “Spanning a pair of adjacent 19th century properties (Forbes ), the hotel has a restaurant by Ciccio Sultano, the chef behind the Michelin-starred Duomo as well as 159 rooms and suites. Book the Extreme Wow suite for “indoor/outdoor living with a 1,500-square-foot terrace” (Travel + Leisure ).

Our favourite feature: Fun styling, a rooftop bar and an intelligent workout.

Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Som | Opened 15 November 2021

QATAR: Its spa in Thailand is “the premier spa resort in the world” according to Conde Nast Traveler’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards. Now “the pioneering” (The Telegraph ) Chiva Som has partnered with Zulal Wellness Resort to bring health and wellness to a luxury resort on the north coast of Qatar. Highlighting “The hottest spa trends and openings for 2021” The Telegraph directs us to “the Middle East’s first dedicated wellbeing resort” (National Geographic ). Expect treatments using “camel’s milk and Qatar’s pink clay” (Daily Telegraph ) and aquatic therapy at this stunning hotel on “an isolated stretch” (The Telegraph ) of Qatar’s coast. The hotel offers separate areas for adults and families with “chef masterclasses on the menu” (National Geographic ) making this “one of the Middle East’s hottest new hotels” (The Telegraph ).

Our favourite feature: Luxury health & wellness, taken to the next level.

Previous New Hotel News editions:

Week #47: New Hotel News : Club Med opens in Canada, desert villas lead travellers to a farming hamlet in Mexico and Florence gets a glamorous new five star hotel. With its rippled facade, Pendry Manhattan West stands out among 20 new hotels launched in New York in 2021 and a new London hotel takes inspiration from the Flatiron Building.

Week #46: New Hotel News: The newest Edition hotel opens in Iceland’s capital, a “roaming raclette cart” adds to the apres ski at a new Montage and a homely rural estate is one of the “10 of the best hotels in Mallorca” according to The Guardian. A boutique hotel comes with a restaurant from the Cipriani family and The Ritz Carlton in Mexico City offers impressive panoramic views.

Week #45: New Hotel News : In the Swiss Alps, a smart hotel emerges fresh from a five-year renovation, we take a peek inside Provence’s chicest new hangout and unlock the beauty of a former prison in Cornwall. See inside the latest hotel from the group behind Sea Containers and explore an all-villa escape perched on a hilltop in Phuket.

Week #44: New Hotel News : We reveal new rustic cabins and a Japanese bathouse in Canada, a new hotel from a French fashion house and a golfing hotel near a surfing hotspot. Swiss architects Herzog + de Meuron create a haven for creative folk and a New Orleans hotel offers ringside views over the mighty Mississippi River.

Week #43: New Hotel News : Say hello to a $85 million hotel bringing barefoot luxury to Mexico, a five?star Ionian hideaway with A?list?appeal and a Pig hotel with its own vineyard. Discover a Hilton hotel that’s part of a whole new city in Qatar and cabins making the most of the dark skies above Sedona.

Week #42: New Hotel News : The Standard brings a hip hotel to Hua Hin, a new Coventry hotel hits the front page and we dive into a Canopy hotel where the pool overlooks the rooftops of Madrid. Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ inspires the ambitious new 25hours Hotel in Florence and a luxury Hilton offers an oasis of zen near Kyoto.

Week #41: New Hotel News: Raffles opens a new jewel on Dubai’s Palm, one of the best hotels in Hudson Valley and a new farmyard at the prettiest hotel in Somerset. An upmarket agroturismo opens in Spain and Auberge Resorts welcomes visitors to a working coffee farm in Costa Rica.

Week #40: New Hotel News: Discover a much-loved family home in Lebanon, a hotel where each room is an artwork and a 14th century fort owned by India’s Rajasthani royal family. This week’s top five also takes us to the “World’s Most Beautiful New Hotels” with Elle Decor and to Paris where a 5-star hotel offers views of the Eiffel Tower.

Week #39: New Hotel News: Rosewood restores an iconic hotel in Madrid, an all-villa Jumeriah resort opens in the Maldives and a new UK hotel is named “the hottest staycation of the summer” by Tatler. Take a look at a rural hotel offering countryside chic in Portugal and the new ultra-luxury hotel joining The Langham family in Jakarta.

Week #38: New Hotel News: Art Deco-meets-punk at a new Austrian hotel hotspot, an LA hotel has undergone a $2.5 billion redevelopment and Kyoto welcomes a cool new hotel. French-born brand Le Méridien offers overwater villas in the Maldives and a trendy co-working brand comes to Camden.

Week #37: New Hotel News : The most beautiful hotel in Paris, a refuge by the sea and an Art Deco hotel topped by a bottle of champagne. Nelson Mandela’s former home becomes a five-star hotel and London’s tallest hotel in the sixties reopens after a ￡100 million refurb.

Week #36: New Hotel News ?| The first boutique hotel by French fragrance brand Fragonard, a new hotel in a cool of Hong Kong neighbourhood and the glamorous Hollywood hotel by British designer Tara Bernerd. A boutique hotel Vogue calls one of the best in Puglia 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.