15 New Luxury Hotels To Love In 2024
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While the big boys are continuing to expand their portfolios—with some spectacular announcements for 2024—the coming year is also shaping up to be a good one for people who prefer a bit of whimsy, a dollop of homegrown style and the one-of-a-kind feeling of an independent hotel (or at least one that’s part of a small regional group). From Aspen to Athens, Bhutan to Botswana, here are 15 new hotels that share a close attention to detail, a distinctive character and a genuine interest in sustainability.
The Americas
The Weston, Vermont
Following a renovation and rebrand, the Weston is re-emerging as a nine-room boutique hotel in the heart of the Green Mountains. The multi-generational family of owners took style inspiration from great New York institutions like the Carlyle and the Gramercy Park Hotel. There’s a feeling of time travel, as the hotel aims to transport guests back to an era of refined service, unapologetically exquisite French cuisine and highly designed rooms. (The spa, indoor yoga studio, and fitness center, however, are thoroughly of the 21st century.) The aesthetic takes in the West Indies and the Far East with a layering of fabrics, furnishings and original art.
Mollie Aspen
The designers of the new Mollie Aspen drew inspiration from the individuals who shaped Aspen throughout its history, especially the “inimitable” Mollie Gibson (a beloved local figure known for her enthusiasm for outdoor adventure and her ability to bring people together). For all its guidance by Western mountain town lore, the design of the 68 rooms blends Japanese and Scandinavian elements like natural woods and hand-dyed textiles into calm, quiet spaces. The food and beverage program was designed by Gin & Luck—the group behind the Death & Co. brand—and includes a lobby bar and restaurant with year-round outdoor seating. The rooftop pool and terrace bar have clear views of Aspen Mountain and turn into an intimate lounge after dark.
Silversands Beach House, Grenada
A stand-alone hotel designed with couples in mind, the new Silversands Beach House is scheduled to open next month as an addition to the portfolio of Silversands, the resort that upped the luxury game in Grenada when it opened several years ago. The new, 28-accommodation property includes freestanding one-bedroom villas and two-bedroom suites, some of which are oceanfront. The beach and the rooms are protected beneath a dramatic cliff, which ensures sublime privacy. The mini resort includes its own upscale trattoria and infinity pool, but guests can also enjoy the 100-meter swimming pool, exclusive spa and dining venues of the original resort, which is just ten minutes away.
River Lodge, California
River Lodge in Paso Robles is one of several upcoming openings from the Nomada Hotel Group, which is focused on the history and quirky character of California’s central coast—the portfolio will include early-20th-century saloons, revived roadside motels and a renovated catamaran at sea. This one is a wine country escape with 27 motel-style rooms, a large central pool, gardens, a lobby market, an indoor-outdoor bar and a full-service restaurant. Guests have access to e-bikes for quick rides to downtown and nearby wineries. Also of note is River Lodge’s upcoming sister property, Pozo, near Santa Margarita Lake, which will be centered on a 19th-century saloon that has hosted talent ranging from Willie Nelson to Kendrick Lamar.
Europe
Mateus Hotel, Lisbon
For a long time, the gently bohemian Independente was one of Lisbon’s undersung hotels. That’s no longer the case, thanks to the owners’ expansion into a new getaway in fashionable Comporta, a second urban hotel in the capital and—the pink cherry on top—the Mateus Hotel. The hotel, on the upper floors of the new Independente Lisboa-Bica, is a partnership with the producer of Mateus rosé, one of Portugal’s most popular wine exports. Its 13 rooms are decorated in pink hues with sustainable woods and artworks sourced from nonprofits, and its penthouse is a creative studio that showcases musical performances and serves as a chef’s table for rising star Bruno Antunes, who turns out Portuguese tapas with a Japanese twist in the main restaurant downstairs.
Brown Glow, Athens
The word “glow” in the name is no joke. Opening soon in the historic center of Athens on Lycourgous Street, the newest offering from Brown Hotels has a design inspired by the Lycourgous Cup, an important Roman artifact, and realized (by leading Greek firm Elastic Architects) via color-changing nanotechnology, which, when viewed through glass or perforated surfaces, creates mesmerizing, glowing illusions. Elsewhere, the design exemplifies the original 1960s features in the building and makes liberal use of vintage details. Along with 219 rooms, it has all the expected features like a restaurant, a lobby lounge and a rooftop bar and swimming pool.
Hotel Maria, Helsinki
Hotel Maria founder Samppa Lajunen, a former three-time Olympic gold medalist (for Nordic combined) turned luxury real estate developer states his goal for his new Hotel Maria simply: “to become the premier hotel experience in the Nordics and Helsinki’s first true five-star destination.” To that end, the hotel—which occupies four architecturally significant buildings constructed between 1885 and 1930—has 117 spacious (nearly 500 square feet on average), classically styled rooms, including 38 suites, along with two restaurants and bars, a state-of-the-art spa and destination boutique showcasing Finnish designers. The rooms have large “American-style” beds and spa-like bathrooms, in many cases with extra-large soaking tubs and traditional Finnish saunas.
Maison 1896, France
California hotelier and restaurateur David Fink (of the Relais & Château L’Auberge Carmel, among others) realized his lifelong dream of owning a hotel in his favorite wine region, Burgundy, with the late 2023 opening of Maison 1896 in Beaune, France. In partnership with the famed Burgundian wine family Maison Joseph Drouhin, he restored an 1896 Beaux-Arts building in the village’s historic center to house a luxury 16-room boutique hotel and restaurant. The early Art Deco palette, by French interior designer Estelle Fabre, is characterized by deep blues and burnt orange hues. While the setting and accommodations are quintessentially French, the cuisine is something else. San Francisco chef Charles Phan has brought the Vietnamese cuisine that he’s known for to the hotel’s restaurant, the Slanted Door, Beaune.
Asia
Rooms Batumi, Georgia
Georgia’s Rooms hotel group is one of the chic-est anywhere, and the newest outpost, in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi, lives up to that reputation. Located in the historic quarter, it’s a member of Design Hotels and consists of 123 rooms, a rooftop with an outdoor swimming pool and restaurant, and an additional dining room and bar on the ground floor. The sleek design by Collective Development in collaboration with Rooms Studio showcases the face of contemporary Georgia while emphasizing natural materials, elegant lines and geometric shapes.
AndBeyond Punakha River Lodge, Bhutan
For years, andBeyond has been known for its lavish safari camps and lodges in Africa. Lately, it’s been expanding, with a lodge in Chile and now its first property in Asia. The Punakha River Lodge is located in a lush green valley on the banks of Bhutan’s Mo Chhu River, with six luxury tents, one honeymoon villa and one family villa, all surrounded by paddy fields and forested hills. The design incorporates traditional Bhutanese architecture, with wooden carvings and colorful patterns, and the location is a prime base for exploring the surrounding adventure playground.
Africa
Izza, Marrakech
The newly opened riad Izza in Marrakech’s bustling medina bills itself as a house of friends. Its 14 rooms are named after creative “freedom seekers” of the 1960s and ’70s, most of whom were connected to renowned socialite and interior designer Bill Willis. Hence the room names include Jack (Kerouac), Grace (Jones), Marianne (Faithful), Cecil (Beaton) and Yves (Saint Laurent, the top suite). Despite all that nostalgia, the highly curated art collection aims to be one of the world’s most expansive permanent exhibitions of digital and generative art, having been sourced from a variety of partners including the leading digital gallery fellowship.xyz and prominent NFT collector Studio137.
Farasha Farmhouse, Morocco
Yes, Morocco is well represented here, but deservedly so (and it’s worth noting here that the country is very much open for business after the earthquake in September). About 30 minutes from Marrakesh, Farasha Farmhouse is the latest project from Rosena and Fred Charmoy, the famous Marrakshi hosts and event organizers who have put on a birthday party for Madonna, fashion shows for Chanel and Saint Laurent, and weddings for the likes of Poppy Delevinge. Here, they’ve transformed an artist’s rural retreat into a four-room hotel that’s an immersive portrait of Morocco’s contemporary art scene—albeit one that’s surrounded by olive groves and a regenerative farm and bookended by the Atlas and Jbilet Mountains.
Tawana, Botswana
Southern African safari leader Natural Selection’s latest premium camp promises to uphold the standards that have made the company one of the most trusted brands in wildlife travel. Tawana will benefit from a prime setting in the Moremi Game Reserve within the Okavango Delta, which is renowned as Botswana’s finest wildlife region, as well as lavish accommodations in eight tented suites (including three for families) with air-conditioning over their beds). But this isn’t a place for the design as much as for the experience. This new addition to the portfolio reflects a partnership between Chief Tawan Moremi, the paramount chief of the Batawana tribe, which was created to safeguard the pristine ecosystem for future generations while providing much-needed opportunities to the Batawana people.
Oceania
Southern Ocean Lodge, Australia
The bushfires that devastated South Australia’s Kangaroo Island in 2020 also destroyed one of the region’s most glamorous places to stay. But 2024 will see the phoenix rising, as Southern Ocean Lodge reopens as one of Australia’s premier luxury resorts this month. The focus now is the future of tourism to the island, with a new-look luxury lodge that bears a similar footprint to the award-winning original and has striking views of the Southern Ocean. Its 25 suites all have this view, as does the ultra-premium Ocean Pavilion, atop the limestone cliffs. The ambitious restaurant uses as many products as possible from the island.
Huka Lodge, New Zealand
The year 2024 is the centenary of Huka Lodge, a pioneer of New Zealand’s wild style of luxury travel. The lodge is set among established gardens along the banks of the Waikato River near Lake Taupō on the North Island. From its humble beginnings as a fishermen’s camp, it has matured into one of the finest lodges in the country. Its 20 suites, two exclusive owners’ residences and common spaces will get even better at the end of 2024, when it re-emerges from a significant and considered renovation. New Zealand-born interior designer Virginia Fisher, who has been involved with Huka Lodge since 1984 will direct the look and feeling, maintaining the lodge’s singular grand style.