Pillow Talk: The hottest openings, news and experiences in the world of hotels
From the most exciting upcoming openings to the latest news, trends and events, keep up to date with our regularly updated guide to all that is hot in the world of hotels.
• This month's best new hotel openings
Venice by night
In days gone by, wealthy merchants and noblemen hired the codegas (guides) of Venice to escort them through its labyrinthine streets, lighting the way ahead during perilous night-time journeys. The city’s Baglioni Hotel Luna is reviving the tradition with its new Codega Experience, a post-sunset tour of the city’s narrow alleyways and hidden squares, led by a lamp-wielding guide and rounded off with a Signature Aperitivo back at the hotel.
• Tour £321pp; rooms from £223 (0039 041 9655930; baglionihotels.com/venice)
Mexican luxe
Mexican heritage style meets contemporary design at Hotel Amapa, a new boutique hotel in Puerto Vallarta. The laid-back beach design is inspired by national design figures such as Luis Barragán, whose purist approach to colour and form can be found throughout the 55 guest rooms, Mexican restaurant, and rooftop pool and bar.
• Rooms from £97 (hotelamapa.com)
Eggstra special
Hotel Café Royal, London, has unveiled its signature Easter egg, designed by Sarah Barber, the celebrated pastry chef. The handcrafted eggs, made with French Valrhona chocolate, sprayed in rouge cocoa butter, are available to buy from the hotel’s café-restaurant, Papillon, from tomorrow.
• Price £35 (020 7406 3310; hotelcaferoyal.com/papillon-restaurant)
Caribbean luxe
St Barths was devastated when Hurricane Irma struck last September, but the Caribbean island is making a steady comeback. The latest stage of recovery is Hotel Manapany, an eco-conscious boutique property launching next week on tranquil Anse des Cayes bay, with 43 beach-chic bedrooms, an oceanside restaurant, two swimming pools and a spa.
• Rooms from £416 (0033 5 90 27 66 55; hotelmanapany-stbarth.com)
Spring roller
To visit Tokyo during cherry blossom season is, for many travellers, to fulfil a lifelong dream. So how about touring the city’s blossoming hotspots in a Rolls-Royce Phantom? This is what The Peninsula Tokyo is offering with its illuminating sakura viewing tours, which run from March 24 to April 1, taking in Chidorigafuchi and Meguro river by day, or the illuminated blossoms of Ark Hills or Tokyo Midtown by night.
• Day tour £95; evening tour £71. Rooms from £427 (0081 3 6270 2888; tokyo.peninsula.com)
First light
Belmond has partnered with Leica to create First Light Experiences: a series of sunrise nature walks at inspiring locations, with Leica binoculars provided. Available at Belmond hotels in Cape Town, Mallorca and Iguazu Falls, the trails – solo, or with a guide – all promise superb views and close encounters with flora and fauna.
Mountain fitness
The Ranch Malibu, in California, is heading overseas with a six-week pop-up at Hotel Rosa Alpina in the Dolomites. The week-long sessions, from August 19, will be limited to 20 participants and will involve hikes through Alpine scenery, yoga, meditation and daily massages, plus a nutritional Italian diet.
• Six nights from £6,080pp all-inclusive (0039 0471 849 500; rosalpina.it)
Cakes and blooms
The Connaught in London has teamed up with McQueens, the florist, to create an “I Love You Bunches” package for Mother’s Day. It includes a two-hour flower arranging class with a McQueens tutor, then a Mother’s Day afternoon tea at Jean-Georges at The Connaught.
• From £150 per person; available on March 10 and 11 (020 7499 7070; the-connaught.co.uk)
Shipwreck safari
Designed to evoke the rusting ruins of the many stranded boats that give Namibia’s Skeleton Coast its name, Shipwreck Lodge is set to be one of the quirkiest hotels in the region. From this summer it will offer guided tours of the surrounding dunes, oases and wrecks, as well as safari trips to see lions, black rhinos, and rare desert elephants.
• Available to book now from £443 per person per night, including all meals and activities (01737 888334; discover-the-world.co.uk)
Hot hotel
February sees the reopening of the award-winning Kempinski Hotel Bahía in Estepona, Spain, following a two-month sprucing up of the public areas and restaurants. A healthy injection of opulent design, combined with new attractions such as the Spiler Beach Club and Black Rose cocktail bar, will surely see this become the hottest spot on the Costa del Sol.
• Rooms from £168 (0034 952 80 9500; kempinski.com)
Macaron masterclass
Once one of the oldest bakeries in Paris, Hotel du Petit Moulin is returning to its roots this year with a new macaron masterclass, offered in partnership with the prestigious cookery school, La Cuisine Paris. With the macaron making package, budding bakers will learn how to craft the city’s iconic sweet treat, as well as enjoying a night’s stay in the Christian Lacroix-designed hotel.
• Package: £313 (0033 1 42 74 10 10; hoteldupetitmoulin.com)
Capsule hostel
Visitors to London can opt for a more “space age” budget stay with the launch of its first capsule hostel – at St Christopher’s At The Village, London Bridge. OK, it looks more like a launderette than a spaceship, but it offers a cosy and relatively private sleeping space with Wi-Fi, USB ports and mood lighting. Beats a bunk bed.
• From £19 (020 7939 9710; st-christophers.co.uk)
• From £2,208 per person, full-board (0041 41 888 74 77; thechedi-andermatt.com)
Got a hot hotel tip? Email: thehotelegraph@telegraph.co.uk
