February sees a go-slow luxe property open on the Bahamas’ sleepy South Andros island, a cocktail lovers’ dream in Washington DC and London’s Trocadero transformed into an affordable crashpad.
Here are six of February’s coolest new openings.
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Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Thailand
Four Seasons’ latest opening, a 299-room riverside resort, is set to make a splash on Bangkok’s Charoenkrung Road this month. Design, by architect Jean-Michel Gathy, includes cascading buildings, terraces and courtyards, high ceilings and glass walls and water features inspired by the flow of the Chao Phraya River. A spa and two infinity pools ramp up the urban zen factor, plus there’s a Thai art space and complimentary kids’ club. At tropical-look BKK Social Club, funky cocktails are shaken up by mixologist Philip Bischoff and served alongside Latin American-style small bites. More formal dining comes at Yu Ting Yuan, a Cantonese restaurant led by renowned chef Qui Xiaogui, and there’s elegant Italian food at Riva del Fiume.
Rooms from £250
fourseasons.com/bangkok
Hotel Brooklyn, Manchester, UK
Manchester’s interesting new openings – including Native aparthotel, flashpacker digs Selina NQ1 and the ritzy Stock Exchange Hotel – are hard to keep track of. Latest to arrive is 189-room Hotel Brooklyn on Portland Street, a new project from Bespoke Hotels, behind nearby Hotel Gotham. Squid.inc have taken design cues from Brooklyn’s history and its similarities to Manchester (industrial growth and a strong identity). Ten percent of rooms, overseen by Motionspot, are fully accessible and include features such as basins with integrated hand grips and a hidden ceiling track hoist. Brooding, loft-inspired spaces feature brass touches and street art on the walls. Downstairs there’s a snug where retro vinyl by Mancunian artists is spun. For BLT wedges and Euro-American food there’s Runyon’s restaurant, and top floor bar Salvation is the place go for a mean Manhattan.
Rooms from £145, B&B
hotelbrooklyn.co.uk
Riggs Washington DC, USA
Sea Containers London, a slick riverside spot on the capital’s Southbank, and Pulitzer Amsterdam, famed for its music suite complete with trumpet-lined wall, have both made their mark as hip spots to bed down in. This month, Lore Hotels turns its attention to the USA with Riggs Washington DC, an 181-room property in the Penn Quarter. Housed in the former Riggs National Bank – nicknamed the ‘Bank of Presidents’ – and opposite the National Portrait Gallery, it’s flush with original features including an impressive barrel-vaulted lobby. Plush rooms have decor which nods to a traditional steel safe, and there’s a Corinthian columned, grand brasserie restaurant called Café Riggs. Most exciting of all is Silver Lyan, a subterranean bar helmed by mixologist maestro Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan.
Rooms from £256
riggsdc.com
Nobu Hotel Barcelona, Spain
Touching down in Barcelona’s creative Eixample neighbourhood is the latest opening from Nobu Hotels. The brainchild of Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro and Meir Teper, Nobu Hotels is now as famous for its sexy properties (everywhere from Las Vegas to Shoreditch) as chef Matsuhisa’s black miso cod. This 259-room property – a re-imagining of the former Gran Hotel Torre de Catalunya – fuses Japanese and Spanish influences throughout. Think walls adorned with mosaics a la Gaudi’s Guell Park crossed with kintsugi – broken ceramics repaired with lacquer and powdered precious metals – a Shinto gate-style lobby, and wooden screens to divide room space. There’s a 23rd-floor Nobu Restaurant, and lobby-level Kozara, for Japanese-Catalan tapas paired with sake cocktails. The hotel’s close to Fira de Barcelona station, meaning a visit can be twinned with Madrid or Paris easily.
Rooms from £192
barcelona.nobuhotels.com
Caerula Mar Club, South Andros Island, The Bahamas
During a Bahamian holiday DIY whizz Bryan Baeumler – a Canadian TV host on many renovation-focused shows including Disaster DIY – and his wife Sarah snapped up a 1960s resort on South Andros Island. The couple – with the help of some 100 residents – have transformed the derelict property into stylish Caerula March Club, which has 18 oceanfront rooms and six villas set between sandy beach and mangroves. The vibe is sling-up-a-hammock luxe: rooms are near all-white (even the oak floors) with mid-century modern touches and plush Belgian linens. Dining options include a smoothie bar and Caribbean fine dining restaurant Lusca. Offshore there’s sensational snorkelling, as the Bahamas is home to the world’s third-largest fringing barrier reef.
Rooms from £295 (minimum three-night stay)
caerulamar.com
Zedwell Piccadilly, London, UK
The London Trocadero, a vast complex of Edwardian buildings and Piccadilly landmark, has had many different faces – housing a refined tea house during First World War, and, more recently, a noisy entertainment arcade. In 2020 it’s doing a complete 360, with Criterion Hospitality opening Zedwell Piccadilly, an affordable (by central London standards) hotel which has getting a restful night’s sleep at its core. A whopping 700 or so rooms, referred to as ‘cocoons’, designed by Shanghai-based Neri & Hu, have uncluttered interiors, top notch soundproofing, Egyptian cotton sheets and soft lighting. Some are suitable for solo travellers, while others sleep groups of up to eight with a mix of bunks and bed setups to choose from. There’s a lounge, co-working space, bamboo-forest-inspired lobby, yoga and meditation studio, and a rooftop bar will arrive come summer.
Rooms from £69, single occupancy
zedwellhotels.com
