24-04-2025
The best new hotels of the year revealed by Conde Nast Traveller - from as little as £150
Glossy holiday bible Conde Nast Traveller has unveiled its pick of the best new hotels around the world - including some surprisingly low cost options.
The brand published the Hot List 2025 after its experts spent a year travelling the globe to find the best new openings - including a Saudi hotel that transformed an abandoned mud-brick village, a pretty coaching inn in the Peak District and an Art Deco abode in the Big Apple.
Three British hotels make the cut, including the glitzy Mandarin Oriental in London 's Mayfair - a sister hotel for the upscale chain's Knightsbridge property. The new hotel, a stone's throw from London's tourist centre, features hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper, Technogym work-out equipment and an 82-foot pool.
Across the Pond, there's two new openings that have impressed in New York, including the spruced up Upper East Side's The Surrey, which dates back to 1926.
Conde Nast Traveller's writer says the Art Deco decor in the Manhattan property is a vision of 'geometric details and muted pastels', with rooms coming in at £773.
Across town in SoHo, The Manner is also big on swish retro, with guests checking in described as being everyone 'from 20-somethings attending Fashion Week parties to chic married couples reading by the fire, everyone here is either good-looking, interesting, or both.' A stay costs a cool £618 per night.
There's been plenty of new openings in classic Med destinations in recent years and Conde Nast Traveller singles out its new favourites in the list, including a new One&Only property on the lesser known Greek island of Kea in the Cyclades.
Rooms start from £1,415 but guests are afforded unbridled five-star luxury, with perks including Mediterranean-Asian fusion cuisine, the hotel brand's largest spa to date and even the chance to charter a 1967 yacht for a day.
Prague continues to be one of Europe's most popular city breaks - and trendy hotel brand W has opened up in an Art Nouveau gem in the city
Accommodation at One&Only Kea Island puts privacy first too; Conde Nast Traveller says: 'Tranquility is key; rooms are more like individual villas, and have private patios, secluded balconies, and 24- and 29.5-foot infinity pools'.
Several properties on the uber stylish list are under £200, including The Standard in Singapore, where rooms start from £156.
A new Austrian bolt-hole from trendy hotel brand The Hoxton group marries style with affordability.
The Hoxton Vienna has rooms from £161 a night in the heart of the popular city break destination, with highlights including a Cuban-inspired rooftop bar and terrazzo-floored lobby, says Conde Nast.
Another mountainous destination features albeit it with a home-grown twist.
Welsh-born hotelier Grant Maunder is behind The Brecon, which sits not in Wales but in the Swiss Alpine village of Adelboden.
The adults-only hotel is fully inclusive, with rooms starting at £650.
Grant describes his latest opening as 'Swelsh' - a Swiss Welsh hybrid - although Dutch-based designers Nicemakers are behind the hotel's look.
Owners of Le Dune Piscinas in Sardinia, Italy, spent three years refurbishing the island hideaway
Two properties in Saudi also feature, as the Middle Eastern destination continues to try and woo Western tourists to the ultra conservative country with the promise of luxury.
Dar Tantora The House Hotel has transformed 30 'abandoned mud-brick dars' into a premium stay in the ancient town of AlUla. Rooms at the red-hued hotel start from £462.
Also in Saudi is a new Ritz-Carlton venture, which sits pretty on the Ummahat Islands, which have been dubbed the 'new Maldives'.
Virgin Atlantic gave the destination a boost after announcing new flights to Riyadh, with Sir Richard Branson jetting into the Saudi capital this week on his Virgin Airbus A330 to promote the new route.
