Business Traveller rounds up the latest hotel openings and announcements worldwide, from brands including Hilton, Millennium, Viceroy and W Hotels.
New openings
Hilton Linzhi Resort
Located between the Himalayas and Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet, the Hilton Linzhi Resort has 220 rooms offering views across the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, as well as an indoor pool, spa, cinema, games room, and Tibet’s first nine-hole golf course. The hotel also has two restaurants, a rooftop bar and lobby bar and lounge.
Viceroy Palm Jumeirah Dubai
Viceroy Hotels and Resorts’ second property in the UAE, the 477-room beachfront resort is situated on the Palm Jumeirah archipelago overlooking the Arabian Gulf and Dubai’s Marina skyline. The hotel has ten dining outlets, including an outpost of acclaimed London restaurant Quattro Passi, a 60-metre swimming pool, a spa, gym and a 600 sqm ballroom.
One UN New York
Millennium Hotels and Resorts has completed a £58 million renovation of its flagship hotel, One UN New York. Located within the UN’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, the renovation includes all 439 rooms, meeting rooms, the Ambassador Grill Restaurant and Bar and the hotel’s public areas, drawing on the design of the original building by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Kevin Roche.
Hilton Dead Sea Resort and Spa
An hour’s drive from Amman, the Hilton Dead Sea Resort and Spa is the brand’s first property in Jordan, situated on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea – 410 metres below sea level and the lowest point on Earth. It has 285 rooms, seven restaurants, a gym and an infinity pool, all with direct beach access. It is also next door to King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre, offering 27 meeting rooms.
W Goa
A 90-minute drive from Goa International airport, W Goa is located on Vagator Beach offering 160 rooms, villas and chalets, two restaurants, 4,650 sqm of event space, a spa and an outdoor pool deck. It is also a five-minute walk to the 500 year-old Chapora Fort – one of the last vestiges of the state’s Portuguese occupation.
Coming soon
Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort
Anantara Hotels Resorts and Spas is due to open its first property in Europe this April. Located on the Portuguese Algarve, 15 minutes from Faro International airport, the hotel is currently operating as the Tivoli Victoria but will be rebranded as the Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort. It will have 280 rooms, six restaurants, four swimming pools, a tennis court and an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course.
Hotel Californian
Hotel Californian has announced that it is due to open this summer. Originally built in 1925, the Hotel Californian was destroyed in an earthquake the same year. Comprising three buildings set on the Santa Barbara waterfront, the new hotel will have 121 rooms featuring colonial Spanish architecture and Moorish influences, a rooftop pool and deck, a number of event spaces, a gym and a Turkish-inspired spa.
Dorsett Hospitality Shepherds Bush serviced apartments
Shepherds Bush Palladium is set to be transformed into studio, one bedroom and duplex apartments, opening in 2019. Located next to Dorsett Shepherds Bush hotel, the former cinema will retain its original façade from the 1920s, adding eight storeys to incorporate 74 apartments, a restaurant, a café and entertainment space. Guests will also be able to use facilities at the hotel next door.
Ace Hotel Chicago
Ace Hotels will open its latest property in September. Located between Chicago’s River West and West Loop Gate neighbourhoods, the 159-room hotel has been designed by LA-based studio Commune, inspired by the works of historic local architects such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Bertrand Goldberg. It will have a ground-floor restaurant, rooftop bar, coffee shop and flexible event space.
MGM and Bellagio integrated resort
Set across 11 hectares, a MGM and Bellagio-branded integrated resort plans to open in Dubai. The development will include a MGM hotel, MGM Residences and a Bellagio Hotel offering a total 1,000 rooms, a 46,000 sqm theatre, a range of restaurants and specialty shops, museums, a beach club and “adventure zones”. Work is set to start later this year, with plans to open in 2021, occupying the longest stretch of waterfront ever developed in Dubai.
