Whether you're looking for a hotel by a beach or a city hideaway, many fine hotels are new to the market this year.
Summer's big attraction
in France has to be Le Couvent d'Herepian, an all-suite, restored 17th-century convent in the Vallée d'Orb, Languedoc. Suites decorated in subtle lavender and cream shades have their own kitchens – meaning guests can visit nearby markets and try cooking local dishes.
This isn't really a "gadget" place, but you will find flatscreen TV, free DVDs and wi-fi, and pre-loaded iPod and docking stations. You can also chill out in the relaxation pool or have a holistic treatment in the spa.
Samir Saab, who owns La Pleta Hotel in the Pyrenees (King Juan Carlos of Spain and the Beckhams have stayed), has revamped an old limestone building off Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Casanova has been reborn as a cutting-edge design hotel, with black velvet sofas, lacquered lamps, oak floors and charcoal-grey bathrooms. The Mexiterranée restaurant, overseen by Michelin-starred chef Jaime Brichs, fuses Catalan, Mediterranean and Mexican flavours – tasting menus come in a dramatic-sounding four "acts", with a choreographer varying the décor and fragrances while you eat. Who needs theatre?
The Finca Cortesin Golf Resort, with its Jack Nicklaus Golf Academy, comes to the Costa del Sol, between Estepona and Sotogrande. Its centrepiece is the five-star, Andalucian-styled Gran Hotel Cortesin. It has high-beamed ceilings and marble but none of the glitz you'd associate with this part of Spain. Luxury villas and apartments will be available at a future date.
On Lanzarote, Finca Malvasia is set on a working vineyard in La Geria wine region, with four apartments built in the style of César Manrique, the island's celebrated artist, with white rendered volcanic stone, exposed interior walls, tropical gardens and a solar-heated swimming pool. You can go self-catering or book B&B but with a hotel feel – the British owners will bring you breakfast and make barbecues and picnics. The Finca is decked out with king-size beds, Egyptian linens, a mini-gym and a spa providing shiatsu massage and reflexology treatments. You can book an Aspiring Surfer package, and other watersports, fishing, walking and painting can be arranged.
Aquapura opened earlier this year in the Douro Valley, the northern, wine-making region of Portugal that is slowly opening up to tourism. A 19th-century manor house overlooks the river from the south bank, its 50 rooms with river and vineyard views tucked away in tree-filled gardens. The style is smart local manor house on the outside with a slate and dark-wood Balinese feel inside, and there's a spa using Ytsara and Karin Herzog treatments. Within the woodland grounds are 21 villas with private plunge pools and sunbathing decks which are available to purchase. A sister property in Brazil is to open soon.
Italy is awash with new hotel openings this year, with one of the most anticipated being the Four Seasons Florence next month. Two Renaissance palaces have been converted over seven years so that the rich history – previous residents include a Pope, a nuns' order, and a viceroy of Egypt – is revealed through the frescos, stuccos, silks and art spanning the 15th to 19th centuries. The reading room is in the former chapel, while vast gardens hold an outdoor pool, two-storey spa with pillared façade, and suites.
Le Case del Borgo recently opened in four acres of olive groves near Arezzo, in Chianti. It comprises 14 restored farmhouses with sloping, terracotta-tiled roofs and distressed wooden beams, with a permanent art gallery in the vaulted cellar. Spa aficionados will nod to the use of sought-after Ligne St Barth products (from the Caribbean island of the same name) and there's a main outdoor pool. A "Tuscan mamma" and butler will call to cook and serve dinner each night.
Opera fans will be singing over Borgo Santo Pietro, a boutique hotel in the Tuscan village of Palazzetto, dating from the 13th century. The nearby Abbey of San Galgano is hosting a series of open-air concerts throughout August as part of Palazzetto's annual opera festival. The hotel is set in a 13-acre garden with orchard, and organic fruit and vegetables make up much of the food on offer. Seven rooms are furnished with antiques (bathrooms have rolltop baths and chandeliers). There is also a swimming pool, tennis court, basketball court and a bocce pitch.
Near Heraklion, on Crete, the Amirandes is impressive, circled around vast, palm-fringed lagoons with sunken seats. It is a homage to symmetry, with sharp lines wherever you look, from the pillars in the infinity pool to the smart nautical blue-and-white lines on furniture in some rooms. This hotel avoids the Greek white-box look, blending luxurious touches (colourful art work, silks) with the use of wood and stone. The Blue Monkey Asian restaurant has bizarrely red walls and, naturally, red-wicker chairs with frayed backs.
Istanbul has two new openings from key hotel names. The first European W, the W Istanbul opened in April, near the Bosphorus, where Europe meets Asia. The W sits on a prime location in the Akaretler Row Houses in Besiktas, dating from the 1870s – they were originally built to house officers of Sultan Abdul Aziz at the Dolmabahçe Palace. Some suites have private gardens and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market restaurant serves South-East Asian-inspired food.
Also in Besiktas, the Four Seasons Istanbul is due to open in a former 19th-century Ottoman palace next month, with indoor and outdoor heated pools, a spa with hammam and a dock on the Bosphorus. The safe, slightly bland interiors could be anywhere but the view and location are unique.
Closer to home, Colquhoun House, the new luxury wing of baronial Cameron House on the banks of Loch Lomond, recently opened, with six suites and 30 rooms. It is more modern in feel than the traditional five-star Cameron House – if tartan can ever be chic then it is here among the flatscreen televisions, PlayStations and Provençal L'Occitane toiletries.
Families should get ready for The Flying Boat Club, just opened on car-free Tresco, one of the Scilly Isles. It comprises 12 New England-style beach-front houses designed by Robert Dorrien-Smith (owner of Hell Bay Hotel, also on Tresco) on the site of the old air station. Sitting on a white, sandy bay with the bluest waters, the cedar-clad Caribbean-style chalets feature oak floors, artwork and designer, open-plan kitchens. The spa uses local Seboni products, and there is a Jacuzzi, outdoor pool, gym, steam room, bar and restaurant and tennis. Yachting types can moor their own transport or you can hire a Seacat for a week.
The Hotel du Vin Poole is scheduled to open in September following a £6 million makeover. Formerly the creeper-clad Mansion House Hotel, the award-winning hotel group's latest offering is situated close to Poole Quay and new features will include a private roof garden and wine-tasting rooms.
Factfile new designer hotels
how to get there and where to stay Le Couvent d'Herepian, Languedoc (00 34 671 18715,
www.garrigaeresorts.com). Rooms from E160 (£126). Flights from Scotland to Toulouse from £238.
Casanova, Barcelona (00 34 93 396 4800,
www.slh.com/casanova). Rooms from E194 (£153). Flights from £198.
Gran Hotel Cortesin, Malaga (00 34 95 293 7883,
www.steinhotels.com). Suites from E650 (£513). Flights from £182.
Finca Malvasia, Lanzarote (00 34 92 817 3460,
www.fincamalvasia.com). Doubles from E110 (£87). Flights from £349.
Aquapura, Lisbon (00 351 21 360 0050,
www.aquapurahotels.com). Rooms from £1,010 per night. Flights from £235.
Four Seasons Florence (00 390 552 6261,
www.fourseasons.com). Rooms from E500 (£395). Flights from £242.
Le Case del Borgo, Chianti (00 39 055 991 871,
www.lecasedelborgo. com). Rooms from E300 (£237). See above for flights.
Borgo Santo Pietro, Chiusdino (00 39 057 775 1222,
www.borgosantopietro.com). Rooms from E335 (£265). See above for flights.
Amirandes, Heraklion, Crete (00 30 28970 41103,
www.grecotel.com). Rooms from E221 (£175). Flights from £97.
W Istanbul (00 90 212 381 2121,
www.starwoodhotels.com). Rooms from E295 (£233). Flights from £287.
Four Seasons Istanbul (00 90 212 381 4000,
www.fourseasons.com). Rooms from E400 (£316). See above for flights.
Colquhoun House, Cameron House, Loch Lomond (01389 755565,
www.devere-hotels.com). B&B from £199.
The Flying Boat Club, Tresco, Isles of Scilly. (01720 422849,
www.tresco.co.uk). From £1,375 per week. Trains to Penzance from £178 from Glasgow and Edinburgh. See
www.islesofscillyhelicopter.com for links.
Hotel du Vin Poole (
www.hotelduvin.com) opens in September.
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