25 New Hotels for 2019
by Cheryl Rosen /Photo: Four Seasons
Part of the joy of travel is that you never, ever can see it all — and that goes for hotels even more than destinations. Here is a roundup of new properties opening in 2019 that we want to visit, and that we think you and your customers might like as well.
UNITED STATES
Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley, Calistoga, California
“Grape-to-glass” takes on new meaning at this hotly anticipated resort, with its own fully operational winery. Sip its signature cabernet sauvignon on a private terrace or by the adults-only pool, while the kids have fun in their own private club.
Check in: June
Photo: Four Seasons
Limelight Snowmass, Snowmass Village, Colorado
The resort has ninety-nine elegant rooms and a five-story indoor climbing wall, plus ski-in/ski-out access via the Elk Camp gondola lift, in beautiful Snowmass.
Check in: Now
Baker’s Cay Resort, Key Largo, Florida
The newest member of Hilton’s Curio Collection, Baker’s Cay Resort is set on a former pineapple plantation on the Key that Bogart made famous. It offers a beach, waterfalls, hammocks, suites with wrap-around terraces, four restaurants and a food truck — and gorgeous views of Florida Bay. And of course, you can pay with points.
Check in: February
Photo: Baker's Cay Resort
Kimpton Hotel Palomar South Beach, Miami, Florida
A strikingly modern hotel amidst the Art Deco of South Beach, Kimpton Hotel Palomar is bathed in light and is reminiscent of an ocean liner — but the rooftop pool and canal-side restaurant feel right at home in the neighborhood.
Check in: Spring
Surfside Inn & Suites, Orlando, Florida
A great family vacation is more affordable as Universal Orlando has added much-needed, two-bedroom suites that sleep up to six, and rates starting below $100 a night. A free shuttle to the theme parks and early admission are included.
Check in: Summer
Virgin Hotels San Francisco, California
Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels will open its latest outpost in San Francisco’s SoMa district. Boasting 192 “chambers,” as the brand likes to call guestrooms and a snazzy rooftop bar, guests can enjoy a sleek and modern stay.
Check in: February
Photo: Virgin Hotels
Halepuna Waikiki by Halekulani, Honolulu, Hawaii
A multimillion-dollar transformation of the former Waikiki Parc Hotel, this new boutique property will be operated by the management team of the nearby five-star Halekulani resort. Notable are the floor-to-ceiling windows and a lobby-level open kitchen — but best of all is the separate kitchen completely devoted to chocolate.
Check in: Spring
Rosewood Miramar Beach, Montecito, California
Perhaps you’ll run into Oprah or Ellen DeGeneres at the poolside ice cream parlor at this new luxury property in a star-studded community. But even if not, the luxurious touches and stately rooms will make you feel like a star.
Check in: February
Photo: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts
The Hoxton, Chicago, Illinois
The hip Hoxton brand continues its American expansion, opening this year in Chicago and downtown Los Angeles. In Chicago’s emerging Fulton Market, the hotel will channel the European brand’s “open-house” concept with a spacious lobby, designed for locals and guests alike, and a rooftop pool and bar. The 182 rooms will be outfitted with leather headboards and warehouse-style, floor-to-ceiling windows, giving a nod to the district’s industrial past.
Check in: Spring
The Last Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri
Set in the former International Shoe Company building, this stylish 142-room downtown hotel offers design elements like custom-crafted furnishings, original terrazzo floors and brick walls — plus a rooftop bar and pool where you can sip a martini or the hotel’s proprietary gin (made by the award-winning Still 630 Distillery).
Check in: Spring
Shinola Hotel, Detroit, Michigan
Motor City is abuzz about this first hotel from luxury watchmaker, Shinola, where the rooms will feature signature clocks and blankets; food and beverage will include craft beers and locally sourced ingredients; and “Shinola Alley” will offer retail space to brands like Le Labo and Madewell.
Check in: January
Inside a room at The Last Hotel in St. Louis. Photo: Matt Haas
Equinox Hotel, New York City, New York
Can a fitness company run a great hotel? Equinox has hired a former Four Seasons executive to find out, as it plans dozens of properties, beginning in New York in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. Look for a luxury setting with a healthy mindset, including state-of-the-art workout facilities, active programming, and nourishing fine dining.
Check in: Summer
Sister City, New York City, New York
Guests enter this Ace Hotel spin-off in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, close to Chinatown, via a private garden. The property has terrazzo bathrooms and a rooftop bar.
Check in: March
Photo: Atelier Ace
The TWA Hotel at JFK, Queens, New York
The history of the travel industry will come alive at JFK Airport, where in the iconic TWA Terminal, originally designed by Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962, The TWA Hotel will open this spring. The museum in the lobby will tell part of the story — but so, too, will the deck pool, with its views of the runways and a cocktail bar inside a refurbished TWA Lockheed Constellation. Watch for the Jetsons in the Paris Café, where celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten flies high.
Check in: Spring
Rendering of the TWA Hotel. Photo: MCR
EUROPE
Belmond Cadogan Hotel, London
Its first hotel opening since being purchased by luxury giant LVMH, Belmond Cadogan Hotel will reopen fully renovated. Built in 1887, the project maintained the Queen Anne-style townhouses. Its 54 rooms and suites and restaurant reflect the hotel’s rich heritage, and manicured private gardens offer a welcome respite from city life.
Check in: Early 2019
Photo: Belmond
Ikos Aria, Greece
Michelin-starred chefs and a kids club meet an 850-yard private beach on the Isle of Kos, and the properties’ “Dine-Out” meal plan includes local restaurants.
Check in: Mid-May
Fingal Edinburgh, Scotland
Guests set sail without leaving the Edinburgh waterfront on this former lighthouse support ship turned into 23 luxury suites and a terraced skylit penthouse by the Royal Yacht Britannia family.
Check in: January
CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA
Kachi Lodge, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Here, visitors can enjoy the perfect romantic night: Dinner at the lodge’s restaurant, by the award-winning La Paz restaurant Gustu; and then watching the stars through the clear walls of these six, domed guest tents, complete with en suite bathrooms, from Amazing Escapes.
Check in: February
Nobu Hotel Los Cabos, Mexico
Transporting minimalist Japanese design to the Mexican beachfront, this “Japanese beachhouse” offers the unusual combination of a Nobu restaurant and frequent traveler points through the Leading Hotels of the World.
Check in: April
The “Japanese beachhouse” aesthetic. Photo: Nobu Hotels
Islas Secas Reserve & Lodge, Panama
Guests enjoy thatched-roof villas with private plunge pools on a private Pacific island, 20 miles from shore, at this trendy and safe luxury destination.
Check in: January
AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST
The Farmstead at Royal Malewane, South Africa
Safari in style at one of three Luxury Farm Suites or a four-bedroom villa with a dedicated chef, butler, housekeeper, safari vehicle, ranger and tracker — not to mention a vast deck where guests can eat while watching the wildlife at the adjacent waterhole.
Check in: May
Six Senses Shaharut, Arava Valley, Israel
The spa and resort brand is coming to the Negev Desert in tiny Israel, where the ancient and the religious and the modern cross in a country the size of New Jersey. Promising large rooms with lots of outdoor space and private pools, and on-site restaurants highlighting fresh ingredients from the resort’s gardens and nearby kibbutzim, it’s surely not the way Moses crossed these sands.
Check in: Late in the year
ASIA & AUSTRALIA
Discovery Rottnest Island, Perth, Australia
Eighty-three tented suites with outdoor decks and walking trails are shared with the local pet marsupial, the quokka, on this protected island Rottnest, near Perth.
Check in: March
Waldorf Astoria South Malé Atoll, Ithaafushi, Maldives
A 30-minute yacht ride brings you to a fabulous private villa in the middle of the Indian Ocean. A yoga pavilion and dinner in a treetop restaurant beckon. This is a brand new Waldorf Astoria property. Enough said.
Check in: March
Baglioni Resort Maldives, Maagu Island, Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives
Baglioni Hotels marries the brand’s signature Italian hospitality with a tropical Indian Ocean setting. The five-star resort will offer 96 villas with a selection of garden, over-water and beach villas to choose from.
Check in: April
Photo: Leading Hotels of the World
With additional reporting by Jessica Montevago
