At Domaine des Etangs everything is fascinating
It is curious: how few hotels close and how many hotels open we travelers are voracious and we need new places where to sleep. Destinations multiply, airlines increase conventional routes and hotels need rethink before a world that pursues surprise and memory.
we like to know what do they open and where, but even more why they open and what for; here we are curious. These are some of the hotels that have recently opened or will open in 2019. It is a selection that reflects new trends, formats and destinations. It is not an exhaustive list; those, let others write them. It is simply a selection makes us dream and think, and that is the beginning of any journey.
NEW ALPINE RETREATS
These three words together fire our hotel taste buds. the fireplace, the wooden chalet and mulled wine are enticing, but you have to get over them. The Hide Hotel , belonging to white line , opens in December in Flims, Switzerland and is a radical review of the mountain resort. Commitment to contemporary architecture, it has resident DJ and a media chef, Adrian Tschanz. Its interiors are shocking and contemporaries.
Also open in December Le Massif ( The Leading Hotels of the World ), an ecoresort -prefix that we will see frequently-, in the valley of Aosta. It proposes a new concept with two locations: a hotel in the center of Courmayeur and a mountain chalet. a hotel with subhotels : interesting.
The Hide is not your typical mountain hotel
THE ESSENTIALISM
That's what we call those hotels that want strip down to basics proposal. They are not hotels neither bland nor austere: simplicity is not simplicity. The idea behind Sister City , opening in New York in early 2019, is distilling the hotel experience down to its essentials.
This sister project of the ACE hotels is inspired by the bento boxes (those trays where lunch is served in Japan), the finnish saunas and the piece 4´33´´ by John Cage. Simple can be ambitious.
Essentialism is also present in the Citizen M , although in a less extreme way. just opened in bowry, in New York one who wants to serve leisure and business travelers , the latter, a segment that is always derived from hotels that are more functional than experiential, more aseptic than modern. Poor business travellers.
HEY, I ALSO WANT MY HOTEL
The brands non-hoteliers want your hotel. They seek to expand and do so in a way that It's not easy, it's not cheap. but yes very seductive. After the opening of Hotel Muji in Shenzen, Beijing and soon in Tokyo, two more stand out and each one from a different sector. Fauchon , the French delicatessen, has opened in Paris, next to Madeleine, the Fauchon L´Hotel , with five stars. Move your universe sweet to the hotel format and it looks like to get mad to the Asian public.
The gym brand equinox will open its first hotel in New York in 2019. will be in hudson yards and will have the highest observatory of the western hemisphere. His idea is to unite two two cultures: that of travel and that of sport. It will be a success, of course.
The elegance of Fauchon, now converted into a hotel
THE ULTIMATE AIRPORT HOTEL
let's forget all we know of this topic. In the near and undated future, the T.W.A. Hotel will open at New York's JFK airport. will have 512 rooms overlooking the airport runways and the TWA Flight Center, a jewel that Eero Sarinem built in 1962.
The hotel promises to be spacious and have a museum dedicated to the era when traveling was a luxury and to the midcentury movement. lovers of architecture, aviation and retro spaces: control anxiety.
Less eccentric, but also interesting is the INSIDE that Meliá opens in 2019 in terminal 3 of the Charles de Gaulle, from Paris. Defy airport hotel conventions that already it is not a formality , a place within the non-place: it can and must be stimulants.
THE REMOTE, THAT MAGNET
Are complex beings. We like both non-stop flights or the bird such as trips that involve two flights, two hours by car and a unpaved road. The idea of the remote (which can be near and far) is always attractive.
Places like Calilo They celebrate and promote the fact that it is difficult to reach them. Is in the Greek island of Los and has five rooms in an area of 400 hectares and almost ten kilometers of beach. The difficulty of access has always been luxury heritage.
Anantara debuts in South America with Anantara Marau Bahia Resort , in Brazil. This place on the Maraú peninsula can only be reached by air ; the hotel has a private track where the guests will land. The runway is new lobby.
The epitome of the remote ( for us and for many more) is Tasmanian . That does not stop, but encourages, labels like The Luxury Collection , which will open there, in Hobart , in 2019, The Tasman . Even the word is beautiful: remote.
Anantara Maraú Bahia Resort, remote and exquisite
THE NEW GUEST HOUSES
Behind (or on another side) are the rooms with twin beds and a friendly owner who served us jams made by her. Contemporary guesthouses or bed&breakfasts are still personal projects but they remove that touch maybe overly domestic to move to those houses we dream of live together.
A magnificent example is that of 1477 Reichhalter (White Line Hotels), in the Tirol, which opened in September. This little guest house would also fit into the essentialist trend . Here you come to eat, sleep and be, not at home, but better. It is a place full of charisma that he is proud of cultivate imperfect beauty , that beauty of those who do not take much care.
Another delicious place is the house of light , in New Orleans, which will open in 2019. It has all the flavor of the southern United States. promise the destination and the hotel.
THE RURAL POST-HOTEL
In this chapter there are fascinating exercises. Domaine des Etangs break any preconceived ideas we have about a mansion in the french countryside . The family primate , which owns this 20th-century chateau, has a collection of contemporary art of first names like Matisse, Picasso or Richard Long.
The hotel (although it is almost a shame to call it that) includes a gallery that exhibits pieces of Yves Klein or Sugimoto, a own farm and a garden designed by Camille Mueller. Here is level. It wants to be a space “relax, observation and discovery”. It is what we have always looked for in a rural refuge, but raised to infinity.
Another place that shakes up what we think about country hotels is Breac House . also belongs to White Line Hotels , a seal full of jewels. This hotel is in full irish countryside and bet on the contemporary architecture and the frontal dialogue with Nature. confirm that it can be very modern while chasing sensations very classic.
Le Barn it's 45 minutes from Paris and it's not the umpteenth rehabbed fine French barn. This hotel (opened this fall) it is organized in depth and form from the agricultural culture. In addition, as a singular fact, the activities related to the world of the Horse are important here. This place is exquisite as only the French know how to be. These refuges are for urban beings who think of the countryside as an Arcadia. It can be.
Imperfect Beauty in 1477 Reichhalter
THE HOTEL, THE ALMOST-MUSEUM
**Art and Design ** continue and will continue to have a hook. In the Netherlands it opens in delft soon the **hotel-restaurant De Vliegende Vos ** ( the flying fox ), located in the birthplace of Vermeer . The painter was born and lived there from the age of nine. The hotel restaurant will have three rooms and will preserve the original building of the XVII century. It will be like being inside one of his paintings . It sounds too good to be true and it will be true soon.
Another birthplace that has become a museum is that of Stendhal. There, on rue Cambon, it opens this month House Armance . In this secluded and elegant place, we will feel in our own Parisian pied-à-terre.
There are hotels that place design at its core, such as the SW , which will open in Auckland. SO is a seal that is attached, in each hotel, to a name of fashion or design. In their hotel in Mauritius they have had Kenzo ; in Singapore, with Karl Lagerfeld; in Bangkok, with Christian Lacroix ; in Berlin, with Viktor&Rolf... Now, in New Zealand, they join the brand WORLD and have had the Dutch firm Mooi for room design.
Another hotel that has design as the protagonist is The Rooms of Rome , the first hotel within the luxury segment of Roommate. This is a landing with all the artillery, because jean novel has decorated the 24 rooms inside the Palazzo Rhinoceros of the Fondazione Alda Fendi Esperimenti. The contemporary luxury has a lot to do with this.
In Paris it opened last year The Drawing Hotel , a Proyect of carine tissot , the director of the Paris Drawing Fair DRAWING NOW PARIS , which has teamed up for this rarity with the interior architect duo NEST . The building also houses the Drawing Lab , the first private art center dedicated to contemporary drawing. It is decorated, of course, with artists drawings to whom Tissot has given absolute freedom for his works. Granted, it's not a recent opening, but the Drawing Hotel is so interesting which is worth remembering.
A room in Rome imagined by Jean Novel
THE ECO-ALL INCLUSIVE
Let's throw out a not-so-popular truth: all-inclusives can be luxurious and desirable even for snobs like us. In addition, they can also be built on ecological budgets. In fact, many lodges and camps in black Africa are already like this. Places like Kudadoo Maldives Private Island confirm that it is possible to unite these concepts. It's the only one fully sustainable luxury all inclusive from Maldives. In addition, it adds an extra factor: a private island.
MADRÍ, MADRÍ, MADRÍ
In the capital of Spain, at the hotel level, there is no who knows her. and this boiling it's not going to stop It just opened COOLROOMS , a hotel located in a palace house in 1852 of Atocha and which is the first of a label that intends recover emblematic spaces from the city. Have 35 rooms and suites, all of them palatial and serene.
will come soon Bless Hotel Madrid , in the Barrio de Salamanca which, in less than two years, has become a curious hotel center. Also opening in 2019 is the Pestana Plaza Mayor ; It will be the first incursion in Madrid of the Portuguese group Pestana Hotel Group, which is going to settle in two historic buildings: the House of the Butcher and an old one fire station In the heart of the city.
These hotels will be followed, upping the ante, hard-rock and the W , which will be in the Seville area. We will have to wait for 2020 (fingers crossed) for the longed for Four Seasons Y Mandarin Oriental-Ritz. These are very clear clues that the city is placed in an important place in the world travel map.
Something is changing in the hotel scene in Madrid...
WELL-BEING HAS NO LIMITS.
wellness is not a fashion , is a way of understanding life and hotels cannot and should not avoid it. In the latest edition of MASHED POTATOES , in Marrakech, there was talk of how it was spent from wellness to wellbeing, from a simple hotel spa to promoting a lifestyle focused on feel good.
To the hotels of the present, and to those who want to be future, It is no longer useful for them to have a pool with warm water and two treatment cabins. The spa is now understood in a broader and more creative way. Some examples are the Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa ; located in the Himalayas , take advantage of the great yogi tradition of the Rishikesh area and place to yoga and meditation at the center of your proposal. This is not a retreat, it is a very luxurious hotel that puts its focus on this topic, and that's the difference.
The Anantara Quy Nhon Villas will open in Vietnam and will be a complex of 27 villas that wants to stand out with a powerful wellness proposal and program focused on reiki and mindfulness techniques
Susanne Kaufman , the cosmetics brand, will open her hotel in 2019 offering pilates and foot care programs, while the idea of Retox-Detox is behind places like RoyalChampagne . This French hotel unites, in an unusual way, wellness with champagne. Situated in the Champagne region , has a spa 1500 square meters, a restaurant of two Michelin stars and lots of bubbles. Also, it doesn't look anything like the champagne castles of the area, is much more contemporary ; this hotel sounds like heaven on earth.
Another facet of wellness is activity. outdoor . Fishing brings together much of what we are looking for when disconnecting: contact with the nature, concentration and stay away from screens. Therefore, the fishing lodges They are sought after and coveted places. Eleven Experience will open seven rooms in the Palena River, in Chile, and The Outpost is a new fishing boat that will sail the waters of Andros, in the Bahamas. They both cross the adventure trip with well-being and luxury. We will see more initiatives like this.
Wellness and Champagne at Royal Champagne
DO YOU SLEEP OR WORK?
The limits of the hotel are blurred. Accommodations with more space for to work or, directly, with a space of _ co-working _. As much client is the one who sleeps as the one who opens his laptop to finish a presentation.
The Hoxtons opens in Chicago with the idea of including coworking. The Link , in Tel Aviv, opens this fall with a 600-square-meter area called The Hub designed for all those nomadic workers. In ** Seoul ,** increasingly high on the must-see list, has opened Ryse . Located in the neighborhood of Hongdae, commitment to work spaces and their store as well as for the rooms. Lives change: hotels have no choice but to do it also.
EXTRAVAGANCES
There are always eccentric openings, new unclassifiable places and style exercises. Is there anything more curious than a submarine hotel In mainland? The InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland is on the mountain shesan , near Shanghai, and has two submerged plants that allow the most aquatic or curious sleep among fish This megalomaniac project has taken a long time one of each under construction and opens soon.
More discreet, but also extravagant, it is the first hotel in the world focused on oysters It's in Langedoc-Roussillon (France), it is called Le Domaine Tarbouriech and in it, even the spa has the bivalve as its protagonist; its owners have designed a therapy called l´Ostratherapie . The word that comes to mind is unavoidable: oysters!
submarine on land
AFTER THE STORM, THE CALM
Destinations like Cairo or Athens . After years away from the plans for the political instability, return to the travel agenda. The big hotel chains settle there and they are not usually wrong. Four Seasons opens in Athens on Astir Palace Y st regis settles at the end of the year in Cairo.
Tunisia has regained security and labels such as ** Minor ** and Movenpick have opened or plan to open in the near future. The same happens with Turkey : The Edition , which doesn't look like it's going to go wrong, has opened in Bodrum. sarajevo also emerges as a place of interest. swisshotel has opened a hotel in the city center that shakes all our prejudices about this place.
OTHER DESTINATIONS?
This is a no-brainer but someone has to say it: the world is full of places. And hotels open everywhere. There are destinations like ** Montenegro ** that are in the crosshairs of seasoned travelers and ditto chains. There, in the delightful village of Perast, has opened the Iberostar Grand Perast , which closes this month to reopen in April with more rooms and a rehabilitated church , all around a delightful square three meters from the Bay of Kotor. And those three meters are not a way of speaking.
The Majorcan chain has just opened the **Gran Packard** in Havana. The hotel is already one of the most powerful in a city that promises to be one of the great destinations of 2019 . Meliá also opens the Melia International in Varadero, the Saint Charles in Cienfuegos and the Paradise in the Keys.
Los Cabos it remains another magnetic destination for the big chains. There will open this year the Zadun (Ritz-Carlton Reserve). In Europe, budapest raises his hand claiming a place that belongs to him by history. There will open the Matild Palace (Luxury Collection Hotel). In Krakow opens Pure , with interiors of Conran +Partnets . It is a good example of contemporary design in the heart of the Jewish quarter.
Montenegro, the destination you didn't know you needed
Oslo you want to shake the fame of a place without excessive hotel supply. There will open, in March 2019, the Amerikalinjen (Preferred Hotels&Resorts). It will be located in the building of the Norwegian American Line , one of the most iconic in the city, in the Jernbanetorget district, and aims to unite maritime life, the history of the city and the contemporary culture of Oslo.
Lisbon still overrev. It will open at the end of the year. The One Palácio Da Anunciada (H10). It will be located in a spectacular 16th century palace that holds a surprise: a garden.
Ritz-Carlton plans to open in 2019 in cities like Manila, Rabat, Pune, Perth, and Mexico CD . In this country he will continue to be very active Habita Group . This brand, which altered (for the better) the Mexican hotel industry and dictates, from there, global trends, has big plans for the period between 2019 and 2022. The closest ones, with the renovation of a Porfirian mansion in Puebla under the architect's vision Frida Escobedo , the restoration of two buildings in the Historic Center with which they will reach six hotels in Mexico City. They are also working on the port of Veracruz with OPEN Architecture and in Merida and in La Paz, this time with the architect Max von Werz . They also plan to open in Austin and Los Angeles.
We are still in America; this week open Four Seasons Sao Paulo at United Nations . Inside we find pieces by Brazilian artists such as Burle Marx, Francisco Brennand and Paulo Mendes da Rocha . In Seoul, increasingly valued and coveted, the group settles Andaz . In 2019 it will inaugurate The Andaz Gangnam in the business and shopping area. Meliá continues to be interested in Morocco, not only in Marrakech, but also on the coast. In 2019 it will open Melia Saidia Residences in Saidia, confirming that there are macro-destinations and micro-destinations and they can all be equally inspiring. Oh, how big is the world.
The future passes by remodeling the past