New hotel news

Issue #03-23: 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™.

A “glorious new landmark and a grande dame in the making” The Times arrives in Sydney, the first hotel from “legendary shoemaker Christian Louboutin” Vogue puts a sleepy Portuguese hamlet on the map, and a “beloved architectural icon” Galerie reopens in Santa Monica. Plus, an “oceanfront sanctuary” CNN arrives on the island of Lombok and the first Andaz hotel in Thailand opens on a “coveted beach” Travel + Leisure.

PORTUGAL: The first hotel from the “legendary shoemaker Christian Louboutin” Vogue has just put Melides on the map. Located next to upmarket Comporta, the “sleepy hamlet seems almost frozen in time since the 19th century” Vogue but with its untouched landscape and the arrival of Vermelho Melides, it’s being billed as “Portugal’s next big beach town” Conde Nast Traveller. “Named for the word red in Portuguese, a nod to his signature scarlet soles” Architectural Digest the intimate 13-room property is “eclectic, extravagant, and curious” Conde Nast Traveller with rich interiors made up of a “fearless” Financial Times colour palette, hand-painted murals, custom-designed tiles and “extravagant fabrics” Financial Times. A small treatment spa cabin offers a menu of facials and massages and the on-site restaurant serves “tasty local cuisine” Conde Nast Traveller on “table ware that you’ll want to steal” Conde Nast Traveller. 

Our favourite features: The rich interiors and up-and-coming location. 

INDONESIA: With Bali getting busier year-on-year, “astute travelers are starting to head to Lombok” Architectural Digest, a lesser-known island that sits just to the east of its well-trodden sibling. And with the arrival of more travellers comes the opening of new hotels, one of which is “oceanfront sanctuary” CNN Innit Lombok. Sitting on “a 250-metre stretch of private beach” Tatler, the hotel “intrudes as little as possible on its natural habitat” Hotel Designs with a collection of “two-bedroom standalone villas inspired by traditional Lumbung-style houses” Architectural Digest that “embrace a spirit of outdoor living” SLEEPER. Highlights include “farm-to-table dining, some of the world's best surf and movies under the stars at the hotel's outdoor cinema” Tatler. 

Our favourite feature: The indoor-outdoor villas that encourage guests to turn their attention to the surroundings.

USA: When it first opened in 1933, The Georgian Hotel was “considered Southern California’s crown jewel” Vogue and the “beloved architectural icon” Galerie has remained a prominent feature of the Santa Monica coastline ever since. However, having changed hands several times, the building “had lost much of its original charm” Vogue and there wasn’t much reason to venture inside. Until now, that is. Following a “spellbinding makeover” Galerie the hotel has been “painstakingly restored to its Art Deco glory days” The Telegraph and will begin welcoming guests once again in early spring. The “characterful, charming hotel has the location and looks” The Telegraph as well as an “attractive restaurant” Vogue that boasts “effortless timelessness” The Telegraph. 

Our favourite feature: The timeless Art Deco aesthetic. 

AUSTRALIA: “Adding a fresh option to the Australian city’s booming hospitality scene” Wallpaper* Capella Sydney has just opened its doors. A “glorious new landmark and a grande dame in the making” The Times the hotel “takes over an entire city block in the city’s central business district” The Times and has “raised the bar for luxury accommodation in Sydney” Wallpaper*. Highlights include the “sprawling” Wallpaper* wellness space with its spoiling spa and guest-only indoor swimming pool - a “temple of immeasurable calm” The Times - and a food and drink programme from “local heroes” Conde Nast Traveller Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt, who have “birthed some of the city’s most innovative food and wine menus” Conde Nast Traveller. The hotel is also “packed with amazing art” The Times and “every space features standout pieces by Australian artists” Wallpaper*. 

Our favourite feature: The sprawling wellness centre that provides a lesson in calm. 

THAILAND: The first Andaz hotel in Thailand opened at the beginning of this year, bringing “swim-up rooms and gorgeous villas” Travel + Leisure to a “coveted beach” Travel + Leisure on the “quiet side of Pattaya” Time Out. The hotel has 204 rooms, suites, and Thai-style pavilions and some of the high-end suites come with outdoor decks, private pools, and their very own butlers. The Panpuri Spa “offers traditional Thai massages and treatments” Time Out and there are six dining outlets to choose from with everything from Thai to Italian and seafood to steak. 

Our favourite feature: The luxury suites with direct lagoon access.

Issue #02-23: 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.

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.

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