Hot New Hotels

In spite of the global economic downturn, top hotels have been springing up around the world. Here are the properties you’ll need to know about now.

Scotland

Last month, The Rezidor Hotel Group opened its first property in collaboration with Italian luxury fashion group Missoni. The Hotel Missoni Edinburgh has 136 rooms and suites, some of which offer views over the city landmarks and the Royal Mile. The hotel’s seven suites range in size from 474 square feet to the 721-square-foot Suite d’Argento.

Accommodations include linens from Missoni Home, bathrobes and slippers created exclusively by Missoni for the hotel, 26-inch LCD TVs and toiletries scented with a Missoni fragrance. Bathrooms feature a rain shower with a bench seat.

Rates start at about $335 per night, and include a complimentary breakfast, high-speed wireless Internet, over 100 films on demand, a minibar, two items of laundry and special Missoni toiletries. Contact Director of Sales Tracy Solly, 011-44-131-220-6666, [email protected].

St. Tropez

In June La Réserve opened its third property, La Réserve Ramatuelle, just minutes from St. Tropez in June, with 23 rooms in the hotel, 13 treatment rooms in the spa and 12 Mediterranean villas. Each of the hotel’s seven rooms and 16 suites has a private terrace or garden.

The resort’s spa offers individual treatments from La Mer, but its specialty is an innovative six-day program that gives guests a plan to promote wellness. After a consultation with an onsite expert, guests are prescribed a combination of spa treatments, an exercise regime, meal planning and stress-reducing practices. Spanning over 10,000 square feet, the spa has an indoor pool with a jet lane, an outdoor pool and pool house, a steam bath, and a fitness center.

Rates start at $565 for Superior Rooms and $2,119 for Suites; the price includes breakfast and complimentary soft drinks from the minibar. Villas start at $5,652 for one night or $21,195 for seven nights. Contact General Manager Franck Brionne at 011-33-4-9444-9444.

Turkey

At $1.4 billion, Mardan Palace, which opened in May in Antalya is reportedly the most expensive hotel in Europe, and arguably the most luxurious hotel in all of Turkey.

Combining more than 100,000 square feet of gold trimming and almost 250,000 square feet of Italian marble, the hotel appears like a gilded wedding cake, our sources say. The five-acre swimming pool is one of the largest in the Mediterranean.

Two of the property’s 560 rooms are Royal Suites that average $18,000 per night. Exclusive Hermès amenities are used for all rooms, while 24-hour butler service is provided to guests in suites and villas. Musicians serenade spa-goers into the traditional Turkish Hammam; gondoliers glide along the resort’s onsite river; and a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus will endear this property to just about every kind of traveler.

The 80,729-square-foot spa and fitness area includes a massage area with treatment room and a mud bath chamber, and a Medical Spa with treatment rooms, a doctor’s office and a laboratory. The general manager is Cumhur Ozen, 011-90-242-310-41-00.

Prague

In May, the Rocco Forte Collection unveiled its 12th property, The Augustine,  promoting it as “Europe’s most beautiful luxury hotel.” The hotel is situated in the historical area of Prague known as Malá Strana, close to the Charles Bridge, just below Prague Castle and next to the famous Wallenstein Gardens.

The 101-room property was created from a complex of six historic buildings, including a former brewery and the 13th-century Augustinian St. Thomas’ Monastery. Cloistered terraces, wooden ceilings, wine vaults and stone arches have been incorporated into the hotel’s design.

Guests booking suites can enjoy the Rocco Forte Suite Experience, which includes in-room check-in, complimentary packing and unpacking, breakfast, Internet and in-house movies, dry-cleaning and complimentary use of a mobile phone for local calls. Contact Tanja Pijfers, director of sales & marketing, at [email protected].

Seville

The Gran Meliá Colón opened earlier this year after an extensive and massive overhaul. The hotel now has an adults-only boutique hotel-within-a-hotel known as the Red Level, with 43 luxury rooms spread out across seven floors. Perks on these floors include an in-room Nespresso coffee machine and access to a private lounge with its own concierge.

The 1,000-square-foot rooftop spa has five treatment rooms, and guests can enjoy treatments in the privacy of their rooms. Be sure to reserve treatments two weeks in advance to get the best time slot.

Michelin-star chef Dani Garcia’s El Burladero, Tapas y Tintos restaurant at the hotel  is billed as an “ultramodern tapas bar.”

For hotel reservations, agents should call 011-34-954-505599.

Bermuda

Bermuda’s first luxury hotel in 37 years, Tucker’s Point Hotel & Spa has 88 rooms and suites in the Manor House, situated above Castle Harbour. The five-fixture bathrooms have deep soaking tubs, and expansive balconies and terraces let guests enjoy the view. Suites have wet bars with icemakers; many have fireplaces and such unusual amenities as walking sticks, butterfly nets and straw sunhats.

Apart from massages and body therapies, the Spa at Tucker’s Point also has men’s barber services. A 1,900-square-foot Fitness Centre has equipment from Life Fitness, Tuff Stuff, and private wellness and conditioning instruction. Kayaks, motorboats, windsurfers and scuba instructors are available through The Dive Shop and Watersports Center. Guests sail aboard the Tidal Pull to visit shipwrecks, underwater caves and a coral reef.

Tucker’s Point is offering an introductory rate of $450 per room, per night as well as a series of packages through August 31. Contact Wendy Zapach, director of sales and marketing, at 441-298-4000

New York

New York city’s iconic Pierre Hotel reopened June 1 after a $100 million renovation that gave the historic property new guestrooms and bath interiors and reconfigured the first-floor public areas to accommodate a new restaurant and lobby lounge. The new and improved Pierre has 140 guest rooms and 49 suites with personal terraces, ideal for entertaining.

The hotel also has a new watering hole: Two E, which offers classic cocktails, a coffee bar and light meals from executive chef Stephane Becht. Every afternoon, Two E offers Afternoon Tea from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., with a choice of Traditional Tea Service with finger sandwiches, scones with Devonshire Cream and Meyer Lemon Curd and pastries; or Sweet Tea Service, with baked scones and pastries. Contact Director of Sales and Marketing Pamela Feick at [email protected].

Atlanta

The W Atlanta-Downtown offers a nature- inspired design. The hotel has 237 guest rooms, 74 branded residences, four destination bars, a zero-edge pool, a Bliss Spa, a fitness facility with panoramic city views, 9,000 square feet of meeting and event space and a private helipad.
 A garden wall and curved seating offers intimate nooks in the hotel’s Living Room, while a 22-foot waterfall ends in an onyx reflecting pool.

The 16th floor has several amenities, including The Bar at Wet, a zero-edge pool, a fitness facility and a Bliss Spa. Contact General Manager Tim Dahlen at 404-582-5800 or [email protected].

Mexico

Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort is one of the newest luxury hotels in the Riviera Maya. Already a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, the resort is located on the Playa del Carmen.

It has 493 suites with flat-screen TVs, a $15 million, 89,000-square-foot spa, butler concierge services and terraces with ocean or jungle views. The best rooms at the property are the 90 oceanfront Ambassador Grand Class Suites located in the adults-only area of the hotel. The 1,377-square-foot suites come with a private plunge pool on the terrace overlooking the ocean.

Agents should call Raquel Tacher, director of sales, at 011-52-984-877-4400, ext. 83101, or [email protected]. Agents can also call Mercedes Nava, reservations manager, at 011-52-984-877-4400, ext.80400 or [email protected]. 

—additional reporting by Joe Pike