Adrian Gaut/Courtesy of Borgo Santandrea
Forget fantasy football—what about a heavenly hotel? Imagine you could create one from scratch, cherrypicking the best aspects of the world’s most noteworthy recent openings and reopenings, combined into the perfect, impossible property. That’s what we’ve done, from the best rooftop restaurant for supper to the only beach club where’s it’s truly worth basking in the sun, this is the world’s ultimate hotel. The only thing we can’t arrange: the chance to check in.
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Facade: Capella Sydney | Australia
Image Credit: Courtesy of Capella Sydney It took seven years to turn this local landmark—the building once housed the departments of education and agriculture—into a luxury hotel. It anchors the so-called sandstone precinct (named for the honey-colored facades of so many buildings here, including this one), but the adaptive reuse is its crowning glory, literally, with a gleaming, four-story glass addition that perches atop the structure like an architectural tiara.
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Suites: The Surrey, a Corinthia Hotel | New York City
Image Credit: Courtesy of The Surrey, a Corinthia Hotel After a full reimagining by Martin Brudnizki and its new operators, Malta-based Corinthia Hotels, this Upper East Side stalwart’s signature suites now include a quartet inspired by Central Park bridges. Moldings nod to the bridges’ architectural details, while hand-painted sketches inside the grandes armoires evoke the Ramble-adjacent Bow Bridge.
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Restaurant: La Rooftop at Royal Mansour Casablanca | Morocco
Image Credit: Courtesy of Royal Mansour Casablanca Relax on the 23rd floor of this Art Deco–inflected skyscraper hotel and you’ll not only enjoy astonishing views over the water and toward the towering Hassan II Mosque, but you’ll also find yourself rubbing elbows with the coolest crowd in the city. Snag a sofa on the terrace before sundown and linger all evening.
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Spa: Meritage Resort and Spa | Napa Valley
Image Credit: Courtesy of Meritage Resort and Spa The naturally formed 22,000-square-foot Estate Cave, located 40 feet underground, was already spectacular—its extensive menu of treatments includes both cave-stone massage and guided breathing and meditation sessions—but the $25 million rehab of this establishment thankfully doubled the size of the adults-only pool in front of Spa Terra.
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Lobby: Peninsula London | England
Image Credit: Will Pryce/Courtesy of Peninsula London Hong Kong’s Peninsula hotels are renowned for their fleet of high-end classic cars—a personal passion of billionaire owner Sir Michael Kadoorie. No wonder he struck a deal with Surrey’s Brooklands Museum for his latest opening, in London: Not only is the Claude Bosi–operated restaurant named in its honor, but the institution also makes available a rotating selection of outstanding vintage vehicles—most recently, a Bentley Blower and a Napier-Railton—for display in the eatery’s dedicated lobby, close to the Concorde nose installed overhead, sourced from Kadoorie’s personal collection.
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Beach Club: Borgo Santandrea | Italy
Image Credit: Adrian Gaut/Courtesy of Borgo Santandrea The dearth of standout beaches is the Amalfi Coast’s dirty secret, so this is a remarkable asset: Walk down through the terraced, lemon-tree-filled gardens of this Gio Ponti–inspired hotel bolted to the steep cliffs by Conca dei Marini, and you’ll stumble upon its own beach club attached to the property. The restaurant sits in a renovated boathouse; feel free to snip some herbs from the mismatched pots filled with sage and basil.
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Pool: One&Only Za’Abeel | Dubai, U.A.E.
Image Credit: Courtesy of One&Only Za’Abeel This gravity-defying infinity pool, sitting atop the cantilevered link between the hotel’s two towers, has a clubby vibe, swim-up bars, and sunken seating pods—and the fact that it’s Instagram catnip doesn’t hurt, either.
