There’s a reason why travel is a lifelong love affair – and at least part of that reason is that travel always switches it up. If you thought hotels couldn’t get any better, than you haven’t seen the list for openings coming online this 2026. So, even if you’ve been everywhere, you haven’t been to these new luxury hotels that need to be on the list.
Emirates Wolgan Valley, a Ritz‑Carlton Lodge
Location: Wolgan Valley, Greater Blue Mountains, Australia
Anticipated Opening Date: Mid‑2026
The world’s first Ritz‑Carlton Lodge will reopen on Emirates’ 7,000‑acre conservation reserve in Wolgan Valley. It will feature just 40 all‑inclusive villas spread across a UNESCO‑listed landscape.
The relaunch keeps the conservation focus but layers in Ritz‑Carlton service and design, backed by fresh investment from Emirates and Marriott. Access is still delightfully remote – think 4 wheel drive tracks and helicopter transfers rather than casual drive‑bys.
Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli
Location: Venice, Italy
Anticipated Opening Date: April 2026
Orient Express is transforming the 15th‑century Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Cannaregio. The palazzo will reopen as a 47‑key ultra‑luxury hotel of rooms, suites, and apartments. Architect Aline Asmar d’Amman is reworking the neo‑Gothic and Baroque interiors into something cinematic, yet nostalgic. Hidden away from San Marco but still firmly on the original Orient Express route, it’s one of Venice’s rare palazzi, promising serious privacy as well as spectacle.
Airelles Venezia (Airelles Palladio)
Location: Giudecca, Venice, Italy
Anticipated Opening Date: March/April 2026
Airelles’ first hotel outside France takes over the former Bauer Palladio complex on Giudecca. The 16th‑century ensemble includes nearly 2.5 acres of gardens facing St. Mark’s. The brand is leaning into a “secret Venice” angle: aristocratic calm, water‑taxi access, and a softer, garden‑framed view of the lagoon. For Airelles loyalists used to Versailles and Courchevel, this is the lagoon chapter they’ve been waiting for.
Cheval Blanc Seychelles
Location: Anse Intendance, Mahé, Seychelles
Anticipated Opening Date: Open (December 2024)
The former Banyan Tree site on Anse Intendance is now Cheval Blanc’s sixth Maison, redesigned by Jean‑Michel Gathy into a 52‑villa resort. Every villa comes with a private pool and views of the surrounding landscape. Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy has layered in five restaurants, a Guerlain spa, and a design language that threads Creole references through very contemporary lines. It’s the new Indian Ocean address for people who already know Randheli by heart.
Fregate Island
Location: Seychelles
Anticipated Opening Date: Autumn 2026
After a full closure and complete rebuild, Fregate returns with just 14 private pool villas and three estates on one of the Seychelles’ most private islands. The relaunch deepens its conservation mission — giant tortoises, rare birds, and restored habitats. It also adds new facilities, more contemporary villa design, and talk of expanded accommodation types. For ultra‑low‑density, high‑privacy island time, this is the one everyone will be quietly chasing.
The Park Gstaad, a Four Seasons Hotel
Location: Gstaad, Switzerland
Anticipated Opening Date: Winter 2026–27
Four Seasons is taking over Gstaad’s original 1910 grand hotel, The Park Gstaad, which is currently in a $100M‑plus renovation led by Joseph Dirand. When it reopens with 75 rooms and suites, expect Dirand’s restrained, architectural take on Alpine warmth rather than chalet kitsch. For Gstaad, it’s a big shift: a heritage icon recast as a Four Seasons with serious design credentials.
Corinthia Rome
Location: Piazza del Parlamento, Rome, Italy
Anticipated Opening Date: Open (February 2026)
Corinthia’s Italian debut occupies the former Bank of Italy HQ — a 1914 neoclassical palazzo with just 60 rooms and 21 suites over seven floors. Original marble, frescoes, and carved wood are being preserved, while G.A. Design adds contemporary layers and Carlo Cracco leads the flagship restaurant. The spa, tucked into the old bank vault, is the kind of adaptive reuse Rome does best.
The Malkai
Location: Multi‑site journey across Oman (Barkaa, Al Hajar Mountains, Sharqiyah Sands)
Anticipated Opening Date: Autumn 2026
The Malkai is less a single hotel and more a three‑stop, tented‑camp itinerary – farmlands near Barkaa, a clifftop perch in the Hajar mountains, and a desert camp in the Sharqiyah Sands. Each site has just 14 pavilion‑style tents, designed as a contemporary riff on Bedouin camps, with guests moving between them in a Defender, alongside their own “Murshid” guide. It’s family‑owned and led by the founders of The Chedi Muscat — which tells you a lot about the design and service ambitions.
Baccarat Hotel Dubai
Location: Downtown Dubai, UAE
Anticipated Opening Date: 2026
Baccarat’s Dubai debut is a 145‑key hotel in twin crystalline towers in Downtown, with architecture by Studio Libeskind and interiors by 1508 London. Expect a Grand Salon dripping in Baccarat chandeliers and a signature bar in the brand’s red and mirror. Burj Khalifa views come standard. It’s ultra‑luxury for people who adore “reflective surfaces” as a design.
Mandarin Oriental Punta Negra, Mallorca
Location: Calvià, near Puerto Portals, Mallorca, Spain
Anticipated Opening Date: Spring 2026
Mandarin Oriental’s first Mallorcan property sits on the Punta Negra headland, with 131 rooms and suites spread across fragrant gardens and rocky coastline. Guests get two private coves and a collection of restaurants and bars. A full spa and wellness sanctuary rounds out the experience. It’s very much “quiet headland retreat” rather than beach‑club circus.
Amanvari
Location: East Cape, Costa Palmas, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Anticipated Opening Date: Spring 2026
Amanvari will open within the 1,500‑acre Costa Palmas development on Baja’s East Cape, with just 18 elevated casitas, plus branded Aman Residences along a stretch of untouched coastline. Designed by Heah & Co. with Elastic Architects, the structures hover above dunes and estuary, using stone, white concrete, and tropical hardwoods to blur indoors and out. It plugs Aman’s signature hush into a community that already includes a marina and a Robert Trent Jones II golf course – useful, but comfortably at arm’s length.
The Vineta Hotel (Oetker Collection)
Location: Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Anticipated Opening Date: Early 2026
Oetker’s first U.S. hotel is a 1926 pink‑façade Mediterranean Revival landmark two blocks from Worth Avenue, reborn with just 41 rooms and suites. Interiors by Tino Zervudachi lighten the historic shell into something more airy and residential, with a courtyard, Coco’s restaurant, and an American bar as the social core. It’s Palm Beach’s glow‑up era distilled into one very edited little hotel.
Rosewood Blue Palace
Location: Near Elounda and Plaka, Crete, Greece
Anticipated Opening Date: 2026
Rosewood’s Greek debut takes over the much‑loved Blue Palace on Crete’s northeast coast, now in a full reimagining backed by a major redevelopment program. The resort will have 154 rooms and suites, 85 with private pools, with K‑Studio leading a design that leans into Cretan materials and landscape. Positioned between Plaka and Elounda, it’s set up as a hillside hideaway with serious views and a more residential Rosewood feel.
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FAQs
Q: When did Cheval Blanc Seychelles open?
A: Cheval Blanc Seychelles officially opened on 1 December 2024.
Q: When did Fregate Island in the Seychelles close down for renovation?
A: Fregate Island closed down in early 2023. By the time it opens back up to the public, it will have been closed for 4 years.
Q: Is Rosewood Blue Palace a kid-friendly hotel?
A: At the moment, Rosewood Blue Palace is shaping up to be a luxury‑forward resort, and based on what’s publicly available, it is not specifically positioned as a kid‑focused or family‑oriented hotel.
