Travel + Leisure Reveals Best New Hotels of the Year

Travel + Leisure has released its 100 Best New Hotels of the Year list, and it’s packed with awesome accommodation options spanning 39 countries on six continents. 

Editors and reporters at the consumer travel magazine began with a list of more than 200 soon-to-open hotels, visited nearly 130 of them over the past year, and then narrowed it to the top 100. 

The 2024 “it” list is broken into six categories: U.S. Resorts, Affordable Luxury, On the Water, Splurge-Worthy Stays, International Flair, and Best City Hotels. Here are the highlights from each of them. 

U.S. Resorts  
From cabins in the woods of New York’s Catskills to a California beach resort, with stays spanning all the way from Hawaii to Maine, T + L’s U.S. resorts list is quite comprehensive. It includes 13 hotels in nine states. 

Two are in Texas: the chic Bowie House, part of Auberge Resorts Collection, in Fort Worth and the stately Hotel 1928 in Waco. Another three are in California: The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, also part of Auberge, in Los Olivos; Dawn Ranch in Sonoma County; and Pendry Newport Beach. 

Other notable U.S. resorts on the list are the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida; Norumbega Inn in Camden, Maine (dubbed the “Castle by the Sea”); 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay in Kauai, Hawaii; The Rounds at Scribner’s in Hunter, New York; and Mollie Aspen in Colorado.  

Affordable Luxury  
Seventeen inexpensive yet luxurious stays made the T + L Best New Hotels list this year. They all charge about $300 a night or less and span the globe. Eight of them are in the United States, two are in Mexico, one in Canada, and the rest overseas.  

Notable North American hotels in this category are Fontainebleau Las Vegas, 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis, Hotel San Fernando in Mexico City, and Hotel Honeyrose Montréal, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel. 

In other continents, the top affordable luxury picks are Cap Karoso in Sumba, Indonesia; Como Metropolitan Singapore; Rosemary in Marrakesh; The Leela Ashtamudi, A Raviz Hotel, in Kerala, India; Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland; and The Hoxton in Brussels. 

On the Water
This is T + L’s shorthand for its list of four best new cruise ships. These are the ones that made the cut: 

– Explora Journeys’ Explora I 

– Oceania Cruises’ Vista 

– Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Grandeur 

– Silversea’s Silver Nova 

Splurge-Worthy Stays  
Here’s where it really gets fun. Stays at the 14 properties on T + L’s Most Luxurious New Hotels start at $1,300 a night, so you know they’re among the most extravagant and located in the most stunning destinations – four in Africa, three in Europe, two in Australia, two in Asia, and three in the Americas. 

The notable splurge-worthy stays in Europe are Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel in Italy, One&Only Aesthesis in Greece, and The Peninsula London. Tropical hotels on the list include Pelorus Private Island in Australia; Curtain Bluff in Antigua; and Sha Wellness Clinic Mexico. 

Luxurious safari lodges on the list include Tanda Tula Safari Camp in Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa; Singita Mara River Tented Camp in Serengeti, Tanzania; North Island Okavango in Botswana; and Angama Amboseli in Kimana, Kenya. 

International Flair 
T + L named 26 hotels to its list of Best New International Resorts of the Year. Among them are a scenic river lodge in Bhutan, safari lodges in Zambia and Serengeti, and several hotels in Mexico and Europe, all ranging in price. 

Some big names in this category: Club Med Kiroro Grand in Hokkaido, Japan; Four Seasons Resort Peninsula Papagayo in Costa Rica; Mandarin Oriental in Costa Navarino, Greece; Six Senses Crans-Montana, Switzerland; and The St. Regis Kanai Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. 

Other notable international hotels T + L chose are Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel, in France; Highland Base Kerlingarfjöll in Iceland; Hotel La Palma in Capri, Italy; and Vermelho in Alentejo, Portugal. 

Best City Hotels 
Another 26 hotels made T + L’s Best New City Hotels list. Among these are many refined, modern accommodations in some of the world’s most desirable cities, including New York, Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, and Dubai. 

Raffles appears twice in this category with Raffles Boston and Raffles London at The OWO. The list also includes Six Senses Rome, W Budapest, and JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa in South Korea.

Other notable properties include Hotel Bardo Savannah, Georgia; Capella Sydney; Rosewood Munich; The Singapore Edition; and Warren Street Hotel, New York City.