Best new hotels and places to stay in 2025

(Image credit: One&Only Kéa Island)

last updated 16 May 2025

Voaara, Madagascar

Set on a small island off the east coast of Madagascar, this new 100-acre resort is a picture-perfect tropical escape, said Lisa Grainger in Condé Nast Traveller. Its forests are alive with birdsong, its palm-fringed beach is white, and its seas are the "palest" aquamarine. There are seven thatched beach cottages and a three-bedroom pool villa, all with "super-comfy" beds. In the restaurant, the "starry" Spanish chef Aleixandre Sarrion draws on "fresh island ingredients" for his "Med-meets Asia" menus; and there are two massage rooms, a boat for fishing or diving trips, and bikes for exploring the island and its wooden villages.

Part of the French-owned Evok collection, the Brach is the latest in a recent wave of new luxury hotels to open in Madrid, said Lydia Bell in Condé Nast Traveller. Housed in an "elegant" 1920s building, it has interiors designed by "the man who invented the boutique hotel", Philippe Starck. The 53 rooms and four suites have warm, earthy tones, dark wood joinery, and appealing curios; and the "low-lit" restaurant is similarly stylish, with 1920s brasserie mirrors and lots of leather. The pan-Mediterranean cuisine is wonderful, and there's a 20m pool and a spa with an impressive suite of "biohacking gadgets".

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The Chickpea Group runs "some of the South West's best country boozers", and has recently revamped this 17th-century inn near Bruton. The makeover is "stylish", said Susan d'Arcy in The Times, but the place is as friendly and "convivial" as ever. Mellow stone floors, "moody" paints and flickering candles make for a "cosy ambience", and though the nine guest rooms are "compact", they have big, comfy beds and spacious showers. Food is "delicious", and there's much to see nearby, including racehorse trainer Paul Nicholls' stables next door, and the "trendy" Hauser & Wirth gallery.

A fictionalised version of this old coaching inn appears in "Jane Eyre", and Charlotte Brontë is said to have written parts of the novel in its Lady C. Brontë suite. Set in the pretty village of Hathersage, it recently underwent a thorough refurb, said Helen Ochyra in The Times, and makes a "homely" base for exploring the Peak District. Rooms have decor with "a contemporary flair", and some have extra sofa beds sleeping "multiple children". The restaurant serves "wholesome" pub-style meals, including plant-based dishes, and there's a "gorgeous" 1930s lido a short walk away.

"Perched prettily" above the pale sands of Carne Beach on Cornwall's south coast, The Nare is one of England's most "charmingly old-fashioned" seaside hotels, said Tom Mulvihill in The Independent. Built in 1929, it retains an Agatha Christie-ish appeal, with floral wallpaper and antique furniture throughout, and Roberts radios and huge baths in the rooms. Staff are unfailingly friendly, the traditional English cuisine in the restaurant is excellent, and there's also a spa, two pools, two boats and a tennis court. Best of all, though, are the hotel's "stunning" setting, its beautiful gardens, and the lovely coastal walks nearby.

Set beside Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Blackberry Farm is a "Southern sanctuary" of "storybook perfection", said Jesse Ashlock in Condé Nast Traveler. It has 68 rooms, including cottages, which balance "rustic country style" with "functional modernity". Inventive but comforting dishes are served in a 200-year-old timber-framed barn that was moved here from Pennsylvania Dutch Country. There's a spa and pool, activities for children (including petting the Italian truffle-hunting dogs bred on site), and "adventure guides" are on hand to take you fishing, hiking and riding.

A working cattle station since 1959, this sandstone homestead is set in the remote northwestern reaches of Australia's Northern Territory, 50 miles from the nearest road. Guests "swoop in" by helicopter, said Chloe Sachdev in Condé Nast Traveler, to enjoy a luxurious dose of outback life. The 12 stylish, spacious bedrooms are arranged around a "palm-tree shrouded" pool. The food (steaks, beef stews, "zesty" salads) is excellent. And there's no end of activities on offer, from swimming in waterholes to seeking out Aboriginal rock art in a "craggy" landscape so vast, it seems to swallow you whole.

This Arts and Crafts house (once home to a Lord Mayor of London) is now one of the best "restaurants with rooms" near the capital, said Mark C. O'Flaherty in The Telegraph. The building commands "epic" rural views, and the interiors are "cosy and classic, but with offbeat touches". My bedroom had a round bathtub, Chinese silks on the walls, a "luxurious" white marble bathroom and an "outlandish" crystal chandelier. The food is excellent, and carefully varied with the season – I had an oxtail pie and a roast duck dish ideally suited to the cold weather at the time.

Following a recent makeover, this 19th-century country-house hotel offers a "cosseting" introduction to coastal Yorkshire, said Lydia Bell in Condé Nast Traveller. Set on an estate between the North York Moors and sweeping Sandsend Beach, it has a beautiful garden and a spa offering Wildsmith treatments, with a pool, sauna, ice bath and more. Rooms are decorated in a range of fresh and earthy tones; some have balconies and roll-top baths. The "farmyard-forward" menu is "co-curated" by Tommy Banks (of Michelin-starred The Black Swan at Oldstead), and there are lots of activities on offer, including riding.

Opened in 1996 but rebuilt last year, it's "the antithesis of bling", with just 12 "Crusoe-esque" villas – "curvaceous" structures made from wood and palm, into which "sea air (and an occasional bird, crab, or bat) can waft". The bar and restaurant are shaded by casuarina trees and sit beside a blindingly white beach. Trips to Zanzibar's main island are easy, and there's a spa with a "breezy" yoga deck, and a watersports centre manned by friendly local instructors.

With its "stone-and-thatch" villas and "bright-red" ladders dropping into the sea, the Rockhouse represents a certain brand of old-school "Jamaican cool", said Lale Arikoglu in Condé Nast Traveler. Staff regale guests with stories of Bob Marley and The Rolling Stones jumping off its cliffs in the 1970s, and little has changed in the hotel's design since then – its stone-floored studios and villas retain their "bohemian" air. There's a spa and two restaurants – one serving Jamaican classics, the other more "American-leaning". All in all, a "soulful" alternative to Negril's "slicker" resorts and all-inclusives.

Marlon Brando bought the Polynesian atoll of Tetiaroa while filming "Mutiny on the Bounty" in 1960, and it became his "beloved hideaway". The resort he built later fell into disuse, but it was relaunched 10 years ago, and is still as heavenly as ever, said Megan Spurrell in Condé Nast Traveler. There are two restaurants, a spa and 35 beachfront villas, each with its own plunge pool. Guests can cycle to open-air temples, snorkel on the reef, and kayak past bird-nesting sites, before returning for mai tais at Bob's Bar, which also serves some of Brando's favourite treats, including coconut ice cream with chocolate sauce.

The island of Kéa is typical of the Cyclades archipelago, with its bare hills and fertile valleys, but it sees far fewer tourists than neighbours such as Mykonos, despite lying only 45 minutes by speedboat from Athens. Occupying a sheltered bay on its west coast is this new resort, said Mary Lussiana in The Telegraph, the 14th from the One&Only brand. Set on terraces that "cascade" down to the sea, its 63 villas are built of the local stone, and have "spacious" sitting rooms and private, eight-metre infinity pools. The resort has five restaurants (including a beach club that serves light Asian and Mediterranean dishes), a large spa, a sports centre, an excellent kids' club, and two swimming pools. There's much to do nearby, including scuba diving, with four historic wrecks to explore off the island's coast.

In the heart of Mongolia lies the ruined city of Karakorum, and beyond it stretches the wild Orkhon Valley, site of this remote summer camp. A cluster of cosy white gers set on a "vast, fenceless" steppe, it offers a taste of "nomadic life" and no end of adventure, said Tatler. Your host is D'Artagnan Giercke, a softly spoken Old Harrovian whose father revived interest in polo (the favourite sport of Genghis Khan) in Mongolia. Guests can take part in matches with members of the national team, or "slow the pace" with massages, yoga and "realignment with the resident shaman". The riding is superb. Gallop alongside wild ponies and "crash" through rivers before returning to camp for candlelit suppers, piano recitals and "spontaneous" parties under the stars.

Set in the foothills of Costa Rica's Talamanca mountains, this 180-acre jungle resort offers a cosseting introduction to the Central American wilderness, said Devorah LevTov in Condé Nast Traveler. The 30-minute flight in a private prop plane from San Juan airport affords breathtaking views of the resort's rugged surroundings and 50 "roomy" casitas. These are decked out in leather, linen, patterned textiles and local pottery, but yet more pleasing are their terraces with daybeds and private pools. Nature presses in all around – birds and butterflies, the "fortissimo" croak of frogs, the armadillos encountered on night strolls. There's a wonderful spa with hot tubs that "glow with the setting sun", and lots of "adrenaline-pumping" outdoor activities to try.