18 Exciting Hotels Opening in 2018
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With another year come hundreds of new hotels opening across the globe. In honor of 2018, here are of the 18 most exciting new hotels to look out for in the year ahead. Many of these participate in one of the major hotel points programs like Hilton Honors or Marriott Rewards, but there are also several that were just too thrilling to leave out.
Because hotels are usually categorized as travel purchases, even if you won’t earn points with a hotel loyalty program on a stay, you can still earn bonus points by paying for your reservations using a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Citi Premier® Card. Don’t forget about Citi Prestige’s 4th Night Free benefit, or consider booking through Fine Hotels & Resorts if you have the Platinum Card® from American Express for extra perks like on-property credits and free breakfast.
While these are hotels are pegged to open in 2018, opening dates are always subject to change. Because of how far in advance this is of some of the properties' debuts, points and category information isn't yet available for all of them.
In the meantime, here’s our list, presented in order of opening date.
1. The Setai Tel Aviv
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Opening: Early 2018
Number of rooms: 120
Flyers soon might have yet another reason to check out El Al’s natty new business class. Israel is getting its second Setai property (the other is on the Sea of Galilee) and the third location globally with the opening of this urban resort on Tel Aviv’s seashore in January.
The location is on a historic site called Kishle, which was originally a 13th-century crusader fort and then an Ottoman prison. London-based firm Ara Design, along with Feigin Architects, incorporated many of the original building features. Guest rooms have original stone walls, timber from the building’s roof was salvaged to construct the hotel’s bar, and elements like lacquered walls, Ottoman calligraphy and intricate carpets all pay homage to the building’s history.
Guests will also find contemporary amenities such as free Wi-Fi and international calling, in-room iPads, Nespresso machines and electronically operated LED-glass privacy partitions in the bathrooms. Rooms in premium categories will have uninterrupted views of the Mediterranean and the hotel’s infinity pool.
The Setai will have a business lounge, spaces for events and meetings, a spa with its own Turkish hammam and a restaurant serving locally sourced contemporary Mediterranean cuisine.
The Setai will be a member of Leading Hotels of the World, so keep an eye out for earning and benefits opportunities with that affiliate program’s Leaders Club.
Opening rates start at $400 per night.
2. Pestana Amsterdam Riverside Hotel
Location: Amsterdam
Opening: February 2018
Number of rooms: 154
Portuguese chain Pestana is starting the new year with a new hotel in Amsterdam’s trendy De Pijp neighborhood. The hotel will be housed in the former Amstel town hall and archive building, which was built between 1889 and 1892 and designated a national monument.
Pestana added new wings to accommodate the guest rooms and suites, though, and guests can expect other modern touches such as free Wi-Fi. The hotel’s signature Arc Restaurant will be helmed by chef Peter Lute of LUTE and the Herb Factory, and will be designed by Studio Linse, whose other notable projects include parts of Terminal 1 of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) and RIJKS Restaurant at the Rijksmuseum. The hotel will have a spa with a 13-meter indoor pool and a fitness center.
Opening rates start at $260 per night.
3. Hilton Lake Como
Location: Como, Italy
Opening: Feb. 1, 2018
Number of rooms: 170
One of Italy’s, if not Europe’s, most iconic leisure destinations will be home to one of the world’s newest Hiltons once this hotel opens on Lake Como’s western shore in February.
Guest rooms look simple but stylish with a color palette of white, taupe and turquoise reflecting the natural scenery outside. Standard amenities like 40-inch HDTVs and high-speed Wi-Fi will also be included.
The hotel will have three dining outlets. On the ground floor, Satin will be the all-day restaurant including a breakfast buffet; Taffeta will offer an international à la carte menu and a whiskey bar; and Terrazza 241, opening in March, will serve local dishes and Italian wines. There will also be a rooftop infinity pool, a health club and a signature Hilton-branded eforea Spa and Health Club.
Winter rates start at 119 euros ($140.50) or 32,000 to 37,000 points.
4. andBeyond Bateleur Camp
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
Opening: March 7, 2018
Number of rooms: 18
This is actually a reopening rather than an all-new opening, but it's been on our radar because Bateleur Camp is one of Africa’s most iconic safari camps and is a stone’s throw from where the final scene of Out of Africa was shot.
The refurbishment and reopening will be staggered over six months, with the north section of the camp closing from Nov. 1 to March 7 and the south camp closing from Jan. 7 to June 8. The guest tents will be expanded to 1,044 square feet each of indoor and outdoor space with refurbished interiors, verandas with built-in daybeds for leisurely wildlife watching and en-suite bathrooms with private stone courtyards and both indoor and outdoor showers.
Among the new public facilities guests can look forward to are two swimming pools complete with a deck for al fresco dining, a coffee bar that converts into a gin bar by night, a fitness center, a massage sala and a shop selling local handicrafts.
5. Six Senses Fiji
Location: Fiji
Opening: April 14, 2018
Number of rooms: 41
High-end spa and resort chain Six Senses (perhaps you’ve visited one of their facilities at Etihad’s premium lounges in Abu Dhabi) is heading to Fiji early in 2018 with the opening of its latest tropical hotel.
The Six Senses Fiji will be located on its own private beach on Malolo Island, a 30-minute boat ride from the island that's home to Nadi International Airport (NAN). It will have 26 bures, or villas, each with its own plunge pool, and 60 residential villas ranging from three to five bedrooms. Guests will be able to enjoy sustainably sourced (much of it from the resort’s own gardens) local dishes at the resort’s restaurant, which will also showcase a chef’s tasting table and a wine cellar.
Speaking of sustainability, the resort will be 100% solar-powered and will have the first microgrid in the world to use Tesla batteries. Guests will notice nearby reforestation to offset the wood used in construction, among other initiatives. Spa and wellness are the focus at Six Senses, and the Integrated Wellness program will see the staff tailor a regimen of exercise, yoga, meditation and spa treatments for each guest.
Opening rates are not yet published.
6. W Brisbane
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Opening: March 15, 2018
Number of rooms: 312
Brisbane is quickly becoming one of Australia’s hottest destinations, thanks to a thriving arts scene and major property development in the city center. So it should come as no surprise that the city will be home to one of the world’s newest W Hotels when this one opens in March.
The W Brisbane will have all the usual W amenities, such as a FIT gym and an AWAY spa, though this spa will have unique features like relaxation pods, a salt-inhalation room and “experience showers” that have yet to be fully explained. The pool will also have a WET Deck around its pool for casual dining and events.
Guest-room photos are not yet available, but the décor is said to have been “inspired by Queensland’s heritage and laid-back Aussie vibes.” Rooms will have views of the Brisbane River and offer creature comforts such as W Beds with 350-thread-count sheets, 55-inch LED flat-screen TVs, Bowers & Wilkins Bluetooth speakers and Bliss bath amenities.
Reservations and opening rates are not yet available.
7. Baglioni Resort Maldives
Location: Maagau Island, Maldives
Opening: March 2018
Number of rooms: 96
You might think there’d be no room for more luxury hotels in the Maldives, but you’d be wrong. Italian luxury chain Baglioni will open its first non-European property in this tropical paradise this spring with an all-new resort 40 minutes by seaplane from Malé.
The 96 villas will be set in gardens, on the beach or, as is typical of this Indian Ocean archipelago, over the water. The resort will also have its own PADI five-star dive center, a house reef for less intense watersports like snorkeling and paddleboarding, and a spa set in the jungle, complete with its own yoga pavilion. There will be four restaurants, including a casual pool bar, another serving Japanese food and a third specializing in, of course, Italian cuisine.
Opening rates are not yet available.
8. Eaton DC
Location: Washington, DC
Opening: Late Spring 2018
Number of rooms: 209
Representing the revival of a moribund brand owned by Langham Hospitality Group, Eaton Workshop is the brainchild of Katherine Lo, daughter of Langham CEO and billionaire Lo Ka Shui.
The Washington location will be the first of four so-called “activist hotels,” with follow-ups designated for Hong Kong, San Francisco and Seattle. Lest you think you’ll be handed a picket sign or a petition upon check-in, the form of activism Lo is pursuing includes cultural activities and programming, guest speakers, wellness events, concerts and more in its mission to “foster creativity and consciousness-building,” according to a company release.
Among the amenities planned for the inaugural hotel are two rooms designed as visual-arts studios, a 50-person screening room, a radio station, a wellness center including a yoga studio and treatments like sound baths and Reiki massage, a co-working space and a food-and-beverage program created by local restaurateurs.
Opening rates start at $350 per night.
9. Hôtel Lutetia
Location: Paris
Opening: Spring 2018
Number of rooms: 184
One of Paris’s more understated luxury hotels, the Hôtel Lutetia dates to 1910 and has hosted the likes of James Joyce (who wrote part of Ulysses while staying here), Picasso, Matisse and Josephine Baker. This Left Bank grande dame has been undergoing a four-year over-$100 million renovation, but will be ready for her close-up come spring.
The 184 accommodations will include six individually designed signature suites, some with their own private terraces with views of the City of Light. The hotel’s new food and beverage outlets will include a Jazz Bar, the Salon Saint-Germain, the Orangerie, a lounge and open-air courtyard, and the new Salon Crystal, all of which will be under the direction of Benjamin Brial. The landmark Lutetia Brasserie, meanwhile, will be reopened and overseen by chef Gérald Passedat, who holds three Michelin stars in France.
The hotel will reopen under the aegis of The Set Hotels (they also own London’s Hotel Café Royal and Amsterdam’s Conservatorium), so the spa will be one of their signature Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centres with six treatment rooms and a 17-meter swimming pool lit by natural daylight, not to mention a gym, a wet area with a sauna, Jacuzzi, indoor waterfall and changing rooms with private steam rooms.
Opening rates are not yet available.
10. Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
Location: Los Cabos, Mexico
Opening: Mid-2018
Number of rooms: 115
This will be just the fourth property in Ritz-Carlton’s vaunted Reserve collection and the second one in North America (the other is Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico). Ritz-Carlton says the oceanfront beach resort will open early in the year, but details are still scarce.
We do know there will be 115 villas, all of which will be serviced by private butlers, and many will have private pools. Guests will be able to take advantage of two championship golf courses, and there will be a desert botanical garden on the property. Based on other Reserve locations, guests can expect a full-service spa with destination-specific treatments and several restaurants ranging from a casual poolside bar and grill to high-end Mexican fine dining.
However, as is the case with the other Reserve properties, it’s unlikely the hotel will allow Ritz-Carlton Rewards points redemptions for the foreseeable future.
11. Alila Villas Koh Russey
Location: Cambodia
Opening: Mid-2018
Number of rooms: 50
Asian luxury brand Alila has been expanding its footprint dramatically lately, adding hotels in Bali, India and Oman to its burgeoning portfolio. One of the next to open its doors will be this luxury retreat on a quiet island off Cambodia’s coast.
Alila Villas Koh Russey will have 50 pavilions spread out among four buildings. Three buildings will be set among the resort’s tropical gardens, while the fourth will overlook the ocean. There will also be 13 individual one-, two- and four-bedroom villas with their own swimming pools. The architecture and interior design were inspired by traditional Khmer structures and patterned Krama textiles, incorporating hardwood floors, volcanic-stone surfaces, wooden screens and silk upholstering.
Among the other amenities will be several restaurants and bars, including the poolside Horizon, serving French fusion cuisine and farm-to-table specialties. Guests will be able to enjoy yoga and tai chi classes at the gym, watersports just off the beach, a 30-meter beachfront swimming pool with couples-only alcoves, a luxury boutique and a kids club, as well as a spa with a variety of treatments that incorporate traditional herbs and local ingredients like coconut oil and aloe vera.
Opening rates are not available yet.
12. Times Square Edition
Location: New York City
Opening: Mid-2018
Number of rooms: 457
Marriott already fields a franchise of its chic Edition brand over on Madison Avenue, but the new Times Square Edition will be located on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street right in the heart of Manhattan. You won’t be able to miss it, thanks to an 18,000-square-foot LED display on the façade.
Guest rooms are expected to be located on floors 14 through 40 (out of 42) with hotel amenities on the seventh through 12th floors. Among those amenities will be a 5,000-square-foot performance space, a meeting studio, a fully equipped fitness center and a lobby lounge at the check-in level, as well as an all-day restaurant, a higher-end signature restaurant and a beer garden and event deck overlooking Times Square.
Opening rates are not yet public.
13. Waldorf Astoria Bangkok
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Opening: Aug. 1, 2018
Number of rooms: 170
Hilton’s high-end Waldorf Astoria brand is arriving in Southeast Asia with this new property located between Bangkok’s Chit Lom and Ratchadamri BTS mass transit stations, which means it will be an easy ride on the Skytrain from the city’s airport (BKK).
The hotel, designed by architects Andre Fu and AVROKO, will be part of the mixed-use Magnolias Ratchadamri Development tower. It will field six restaurants and bars, including one called the Loft on the 56th-floor rooftop, the reservation-only Champagne Bar on the 57th floor, and another called Front Room that will serve Thai-Nordic fusion cuisine. The Waldorf Spa will have three private treatment rooms with services that focus on Thai massage, while an open-air infinity pool will offer private cabanas and adjoin the hotel’s fitness center.
Guest rooms will start at over 500 square feet with floor-to-ceiling windows, amenities like 49-inch televisions and espresso machines, and a décor palette of gold accents reminiscent of the Thai royal palace’s gilded roof.
Rates in August start at $230 or 59,000 Honors points.
14. Capella Ubud
Location: Bali, Indonesia
Opening: Mid-2018
Number of rooms: 23
Luxury company Capella is opening a jaw-dropping rainforest retreat in Bali along the sacred Wos River toward the middle of the year. The hotel was designed by Bill Bensley, the man behind landmark Asian hotel projects like the Four Seasons Tented Camp in Thailand and the Park Hyatt Siem Reap in Cambodia.
It will consist of 22 kitted-out luxury tents. Each accommodation will have its own private, saltwater plunge pool, indoor-outdoor bathrooms and two outdoor decks. The jungle-fabulous décor includes touches like traditionally carved four-poster beds with mosquito netting and hand-beaten copper tubs.
The resort will have a Library lounge, gym and 30-meter outdoor pool. The several dining options will include a barbecue where the chefs will fire up typical Asian street food, a casual all-day dining room and signature experiences like dining out in the nearby rainforest or rice paddies. Guests will also be able to unwind in the on-property Auriga Spa.
Opening rates are not yet available.
15. Rosewood Hong Kong
Location: Hong Kong
Opening: Late 2018
Number of rooms: 398
In a city as hotel-saturated as Hong Kong, it can be hard to generate buzz for a new property. Unless, of course, that hotel is part of rapidly expanding luxury chain Rosewood, whose 2017 openings included a revamp of the storied Hôtel de Crillon in Paris and the Rosewood Puebla outside Mexico City.
The brand is coming to Hong Kong in 2018 with the debut of a soaring new tower near the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront in Kowloon, across from that other Hong Kong landmark the Peninsula. Tony Chi, whose work you might recognize from the Andaz 5th Avenue, the Park Hyatt Shanghai and Rosewood’s own 2013 London property, is overseeing the design with a focus on the brand’s signature Senses of Place concept.
The hotel will be composed of 27 floors and offer eight dining outlets, a gym and swimming pool, a holistic spa and the Manor Club executive lounge. The 199 residences will be located on the top 19 floors of the building, some of which will have outdoor terraces.
No word on an exact opening date or pricing yet.
16. Downtown LA Proper Hotel
Location: Los Angeles
Opening: Late 2018
Number of rooms: 148
From the creators of the Viceroy Hotel Group, the ethos behind this new, hip minichain is to build city hotels that provide guests with a proper experience including proper dining, proper amenities and … well, you get it. The first Proper Hotel opened in San Francisco last summer, with more locations planned for Austin, Santa Monica and Downtown LA.
That last one will be housed in the historic 13-story red-brick YWCA building on Broadway and 11th Street, built in 1924. Proper hired interior designer Kelly Wearstler, whose other notable projects include the Four Seasons Anguilla and The Tides South Beach, to oversee the design work for the entire group, so visitors can expect her signature whimsical mid-century look. Among the unique flourishes: The original basketball court will be turned into a screening room, and a library with eye-catching original ceiling frescoes will occupy pride of place on the fourth floor. There will also be three restaurants, a fitness center and a rooftop pool and lounge.
No opening rates yet.
17. Grand Hyatt Bogotá
Location: Bogotá, Colombia
Opening: Late 2018
Number of rooms: 373
Colombia has quickly become one of the hottest destinations in the Americas, let alone South America, so no wonder the major hotel chains have all been making plays here lately.
The country’s capital will be home to a major new Hyatt property later in the year, when the Grand Hyatt opens in the new Ciudad Empresarial Sarmiento Angulo development in Bogotá’s Ciudad Salitre neighborhood. The plans look stunning, with an elliptical footprint with an open central atrium. The room breakdown will include 50 suites, 211 king rooms and 112 double rooms with 64 Grand Club and nine handicapped-accessible rooms among them, all with floor-to-ceiling windows, 55-inch flat-screen TVs and coffeemakers, among other amenities.
The hotel will have two restaurants, including one serving Colombian cuisine, plus a lobby bar and lounge and a patisserie. The full-service spa will have nine private treatment rooms plus two specialty suites, a dry sauna, steam room, Turkish bath, hydrotherapy and a salon for beauty treatments.
Opening rates are not yet available, and it has not yet been placed into a World of Hyatt category.
18. 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Opening: Late 2018
Number of rooms: 120
An American boutique chain, 21c Museum Hotels specializes in restoring or repurposing historic buildings such as banks or warehouses into hotels that double as contemporary-art galleries. The company currently has properties in Bentonville, Arkansas; Cincinnati, Ohio; Durham, North Carolina; Lexington, Kentucky; Louisville, Kentucky (the first); Nashville, Tennessee; and Oklahoma City.
The next hotel is set to open in Kansas City’s landmark Savoy Hotel and Grill sometime in 2018 after a redesign overseen by Deborah Berke Partners. The hotel will house 120 rooms, including the 21c Suite, which will come with its own private rooftop terrace. The property will also field a chef-driven restaurant, a fitness center and over 6,200 square feet of exhibition space in which to showcase contemporary artists.
Opening rates are not yet available.
Featured image of Alila Villas Koh Russey courtesy of Alila Hotels.
