the hotel openings we're excited about in 2026
It’s a big year for hotel openings. There’s a major US debut, a long-awaited Riviera revival, and a headline-stealing move from one of France’s most beloved brands. Across the calendar, from spring launches in Venice and Comporta to Alpine openings and a standout new arrival in Miami, each project feels like a marker of where to travel in 2026.
Opens January
Palm Beach is never short on openings, but The Vineta is the one everyone has been talking about. A 100-year-old landmark reworked by the Oetker Hotels, it pairs old-school glamour with poolside ease and the brand’s famously polished service. Parisian designer Tino Zervudachi brings in the creamy nostalgia, sunshine palette and coastal elegance – all without tipping into pastiche. Consider it the South Florida dose of European hotel culture the US has been waiting for.
Opens January
The Swiss village of Sils Maria has long drawn a cultural crowd, but Chesa Marchetta gives the Engadin a new reason to reroute. Artfarm (Hauser & Wirth’s hospitality arm) has taken over a 16th-century guesthouse and kept all the good bones: sgraffito walls, creaky floors, and rooms filled with antiques carved from arven wood. A small 13-key spot with big art charm, plus a restaurant led by Davide Degiovanni dishing up a menu of Alpine staples with a Northern Italy lens.
Opens April
Airelles is finally leaving France – and Venice is its first stop. Taking over a storied palazzo – the restored former Bauer Palladio Complex – on the quiet island of Giudecca, the group is bringing its signature old-world polish (embroidered linens, patterned fabrics, beautifully indulgent rooms, and three pools) to one of the city’s most charming canal-side corners. Expect frescoed ceilings, waterfront breakfasts and that unmistakable Airelles sense of service.
Opens May
Zannier is leading the revival of the French Riviera’s private Île de Bendor. After a five year transformation, the tiny Provençal island – first brought to life in 1950 by Marseille-born pastis pioneer, Paul Ricard – will reopen as a beautiful boutique hotel spread across charming village buildings, complete with a beach club, diving centre, wellness space and eight restaurants (including a second iteration of Menorca’s Nonna Bazaar).
Opens May
Wildland’s most ambitious project yet lands in the far North of Scotland and rewrites what a Highlands escape looks like. Think restored crofts, contemporary cottages and a low-slung adventure centre shaped by Cecil & Boyd, all threaded through peatrich moorland, ancient lochs and a UNESCO geopark. Rewilding isn’t a buzzword here – it really is the whole point. The result is a soulful, design-led base for people who want to discover Scotland beyond the more trodden path.
Opens May
From the force behind much-loved Alentejo farm stay São Lourenço do Barrocal comes Na Praia, a coastal project a decade in the making. Set on a wild stretch just north of Comporta, the beachy hotel is shaped entirely by its surroundings: ocean, dunes and estuary. Studio KO and Doxiadis+ help steer the architecture, keeping everything natural and fiercely protected: low-profile buildings, dune-washed colours and privacy.
Opens December
Singita’s first Botswana opening is big news. Elela sits in a private concession of the Okavango Delta, with year-round access to the region’s shifting wetlands and wildlife-rich islands. Eight circular camps will be connected by walkways above the floodplains, focusing on flow (its namesake), landscape and community. More than another safari camp, it’s a marker of Singita’s pledge to a 100-year purpose of protecting tracts of African wilderness and one to keep pinned for the year to come.
Katharine Sohn
Formerly at Condé Nast Traveller, Katharine has a knack for the kinds of stays you want to keep to yourself – off-radar hotels with soul and a great hotel bar (ideally one that serves a proper Negroni and has a bowl of fun matchsticks). Based in the Cotswolds but often plotting the next escape, she’s built an arsenal of low-key travel intel (think locals-only beaches in Greece, where to find real cowboys in Wyoming) and a serious Google Maps archive of stocked delis, espresso bars, and cool souvenir shops. A branding obsessive and avid film photographer, she captures her travels through the little things – swirling spaghetti, signage, linen labels – and always leaves room in her bag for the merch.
