“Magnificence is refusal.” Coco Chanel knew it, and so do the winners of our 2026 lodge awards. True luxurious, these icons remind us, isn’t about doing all the things—it’s about doing the suitable issues exquisitely. Fewer keys, muted spectacle, pared-back design, intentional gestures: each selection shapes the expertise, each element resonates. At Waldorf Astoria New York, scale turns into intimacy. Aman folds calm into the heartbeat of a megacity. Our Habitas AlUla bends evenly to the land, letting nature take the lead. Every of the 12 winners in our lodge awards captures a second, a sense, a way of place, displaying that probably the most memorable experiences are formed not by extra, however by cautious consideration and intent.
After practically eight years behind closed doorways, Waldorf Astoria New York returns—bigger than legend. Its 47-story Artwork Deco silhouette, lengthy a defining stroke on the skyline, now alerts a brand new period of grandeur. As soon as the hang-out of icons like Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor, the lodge reemerges from a multibillion-dollar transformation with renewed exclusivity, decreasing its key rely from 1,400 to simply 375 to create generously proportioned rooms and suites in comfortable lotions and beiges, accented with marble and darkish woods. The foyer—lengthy one of many Massive Apple’s nice levels—returns spectacularly, topped by the restored 1893 World’s Honest clock. Each nook has been reimagined, whereas its culinary legacy continues with Lex Yard, Peacock Alley and Yoshoku, and the world’s largest Guerlain Wellness Spa stands as a sanctuary of rest. As soon as once more, it crowns Manhattan, town’s grand lodge in all its storied glory.
Thailand is the place Aman’s story started. Practically three many years after Amanpuri first reshaped luxurious hospitality on Phuket’s shores, the model returns to its non secular house with Aman Nai Lert Bangkok—its third city lodge. Set throughout the seven-acre inexperienced sanctuary of Nai Lert Park, the historic grounds established by Bangkok’s at the beginning developer, Nai Lert, the lodge rises above town with an nearly inconceivable calm. Designed by longtime Aman collaborator Jean-Michel Gathy, it homes simply 52 expansive suites, their floor-to-ceiling home windows framing tropical gardens and skyline views. The structure embraces the park itself, preserving a century-old tree at its coronary heart, with public areas and an outside swimming pool formed round it. Life right here unfolds vertically with eating spots like Arva, 1872 and Hiori, plus the 1,500-square-meter Aman Spa & Wellness heart. Greater than a return, this opening marks a brand new chapter, the place Aman’s origins meet its future, reintroduced to the place that has at all times felt like house.
Our Habitas AlUla is guided by a easy perception: that with the encounter of uncommon pure magnificence comes a accountability to guard it. Set low throughout the dramatic Ashar Valley, the retreat is designed as an immersive house that deepens consciousness of the land fairly than competing with it. Modular, low-impact development minimizes disruption, whereas earth-toned villas and native supplies make sure the structure blends effortlessly into its environment. Sustainability shouldn’t be symbolic however structural, formed by transparency and aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Improvement Targets for 2030. Environmental stewardship extends past the location by means of a partnership with Cooperativo Ambio’s Scolel’te Program, with proceeds from concert events and screenings supporting reforestation and offsetting carbon emissions. It’s an strategy that treats hospitality as a accountability, constructing a bond in fixed dialogue with the land.
Perched above the Tyrrhenian Sea, Treville Positano is a love letter to the Amalfi Coast. As soon as the personal summer season property of Italian director and producer Franco Zeffirelli, it nonetheless carries his theatrical soul—artworks, curios and fragments of opera units layered throughout villas cascading towards the water. Secret backyard paths wind previous tropical vegetation, hidden terraces and quiet swimming pools, providing the uncommon sensation of being fully alone, suspended between sea and sky. Simply 16 suites protect the intimacy of a residence—from the storied Nijinski Suite to the romantic Romeo e Giulietta Suite. Days drift by swimming off the rocks or gliding into city by boat, whereas evenings start with golden hour aperitivi at Bianca Bar earlier than unfolding with dinner at Maestro’s. John Steinbeck wrote of Positano that it’s “a dream place that isn’t fairly actual if you find yourself there and turns into beckoningly actual after you will have gone.” Right here, romance feels cinematic within the second, solely to deepen as soon as it slips into reminiscence.
Tucked inside a restored 1925 neoclassical mansion simply steps from Plaka—the so-called “Neighborhood of the Gods”—THE DOLLI at Acropolis takes a hôtel-maison strategy to Athens. With solely 46 rooms, it reads like an impeccably styled pied-à-terre, intimate and quietly assured. Interiors steadiness elegant minimalism with basic Greek cues: excessive ceilings, marble flooring and grand home windows that flood rooms with gentle and body historical ruins from mattress, with custom-made furnishings crafted by native artisans. Downstairs, the art-filled foyer doubles as a lounge, the place Greek bronze sculptures mingle with modern balloon armchairs and bowls of sweet add a playful, lived-in contact. Above, layered terraces rise to a rooftop infinity pool, its waters reflecting the Acropolis like a mirage, blurring previous and current. It’s a spot the place the grandeur of Athens meets the intimacy of a boutique retreat, turning a legendary metropolis into one thing private.
The roar of 275 waterfalls drifts by means of each second, from the hush of evening to the primary gentle of daybreak. Resort das Cataratas, A Belmond Resort, is the one lodge inside Brazil’s Iguaçu Falls Nationwide Park, putting company in uncommon, intimate proximity to the world’s largest falls, one of many New Seven Pure Wonders of the World. With personal entry earlier than and after park hours, sunrises and sunsets are yours alone to witness, the mist and lightweight portray the falls in shifting golds and silvers. From sculpted grounds, panoramic lookouts or the coveted Cataratas Suites with Juliet balconies, the jungle and waterfalls really feel inside attain, not framed from afar. Because the day softens, Y Bar calls simply steps from the terrace, serving reimagined Brazilian cocktails to the soundtrack of speeding water, with the falls in full view. Glide beneath the cascades by boat, soar overhead in a helicopter or wander trails reserved for company—nature isn’t merely noticed; it falls round you, intimately and dramatically.
Perched on the storied fringe of the Golden Horn, Aliée Istanbul turns eating into an journey—a spirited dialog between cultures and flavors that performs in your palate and stays. Referred to as the “Home of Curious Minds,” the lodge is a real playground for meals lovers and the primary Paris Society Assortment handle past France—a bridge in a metropolis of bridges, the place East meets West and concepts, traditions and tastes converge. Throughout 9 distinct culinary locations, company are invited to style, wander and savor, the place method flirts with theatrical aptitude, intimacy meets splendor and each dish tells a narrative. From the garden-side Little Home to Style, an intimate eight-seat expertise curated by Michelin three-star chef Thomas Bühner, curiosity leads the way in which. Velvet-clad Mondaine de Pariso hums with Belle Époque romance and the decadent Pink Bar sparkles beneath Murano chandeliers. Each chew, each sip and each look reveals a deliciously surprising discovery.
Floating quietly on the Thu Bon River, Namia River Retreat looks like a pause between breaths. Time loosens its grip as water slips previous palm-fringed pool villas and wellness unfolds as ritual, not routine. On the coronary heart of all of it is Lumina Spa, a river-facing sanctuary designed for deep restoration. Company arrive by means of a welcome house overlooking the water, then transfer between conventional apothecaries, natural steam rooms infused with Southern Vietnamese botanicals and hushed rest lounges made for disconnection. Every keep features a 90-minute every day wellness journey rooted in historical Thuoc Nam herbology—starting with a aromatic natural hammam and flowing into a conventional remedy. Motion studios host yoga and health, whereas open-air areas invite meditation beneath the bushes. A river-view terrace pairs sauna and chilly plunge, finishing the cycle. Mornings start with conscious movement; evenings settle into lantern-lit calm. By departure, the stillness travels with you, gently held within the physique.
“In Massive Sur, we take a while to linger on,” the Crimson Scorching Chili Peppers sing on their 1999 hit Street Trippin’—a line that doubles as each soundtrack and instruction guide for this stretch of California coast. Cue the home windows down as Freeway 1, formally reopened after three years, snakes previous towering redwoods and the wide-open Pacific, ultimately delivering you to Alila Ventana Massive Sur. Set on 160 acres of forest and meadow with ocean views, the resort’s 54 secluded suites include crackling fireplaces and open decks. Seasonally crafted meals, included as a part of the keep, complement transformative wellbeing programming and a curated assortment of experiences. The result’s an unforgettable symphony to your senses when you select your personal journey: hikes with breathwork and chilly plunges, falconry, beekeeping or perhaps a little leathercrafting, ought to the temper strike. Lengthy a muse totally free spirits, Massive Sur works its magic right here—encouraging you to decelerate, linger longer and see issues slightly in a different way.
Few locations spark household marvel fairly like Lake Louise. The colour alone—an unimaginable shade of turquoise framed by glaciers and sky-high peaks—feels pulled from a storybook, with Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise sitting proper on the water’s edge. Opened in 1890 as a grand rail chalet, it has been welcoming generations of vacationers ever since, and right this moment stays one of many Rockies’ most family-friendly stays. Days revolve across the open air: ice walks and skating on the frozen lake, snowshoeing and snowboarding in winter; hikes, canoeing and wildlife-spotting when the snow melts. Again on the lodge, younger explorers dive into Children Journey Camp, with crafts, scavenger hunts, lakeside s’mores and pajama events, whereas eating retains everybody completely happy (youngsters below 5 eat free). Mother and father can steal a quiet second on the new Basin Glacial Waters spa, the place mineral-rich swimming pools draw straight from the lake. It’s old-world romance with loads of room to play.
On Ibiza’s northern shores, friendship and journey meet in a rhythm far faraway from the island’s legendary nightlife. Six Senses Ibiza sits tucked into Cala Xarraca, a world other than the get together scene, the place crystalline waters, pine forests and whitewashed cliffs set the stage for a unique sort of escape. Mornings begin with yoga on personal decks and farm-fresh breakfasts; afternoons drift into paddleboarding, e-bike rides alongside hidden trails or cooking classes with native cooks. Because the solar units, the Seaside Caves come alive with music, dancing and late-night dialog. Residences and mansions, from three to 10 bedrooms, make it straightforward to collect shut mates whereas nonetheless discovering house to breathe. And the unending infinity pool? The proper place to hold. Why queue for DJs while you and your pals could be your very personal headline act right here, making recollections by yourself phrases.
“That sunny, completely happy place,” Greta Garbo referred to as it in Grand Resort, and a scroll by means of Grand Resort Tremezzo’s Instagram feed exhibits why. It’s blue on blue on blue—the swimming pools, terraces and Lake Como itself shimmer in shades so putting, every view feels prefer it freezes time mid-scroll. They are saying the lake is “a kaleidoscope of only-here experiences,” and at Tremezzo, that magic involves life by means of their account @ghtlakecomo. It begins with the Flowers Pool, lined with parasols in that signature orange-and-white, with views all the way down to the lake. Wander towards the Wow Pool, a floating aquamarine jewel framed by the city of Bellagio and the peaks of Le Grigne. Or step into the indoor-outdoor infinity pool, the place sky and water appear to merge in excellent concord. Past the swimming pools, 5 acres of olive and palm groves and botanical gardens type one of many lake’s largest personal parks. Each view feels picture-perfect, a pure scroll-stopper inviting you to expertise Lake Como’s magic in individual.
