When, in April 1933, The New Yorker published a story on the best hotel in the world, their requirements were not extravagant by today’s standards. “Simple in taste, with a good view and an excellent cuisine,” was the recipe for success, the magazine argued. And while today, just shy of a century later, the same requirements still stand, one factor has evolved with time: design.
Great design, like great art or literature, is difficult to define. It contains a cornucopia of meaning: how one feels upon entering a room, what one doesn’t feel when entering that very same room, and more. And while every year it seems as if beautifully designed new hotels are sprouting up across the globe, 2024 feels like a moment in which some of the best have finally opened their doors.
Below, AD examines nine new hotels that, by way of ingenious design, stand above the rest.
The Hotel Maria, Helsinki
While neighboring Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Denmark have a myriad of five-star hotels, Finland had always somehow found itself off of that list. That is, until now. Situated within the classically symmetrical yellow façade of a late-19th-century building, Helsinki’s Hotel Maria is now Finland’s most luxurious hotel. The interiors, which have a muted, silvery-white palette, provide guests with an almost instantaneous calm. The space includes 117 rooms and 38 suites (spa suites have either steam rooms or Finnish saunas), while Hotel Maria’s Garden Terrace has an enclosed, greenhouse-like feel with heated glass for winter and an outdoor courtyard patio for the warmer summer months. But, perhaps, the real star of Hotel Maria is the spa (pictured). Located in the center of the hotel, the serene space is the hearth of the building. The property, which is headed by Finnish developer Sampaa Lajunen (who happens to be a five-time Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing and ski jumping) perfectly blends Nordic hospitality with Finnish art and design.
The Riviera Maya Edition at Kanai, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Ian Schrager’s Edition brand is getting ready to debut its first Caribbean resort on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Fans of the brand and its sleek hotels can expect Edition’s plant-loving aesthetic to be amped up with elements like a bamboo yoga pavilion and timber-covered exterior walls. Designed by Edmonds International, with interiors by Ian Schrager Company in collaboration with AD100 Hall of Fame member Rockwell Group, the resort will be set on a white sand beach within a 620-acre nature reserve.
At Sloane, London
London’s all-new At Sloane hotel can most aptly be described by one word: bold. Nestled within the Belgravia and Chelsea neighborhoods, At Sloane is the perfect hotel for those travelers who demand high-design and pin-perfect location. The building’s exterior is a picturesque red-brick town house while the interiors of At Sloane, designed by Francois-Joseph Graf, are a prevailing ambiance of tactful contemporary chic. The lobby, for example, features a long reception table strewn with magazines and futuristic backgammon and chess sets, all surrounded by beautiful bookshelves. The downstairs contains a sleek British-style speakeasy bar while the top floor houses a one-of-a-kind designed restaurant (pictured). Each of the hotel’s 30 rooms promise something incredible to its guest: a five-star experience in a space that feels like the home you’ve always wanted to live in. That is easy to describe, but almost impossible to pull off.
Warren Street Hotel, New York
New York’s new Warren Street Hotel is an invigorating addition to the city’s Tribeca neighborhood. The hotel’s bright cerulean exterior pops, standing out as a building that commands attention. Once guests step inside, it’s understood why that attention is deserved. Beautifully crafted by Kit Kemp, a British designer known for her fanciful interiors, the flashy patterns and Bucolic ambiance throughout the property is as vibrant as it is creative. The 69-room hotel (each one individually designed) features colorful, mismatched patterns, as well as whimsical Pierre Frey wallpaper. Several rooms offer a private terrace garden with stunning views of lower Manhattan’s skyscrapers. The ground-floor bar and restaurant, with its whimsical design and delicious food, will surely attract locals and tourists alike.
SHA Mexico, Auberge Resorts Collection, Costa Mujeres, Mexico
The distinctive shape of this new resort by pioneering wellness brand SHA was inspired by the human genome. Designed by Mexican architectural firm Sordo Madaleno with interiors by Alejandro Escudero, it features Mexican ceramics, autochthones textiles, wicker, and marble.
Six Senses La Sagesse, Granada
Wellness and sustainability-focused brand Six Senses is set to open their first resort in the Caribbean this spring, with the debut of this property in Granada. Inspired by the heritage of the Spice Island, the resort is designed to resemble a Caribbean village, with an earthy style made using natural, renewable, and repurposed materials.
Hotel Bardo, Savannah
Now open, Hotel Bardo is an urban resort and private club in a 19th-century Southern Gothic structure at the edge of Savannah’s picturesque Forsyth Park. Spread over two acres, the 149-room property features a Mediterranean-inspired outdoor pool and courtyard as well as local elements, including an installation by SCAD professor Kelly Boehmer.
The Ranch Hudson Valley, Sloatsburg, New York
Just 45 minutes from New York City, the newest branch of Malibu’s famous wellness retreat will open on the Table Rock Estate built in 1902 by JP Morgan as a wedding gift for his daughter when she married Alexander Hamilton’s great-grandson. A sensitive restoration by local, family-owned firm Treestone Architecture and Construction in collaboration with AD100 designer Steven Gambrel includes converting the 2,000-square-foot ballroom into a gym.
Royal Mansour Casablanca, Morroco
The Royal Mansour Marrakech—founded by King Mohammed VI—is a triumphant celebration of Moroccan craftsmanship and hospitality, so when it was announced that the brand would expand to Casablanca, the excitement was palpable. Details are scarce, but the new hotel will be a member of the Leading Hotels of the World housed in an iconic building from the 1950s