Beach holidays are always popular, but this year there were a lot of new hotels opening in Mexico and the Caribbean. Here are the 11 new beach hotels that our editors suggest. When it comes to relaxing vacations, there aren’t many things that can beat the peaceful beauty of a beachside hideaway.
Imagine waking up to the sound of gentle waves, feeling the soft sand between your toes, and taking in the beautiful scenery along the coast. If you’re looking for the best place to relax and be pampered at the same time, look no further than these new seaside retreats. Here is a list of the best new beach hotels that will change the way you travel.
1. Tropical Hotel — St. Bart’s
When 369° Hôtels-Maisons bought the Tropical in 2016, the plan was simple: turn the second-oldest hotel on St. Bart’s into the most popular place to stay on the island. But in September 2017, Hurricane Irma caused so much damage that the French hospitality group had to almost start over. At the time, the repairs were almost done and staff had already moved in. After almost four years of building, the new Tropical is like a fresh start. In a place known for being exclusive, the hotel is meant to be a place where people can meet. It hosts a rotating list of artists and musicians, such as the twin French DJs Doppelganger Paris and the painter Raphal Schmitt, who painted beautiful murals on the walls of the common areas while he was there.
Next year, there will be yoga camps, which will be a nice change from the loud beach clubs just a few steps down the hill in St.-Jean. The 23 rooms and 6 suites are set up around a beautifully overgrown courtyard that was completely replanted after the storm. In the evening, this garden turns into Romi, where chefs Linda and Nicolas Bisani serve a fully Indonesian meal (a nod to Linda’s home country), including nasi goreng, cod curry, and five kinds of sambal, a spicy Southeast Asian condiment. St. Bart’s restaurants are mostly French or a mix of French and other cuisines, so it’s already a hit with locals and people who have lived there for a long time. www.tropical-stbarth.com; double rooms start at $690. — Hannah Walhout
2. Susurros del Corazón, Auberge Resorts Collection — Punta Mita, Mexico
This small resort is on a private beach with a view of the calm Bay of Banderas. It has the high-end feel of an Auberge and the rich culture of Riviera Nayarit. Paul Duesing designed the 89 rooms, suites, and villas with neutral colors that put the focus on decorations from all over the country, like terracotta animal figures from San José del Cabo in Baja California Sur and custom wood headboards from Guadalajara. The caring service is what really sets this resort apart, no matter how beautiful the rooms and grounds are.
When I went to the resort with my husband and young son, it had only been open for about a month, but the staff had already mastered the kind of warm, easygoing welcome that usually takes years to master. (For example, as soon as we sat down for dinner at Casamilpa, the property’s main restaurant, the staff pulled out a highchair and took our orders to make sure no one had a tantrum like a hungry baby.) The carefully chosen list of events is just as impressive. For example, a local healer leads a cacao ceremony and a gamified wine-tasting session focuses on Mexican vineyards. aubergeresorts.com has double rooms for $1,099 and up. — Sarah Bruning
3. Rock House — Turks and Caicos Islands
When compared to the sprawling Grace Bay Club, the newest addition to Grace Bay Resorts is more of a boutique business. The 46 rooms are spread out over a limestone hill. They range from small studios to large houses with two bedrooms. The interiors are very simple, with high ceilings, furniture in grays and creams, and sheer, paper-thin curtains that give you that easy-breezy island feeling. If you want to soak in peace, some houses have plunge pools.
But Rock House really shines in the places where people gather. The 130-foot wooden pier is almost always where people gather at the resort. I took a yoga class there one morning and drank rosé on a daybed there a couple of times. The hotel also hosts themed meals here, where the plank is lit up and the waves crash on the private beach in the background. There are rumors that Drake likes this place a lot and sometimes has secret hangouts with his friends here after dinner service is over. Double rooms start at $760 at rockhouse.gracebayresorts.com. —Chander Navarro
4. Waldorf Astoria Cancun — Mexico
Finding the right short Caribbean vacation can feel like a Catch-22 since the places that are easiest to get to are also the most crowded. Consider Cancun. There are direct flights from many U.S. places to Mexico’s best beach town, but its luxury resorts in the Hotel Zone can feel like a gaudy version of spring break in Daytona. That’s why everyone was so excited for the Waldorf Astoria Cancun to open in November. It’s a completely different world from the busy center. It’s on a quiet beach only 20 minutes from the airport in Cancun. The road to the resort goes through 100 acres of lush mangroves on a nature preserve near the fishing town of Puerto Morelos. Signs warn drivers to slow down because of alligators. Hirsch Bedner Associates’ palatial interiors gently bring the glamour of the original Waldorf Astoria in New York’s Jazz Age to the tropics.
The lobby has large areas of shiny marble, including a tribute to the famous (but now closed) bar at the Manhattan hotel, Peacock Alley, and huge picture windows that face the sparkling blue ocean. All 173 rooms have either a jacuzzi or a plunge pool and a private balcony with a view of the beach. The decor is relaxing and plays off of the site’s natural beauty. For example, artist Victoria Villasana made pieces that look like coral. And since this is Mexico, food is a big deal. Malpeque is a fine-dining restaurant with dishes like baked scallops in the shell from Ensenada served with a chipotle-vermouth sauce and a puff pastry shell. Me? I wasn’t going anywhere else but my deck. I ordered fish tacos from room service and sat in my bathtub to watch the sunset. In the distance, you could see the lights of Cancun’s busy Hotel Zone. They seemed to be a long way away. Waldorf-astoria.com; rooms for two start at $749. —Tony Pérotet
5. La Tartane — St. Tropez
This 27-room hotel stands out on the luxury scene in St. Tropez because of its location on the edge of the town and its laid-back take on the Cote d’Azur. The designer Jordane Arrivetz was asked to make the hotel feel like a cozy family vacation house. So, she furnished each room and suite, which are in six separate houses, with either custom or vintage furniture.
She used natural materials (rope, raffia, wood) and details (floral upholstery, shell handles, and bold graphic art) that weren’t too precious. Everything is picked out, but it’s still easy to get to. The idea is to make people feel like they could live here. The whimsical murals by the Brazilian artist Joo Incerti can be found all over the land. Before you hit St. Tropez’s famous nightlife, grab a spritz at the pool bar, which is decorated with pretty flowers. Double rooms start at $660 at latartane-hotel.com. —Chander Navarro
6. Cosme, a Luxury Collection Resort — Paros, Greece
This 40-suite hotel on the beachfront set a new standard for luxury in Paros, where it was usually only found in private houses. Cosme’s pale, all-block buildings, made from local stone and Parian marble, look like the traditional villages that dot the island and are meant to feel like an extension of the nearby harbor town of Naoussa. The decor is a mix of the best of modern and ancient Greece. The sun-drenched entrance is dominated by an abstract mural and hand-embroidered pillows and antiques from all over the Mediterranean can be found there.
There is also an open-air concept store called Anthologist that sells Greek vacation wear and handmade brass artifacts. A few of the suites have private plunge pools that face the Aegean, but I spent my days and evenings at the crescent-shaped infinity pool or under a thatched umbrella at the private beach club, which was a first for a hotel on Paros. If you want to go to the island of Antiparos quickly, you can also take a 40-foot sailboat. At Cosmo Hotel Paros, double rooms start at $453. — Lane Nieset
7. Cambridge Beaches — Bermuda
Cambridge Beaches is far from Bermuda’s other luxury hotels and the busy town of Hamilton. It is on a 23-acre peninsula that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean. The property has 86 pink cabins and four beaches, which is a rare thing on the island. This year, Cambridge Beaches is 100 years old, and some of its building features date back to the 17th century. Still, its new owners, the hotel group Dovetail + Co, which is known for the Urban Cowboy Lodge in upstate New York, just gave it a full makeover. Now, each house has a fun, tropical style with dark wood beds, rattan chairs, textiles with graphic patterns, and shutter doors with brass knobs that have palm leaves pressed into them.
The pool has new pink furniture and a new bar and restaurant. There is also a branch of The Sunken Harbor Club in Brooklyn, New York. The dockside bar is filled with real treasures that Bermudian diving hero Teddy Tucker found in shipwrecks nearby. There are both classic island drinks like rum-based swizzles and dark ‘n stormies and new drinks. Chef Keith De Shields, who grew up in Bermuda, makes local favorites like shark hash, callaloo pasta, and wild boar stuffed with plantain. The spa and indoor pool will still get a full makeover. Double rooms start at $428 on cambridgebeaches.com. —Beth Klein
8. Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale — Florida
Some people who visit South Florida might never hear of Evelyn Fortune Bartlett, who was a painter, art collector, and society who was known as Fort Lauderdale’s “grand dame.” But the Four Seasons wants you to know her name: her memory lives on in the Bonnet House, a signature drink based on Bartlett’s daiquiri recipe and named after the nearby estate where she spent the winter and hosted parties. It’s just one way that Four Seasons hopes to capture the spirit of this laid-back community 30 miles north of Miami.
The hotel is a 22-story white tower on Beach Boulevard. It was designed by Kobi Karp to look like the boats that make this city one of the boating capitals of the country. It has 189 rooms and suites with furnishings designed by Tara Bernerd. The lacquered wood in these rooms and suites brings to mind the sleek details of a Riva yacht. Martin Brudnizki, a famous Swedish designer whose company also made the outdoor areas, used linens, sea grass, and sea colors in the restaurant to match the views of the ocean from the dining room.
It’s already a popular place to make an appointment in Fort Lauderdale because chef Brandon Salomon’s menu focuses on seafood and explores the food of the Eastern Mediterranean. Try the branzino, which is stuffed with citrus and herbs, filleted at the table, and doused in smoky coriander chermoula. The name of the restaurant? The answer is Evelyn’s. Double rooms start at $524 on fourseasons.com. — Hanna Walhout
9. Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo — Mexico
The rocky coast of Costalegre, which runs from Puerto Vallarta to Manzanillo, Colima, about 150 miles away, has been a well-kept secret for decades. The Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, with its 157 rooms, is the first hotel to open on this safe stretch of coast in years. The property is in the middle of a 3,000-acre nature reserve and is run by hotel owners who are committed to the spirit of the Costalegre. If you didn’t know where to look, you might not even notice it was there. With less flash and a more natural style, the sand-and-stone buildings blend in with their surroundings.
Book one of the three Cliffside Suites for jaw-dropping views and private infinity pools. This is the best way to watch the fiery Pacific sunsets from the front row. Four Seasons is known for its great food and luxurious amenities, and Tamarindo is no different. It has four restaurants, tiered infinity pools, and a gym with an alchemy theme. In normal Four Seasons style, the magic of this place comes from the fact that it feels like the end of the world, that local voices are heard through art and design, and that the land around it is cared for. On fourseasons.com, double rooms start at $1,250. —Meagan Drillinger
10. Cali Mykonos — Greece
Cali Mykonos is known for its privacy and low-key luxury, which is a nice change from the island’s reputation for all-night parties. The 40 suites and houses are spread out like sugar cubes along a cliff on the quieter southeastern side of the island. Lefteris Lazarou, whose restaurant Varoulko Seaside got Greece’s first Michelin star in 2002, is in charge of the fresh Mediterranean dishes on Cali’s menu.
Instead of loud DJ music and crowded sunbeds, most guests hang out at the cliffside infinity pool or swim quickly on the private sandy beach. If you do want to go out, the concierge team can set up boat trips to other islands and get you into some of the best beach clubs on the island. calimykonos.com; rooms for two start at $865. —Travis Levius
11. Fasano Trancoso — Brazil
Fasano is the best luxury hotel name in Brazil, and Trancoso is the best beach town in the country. Together, they make a perfect match. With a beautiful location on a stretch of clean sand beach, Fasano has combined its signature urban style with the laid-back beach lifestyle by building 40 luxurious, modern bungalows that are hidden among tall palm trees and lush greenery.
The simple, elegant rooms were designed by the famous Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld. They have high-end amenities, muted country tones, and locally made wooden furniture. Many of the rooms have outdoor decks and hammocks with unobstructed views of the beautiful blue sea. With an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a spa that gives relaxing massages, and two restaurants that serve both Italian classics and Bahian dishes, I didn’t see much reason to leave. fasano.com.br; rooms for two start at $850. — Joel Porter
