New Hotel News

Issue #02-23: New Hotel News

What’s happening in the world of super cool new hotels? Check out our latest five most noteworthy openings of 2023 as featured by the editors at HotelMap™ & Roomcard™.

An eco-conscious retreat opens on the “wild western edge” CONDE NAST TRAVELLER of “off-the-radar Sumba” VANITY FAIR, “a new tiki-cool hotel” NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC opens in Hawaii and “the UK's cosiest new hotel for 2023” CONDE NAST TRAVELLER joins Kent’s line-up of design-led, food-focused hotels. New brand Reverie launches two new hotels in Sri Lanka and the Mondrian group comes to Southeast Asia for the first time.

SRI LANKA: With the launch of the new brand Reverie, “Sri Lanka is set to welcome a new collection of boutique properties” NET-A-PORTER. The new brand comes from the team behind the country’s renowned luxury hotel resorts, Resplendent Ceylon, and sees the launch of two inaugural properties early this year: Kayaam House in Tangalle and Ahu Bay in Ahungalla. Located on Sri Lanka’s south coast, both of the “secluded sanctuaries” NET-A-PORTER “embrace the island’s slow pace of life” VANITY FAIR with a collection of “laid-back beach houses” NET-A-PORTER. Ahu Bay “stands on Ahungalla Point between two sandy coves” FINANCIAL TIMES and boasts four ocean-facing suites, as well as three three-bedroom beach villas, while Kayaam House is located near Rekawa Lagoon and, therefore, puts “more of an emphasis on yoga, wellness, birdwatching and kayaking” FINANCIAL TIMES.

Our favourite feature: The laid-back vibes that nod to the island’s slow pace of life.

UK: “A 17th-century Jacobean manor turned 10-room boutique hotel” VOGUE Boys Hall is “the UK's cosiest new hotel for 2023” CONDE NAST TRAVELLER. Just a short train ride away from London, the hotel joins Kent’s “growing line-up of cool, food-focused” THE TIMES properties and is the perfect place for a weekend in the country. “The whole place has been designed around local Kentish food and wine” CONDE NAST TRAVELLER with a pub, lounge and restaurant showcasing seasonal local produce. The bedrooms “cross farmhouse style with a vintage-feel flair” VANITY FAIR thanks to antique beds bought on eBay and vintage accents sourced from nearby stores, and there are “grand plans for further expansion” COUNTRY LIFE with cabins and a garden room bar complete with a pizza oven in the pipeline.

Our favourite feature: The on-site pub that’s open to locals and guests alike.

INDONESIA: Opening on the “wild western edge” CONDE NAST TRAVELLER of “off-the-radar Sumba” VANITY FAIR Cap Karoso is a luxury new opening that will put the lesser-known Indonesian island on the map. The “47-room, 20-villa eco-conscious retreat” EVENING STANDARD sits on a “virginal lagoon” NEW YORK TIMES surrounded only by turquoise waters and traditional villages. The hotel is home to “a three-hectare organic farm, beach club, open-air cinema and yoga platform” EVENING STANDARD along with a thatched-roof spa and a guest chef restaurant where “open-kitchen fine dining meets a 30-foot communal table” NEW YORK TIMES.

Our favourite feature: The off-the-radar location on a virginal lagoon.

HAWAII: “A new tiki-cool hotel” NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Wayfinder Waikiki has just opened “off the beaten path of Honolulu’s Waikiki neighborhood” CONDE NAST TRAVELER. An eight-minute walk from the famous surf beach, it places guests “steps from all the bars, restaurants, and shopping that Waikiki has to offer” CONDE NAST TRAVELER and is a “romantic, chic, and inexpensive” GLAMOUR option that “delivers soul for a solid value” CONDE NAST TRAVELER - a rarity in such a tourism-dense destination. “Eclectic, tropical interiors” NEW YORK TIMES make for a cheery stay and guests can make use of “a tropical speakeasy, and a made-to-order poke restaurant” VOGUE.

Our favourite feature: Its authentic Hawaiian vibe.

SINGAPORE: The “trendy” THE TIMES Mondrian group opens its first property in Southeast Asia this March, making “Singapore the hotspot for a stopover this summer” THE TIMES. Acting as a “cultural magnet for creatives, foodies, and laptop-wielding freelancers” EVENING STANDARD the new opening brings together a “convivial restaurant and bar space” EVENING STANDARD, a “glam rooftop bar” TRAVELLER that takes inspiration from 1970s Hollywood and a jungle-themed bar accessed via a secret tunnel. From the rooms, guests can enjoy “punchy views over Chinatown shophouses and across the city’s dizzying skyline” THE TIMES.

Our favourite feature: The eclectic line-up of in-house bars and restaurants.

ISSUE #01 - 23 London’s most highly-anticipated new hotel finally opens at Battersea Power Station - “Europe’s most thrilling mall”  THE TIMES - and a new Dubai hotel “has already cemented itself as an iconic addition to the city’s dazzling skyline”  TRAVEL + LEISURE. Milan welcomes two new luxury properties, including “the city’s most prestigious and audacious new luxury stay”  CONDE NAST TRAVELLER, and Six Senses launches its “first ski-in, ski-out resort”  FINANCIAL TIMES in Switzerland.