Top hotel openings to look forward to in 2015
If you're wondering where to go on your next vacation, the following hotel openings may offer some inspiration:
Art hotels
Opening in April in Denver's Golden Triangle Museum District, The Art Hotel will feature hallways and 165 rooms filled with modern art chosen by former Denver Art Museum curator, Dianne Vanderlip, not to mention two galleries with floor-to-ceiling windows helping to illuminate the venue.
The Renwick is slated to open in New York in September 2015 with 173 loft-style guestrooms. Once a long-stay hotel hosting greats like John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Mann, the property will pay homage to these past residents with 1920s innovations designed by Stonehill & Taylor. Framed works are swapped for functional art sourced by local artists, like easel-inspired television stands, carpets that appear like paint-splattered concrete and hand-sculpted pencil sharpeners.
Boutique
Inspired by the Prohibition Era, the Gates Hotel Key West opens in April, and will help guests experience local culture through partnerships with Key West First Legal Rum Distillery, Rodriguez Cigar Factory, Martone Cycling Co and De La Gallery. Don't miss Rum Row, for some rum and cigar pairing.
Wine
Opening in summer 2015, the 5-star Leeu Estate will feature 20 country-inspired rooms on a working wine farm in South Africa’s Franschhoek wine region. One highlight feature — aside for the tasting room — is the Amala wellness sanctuary, with gym, spa and heated pool amongst the vineyards.
The 30-room Monverde wine estate opens in March near Porto — the city famous for port wine — with a spa, pool, wine bar, and a cellar hosting wine classes and wine-making workshops.
Quirky
Featuring two Godzilla themed rooms, Hotel Gracery Shinjuku will open in Tokyo in April on the thirtieth floor of the entertainment complex Shinjuku Toho Building, . Picture Godzilla wall panels with special effects, Godzilla-themed gifts and a window with a vista of Godzilla’s life-size head.
Big Brands
The Four Seasons brand will be expanding with new properties in the Kingdom of Bahrain (early 2015); Casablanca, Morocco (mid 2015); and Ko Olina, Hawaii, Seoul, Korea and Surfside, Florida (late 2015).
Hilton will be launching a new lifestyle brand — Canopy by Hilton — individually tailored to each property’s local neighborhood through design, cuisine and culture. In 2015 there will be an opening in London and 10 in the U.S., including in Portland’s Pearl District, Miami’s Brickell, and San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.
JW Marriott is opening a number of new properties, the most interesting of which are Mumbai Sahar in India (date TBD), the first international Spa by JW, and Venice in March, the brand’s first hotel in Italy, which will feature a wine-and-cooking school, Gondelier classes, and mask making workshops with local artisans.