DISCOVER 2020’S
HOTTEST HOTELS

Plan your vacations around these luxury
openings, from cool Arctic cabins to tented camps
in the African desert, says Pamela Goodman

RETURN TO THE WILD
Introduce kids to the great American
outdoors on a family vacation that
aims to inspire and educate. Ted
Turner Reserves was founded by the
eponymous business leader and
philanthropist, with luxury ecotourism,
conservation and meaningful
wilderness experiences in mind.
Choose from one of the three unique
reserves, located throughout New
Mexico, and start exploring.

Taking Europe as a starting point, and
the U.K. in particular, hot on the heels
of The Pig-at Bridge Place in Kent,
comes The Pig-at Harlyn Bay, located
in a 15th-century manor house near Padstow in
Cornwall. France might just take the prize for
the grandest opening with Les Airelles Château
de Versailles Le Grand Contrôle Hotel, which
launches 14 luxury suites and rooms in the
grounds of the palace where Louis XVI and
Marie-Antoinette resided. In nearby Paris,
LVMH will open a new addition to its Cheval
Blanc hotel brand on Quai du Louvre; while in
Spain, the Mandarin Oriental group is finalizing
a revamp of the Hotel Ritz Madrid. In prime
position beside the Danish capital’s Tivoli
Gardens, Villa Copenhagen, launching in
spring, will demonstrate a commitment to
sustainability, not least with its 25-meter rooftop
pool warmed by the hotel’s excess heat. But for
minimal environmental impact, and design wow
factor, don’t miss Arctic Bath, a tiny, state-ofthe-
art hotel and spa retreat which, according to
season, will either freeze into or float on Swedish
Lapland’s Lule River. Staying with water as a
theme, La Reserve Group’s latest offering, Eden
au Lac, featuring design by Philippe Starck,
opens on the edge of Lake Zurich. Heading south into Italy and the Tuscan/Umbrian
border, Castello di Reschio on the exquisite
Reschio estate is one of 2020’s most hotly
anticipated hotel openings; there is also Villa
Igiea, a palazzo in Palermo, Sicily, which
promises to be a sensational newcomer from
Rocco Forte Hotels.

From Sicily we go to North Africa, where
Tunisia is bouncing back. Anantara Tozeur, a
desert resort, opens imminently in the Sahara. In
neighboring Morocco, the Oberoi has recently
opened amid 28 acres of gardens on the edge of
Marrakech. Six Senses Shaharut, in Israel’s
romantic Negev desert, will open in April; and
The Corinthia Hotel group has arrived in Dubai,
overlooking Meydan Beach.
Slated for later in the year will be the new
offering from Thailand’s renowned Chiva-Som
Health Resort, the Zulal Wellness Resort in
Qatar; while in Oman, the Alila Hinu Bay opens
near Salalah. Heading south, Rwanda’s
One&Only Gorilla’s Nest will be 2020’s
signature opening. There are two additions to the
southern Namib desert: Sonop, a tented camp
from Zannier Hotels, and Sossusvlei Desert
Lodge from &Beyond. Botswana is the African
headline-stealer: the 12 room, super-luxurious
Xigera Safari Lodge is on the Western Edge of
Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta,
and the new-look Jack’s Camp is an iconic
outpost in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.
In Asia, Japan is getting ready to host the
2020 Summer Olympics. Hotel The Mitsui
Kyoto and The Ace Hotel will join Kyoto’s
burgeoning hotel scene. Meanwhile, big guns
Mandarin Oriental and Four Seasons will open
in Beijing and Bangkok respectively.
In India’s Rajasthan, the tented hotel at
Chhatrasagar has been refurbished, having
joined the Raas portfolio, and in Udaipur, Raffles
unveils its new hotel on an island in Lake Udai
Sagar. Hotspot destination Bhutan welcomes a
new concept from COMO Hotels & Resorts, a
mobile tented-camp experience. In Malaysia,
both One&Only and Anantara will launch new
resorts on the Desaru Coast, to the east of
which, in far-flung isolation, eco-friendly Bawah.

Reserve will open new accommodation on the
untouched island of Elang. Further south in
Indonesia, LHM Hotels will open The Legian
Sire on Lombok. Australia has a brand-new
Ritz-Carlton on the waterfront in Perth, and in
New Zealand, The Lindis—an architectural
masterpiece situated in the remote Ahuriri
Valley—has recently added three mirrored pods.
Next to the Americas where Explora opens a
new lodge at El Chalten in Argentina, for
off-the-beaten-track Patagonian experiences in
both Chile and Argentina. Costa Rica is on
everyone’s radar, where popular eco-resort Lapa
Rios on the Osa Peninsula has had a redesign
and Nayara Tented Camp in the Arenal Volcano
National Park breaks in to the scene. In Belize,
modern luxury resort Alaia will be Marriott’s
first property in the country, opening under the
Autograph Collection brand.

Two casualties of Hurricane Irma will make a
comeback: Le Guanahani in St. Barths and
Rosewood Little Dix Bay in the British Virgin
Islands. Bishop’s Lodge, 100 years old and
situated near Sante Fe, New Mexico, is
undergoing a refurbishment program as part of
the Auberge Resorts Collection; while in
California’s Napa Valley the new Four Seasons
resort will be situated in a world-class vineyard.
And finally to New York City where, hopefully
in time for Christmas, Aman is coming to town,
describing itself as an urban sanctuary and an
“architectural icon.” No pressure, then.

AND BABY CAME TOO
Many destinations now provide
special services with the youngest
guests in mind. At Four Seasons
Resort Maui in Hawaii,
complimentary amenities for babies
include playpens, bottle warmers,
organic bath products, diapers, rocking
chairs and baby swings. The Breakers
Palm Beach offers a childproofing
service in its rooms for infants and
toddlers, upon request.

WHAT’S COOKING?
In Italy, anyone interested in learning
to cook the way ‘mamma’ does should
look at Cesarine, a booking platform
for classes with local home cooks
across Italy. In Florence or Lake
Como this summer you can book a
Kids’ Pasta Making Class, which
teaches young chefs how to prepare
two different types of pasta.