New hotels to add to your travel wish list for 2016: from New York to Bali

With another busy year of openings ahead, Juliet Kinsman has cherry-picked the best addresses to add to your wish list
Bed in: Brody Villa, Budapest
Juliet Kinsman5 January 2016

Brody Villa
Budapest, Hungary

The sister property of bohemian bolthole Brody House, this 19th-century villa in the hills above the Hungarian capital is scheduled to open on May 1. Original features of this six-room historic home include stained-glass windows, Transylvanian marble and parquet floors. Add to this the creative spirit of a team behind the city’s hippest hotel and the kind of cocktails that win its arts club Brody Studios awards, then throw in a charming winter garden and an indoor swimming pool. Where do we sign?

Casa Bonay
Barcelona

Fashion designers have styled the wallpapers; tiled floors and fireplaces have been restored; coffee beans are roasted in-house; an indie publisher curated the books and there are cold-pressed juices and vegan snacks for sale. Detect a hint of Brooklyn in this 1869-built beauty in architecturally interesting Dreta de l’Eixample? That’s because Studio Tack, a creative collective from NYC, is behind the interiors of this soon-to-open 67-room hotel. There will also be Elephant-Crocodile-Monkey, a “Mediterrasian” restaurant, and a rooftop as suited to cocktails as pilates classes.

Casa Bonay, Barcelona

Generator Amsterdam
Netherlands

Hip hostels are more in demand than ever, and budget-minded, style-seeking travellers can set their sights on these designer digs opening in the Dutch capital in the spring. Overlooking Oosterpark, the University of Amsterdam’s health sciences and zoological department will be reborn as 168 twin and quadruple bunk rooms. The lecture hall will be a lounge bar; the library is the new private meeting space, and the boiler room will be the secret space to seek out for cocktails. Student life has never been so swanky.


Amastan
Paris

A cultured new lifestyle hotel between rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and the Avenue des Champs-Elysées will be a welcome addition to the 8th arrondissement when it opens in February. Creative in spirit, with considered interiors from NOCC design studio, this will be the flagship of the new Amastan brand. Of the 24 bedrooms be sure to book into one with a private balcony. If you’re keener to see and be seen, make your way to Anouk, the hotel’s exclusive bar and nightspot. Alternatively, hide away with a book from the double-height library or admire the pop-up art installations in the project space.

Martinhal Lisbon & Martinhal Cascais Family Resort Hotel
Portugal

This spring, the chic Chiado district of Portugal’s capital launches the second outpost of the Sagres resort that has proven a huge hit with discerning families. Then comes a new resort in the pretty seaside town of Cascais, just half an hour from the city. Both luxe hubs will be a dream ticket for parents who want a grown-up getaway with all the child-friendly trimmings, plus easy access to the city.

Sunny side up: the Martinhal Cascais, Portugal

The Katamama
Bali

Traditional art and craftsmanship are the hallmarks of this upscale resort coming to Seminyak, Bali’s prestigious parcel of southern coastline, in January. It’s the first foray into accommodation from local party hangout Potato Head Beach Club and the intended vibe of this 58-suite stay will be a stylish home-from-home for creatives. Design, fashion, music, gastronomy and mixology are the themes and you can bet the one-bedroom penthouses will be the biggest hits with visiting glitterati.

Delano Cartagena
Cartagena, Colombia

A new beach development, Mar de Indias, on the outskirts of colonial Cartagena, is the latest destination on Morgans Hotel Group’s radar. When this 186-roomer opens later in the year, it will come complete with luxe ocean-side bungalows and a Caribbean coast beach club to rival its sexy Miami Beach sibling. The hotel will share use of Mar de Indias’s golf club and spa, too.

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The Williamsburg Hotel
New York

North Williamsburg’s Wythe Avenue is fast becoming a strip of hip Brooklyn hangouts. The 150 rooms and suites opening in spring have been designed by Britain’s Michaelis Boyd of Babington House and Soho House Berlin acclaim, with great leather furniture from London’s Bill Amberg. Manhattan skyline lovers have a rooftop pool to pose in, plus there will be the area’s first ballroom, a restaurant and three bars. We’re keen to try the one in a replica water tower which pays tribute to this once-industrial NYC hub where those iconic wooden water towers were originally constructed.

Los Angeles Freehand
California

Having been treated to an impressive new Ace and The Line in Koreatown, Downtown LA will next summer welcome a 1920s steel-and-concrete office block that’s being converted into a branch of this budget brand currently flourishing in Miami and Chicago. What gives Freehand an edge? “It is designed as a place for people who want to interact with other guests and with locals,” says CEO, Andrew Zobler. “It’s set up for people who want to have experiences as opposed to people who just want to sleep and get in and out.”

Limalimo Lodge
Simien Mountains, Ethiopia

This 14-room luxury lodge looking out over the Simien Mountains will be a first of its kind when it opens in March in northern Ethiopia. Trek through Unesco-protected parkland and camp under the stars as part of your adventure in this rugged landscape. Contemporary architecture employs traditional materials such as rammed earth, wood and thatch to complement the soul-stirring World Heritage setting.

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