If I were putting together a bucket list of properties opening in The Americas in 2025, there’s a few that look really different or inviting that I’d include. No matter what type of trip you are planning and for whom, I think there’s something here they will too love—be it the glitz of The Waldorf New York, skiing in Aspen, or fly-fishing in Montana.
United States
California
A historic landmark originally built in 1926—with a guest log that includes Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, Babe Ruth and Clark Gable—the revamped Fairmont Breakers Long Beach offers 185 rooms, a luxury spa, a new rooftop bar and a jazz bar, and the iconic Sky Room restaurant.
Colorado
White Elephant Resorts, known for its properties in Nantucket and Plam Beach, is headed for the slopes in Aspen, with a 54-room property opening late fall.
Florida
Fort Lauderdale
Conference attendees at the Broward County Convention Center will have a new option, the 29-story Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel, set to open in the fall. The sprawling complex will include 801 guest rooms and 82 suites, nine food and beverage outlets, a rooftop bar and a pool, plus 120,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, including a 30,000-square-foot Waterway Ballroom and 27 breakout rooms, many with waterfront views.
Miami Beach
Hotel Continental, a Miami Beach icon since 1948, has reopened as Miami Beach’s first Tapestry Collection by Hilton property. It’s just steps from the beach and the boardwalk, at 40th Street and Collins Avenue, and less than two miles from the convention center if you’re headed to Seatrade. Art lovers will note the commissioned paintings by Danny O’Connor and T.S. Harris and the 1950s-inspired pool; adventurers will appreciate the 34-foot luxury Chris-Craft Launch available for charter, with or without dinner or a champagne breakfast in bed in the morning.
Palm Beach
Palm Beach hasn’t had a new hotel in four years—and now it has two. The 79-room Palm House is a stylish getaway with Muran glass chandeliers, a pink marble bar and the Palm House Dining Room. The Vineta Hotel, the first US property in the Oetker Collection, is a revived 100-year-old structure with 41 spacious rooms and a restaurant that will serve specialties from its Oetker sister, Hotel du Cap Eden Roc on the French Riviera.
Montana
One & Only Moonlight Basin, opening summer 2025 in Big Sky, will offer year-round direct gondola access to the ski resort, forest-to-plate cuisine, and even a hidden moonshine whiskey shack in the woods. Designed by architect Olson Kundig, the sprawling resort promises fly fishing, kayaking, and mountain biking as well as slopes.
New Jersey
Looking for a bucolic wedding destination or just a leisurely retreat just an hour’s drive from Manhattan? Pendry Natirar, a restored mansion in New Jersey’s Somerset County, has long been a local favorite restaurant, wedding venue and private club, set on 500 rolling acres of farmland where guests can play with the animals or take cooking classes using veggies pulled right from the grounds. A new extension has turned it into a boutique Pendry property with 66 guestrooms, including 21 suites; a world-class Spa; afternoon High Teas; and floor-to-ceiling-windowed meeting/wedding spaces overlooking the Raritan (as in Natirar spelled backwards) River.
New Mexico
Hotel Willa in the Downtown Taos Historic District, overlooking the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, will offer 51 artfully designed rooms with terra cotta walls, arched doorways and an on-site art gallery, as well as a stargazing deck and outdoor fire pits made for communing with the great outdoors.
New York
The Waldorf Astoria New York
The highly-awaited reopening of Waldorf Astoria New York, the Park Avenue landmark and icon of the Manhattan hotel scene, has been pushed back to September—but what’s a few more months in a decade-long renovation that is adding a new spa, pool and restaurants. The 1,400-room art deco building, funded by the Astor family and originally opened in 1931, was the first hotel in the world to have electricity on every floor; its famed guests include Charlie Chaplin, JFK and Dwight D. Eisenhower. At a press conference in February, Dino Michael, senior vice president and global head of Hilton Luxury Brands, called it “not only our flagship for the Waldorf Astoria brand, it’s a flagship for our entire company.” The renovation budget—in the billions, insiders say—will add a 30,000-square-foot spa, a restaurant by superstar chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, an “opera-inspired” Grand Ballroom, and a cocktail menu by Jeff Bell, of Manhattan’s beloved PDT bar, for the famous Peacock Alley lounge. Nightly rates will start at $1,500.
Faena New York
Accor’s luxury boutique brand Faena will open its third property in the One High Line East Tower, overlooking the Hudson River at 18th Street. With 120 rooms and suites with “breathtaking views and décor,” the hotel promises “innovative culinary concepts” at its 5,000-square-foot restaurant and a 17,000-square-foot spa, under the watchful eye of the former GM of The Pierre. Faena Rose members will have exclusive entry into The Living Room, an “elevated setting with live entertainment, private dining, and outdoor terraces.”
Kimpton Rockefeller Center
The 33-story Kimpton Rockefeller Center will feature 529 guest rooms and “inspired social spaces,” including a fitness center and two “unique” meeting spaces. It promises great design, amazing views of skyscrapers, pet-friendly policies, IHG points—and a great midtown location, location, location (at 48th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues).
Utah
Park City
Ascent Park City, part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection, will bring a boutique property to the base of the Frostwood Gondola, and offer slopeside access to Canyons Village.
Zion
Golfers, hikers and anyone who loves those red cliffs of Zion National Park have a new luxury option at Black Desert Resort | Luxury Utah Resort, covering 600 acres of magnificent (and I am not kidding about how beautiful Zion is) scenic desert landscape, with almost 800 guestrooms and luxury suites anchored by a 19-hole 7,500-yard black rock championship golf course designed by Tom Weiskopf. Family suites offer bunk beds, generous living and dining areas and pre-arrival grocery service.
Note: I set out to do a column on great new hotels worldwide but there were so many I just focused on the United States for now. Stay tuned for more properties around the world. If you have some to recommend, please email me at crosentravel@gmail.com!
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
