Skip to Content

new hotels

W Hotel Opens In South Beach

Filed under: Journeys

w hotel south beachW Hotels has opened their 31st property, the W South Beach and The Residences at W South Beach in the arts and entertainment district of Miami Beach. The development includes 408 W-branded residences with Ocean Suites, Beach Bungalows, and the Extreme WOW suite (W's version of the Presidential suite). Among the food and drink destinations at the property are Wall, a bar and lounge, Spanish restaurant Solea and the celebrity favorite Mr. Chow. The hotel also bring the popular Bliss spa to Miami.

The $500 million hotel was designed by architect Costas Kondylis. The W's Living Room (aka the lobby) was designed by Anna Busta with artwork from collector Aby Rosen's private collection. The art is showcased in an environment with tufted leather ottomans, velvet curtains in eggplant purple, modern white and gray sofas, armchairs covered in white pony or slate velvet and white pony rugs splashed with gold paint. A 20-foot-high beaded curtain set off by glass walls marks the way into the W Living Room Bar with views of the pool deck and garden. If you book by July 20 the hotel is offering rates from $269 per night for stays July 16 – October 12. The Miami Herald reported earlier this month that the South Beach location has sold out for weekends in July even though the prices are higher than many other hotels in the area.

Remington Hotels Announce New Luxury Chain

Filed under: Journeys


The latest luxury hotel chain will come from Remington, a hotel development company that currently manages properties for Marriott, Sheraton, Doubletree, Radisson and others. The Gallery will be a collection of luxury resorts that will include the standard lavish spa and fitness facilities, fine dining, golf and other recreational options. What will set this resort apart is that the core of each property will have a photography gallery. The company hired lifestyle photographer Greg Whitaker to capture the essence of The Gallery and his work will be featured in each hotel's photo gallery as well as well as in guestrooms, advertising, sales materials and on the company's website (the above picture is Whitaker's).

To match the art theme, their personal concierges will be known as Docents. The first Gallery property will be One Ocean in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Other developments in the works include Bend, Oregon; the Southwest U.S. and the Turks and Caicos islands. One Ocean, which is a redo of the Sea Turtle Inn near Jacksonville, is set to open in late 2007.

Rosen Shingle Creek Resort Now Open

Filed under: Journeys

A new megaresort has opened in the Southeast. Rosen Shingle Creek is a 1,500-room resort located on Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida. The resort includes the 13,000-sq. ft. full-service Spa at Shingle Creek, the Shingle Creek Golf Club, four pools, sand volleyball, hiking and more. Dining options include a steakhouse, ice cream stand, Italian bistro, coffee shop and even a 24-hour mini-market. There are three Presidential Suites that are over 1,700 sq. ft. and 37 oversized Grande Suite Parlors that are over 1,300 sq. ft. Rates start at around $200 per night.

InterContinental Hotel Comes to Nashville

Filed under: Journeys

The best hotels in Nashville, Tennessee tend to be on the classic side. That's set to change when the InterContinental Nashville is completed. The new luxury hotel will be located on  West End Avenue and there will also be an office tower, condos and retail space. The $250 million project will begin in June and the hotel is set to open in late 2008 or early 2009. The entire project will be two towers, one 23 stories tall and another 25 stories tall. The hotel will be at the bottom of the shorter tower with 70 condos above. Both towers will share a ground floor building with shops and restaurants.

Hotel de Saxe Opens in Dresden

Filed under: Journeys

The Hotel de Saxe which open in Dresden, Germany this month is a new hotel with an old look. The hotel, developed by the Frankfurt-based Steigenberger Hotel Group was modeled on the original Hotel de Saxe which  was the place to stay from 1786 to 1888 when it was converted to a Baroque post office. After 1945, the building was used to hold stones from the Frauenkirche (shown on the left in this picture) while it was being restored. Now on the same spot, the new Hotel de Saxe blends the modern and the traditional. The facade was built to blend in with the Dresden cityscape and inside the hotel uses architectural fragments such as three torsos that came from Dresden buildings destroyed during WWII combined with modern design that includes plenty of wood and glass. The hotel has 178 room and seven suites and rates start at 119 euros.

Shanghai To Get A New Five-Star Hotel

Filed under: Journeys

The Millennium Hongqiao Shanghai is a new five-star hotel that is set to open this summer. It's the first Chinese property for Millennium & Copthorne. The hotel is in Hongqiao, Shanghai’s commercial and residential district and near the Shanghai Exhibition and Convention Centre. The hotel will have 350 rooms and suites and has some interesting features, unusual for Shanghai hotels. It will have a contemporary design and will also have gardens, trees and water features in order to offer guests a quiet retreat in an urban area. The site of the hotel was previously a retreat area for senior Chinese union and political leaders. Ah, capitalism...

[via Travmedia]

Luxx Hotel

Filed under: Journeys

From the pictures, it looks like a modern boutique hotel in New York or Los Angles but Luxx is a new hotel in Bangkok. The tiny hotel of just 13 rooms offers chic and clean modern design to attract trendy travelers. It opened a few weeks ago and Luxx Hotel general manager, Dusadee Srishevachart says that they will be promoting the hotel to  European and American guests.  The hotel will also have a bar called Mess and is hosting their launch party on March 29, 2006 . Luxx is located on Decho Road in an area that offers plenty of nightlife, dining and shopping for tourists. They are offering opening specials as low as $70 per night.

[via HospitalityNet]

W Hotels Head to Dubai

Filed under: Journeys

The W Hotel chain will become part of the Dubai hotel boom. The W Dubai Festival City will be a 350-room luxury hotel at Dubai Festival City, the 'city-within-a-city' being built on the banks of Dubai Creek. It will be  the first W hotel in the Middle East. Dubai Festival City is an area that will include waterfront homes, office, cafes, clubs and restaurants. The hotel will have loft suites, restaurants, and a Bliss spa. The W Dubai Festival City is scheduled to open in 2008 and will be at the heart of the 'Marsa al Khor' (Harbour of the Creek) development.

[via Hotel Chatter]

Villa Kennedy Opens in Germany

Filed under: Journeys

The first Rocco Forte hotel in Germany, the Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt is now open. The Villa Kennedy is a five-star hotel in the center of Frankfurt that consists of three newly constructed buildings built around the traditional 1904 Villa Speyer. The hotel is close to Frankfurt's residential area, Sachsenhausen, with many bars and restaurants. The hotel has 163 rooms and a contemporary style. The hotel also has a restaurant, Gusto and the Villa Spa which has an indoor pool, gymnasium, sauna and eight treatment rooms and there is a relaxing garden area.The presidential suite is located on the top floor of the original Speyer Villa and has a separate kitchen and turret dining room. Rates start at 260 euros per night.

[via Breaking Travel News]

Hotel Blake in Chicago

Filed under: Journeys

A new boutique hotel has opened in downtown Chicago. Hotel Blake is a 162-room hotel that has a classic style with dark wood furnishings and floor-to-ceiling windows with city views. The hotel had a soft opening in November 2005 and the Grand Opening will be in April. Rooms start at $149 per night. The rooms use Molton Brown toiletries, there are iPod compatible radios and Frette linens. The Custom House restaurant next door offers catering and room service to the hotel.

[via Breaking Travel News]

Lost Pines Hyatt in Texas Prepares For A June Launch

Filed under: Journeys


The new Hyatt resort in Texas is the 405-acre Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa. The resort is located on the banks of the Colorado River near  the 1,100 acre McKinney Roughs Nature Park and 13 miles from the Austin airport. The resort has 492 guest rooms and the Wolfdancer Golf Club which has an 18-hole signature course designed by Arthur Hills. There will also be the Spa Django, an 18,000-square-foot spa, eight food and beverage venues and lots of recreational amenities such as a water park with a 1,000-foot river pool, canoeing and fly-fishing on the Colorado. Reservations are being accepted now and the resort opens June 1.

New Luxury Hotel Planned For Kirkland, Washington

Filed under: Journeys

This blurry rendering is all we know of a new luxury hotel that will open in downtown Kirkland, Washington. Seattle Business News reports that Kirkland, a town a few miles away from Seattle and located on Lake Washington will be home to The Heathman Kirkland. The new hotel is a sister hotel to the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon and will have 91 guest rooms, a spa, restaurant and bar. The hotel is being is being designed to fit in with Kirkland's turn-of-the-century charm. The hotel is one of the few in the downtown area of Kirkland and plans to open in March 2007.


Join Luxist on Facebook!

Featured Galleries

Langham Yangtze Shanghai
Robb Report Limited Edition Series
Fraulein by Ellen von Unwerth
Gemstone Creative
Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta
Piaggio Aero P180 Avanti II
The Cullen
Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain Opening Soon
Gizmobies Protect Your PDA in Style