THE Hot List

The world’s best new hotels, and 15 reasons they’ll make you want to pack your bags now. THE 2015 Hot List The world’s best new hotels, and 15 reasons they’ll make you want to pack your bags now.

What makes a new hotel today graduate from an of-the-moment scene to an enduring icon that defines a city? “It’s not just about design—people often mistake the way a place looks for the way a place feels,” explains André Balazs, who first made our annual Hot List in 1999 for The Mercer. “I live at the Chiltern Firehouse—I’ve slept in every room. I have to because if I don’t, I can’t tell whether even the littlest details—like the brightness of a reading light— are right.” What we’ve learned from the best hoteliers is that focusing this intensely on the smallest things isn’t as obsessive as it sounds: As travelers become more sophisticated, luxury must become more intuitive. Offering butler service because that’s what’s expected of a five- star hotel ultimately reads as soulless (unless, that is, it’s absolutely seamless and unintrusive) and is in some ways less impressive than the quiet replenishment of the right brand of toothpaste by invisible hands. This year, after poring over the intel of our staff and contributors—who vetted more than a hundred recently opened hotels and resorts, from West Africa to Miami— we found that what stands out are the properties which combine old-school extravagance and service with just the right measure of modernity. You might even think of them as the new cultural touchstones. The 60 hotels that follow and the details that make them special—we’ve given you 15 as a jumping-off point—are a reason unto themselves to board a plane right now.

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CON D É N A S T T R AV E L E R 2 HOT LIST 2015

21 Broad, Nantucket Alila Jabal Akhdar, Alma Histórica Aman Tokyo Aro H¯a Wellness Resort, Edson Hill, Vermont El Blok, Vieques, Fontevraud L’Hôtel, Four Seasons Hotel Four Seasons Resort Maalifushi by Como, Malliouhana, Mandarin Oriental, Mandarin Oriental, The Miami Beach Portrait Firenze Raffles Istanbul Ritz-Carlton, Rosewood Beijing The Rose Hotel, A restored 27-room Nizwa, Oman Boutique Hotel, Aman’s first urban New Zealand With its fireplaces and Puerto Rico Loire Valley The Westcliff, Orlando at Walt Disney Maldives An Auberge Bodrum, Turkey Taipei Edition On the banks of the The 185-room Rancho Mirage The first Rosewood hotel Venice Beach Victorian mansion At this remote 78-room Montevideo, Uruguay property is an Overlooking Lake contemporary art Brutalist architecture In a meticulous renova- Johannesburg World Resort On remote Thaa Atoll, Resort, Anguilla Most of the 109 A new standard was set Mid-Beach is heating Arno, with views of the hotel is unabashedly Spare in design but in China soars high This casual 14-room in the center of town resort 90 miles southwest A much-needed addition intimate, modernist Wakatipu, on the South collection, this 24-room is set against a tropical tion, a famous Set on a gorgeous Disney-goers finally this isolated, minimalist This classic rooms face the sea, in Taipei’s hotel scene up, due in large part to Ponte Vecchio, the swank, befitting its decadent in service, this above Beijing, with 283 California dream, a block with a cheery aqua of Muscat, guests spend to the city, the 15-room 84-room aerie Island, this intimate manor house on 38 backdrop at this twelfth-century French hillside, this 117-room have a truly stylish 65-room getaway 44-room Caribbean which is impossible when this 303-room this 294-room Ian latest property from the location in Zorlu Center, 244-room hotel in the rooms, six restaurants from the boardwalk, and yellow palette and their days hiking through 1920s town house is in floating 38 floors 20-room lodge is all acres (ten minutes from 22-room hotel, where abbey has been con- luxury mainstay just option, thanks to this hovers above coral charmer overlooking to miss thanks property opened; Schrager project with a Ferragamo hotel group an upscale shopping California desert has fire and bars, a world-class is a much-needed option mod furnishings, ancient villages blissfully the center of one of above the city. On a about yoga, meditation, Stowe Mountain) feels carved louvers verted into a 54-room had a top-to-bottom 443-room resort. Kids gardens and schools of postcard-perfect to massive walls of afternoon tea in the bowling alley and an ice combines an unbeatable and cultural complex pits, three pools, and spa, and an executive for an area of Los it’s made for weekend absent of any sign of South America’s most clear day, you can and health food that like staying at a transform the bright sun property with sleek— overhaul—time and love the waterslides dolphins and sea Meads Bay has taken windows; suites have Jade Lounge is a must rink, making it an all-in- location with 36 chic, that’s a reflection of astonishing views of the lounge that feels like a Angeles that was starved visitors. modern life. underrated capitals. even see Mount Fuji. doesn’t taste like it. (wealthy) friend’s estate. into artistic shadows. yet soothing—interiors. money well spent. and lazy river. turtles. on a new life. private infinity pools. for locals and guests. one playground. pared-down rooms. booming modern Turkey. Coachella Valley. private club. for good hotels. . MIDDLE ROW: PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATTHIEU SALVAING; MATTHIEU BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: MIDDLE .

21broadhotel.com; alilahotels.com; from almahistorica.com; amanresorts.com; from aro-ha.com; from $3,300 edsonhillmanor.com; elblok.com; from fontevraud.fr; from fourseasons.com; fourseasons.com; ¯ comohotels.com; from aubergeresorts.com; mandarinoriental.com; mandarinoriental.com; editionhotels.com; lungarnocollection.com; raffles.com; from ritzcarlton.com; from rosewoodhotels.com; therosehotelvenice.com; A from $159. ● $500. ● from $185. ● $618. ● for four nights. ● from $300. ● $240. ● $195. ● from $350. ● from $449. ● $750. ● from $525. ● from $260. ● from $523. ● from $429. ● from $530. ● $370. ● $279. ● from $287. ● from $175. ● ARO H ARO

Bahia Vik José The Beaumont, London Belle Mont Farm on The Brando, French Cape Weligama, Ham Yard Hotel, Hoanib Skeleton Coast Hôtel Plaza Hotel Sahrai, Fez, Hotel SP34, Mondrian London at Mont Rochelle Hotel & The Norman Tel-Aviv One&Only Hayman Palazzo Parigi, Milan Riad Mena & Beyond, The Sanchaya, Bintan The Singular Santiago Soho House Chicago Suján Rajmahal Ignacio, Uruguay This 73-room Deco- Kittitian Hill, St. Kitts Polynesia Sri Lanka London Camp, Namibia Athénée, Paris Morocco Copenhagen Sea Containers Vineyard, South Africa The 50 individually Island, Australia Steps from the best Marrakech Island, Indonesia Lastarria Hotel The second-largest Soho Palace, Jaipur, India A ten-suite main inspired renovation of a Eighty-four guest On Marlon Brando’s pri This collection of 40 Firmdale Hotels’ latest This African game The signature red The city’s most The 118 rooms at this This 359-room hotel on The latest addition designed rooms An old-school 1950s- shopping in Milan is Think of it as Marrakech Colonial design, first-rate This 62-room Chilean House debuts in the city’s A former royal house and 11 art-filled 1926 Mayfair building is houses—each with a vate atoll, Tetiaroa—30 colonial-style houses on venture occupies an changer is a state-of- awnings are still there, impressive boutique Latin District hotel the Thames has all the to Richard Branson’s at this boutique hotel era resort in the designer Pierre-Yves mod in the heart of the Euro-Asian cuisine, 19 retreat in Lastarria, a hip West Loop, in a 1907 guesthouse, the bungalows sprawl across the brainchild of two wraparound veranda— miles off Tahiti—it has 35 the Indian Ocean, entire city block, with the-art camp with but almost everything hotel has 50 rooms, are like an adult’s idea hallmarks of its hotel collection is a in two historic town Whitsunday Islands, Rochon’s seductive new medina: Each of the villas and nine suites, and lively neighborhood with warehouse that’s been 30-room property the dunes of Uruguay’s veteran restaurateurs, are spread across a 400- thatched-roof villas with surrounded by tropical 91 airy, colorful rooms, eight tented bedrooms else at this 208-room two pools, and a of a cool dorm: snug American counterparts renovated grand estate houses with a fragrant off the Great Barrier hotel, with 98 guest six rooms is decorated a long stretch of powdery some of Santiago’s best converted into a hotel has been transformed José Ignacio coastline, and its Colony Grill acre organic farm that private plunge pools that gardens, has an a courtyard restaurant, and private plane classic was sumptuously knockout Givenchy but cheerful, with (buzz, high design) house with 22 rooms citrus garden between Reef, gets a glam rooms that are at once in an unexpected but sand have put luxury nightlife and restaurants, with 40 guest rooms, a into an eclectic 12 miles northeast serves one of the city’s grows a cornucopia of alone are worth the flight. on-site dive center for and a subterranean access to Skeleton updated in a $268 spa—the first modern fixtures and along with British flair on a 100-acre vineyard them are like no others makeover with 160 opulent and utterly harmonious blend of East within a 45-minute ferry has its own hopping Cowshed Spa . . . and a playground for color- of Punta del Este. best English breakfasts. fruits and vegetables. underwater adventures. bar and bowling alley. Coast National Park. million renovation. in North Africa. furnishings. (color and whimsy). in Franschhoek. in the city. rooms and villas. comfortable. and West. ride of Singapore. rooftop bar and lounge. vintage-y boxing ring. loving design buffs. thebrando.com; bahiavik.com; from thebeaumont.com; bellemontfarm.com; from $2,550 for three capeweligama.com; firmdalehotels.com; wilderness-safaris.com; dorchestercollection hotelsahrai.com; from brochner-hotels.dk; morganshotelgroup montrochelle.co.za; thenorman.com; oneandonlyresorts.com; palazzoparigi.com; from riadmenaandbeyond thesanchaya.com; thesingular.com; from sohohousechicago.com; sujanluxury.com; $800. ● from $600. ● from $1,700. ● nights. ● from $815. ● from $555. ● from $900. ● .com; from $840. ● $170. ● from $310. ● .com; from $330. ● from $240. ● from $435. ● from $615. ● $680. ● .com; from $235. ● from $620. ● $290. ● from $280. ● from $558. ●

Casa de Uco Vineyards Casas del XVI, Santo Chiltern Firehouse, The Dean Hotel, Dublin Delano Las Vegas Iconic Santorini, ITC Grand Bharat, La Grande Maison, La Réserve, Paris The Ludlow, New York Park Hyatt New York Park Hyatt Vienna The Peninsula Paris The Pig on the Beach, Pikaia Lodge, Tribal Hotel, Granada, Urso Hotel & Spa, Viña Vik, Chile Waldorf Astoria Watch Hill Inn, & Wine Resort, Domingo, Dominican London If you want to be in the At the southernmost Greece Gurgaon, India Bordeaux Built in 1854 and just Tucked into a lively Midtown gets a serious The 143 rooms at Hyatt’s After a six-year, $580 Dorset, England Galápagos Islands Nicaragua Madrid High design and high- Amsterdam Rhode Island Mendoza, Argentina Republic This quirky conversion of middle of the nightlife tip of the Strip, This whitewashed Right in the Golden Joël Robuchon’s a block from the Lower East Side block, dose of flash with first property in Austria million renovation, a A rustic-chic boutique The first true luxury All seven rooms at this With its neoclassical profile contemporary art Six grand town houses This 19-suite inn on Little The 16-room minimalist Sixteenth-century houses an 1889 building—one district, you can’t do this shimmering 22-room retreat Triangle, with easy restaurant is the Champs-Élysées, this the 184-room brick the opening of this (a stately former bank storied Belle Époque retreat on Dorset’s ecolodge in the Galápa property—arguably the facade, delicate floral mix in the 22 suites were combined Narragansett Bay feels resort was designed to have been transformed of the first fire stations in better than this 52-room 43-story tower with is set in a small village access to Agra and standout at this six- elegant mansion high-rise puts a new super-sleek 210-room headquarters) are some building has been dramatic World gos, this 14-room best boutique hotel in wallpaper, and spa, this here—all the more to create 93 stylish more like a beach house blend into the sweeping into this intimate seven- London—into a 26-room modernist hotbed. When 1,117 suites is a high above the Jaipur, the resort has room hotel in France’s turned 40-room bijou twist on downtown hotel in one of the of the largest in Vienna, transformed into Paris’s Heritage coast, it has pioneer has every the country—have 78-room hotel adds a impressive for their rooms on the (with full kitchens and landscape—a 790-acre room hotel that feels hotel and restaurant you’ve settled in, head more subdued version Aegean. Its infinity 100 rooms and four celebrated Bordeaux hotel has been restored industrial cool with city’s most anticipated and the hotel is just a most talked about hot a standout locavore creature comfort amid a private terraces and a gracious note to a quiet setting, overlooking prestigious Herengracht, laundry facilities), vineyard backed by like the second home of is where the beautiful to the Rooftop Bar for of the typical Vegas pool, carved into monumental villas— wine region. to its Belle Époque lofty city views and (and expensive) new five-minute walk from spot, with 200 rooms restaurant and 23 cozy wildlife-rich landscape. quirky, colorful mix of side street near the 11,000 acres of vineyards a 15-minute walk making it ideal for family the snowcapped Andes. your dreams. people hang. the best views in Dublin. experience. the hillside, is epic. all fit for a maharaja. splendor. soaking tubs. skyscrapers. St. Stephen’s Cathedral. and a sublime spa. guest rooms. fabrics and artwork. trendy Chueca district. in the Millahue Valley. from Museumplein. vacations. lagrandemaison pikaialodgegalapagos casadeuco.com; casasdelxvi.com; from chilternfirehouse.com; deanhoteldublin.ie; delanolasvegas.com; iconicsantorini.com; itchotels.in; from -bordeaux.com; from lareserve-paris.com; ludlowhotel.com; park.hyatt.com; park.hyatt.com; from peninsula.com; from thepighotel.com; from .com; from $7,560 for tribal-hotel.com; from hotelurso.com; from vinavik.com; from thegoodland.com; watchhillinn.com; from RIGHT, TOP ROW: PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY COMO; COURTESY MALLIOUHANA; GEORGE APOSTOLIDIS/COURTESY MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL GROUP; KATHY YL CHAN; COURTESY MIAMI BEACH EDITION. MIDDLE ROW: COURTESY MONDRIAN; COURTESY ROW: MIDDLE EDITION. BEACH MIAMI COURTESY CHAN; YL KATHY GROUP; HOTEL ORIENTAL MANDARIN APOSTOLIDIS/COURTESY GEORGE MALLIOUHANA; COURTESY COMO; COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: TOP RIGHT, LODGE. PIKAIA COURTESY BEACH; THE ON PIG THE COURTESY PENINSULA; THE COURTESY (2); HYATT PARK COURTESY ROW: BOTTOM PARIGI. PALAZZO COURTESY SHOLLENBARGER; MARIA NORMAN; THE BEYOND; COURTESY & MENA ROCHELLE; RIAD MONT COURTESY POWERS/COURTESY RICHARD BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: MIDDLE HOTEL. ROSE COURTESY ROSEWOOD; COURTESY RITZ-CARLTON; COURTESY RAFFLES; COURTESY PORTRAIT FIRENZE; COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: TOP RIGHT, INN FAR HILL WATCH COURTESY ALAN JENSEN; VIK; VINA COURTESY URSO; COURTESY CAPMEIL; JULIEN ROW: BOTTOM YANAGIHARA. HANYA HOUSE; SOHO COURTESY SINGULAR SANTIAGO; COURTESY SANCHAYA; THE COURTESY from $400. ● $340. ● from $730. ● from $130. ● from $200. ● from $685. ● $305. ● $420. ● from $840. ● from $225. ● STARICK/COURTESY SHANTANU AMAN; COURTESY HISTÓRICA; ALMA COURTESY AKHDAR; JABAL ALILA COURTESY BROAD; 21 COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: TOP LEFT, FAR BALAGTAS. MARA MCDONNELL; IMEN SINDEN; PHILIP XVI; DEL CASAS COURTESY RIDAO; LUIS BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: BOTTOM CHÂTEAUX. WELIGAMA/RELAIS& COURTESY FRANKENBERG; ROBERTO GAO; ALICE SAFARIS; WILDERNESS BEAUMONT; COURTESY THE COURTESY FIRMDALE; BROWN/COURTESY SIMON BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: MIDDLE (2). SEASONS FOUR COURTESY L’HÔTEL; FONTEVRAUD COURTESY BLOK; EL COURTESY KERR; MILLIE BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: TOP LEFT, LUDLOW THE COURTESY LA RESERVE; COURTESY LA GRANDE MAISON; COURTESY HOTEL; ITC COURTESY SANTORINI; ICONIC COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: BOTTOM SP34. HOTEL COURTESY SAHRAI; HOTEL COURTESY MAMANNA; LEONOR from $795. ● $425. ● $840. ● $570. ● three nights. ● $125. ● $210. ● $1,200. ● from $525. ● $555. ●

3 CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R For a complete list of properties by category, visit cntraveler.com/hotlist. HOT LIST 2015 HOT LIST 2015

For a complete list of properties by category, visit cntraveler.com/hotlist. 4 CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R For a complete list of properties by category, visit cntraveler.com/hotlist. HOT LIST 2015 HOT LIST 2015

Casa de Uco Vineyards Casas del XVI, Santo Chiltern Firehouse, The Dean Hotel, Dublin Delano Las Vegas Iconic Santorini, ITC Grand Bharat, La Grande Maison, La Réserve, Paris The Ludlow, New York Park Hyatt New York Park Hyatt Vienna The Peninsula Paris The Pig on the Beach, Pikaia Lodge, Tribal Hotel, Granada, Urso Hotel & Spa, Viña Vik, Chile Waldorf Astoria Watch Hill Inn, & Wine Resort, Domingo, Dominican London If you want to be in the At the southernmost Greece Gurgaon, India Bordeaux Built in 1854 and just Tucked into a lively Midtown gets a serious The 143 rooms at Hyatt’s After a six-year, $580 Dorset, England Galápagos Islands Nicaragua Madrid High design and high- Amsterdam Rhode Island Mendoza, Argentina Republic This quirky conversion of middle of the nightlife tip of the Strip, This whitewashed Right in the Golden Joël Robuchon’s a block from the Lower East Side block, dose of flash with first property in Austria million renovation, a A rustic-chic boutique The first true luxury All seven rooms at this With its neoclassical profile contemporary art Six grand town houses This 19-suite inn on Little The 16-room minimalist Sixteenth-century houses an 1889 building—one district, you can’t do this shimmering 22-room retreat Triangle, with easy restaurant is the Champs-Élysées, this the 184-room brick the opening of this (a stately former bank storied Belle Époque retreat on Dorset’s ecolodge in the Galápa property—arguably the facade, delicate floral mix in the 22 suites were combined Narragansett Bay feels resort was designed to have been transformed of the first fire stations in better than this 52-room 43-story tower with is set in a small village access to Agra and standout at this six- elegant mansion high-rise puts a new super-sleek 210-room headquarters) are some building has been dramatic World gos, this 14-room best boutique hotel in wallpaper, and spa, this here—all the more to create 93 stylish more like a beach house blend into the sweeping into this intimate seven- London—into a 26-room modernist hotbed. When 1,117 suites is a high above the Jaipur, the resort has room hotel in France’s turned 40-room bijou twist on downtown hotel in one of the of the largest in Vienna, transformed into Paris’s Heritage coast, it has pioneer has every the country—have 78-room hotel adds a impressive for their rooms on the (with full kitchens and landscape—a 790-acre room hotel that feels hotel and restaurant you’ve settled in, head more subdued version Aegean. Its infinity 100 rooms and four celebrated Bordeaux hotel has been restored industrial cool with city’s most anticipated and the hotel is just a most talked about hot a standout locavore creature comfort amid a private terraces and a gracious note to a quiet setting, overlooking prestigious Herengracht, laundry facilities), vineyard backed by like the second home of is where the beautiful to the Rooftop Bar for of the typical Vegas pool, carved into monumental villas— wine region. to its Belle Époque lofty city views and (and expensive) new five-minute walk from spot, with 200 rooms restaurant and 23 cozy wildlife-rich landscape. quirky, colorful mix of side street near the 11,000 acres of vineyards a 15-minute walk making it ideal for family the snowcapped Andes. your dreams. people hang. the best views in Dublin. experience. the hillside, is epic. all fit for a maharaja. splendor. soaking tubs. skyscrapers. St. Stephen’s Cathedral. and a sublime spa. guest rooms. fabrics and artwork. trendy Chueca district. in the Millahue Valley. from Museumplein. vacations. lagrandemaison pikaialodgegalapagos casadeuco.com; casasdelxvi.com; from chilternfirehouse.com; deanhoteldublin.ie; delanolasvegas.com; iconicsantorini.com; itchotels.in; from -bordeaux.com; from lareserve-paris.com; ludlowhotel.com; park.hyatt.com; park.hyatt.com; from peninsula.com; from thepighotel.com; from .com; from $7,560 for tribal-hotel.com; from hotelurso.com; from vinavik.com; from thegoodland.com; watchhillinn.com; from RIGHT, TOP ROW: PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY COMO; COURTESY MALLIOUHANA; GEORGE APOSTOLIDIS/COURTESY MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL GROUP; KATHY YL CHAN; COURTESY MIAMI BEACH EDITION. MIDDLE ROW: COURTESY MONDRIAN; MONDRIAN; COURTESY ROW: MIDDLE EDITION. BEACH MIAMI COURTESY CHAN; YL KATHY GROUP; HOTEL ORIENTAL MANDARIN APOSTOLIDIS/COURTESY GEORGE MALLIOUHANA; COURTESY COMO; COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: TOP RIGHT, LODGE. PIKAIA COURTESY BEACH; THE ON PIG THE COURTESY PENINSULA; THE COURTESY (2); HYATT PARK COURTESY ROW: BOTTOM PARIGI. PALAZZO COURTESY SHOLLENBARGER; MARIA NORMAN; THE BEYOND; COURTESY & MENA ROCHELLE; RIAD MONT COURTESY POWERS/COURTESY RICHARD BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: MIDDLE HOTEL. ROSE COURTESY ROSEWOOD; COURTESY RITZ-CARLTON; COURTESY RAFFLES; COURTESY PORTRAIT FIRENZE; COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: TOP RIGHT, INN FAR HILL WATCH COURTESY ALAN JENSEN; VIK; VINA COURTESY URSO; COURTESY CAPMEIL; JULIEN ROW: BOTTOM YANAGIHARA. HANYA HOUSE; SOHO COURTESY SINGULAR SANTIAGO; COURTESY SANCHAYA; THE COURTESY from $400. ● $340. ● from $730. ● from $130. ● from $200. ● from $685. ● $305. ● $420. ● from $840. ● from $225. ● STARICK/COURTESY SHANTANU AMAN; COURTESY HISTÓRICA; ALMA COURTESY AKHDAR; JABAL ALILA COURTESY BROAD; 21 COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: TOP LEFT, FAR BALAGTAS. MARA MCDONNELL; IMEN SINDEN; PHILIP XVI; DEL CASAS COURTESY RIDAO; LUIS BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: BOTTOM CHÂTEAUX. WELIGAMA/RELAIS& COURTESY FRANKENBERG; ROBERTO GAO; ALICE SAFARIS; WILDERNESS BEAUMONT; COURTESY THE COURTESY FIRMDALE; BROWN/COURTESY SIMON BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: MIDDLE (2). SEASONS FOUR COURTESY L’HÔTEL; FONTEVRAUD COURTESY BLOK; EL COURTESY KERR; MILLIE BY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: TOP LEFT, LUDLOW THE COURTESY LA RESERVE; COURTESY LA GRANDE MAISON; COURTESY HOTEL; ITC COURTESY SANTORINI; ICONIC COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: BOTTOM SP34. HOTEL COURTESY SAHRAI; HOTEL COURTESY MAMANNA; LEONOR from $795. ● $425. ● $840. ● $570. ● three nights. ● $125. ● $210. ● $1,200. ● from $525. ● $555. ●

For a complete list of properties by category, visit cntraveler.com/hotlist. 5 CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R For a complete list of properties by category, visit cntraveler.com/hotlist. HOT LIST 2015 HOT LIST 2015

For a complete list of properties by category, visit cntraveler.com/hotlist. 6 CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R For a complete list of properties by category, visit cntraveler.com/hotlist. HOT LIST 2015

AMAN, TOKYO Who Doesn’t Want to Swim in a Pool 34 Floors Above the Ground?

Every fan of Aman hotels and resorts—or “Amanjunkies,” as we’re called—knows that all of the company’s 28 properties have two things in common: a modernist, sometimes Brutalist aesthetic that’s at once elegant and warm; and a fabulous pool. In fact, in the annals of memorable hotel pools, Amans win the award for most distinguished: They’re always long and always dignified (there’s never a pool bar in sight), and they always, always have terrific views. But the pool at the Aman Tokyo—the company’s debut metropolitan property—may beat them all. On the thirty-fourth floor, it’s a luxuriously lengthy, almost-five-foot-deep rectangle of pale-blue water, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows that offer panoramic views of the entire city. (On a clear day, you can see all the way to Mount Fuji, 60 miles away.) The rest of the hotel—hushed, sophisticated, and clean-lined—is impressive too, but for sheer awe, there’s nothing better than taking a dip. –Hanya Yanagihara AIR FRANCE MADAME/CONDÉ NAST FRANCE NAST MADAME/CONDÉ FRANCE AIR

7 CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R Photograph by Roberta Valerio HOT LIST 2015

THE MIAMI BEACH EDITION Not that South Beach won’t always be fabulous, but these days, the cool kids from both coasts (not to mention Europe and South America) are flocking to Mid-Beach, which It’s an runs from 23rd to 63rd streets. The Soho Beach House opened on Collins Avenue and 43rd Instagram Street back in 2010, but it took Ian Schrager’s Miami Beach Edition (opened in December) to solidify the neighborhood’s status. One look around the glittering Yabu Pushelberg– Darling designed white-and-gold lobby during Art Basel was all the evidence you needed that Mid- Beach had arrived: Marina Abramovi´c and curator Klaus Biesenbach in one corner; models for a Reason Jourdan Dunn and Toni Garrn in the subterranean bowling alley; and at night, seemingly the entire population of art and fashion world heavy hitters dancing away in the basement nightclub. The next day, everyone gathered again to recover at Tropicale—the hotel’s outdoor space, with two teak-decked swimming pools and a bar . . . and the perfect setting

for all those Instagrams (some shown above) everyone was taking. –John Wogan HANNAH HOTELS; EDITION COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: SECOND BYRNE. FIONA PUSHELBURG; YABU COURTESY HAN; CAROL COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS ROW: FIRST JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN WILKINSON; ISABEL HOTELS; EDITION COURTESY ROW: THIRD CLERGUE). LUCIEN BY PHOTOGRAPHS (FRAMED SIMITCH LESLIE BRONFMAN;

8 CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R

7 CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R HOT LIST 2015

HOANIB SKELETON Namibia’s Skeleton Coast giraffes, and lions in their COAST CAMP, NAMIBIA is essentially millions of acres element. But it’s the palace- of stone and sand—most of in-the-desert experience Let’s Face It— them scoured clean of human that Hoanib conjures out of Coming Here civilization by wind, heat, nowhere that will truly and drought. It’s also one leave you floored: There Will Make Your of the more challenging places are the mangoes and Friends Jealous on the entire planet to reach, patisseries at breakfast, which is what makes Hoanib the flannel-wrapped hot Skeleton Coast Camp— water bottles under crisp a collection of eight living white sheets and thick duvets room–sized tents accessible at bedtime, the afternoon only via a small propeller drinks in chaise longues by plane—even more remarkable. the small infinity pool, and all Yes, it’s one of a handful of sorts of other moments of safari outlets in the country coddling hospitality in the to have flying rights over midst of completely Skeleton Coast National Park inhospitable—and achingly to the Atlantic Ocean, letting beautiful—emptiness. you observe desert elephants, –Maria Shollenbarger

One of the eight tented camps at Hoanib.

9 CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R Photograph by Adrian Gaut HOT LIST 2015

THE BEAUMONT, LONDON London’s Hottest Hoteliers Aren’t Even Hoteliers

It’s a predicament all of us have encountered as the host of a successful dinner party—your guests are having such a good time eating and drinking that it appears they may just stay . . . all night. Now, some of us would start setting out the cereal bowls, giving our friends a sign that the time had come. Others might push back from the table and announce, “Last one out, get the lights. Just don’t burn the place down.” But if you are Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, the duo behind Corbin & King, London’s most successful restaurant team for more than 30 years, you’d do what’s only natural after all that experience: build some bedrooms and open your first hotel. (Continued on page 11) ➝

Chris Corbin, left, and Jeremy King in front of The Beaumont.

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Clockwise from top left: The Club Room, a private bar for guests of The Beaumont; a chauffeur stands ready at the entrance; the Art Deco–inspired lobby; an architectural extension houses a suite designed by the artist Antony Gormley; the old-school elevator display; the front desk.

Chances are, you’ve probably dined at one of the Corbin & King and enthusiastic (if not downright clairvoyant) service. London’s restaurants that populate London and serve as elegant harbors of high-end market is terrifically crowded, so it’s no small accomplish- hospitality at the end of a long day of doing business—The Wolseley, ment that The Beaumont has managed to distinguish itself so Fischer’s, Colbert, the Colony Grill Room. But for all of the duo’s quickly, a feat that King attributes to the values which he and Corbin success in hosting diners, they never thought about completing take care to instill in their team. the hospitality circuit, as it were, and letting folks stay the evening. “Too many hotels are run from the boardroom, not from the floor,” That is, until six months ago when they opened what instantly he says. “When Chris and I decide to open a restaurant, the first became London’s hotel-of-the-moment, The Beaumont. thing we do is create a place we want to go, so with this hotel we cre- “I guess it’s the natural extension of what we do,” says King. ated a place we wanted to stay.” And yet it’s not an entirely selfish “For years, we’ve had offers to run the food and beverage in someone endeavor. King says he and Corbin see themselves as “catalysts” to else’s hotel. Then we got to thinking, ‘We know how to do hospitality make things happen for their guests. “You have to remember, always,” better than anyone. Owning a hotel is the way to go. We can do this.’ ” says King, “that the great hotels and restaurants are spaces—almost And, indeed, they do exactly this, bringing to bear on their like stage sets—in which people can live out their special moments. new project decades of wisdom, high standards, attention to detail, That’s a great gift I have: to create those worlds.” –Michael Hainey

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ISLAND TIME(LINE)

1846: Herman Melville’s first book, Typee, an account of his experiences in the Marquesas Islands, is published.

1891: Paul Gauguin arrives in Tahiti. Although he was largely ignored in his lifetime, one of his paintings recently sold for nearly $300 million.

1908: The Blue Lagoon, Henry De Vere Stacpoole’s story of two kids stranded on a South Pacific island, is published.

1960: Fa’a’¯a Inter- national Airport opens in Papeete, Tahiti, putting French Polynesia on the tourist map.

1966: The first overwater bunga- low debuts on Raiatea, birthing a design trend copied from Mexico to the Maldives.

1978: Dino De Laurentiis shoots the campy drama Hurricane on Bora Bora.

1998: Air Tahiti Nui launches. Today, it takes just eight hours to reach Papeete from Los Angeles.

An eight-passenger Britten-Norman 2014: The Brando Islander makes the twice-daily 20-minute resort opens on flight from Papeete to Tetiaroa. Tetiaroa, a group of 12 islets a short flight from Papeete. Its 35 beachfront THE BRANDO, TETIAROA, FRENCH POLYNESIA villas, each with a private sundeck We Still Can’t Resist the and plunge pool, offer their Allure of the South Seas own aquamarine paradise—perfect for viewing the Cultural obsessions come and go, but our fascination with the South Pacific—and its promise of an out-of-time, atoll’s 160 fish out-of-place paradise—endures. Here, a brief chronology of the film and books that inspire our collective species, as well tropical fantasies, as well as the travel developments that made getting to, and staying on, that elusive flower- parrots and scented island possible . . . including the most recent reason to go, The Brando resort. –Paul Brady frigate birds.

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BAHIA VIK JOSÉ IGNACIO, URUGUAY It’s the Modernist Beachside Dream

Ramshackle cabanas—part main building has ten suites, surf shack, part weekend and there are an additional home—have long been a fea- 11 stand-alone villas scattered ture of the sparsely populated across the sand. Inside, the eastern coast of Uruguay, 100 two- to four-bedroom homes miles from the capital, Monte- are coolly luxurious, with video. But Bahia Vik, which original artwork, skylights, opened in January amid the and soaking tubs big enough dunes of José Ignacio, the chic for two. But the greatest fea- seaside town near Punta del ture, of course, is having the Este, puts a new twist on this surf right outside your door. regional architecture. The –Paul Brady

Hotelier Carrie Vik on her travel philosophy: “Lots of people travel to many, many places, but what everybody seems to be looking for is something unique— where they’re learning by being in a destination. It’s about the location, but it’s also about the culture.”

Counterclockwise from top: A beachfront villa with an Atlantic Ocean view; oversized bathrooms have deep soaking tubs and rainfall showerheads; four swimming pools face the water.

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The early- morning view from Table 17 at L’Oiseau Blanc, in Paris.

THE PENINSULA, PARIS The Best Seat in the House (Not to Mention in All of Paris)

Peninsula Hotels’ first European property How far in advance a manager. We’ll try What would be the is a showstopper, a painstakingly restored should we call? to give you special ideal season and nineteenth-century Haussmanian building At least a month, treatment. And you’ll time to maximize where Gershwin wrote An American in Paris maybe six weeks, get preference if you’re the experience? In in 1928. But it’s the 360-degree views from ahead. And come with staying at the hotel. the summer, between its classic French restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, a party of four—we about 9 and 10:30 that are drawing discerning locals, as well prefer not to seat two What’s the next-best p.m. We have some as in-the-know visitors who want to see or three at that table. table if 17 is booked? very nice sunsets. the Eiffel Tower without, you know, actually Most tables have The sky gets orange going there. The tallest structure in Anything else that very good views of and dark red—it’s Paris is about a mile away but looks close will increase our the Eiffel Tower. But amazing. But really, enough to touch from Table 17, also known chances? If it’s a if there are only two you’ll have that sense as the most coveted table in town. We asked special occasion— of you, Table 25 is that you’re levitating L’Oiseau Blanc’s manager, Benoît Legros, your anniversary, very romantic and over the rooftops how to book it. –Meredith Bryan for example—tell also near the window. of Paris on any night.

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CON D É NA S T T R AV E L E R HOT LIST 2015

These Two Very MALLIOUHANA, AN AUBERGE RESORT, ANGUILLA Go for the Aesthetic . . . its title as Anguilla’s most Bay. But it’s not so much Different Hotels Are Anguilla is a very Anglo elegant hotel. Now expect the views that are Reinventing the island, and Malliouhana tasteful extravagance that drawing crowds as chef was, for decades, one of channels Palm Springs by Jeremy Bearman’s flaw- Way We Think About its most staunchly way of Morocco: lemon- less cuisine, from the traditional hotels. But yellow and ice-blue walls, house-made coconut yo- the Caribbean then the quintessentially vibrant striped-cotton gurt at breakfast to Californian Auberge dhurries on the floors, the sesame-rum poke Resorts (Auberge du ornate glass sconces hung (tuna tartare) at dinner. Soleil; Calistoga Ranch) from beveled mirrors. –Maria Shollenbarger bought it, closing the (Continued on page 16) ➝ doors for a three-year, . . . or Go for the Food multimillion-dollar Everyone on Anguilla Counterclockwise hotel displays original renovation. When it wants a table at Malliou- from top left: work by local artists; Malliouhana, above late afternoon in the reopened in November, hana’s eponymous restau- Meads Bay Beach; the lobby at Malliouhana. Malliouhana reclaimed rant, overlooking Meads

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BELLE MONT FARM ON KITTITIAN HILL, ST. KITTS

Go for the Aesthetic ...... or Go for the Food This 400-acre sustainable Belle Mont Farm could organic farm, the vision of rival your local farmers’ Trinidadian entrepreneur market—the resort grows Val Kempadoo, has vast, 100 varieties of mangoes windswept grassy dunes alone—and guests are and chaise longues that encouraged to head into telegraph Cape Cod. the field to pick fresh But Bill Bensley—one of lemongrass, cassava, the masters of tropical garlic, and breadfruit. interior design—created The haul you return with guest rooms that are like will be served alongside Clockwise from a polished version of your snapper, lobster, top left: A sampling the Caribbean ideal, with or swordfish—caught of what’s grown dark hardwood floors, about an hour before at Belle Mont Farm, four-poster beds covered you sit down to eat it. St. Kitts; slippers laid out at day’s end; the in Frette linens, open-air –John Wogan lobby veranda over- showers, and outdoor looks the Caribbean; claw-foot tubs. the Great House pool.

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LA GRANDE MAISON, BORDEAUX You Might Fly All the Way to France Just for This Meal

It may sound extravagant a meticulously restored nine- the venerable Joël Robuchon, Organic lamb to plan a trip around a single teenth-century mansion which whose Michelin stars light raised in Pouillac, about 30 miles restaurant (especially if it’s is a collaboration between up an empire of restaurants away, is served in a city with no direct flights French wine mogul Bernard from New York to Singapore. with a lemongrass- from the U.S.). But what if the Magrez (owner of the legend- Its six guest rooms are deco- infused broth. restaurant is in a five-star ho- ary Château La Tour Carnet rated with ornate Pierre Frey tel? That’s the concept behind vineyard, one of his 40 wine silk wallpaper, Hermès bath Bordeaux’s La Grande Maison, estates around the world) and products, and touches of

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Napoleon III style—a fitting heavenly seasonal fruit–filled art collection hanging on the end note to a dinner that lacks pastries. The wine list is excep- walls (there’s a Dan Hays for nothing. The menu in the tional, even for Bordeaux, painting and photographs by main dining room reads like with more than 250 bottles of Valérie Belin), you can con- a canon of Robuchon’s greatest Grands Crus Classés de Bor- sider this trip money well hits, including langoustine deaux—the highest classifica- spent—a decadent furthering and truffle ravioli, chateaubri- tion for wines of the region. of your aesthetic and sensory and with foie gras, and And with Magrez’s personal education. –Rochelle Bilow

Joël Robuchon on La Grande Maison’s sideshow: “I’ve introduced the tradition of découpage, which you don’t see anymore at restaurants. The whole dining room looks on while the maître d’hôtel cuts an entire piece of meat, like an énorme côte de boeuf on the bone.”

Clockwise from top left: A porter in La Grande Maison’s lobby; the cheese trolley; head sommelier Renaud Roland at work; a table setting.

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ARO HA¯ WELLNESS RETREAT, NEW ZEALAND Detoxing Doesn’t Have to Be Punishment ¯ A WELLNESS RETREAT

The very words wellness colonics. But Aro H¯a and health-conscious meals the sustenance for your A view of the retreat can conjure visions its Zen-like cedar cabins that are gluten-, dairy-, twice-daily yoga sessions, dramatic South Island of marching through are thankfully upending and meat-free—but don’t held in simple studios that landscape the desert under the bak- those stereotypes. Located taste like it—will find bring the outdoors in (like from the yoga ing sun while trying to on New Zealand’s South them here: The “ricotta” the one pictured here), or studio. survive on a handful of Island, it’s about an hour made from macadamia a lakeside hike amid an al- almonds, or committing northwest of Queens nuts, the amaranth bread, pine backdrop so engulf- to some kind of Germanic town, right on colossal and the beet sashimi are ing you’ll hardly notice health asylum that in- sapphire Lake Wakatipu. satiating in the best pos- that you’ve logged ten volves caffeinated Guests looking for sible way. And you’ll need miles. –Paul Brady PHOTOGRAPH BY SHANTANU STARICK/COURTESY ARO H ARO STARICK/COURTESY SHANTANU BY PHOTOGRAPH

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Philomena Schurer Merckoll, owner, Riad Mena & Beyond, on what she’s learned as a first-time hotel owner: “Different nationalities have different priorities. Americans’ top priority is service. The French value food. And the Brits just want to make sure there’s lots of alcohol.”

Clockwise from top left: The Eileen Gray Suite with Moroccan lantern; the rooftop dining area; the open- air salon; and the riad entrance.

RIAD MENA & BEYOND, MARRAKECH Finally, a Twenty- First-Century Riad

The beauty of a Moroccan riad traditional, and yet one lanterns still cast starry dots style of the Saarinen Tulip ta- is undeniable, but even the sometimes wishes for a little of light around the palm tree– ble, as well as bright, Panton- most die-hard fan may find innovation. But at Marrakech’s planted courtyard at night, inspired lamps in the rooms. herself growing a little weary six-room Riad Mena, run by and cushions sewn with tiny She’s also updated the plumb- of what can come to feel like expat Londoner and first-time sequins still wink when the ing throughout her conjoined a one-size-fits-all aesthetic: hotelier Philomena Schurer sun hits them—but Merckoll, early-1900s properties—no tilework, white Berber rugs, Merckoll and located deep who has a background in con- small thing for anyone who’s woolen tribal throw pillows in in the medina, the riad gets an temporary art, has added pops ever had to grimace through an reds and ochers, cut-metal update. It’s nothing too off- of modernity: a Jacobsen icy shower on vacation here.

lanterns. Yes, it’s all lovely and puttingly radical—cut-metal Egg chair and side tables in the –Hanya Yanagihara BEYOND & MENA RIAD POWERS/COURTESY RICHARD BY PHOTOGRAPHS

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RAFFLES, ISTANBUL Everyone Should Vacation Like an Oligarch Once in His Life

Sure, subtlety is fine, but who among us doesn’t want to indulge their inner pasha now and again? With a rooftop helipad, 24-hour butler service, a cellar stocked with thousand-dollar bottles of Château Margaux, and near-priceless Bosphorus views, the new Raffles, a few miles north of the Golden Horn, is unabashedly ostentatious. For more proof, check out the tallies below. –Paul Brady

The Signature rooms have butler service, private balconies, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Bosphorus.

BY THE NUMBERS 250 21 $79,291 5 feet 188,570 Orchids purchased Full-time butlers Cost to install Length of the Square feet of

every week on call the spa’s hammam bath towels marble in the hotel PHOTOGRAPH JENNY ZARINS/COURTESY BY RAFFLES

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Clockwise from top: The facade of the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam; one of the 93 rooms; the hallway leading to the lobby.

WALDORF ASTORIA AMSTERDAM What they kept: Nothing’s What they added: more iconically Amsterdam The outside may be classic Everything Old than the seventeenth- and eigh- Amsterdam, but inside, it’s all Is New Again teenth-century canal houses. twenty-first-century flour- Which is why the company left ishes—a waterfall-embellished intact the facades of the six indoor pool, a Guerlain Spa, The key to a memorable restoration Golden Age–era brick-and-sand- Murano glass light fixtures, isn’t just knowing what to toss—it’s stone buildings that make up and, of course, flat-screen knowing what to keep as well. Just look the hotel. Also untouched: the TVs—presented amid a palette at what Waldorf Astoria did (and didn’t Rococo friezes by eighteenth- of elegant creams and taupes. do) at its Amsterdam hotel. century painter Jacob Maurer. –Gisela Williams

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ALILA JABAL AKHDAR, OMAN We’re Calling It: Oman Has Arrived

If the only thing you knew about Oman was its location, you might never go at all. Yes, it’s stable (and safe), but it’s also hemmed in on its southern border by Yemen, and Iran is just across a narrow stretch of sea. And yet, as with people, judging a place by its neighbors is never a good idea. That’s certainly true of Oman, a country of four million which offers not only an outpost of calm and peace in a region that, unfortunately, we associate largely with fear and strife, but an antidote to the glitter and artifice of its neighbor Dubai, the sole Gulf country that attracts American tourists in significant numbers. It also has some of the most spectacular landscapes you’ll see anywhere, from beaches that rival those in Brazil or Hawaii, to epic windswept deserts, to the fantastically craggy, gulch-filled Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar Range, which, at nearly 10,000 feet at its peak, is one of the Middle East’s highest. It’s here, 6,500 feet in the air, that you’ll find the Alila Jabal Akhdar, a 78-room resort inspired by both European ski lodges and local village homes. In these mountains, you can hike through surrounding towns and farmland and sit down to a plateau-top picnic, but the best activity might be just walking around the property on a star- smeared night, marveling at the improbability of the place itself. –Hanya Yanagihara

Counterclockwise from top: Alila’s pool; a lounge area; the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque (worth the three-

hour drive to Muscat). ALILA COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS TOP: FROM (2) YANAGIHARA HANYA RESORTS; AND HOTELS

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