Whether it’s staying in a revamped palazzo, an outdoorsy retreat in Sri Lanka’s rolling tea country, or a lakeside getaway in Sweden, there are plenty of brand new hotel openings set to make your travels in 2025 even more interesting.
For a city break, bookmark Rome, where Orient Express – of luxe train journey fame – will launch its first hotel, as well as Vienna, where heavyweight hospitality hand Mandarin Oriental will arrive, and Taipei, for the elegant Capella Taipei.
Much-loved city hotel reimaginings include the former, storied InterContinental Prague – which will reopen looking better than ever as Fairmont Golden Prague – and the glitzy and just-refurbished classic Big Apple hotel, The Waldorf Astoria New York.
Ramping up rural allure are a property from Uga Escapes on a tea estate in Sri Lanka’s Hattan, and an appealing country club with rooms just outside Gothenburg. Rosewood Hotels will spotlight Okinawa’s natural beauty, opening its first Japanese property on Miyako-Jima island, while One & Only’s American debut will be a seriously stylish mountain wilderness retreat in Montana.
Other highlights include a sustainable hotel in Crete with a treads-lightly-on-the-land approach, and Aman Hotels’ ultra-luxe first Mexican hotel opening.
Read more: The best Greek island hotels
Uga Halloowella, Hatton, Sri Lanka
Opening spring 2025
After a place to stay with the perfect cuppa? Uga Escapes has just the thing, opening a property on a 250-acre hilltop tea estate in Hattan, smack bang in the middle of Sri Lanka’s tea trails region. A four-hour drive from Colombo, the boutique hotel will have six suites inside a bungalow dating from the colonial era, which has been restored by acclaimed architect Channa Daswatte. Surrounded by verdant tea-covered slopes with views out to the Castlereagh Reservoir, bedrooms with large living rooms and fireplaces will feature four-poster beds with whimsical frills, richly patterned carpets, chandeliers and claw-footed bathtubs. Not to be missed will be a highlands produce-focused restaurant menu (hello, stellar hoppers), as well as guided hiking adventures on the Pekoe Trail, cooking classes and reservoir kayaking sessions.
From £875 all-inclusive; ugaescapes.com
Read more: Is there such thing as an affordable safari?
Orient Express La Minerva, Rome
Opening spring 2025
Synonymous with exquisite, luxury train experiences, Orient Express will add another string to its bow, with the launch of its inaugural hotel, Orient Express La Minerva. With a brilliant location on Rome’s Piazza della Minerva, moments from the Pantheon, the property will see Palazzo Fonseca – a 17th-century former aristocratic home and pit stop for artists along the original Grand Tour – transformed into a 93-room hotel. A meticulous renovation by architect and interior designer Hugo Toro will see bedrooms evoking Italian art-de-vivre, incorporating bedside tables inspired by Orient Express travel trunks and locally crafted glass lanterns. All-day dining restaurant La Minerva Bar will be overseen by a statue of the goddess Minerva, sculpted by Rinaldo Rinaldi, a disciple of Canova. Plus, there will be a rooftop bar and restaurant Voliera for Mediterranean food and a Roman bath-inspired spa.
From £830 B&B; laminerva.orient-express.com
Read more: This is the Rome neighbourhood where the locals come to eat
Hjortviken Country Club, Hindås, Sweden
Opening spring 2025
Ringed by lush forests and lakes, Hindås – a short drive from Gothenburg’s city centre – is about to pep up with the arrival of hip, 150-room lakeside resort Hjortviken Country Club. The latest opening from Ess Group – known for the likes of Gothenburg’s boutique Hotel Pigalle – will sit inside a functionalist Swedish building with interiors channelling low-key Stateside glamour; think dried floral ceiling installations and Art Deco curves. All about encouraging guests to get offline and outside, bedrooms, decorated in nature-inspired shades, will swap TVs for top-notch speaker systems. A 1,750m pool club with indoor and outdoor pools, will be a major draw, as will nightclub, Hot Spot, inspired by 1980s New York, and two restaurants, Swedish brasserie the Club Room and Spanish joint Bay Bay. As for the locale, it’s ripe for adventure year-round, be that cross-country skiing in winter or lake watersports on Lake Västra Nedsjön come summer. A gym, padel, boule and croquet courts, and a kids’ playground will add family-friendly appeal.
Room rates TBC; hjortviken.se
Read more: The ultimate city guide to Malmö, Sweden’s trendy coastal hub
Capella, Taipei
Opening spring 2025
Hot on the heels of Capella Bangkok topping the World’s 50 Best Hotels list in 2024, Capella Hotel Group will open in Taipei’s Songshan district, not far from Xingtian Temple. Offering tranquil respite from the city thrum, the 86-room property, designed by André Fu Studio, will have the feel of a soulful private mansion, informed by Fu’s personal reflections on flaneuring around Taipei, and the poetry of the property’s tree-lined Dunhua North Road site. Four restaurants will include Grill for farm-to-table French fare, a patisserie for artisan bread and top-notch coffee, and a three-storey bar combining a Japanese vinyl bar, Taiwanese mixology spot, and lounge with rare single malts and champagnes. There will also be a wellness offering, and living room where tapped-in concierges Capella Culturists can arrange explorations to, for example, discover the ancient tea culture at a farm in Dadaocheng. There will also be a wellness floor and outdoor pool.
Room rates TBC; capellahotels.com
Fairmont Golden, Prague
Opening spring 2025
Set to cause a stir in Prague after a four-year-long, multi-million-pound reimagining of the former, famed InterContinental Prague, is the opening of Fairmont Golden Prague. Inside a concrete and glass brutalist building – originally designed by Karel Filsak, now restored by architect Marek Tichý – in the Old Town, Czech heritage will loom large in the property’s art and design details. Expect thistle-like chandeliers by René Roubíček, metal lighting by Hugo Demartini, wooden columns by sculptor Miloslav Hejný, and ceiling carvings by Čestmír Kafka. The property will build on its heritage of collaborating with the creative industries, partnering with the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, through regular movie screenings, and a bar – Coocoo’s Nest – which pays homage to the Czech-American film director of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Miloš Forman, who the square in front of the hotel is named after. As well as 320 rooms, there will be six restaurants, including Czech eatery Zlata Praha, and a Fairmont Spa that’s home to central Prague’s only outdoor pool.
From £415 room-only; goldenpraguehotel.com
Read more: A perfect European city Christmas market break with a hidden spa twist
Waldorf Astoria, New York
Opening spring 2025
New York never disappoints, and this year grande dame hotel, the 375-room Waldorf Astoria New York will re-open after a top-to-toe renovation. The society hotspot in Midtown Manhattan will deliver the familiar – its lobby housing the famed Waldorf Astoria clock and a grand ballroom – as well as the fresh, such as elegant interiors by Pierre-Yves Rochon, bedrooms (most over 52sqm, large by Manhattan standards) with Art Deco accents, and a two-storey American brasserie Lex Yard, with a columned dining space designed by AvroKO and menu by Chef Michael Anthony. Further magnetism will come in the shape of a substantial spa and a new-look Peacock Alley restaurant. Also set to open in spring in NYC’s Chelsea neighbourhood is the 120-room Faena New York; expect all-out bold decor, High Line views and a Tierra Santa Healing House spa.
From £1,200 room-only; waldorfastorianewyork.com
Read more: Best hotels in New York City
MACAM Hotel, Lisbon
Opening spring 2025
Offering the best of both for art-loving Lisbon visitors comes a contemporary museum-meets-five-star hotel sandwiched between the Alcântara and Belém neighbourhoods on the banks of the River Tagus. The 18th-century Palácio Condes da Ribeira Grande, restored by studio MetroUrbe, will comprise the Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins – a 2,000sq m of exhibition space showcasing the personal art collection of entrepreneur Armando Martins – and the five-star MACAM Hotel. Sixty-four natural-toned, minimalist bedrooms will be spread across the heritage palace building and a modern wing. Over 600 artworks by the likes of Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliasson and Julião Sarmento will be on permanent museum display and scattered through hotel spaces. A restaurant by Tiago Valente will focus on Portuguese flavours of the land and sea, made with organic ingredients – some from MACAM’s own veggie garden – and there will be a cafe, library and arts auditorium in a desacralised 18th-century chapel.
From £330 room-only or B&B; macam.pt
Read more: How to spend a day in Principe Real, Lisbon’s coolest district
Rosewood Miyakojima, Okinawa, Japan
Opening spring 2025
Rather than opening in Tokyo or Kyoto, Rosewood Hotels has opted for the lesser-known, tropical island Miyako-jima in Okinawa for its Japanese debut. Amongst sugarcane fields in the island’s north, the Studio Piet Boon-designed property will have 55 pool villas with stunning views out to pristine turquoise waters. Architecture, built in Ryukyu limestone will be underpinned by the Japanese spirit of wabi-sabi. Four restaurants and bars will include CHOMA for refined, seasonal fare, and NAGI for Italian dining. Other draws include a beachside infinity pool, Rosewood Explorer’s Club for kids, and an Asaya spa. Nearby attractions include the 7km-long Yonaha Maehama beach (regularly named as one of Japan’s finest) and teeming coral reefs ripe for snorkelling.
From £920 B&B; rosewoodhotels.com
Read more: Why you should experience Tokyo by bike
One&Only Moonlight Basin, Montana
Opening summer 2025
One&Only will make its USA debut in 2025, with Kerzner International treading into alpine territory for the first time. One&Only Moonlight Basin, a luxe resort in Big Sky, Montana, will serve up spectacular mountain views and off-piste glamour. The resort, designed by Olson Kundig, will blend sensitively into the rugged, wild landscape, with 73 rooms, 19 villas, a ski lodge, and spa. All about experiencing the great outdoors, during summer activities will include horse riding, hiking, fly fishing, golfing and mountain biking, while in winter there are 5,800 acres of world-class ski and snowboarding terrain to traverse and snow-tipped evergreen forests where elk roam to explore. Other highlights? Forest-to-plate dining and a secret whiskey shack in the woodlands.
Room rates TBC; oneandonlyresorts.com
Read more: The best US National Parks to visit
Gorilla Forest Lodge, An A&K Sanctuary, Uganda
Opening summer 2025
Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is home to half of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. Come summer, the most stylish place to base oneself for gorilla-spotting adventures will be the former Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, currently undergoing a transformation ahead of a relaunch as Gorilla Forest Lodge, An A&K Sanctuary. Ten suites inspired by the forested landscape will feature earthy tones and organic textures, freestanding bathtubs and rainforest decks where mountain oriole calls fill the air. Textured, clay-look plaster walls and woven banana leaf ceilings will be seen throughout the property’s lounge, dining area and spa, and – designed to sit lightly on the land – there will be on-site rainwater collection and composting systems. A&K’s guides, who’ve been tackling the high-altitude terrain here for decades, have unrivalled experience when it comes to gorilla trekking, and stays at the camp will help fund a range of philanthropic projects.
From £470pp full-board, based on two sharing; abercrombiekent.com
Read more: The jewellery brand using female-led businesses to tackle extreme poverty in Uganda
The Duchess, Thirassia, Greece
Opening summer 2025
Tranquil Cycladic island Thirassia, just 9sq km and a 10-minute boat journey from Santorini’s Oia offers the same whitewashed and cobalt blue architecture, volcanic landscapes and Aegean Sea scenery, minus the crowds. The latest opening in the Aria Hotels portfolio, joining the likes of La Divina in Athens, is The Duchess, an 11-suite boutique hotel in Thirassia’s Manolos village. Open-plan bedrooms with panoramic caldera views will riff on Cycladic design, with earthy tones, blonde ash wood furniture and handwoven textiles. At the restaurant, dishes such as Aegean Fisherman’s Orzo, kritharaki pasta in a saffron-sea herb broth, and fava with caramelized onions will be served. As well as an infinity pool with sundeck, the spa will offer treatments such as an exfoliating olive oil and sea salt body scrub. Days can be spent hiking the scenic Thirassia Caldera trail, relaxing at Agia Irini’s thermal hot springs or kicking back on Korfos Beach.
From £200 B&B; ariahotels.gr
Read more: Best hotels in Mykonos: Where to stay for beach views and private pools
Tella Therra, Chania, Crete
Opening summer 2025
Tella Thera, a 20-suite boutique hotel rooted in sustainability, is set to open on a hilltop in Crete’s Kissamos (an hour from Chania airport). It’s the brainchild of husband and wife team Loukas Tourkomanis and Chevon Low, who have backgrounds at Airbnb and a forest protection NGO. An attractive amphitheatre-style layout will maximise land and use local sandstone and wood used for the build. Rooms will have a ‘stacked’ formation whereby each rooftop doubles up as the private garden of the suite above, with two hundred olive trees from the original plot replanted to create rooftop gardens, which also help manage stormwater runoff and provide wildlife habitats. Spoiling touches in serene cream-toned rooms will include hewn tree trunk tables, and king-size beds with eco-friendly COCO-MAT mattresses and organic cotton sheets. A farm-to-table restaurant with a zero-waste kitchen will be helmed by Mauric McGeehan, aka the No Waste Chef. Expect whole-produce dining (carrot peelings used in homemade breads, parmesan rind chips) and Aegean Sea views. For nearby exploration, you’ll find Balos Lagoon and scores of archaeological sites.
From £220 B&B; tellathera.com
Read more: The best Greek island hotels for sea views and romantic retreats
Romègas Hotel, Valletta
Opening summer 2025
The independent hotel scene in Maltese capital Valletta, known for its beautiful Baroque architecture, is on the up and next to arrive is Romègas, a 500-year-old palazzo transformed into a 23-room boutique hotel. With heritage elements including original stone walls and facade restored by EM Architects and a team of experts, interiors will be overseen by fifth-generation design studio Camilleri Paris Mode. Tasteful bedrooms and suites will have palladiana terrazzo flooring and marble-clad bathrooms, some with original Maltese balconies. Communal areas will feature commissioned pieces by celebrated and emerging local artists – think ceramics by Nico Conti and prints by Austin Camilleri – plus there will be a rooftop pool and restaurant by Marvin Gauci.
From £320 B&B; romegashotel.com
Read more: The best things to do in Valletta, Malta
Mandarin Oriental, Vienna
Opening summer 2025
Sitting within the Ringstrasse, a short walk from St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the Imperial Palace, the century-old, Alfred Keller-designed Art Nouveau courthouse will be transformed into the 151-room Mandarin Oriental, Vienna this summer. Interiors will pay tribute to the Viennese Modernist era, pairing original details with a homely, ambience, and bedrooms decorated in warm shades. It will have a swish spa, swimming pool and fitness centre, as well as a coffee lounge, bar, and casual and fine dining restaurants set under a pretty glass dome.
From approx £490 room-only; mandarinoriental.com
Château de la Commaraine, Pommard, France
Opening autumn 2025
Wine aficionados assemble; the team behind the Royal Champagne Hotel and Spa will launch a sister property just outside Burgundy’s wine capital Beaune in Pommard. The 12th-century chateau, ringed by Premier Cru vineyards, is being transformed into a 37-room boutique bolthole where bedrooms decorated in light woods and pops of gold, pink and sky blue will retain original, exposed white Burgundy stone walls. Best of all? A four-bedroom villa will have its own tasting room. The hotel’s nine-acre estate will also be home to two restaurants, overseen by Christophie Raoux, a bar inside a 14th-century tower, spa, an 18m outdoor pool and modern cuverie (winery). As well as on-site tastings and vineyard tours, cellar tastings at nearby wineries and hot air balloon rides above the vines can be arranged.
From £660 B&B; chateaulacommaraine.com
Read more: The ultimate France travel guide
Shakti Prana, Kumaon, Indian Himalayas
Opening winter 2025
Those saddened by the closure of much-loved Shakti 360 Leti last year will be pleased to know that Shakti Himalaya, known for its sophisticated walking journeys through the Indian Himalayas, will open a new remote retreat towards the end of the year. Offering another stop on the brand’s Kumaon walking circuit (a series of soulfully refurbished village homes) is brand new lodge, Shakti Prana, meaning ‘breath’ in Sanskrit. A labour of love sitting high in Ramini village, seven remote cabins built in local stone – slabs carried by mule trains 2,700ft up a steep goat path – with flickering open fires and powerful mountain views will encourage guests to tune in to the culture and landscapes of Uttarakhand. Walks passing snow-capped peaks and meadows, yoga and meditation sessions, fireside chatter and stargazing will be fuelled by Parsi apricot chicken, samosas, and Kumaoni lamb curry. Given its remote location, to reach Shakti Prana, guests will be able to join five-night village walks trips, with time at both Shakti Panchachuli and Shakti Prana.
Five-night experiences, with three nights at Shakti Prana and two at Shakti Panchachuli from £4,785pp based on two sharing; shaktihimalaya.com
Amanvari, Baja Peninsula, Mexico
Opening winter 2025
Taking its discreet and serene brand of luxury to Mexico for the first time, Aman Hotels will open Amanvari on the site of a former hacienda between the Sierra de la Laguna mountain range and the ocean on the East Cape of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. At the far corner of the wider Costas Palmas private beachfront development, Amanvari, designed by architects Heah & Co. will place the dramatic desert landscape centre stage with twenty bi-level pavilions with floor-to-ceiling windows, terraces and wraparound sundecks (plus some with cantilevered pools). As well as three restaurants, a library, lounge, 30m infinity pool and Aman spa, there will be golden beaches, winding desert roads and mountain trails on the doorstep.
Rates from £tbc; aman.com
Read more: Why Mexico is an ideal choice for LGBT+ honeymoons
The best of the rest
Aman Nai Lert, Bangkok
Other properties making waves include Aman Nai Lert in Bangkok, set to open in Nai Lert Park’s tropical gardens in spring, with 52 suites and a teppanyaki and jazz bar.
aman.com
Mama Shelter, Singapore
Fun and funky Mama Shelter will open their first Asian outpost in Singapore’s Killiney Road in spring, with a restaurant, 100 rooms and rooftop pool.
mamashelter.com
EDITION, Lake Como
The Lake Como EDITION is slated for a springtime opening, set on the western shore of the famed Italian lake, with 145 rooms and a unique floating pool.
editionhotels.com
1Hotel, Copenhagen
Making summertime in sustainably-minded Copenhagen even more appealing, 1Hotel Copenhagen will bring its eco-friendly ethos to the city this summer, with 282 energy-efficient bedrooms, a restaurant helmed by a chef with previous Green Michelin Star form, and a Bamford spa.
1hotels.com/copenhagen
Hotel Rio Guayas, Ecuador
Art Hotels Ecuador will open Hotel Rio Guayas, a new boutique property in the Las Peñas neighbourhood in gateway-to-the-Galapagos-Islands, Guayaquil this spring. Expect rooms rich in local craftsmanship, next-level Ecuadorian coffee and chocolate-tasting, as well as a spa and pool.
hotelrioguayas.com
Nihi Rote, West Timor
Last but certainly not least, the founders of Indonesia’s, wild-at-heart luxury favourite Nihi Sumba will launch Nihi Rote on West Timor’s remote Rote Island (a two-hour flight from Bali) at the end of 2025. A decade in the making, it’ll be special; expect a spectacular beachfront location, just 22 thatched pool villas, and world-class surfing.
nihi.com
Read more: Inside the real White Lotus hotel and what its guests really get up to
