Travel + Leisure's "It" Hotels
Mon Jun 5, 1:36 PM ET
The "It List," which appears in the June issue, features 15 hip and high-end hotels that are new or newly renovated, including several opening later this year.
No. 1 on the "It List" is the Four Seasons Tented Camp, Chiang Rai, Thailand, which offers tents with teakwood floors, a spa, and six resident elephants for riding.
Next is The James in Chicago, notable for amenities and minimalist design; The Marataba, in Marakele National Park, Limpopo, South Africa, where guests embark on safaris from their tented suites; elegant luxury at the Palacio Duhau-Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, in Argentina; and the villas at Bulgari Bali, Uluwatu, Indonesia, which is the Italian designer Bulgari's first resort.
Sixth and seventh on the list are two newly renovated New York properties: the Gramercy Park Hotel, a storied institution now owned by Ian Schrager, reopening in July, with artist Julian Schnabel designing the interior; and The London, formerly the Rihga Royal, reopening in September on West 54th Street.
European hotels fill the next three spots. The Chateau du Champ de Bataille, Le Neubourg, France, a 17th-century castle designed by the architect of Versailles, will be reincarnated in September as a glamorous palace hotel complete with gardens and open-air operas. Next are Boccadileone Suites, Rome, run by the Ferragamo fashion clan, and Do & Co Hotel, Vienna, which has a Turkish-influenced interior design.
The final five were the Banyan Tree, a collection of villas with gardens and a view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains in Lijiang, in the southwestern province of Yunnan, China; the W Maldives Fesdhu Retreat & Spa on an island in the Maldives; the JIA, a boutique hotel in Shanghai; The Fortress, a sprawling resort in a 2,000-year-old port in Galle, Sri Lanka, 70 miles from Colombo; and the extravagant Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, Dubai.
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