From a Surf Shack in Montauk to a Private Island in Provence, These Are May's Best New Hotel Openings

This month also ushers in one of the most anticipated openings in Provence, on Île de Bendor. The pastis entrepreneur Paul Ricard bought this 17-acre island off Bandol in 1950 and spent two decades filling it with artists’ studios, restaurants, and a sailing club. Zannier Hotels took it over in 2021 and has been restoring it since. It opens this month with Michelin-starred Lionel Levy across four restaurants, and the only way in is a seven-minute ferry from Bandol. Word is it’s already the place to be seen this summer, with A-listers apparently ahead of the curve — Clooney was reportedly there for his birthday this month.

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Aulūs Chania

• Location: Chania, Crete, Greece
• Why it’s notable: All-inclusive resorts have a reputation problem with experienced travelers, and not without reason. Aulūs is Greek hospitality group Domes’ attempt to change that — an adults-only concept with three à la carte restaurants with unrestricted visits, premium Greek wines, daily wellness programming through the SOMA Spa, and a floating sea deck above the Bay of Chania. The 200 rooms and suites have sea views, earthy tones, and indoor-outdoor terraces. Daily transfers run to Chania’s old harbor, 25 minutes away.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Couples who want an all-inclusive experience on Crete’s north coast.
• What’s nearby: Stavros Beach is walkable. Chania’s Venetian harbor, covered market, and old town are a short drive or resort transfer away. The Samaria Gorge, one of Europe’s longest, is about an hour’s drive south through the White Mountains. Chania International Airport is roughly 15 minutes from the resort.

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Avani Mooloolaba Beach Hotel

• Location: Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia
• Why it’s notable: Mooloolaba has been one of Queensland’s most popular beach destinations for decades, but hasn’t seen an internationally branded new-build hotel in over 40 years. Avani, Minor Hotels’ contemporary midrange brand, has arrived with a 12-story, 180-room property on the Esplanade, directly overlooking the Pacific. The rooftop pool and Sully’s, the signature restaurant led by executive chef Marky Godbeer, are the draws — Godbeer’s menu puts local producers and fresh seafood first, with Mooloolaba prawns as the centerpiece.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Visitors adding a few beach days to a Sydney or Brisbane trip.
• What’s nearby: Mooloolaba Beach is directly outside and patrolled year-round. The Wharf precinct, with restaurants including Rice Boi and The Dock, is a short walk along the Esplanade. The Sunshine Coast hinterland — Montville, Maleny, and the Glass House Mountains — is about 45 minutes by car. Sunshine Coast Airport serves Sydney, Melbourne, and international connections to Auckland and Singapore.

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Casa Bonavita

• Location: Attard, Malta
• Why it’s notable: Christopher and Suzanne Sharp, the British design duo behind luxury rug brand The Rug Company, spent seven years converting an 18th-century family palazzo in Attard into their first hotel. The result feels less like a hotel and more like a private house. The bar is lined with a de Gournay mural of 17th-century Valletta harbor; the bathrooms have hand-painted marble-effect tiles that cost more than actual marble; the antique chairs in the dining room were Suzanne’s grandmother’s. Chef Dex Oseman, formerly of London’s The River Café, runs a kitchen rooted in seasonal Mediterranean produce, much of it grown on site.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Travelers who know Malta well enough to be done with its resort hotels.
• What’s nearby: San Anton Gardens and the San Anton Palace — the Maltese president’s official residence — are a short walk away. The neighboring villages of Lija and Balzan are walkable, their limestone lanes worth an hour on foot. Mdina, the ancient walled Silent City, is about 10 minutes by car; Valletta, a UNESCO World Heritage capital with St. John’s Co-Cathedral and the Upper Barrakka Gardens, is about 25 minutes. Villa Bologna, whose century-old ceramics studio was restored by the Sharps’ daughter and son-in-law, is also worth the short detour.

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Casa J.K. Place Roma

• Location: Rome, Italy
• Why it’s notable: J.K. Place has been operating small, Bönan-designed hotels in Rome, Paris, and Capri for over 20 years, each under 30 rooms, each built on the idea that a hotel should feel like someone’s home. Casa J.K. Place Roma is 12 apartments in an 18th-century palazzo on Via dei Prefetti — kitchens, Calacatta marble countertops, one- to three-bedroom configurations — with the Bönan interiors and J.K. service the brand has built its reputation on. The courtyard restaurant Al Ventidue sits under a glass dome and serves a menu drawing on Roman culinary tradition. Dedicated chefs, butlers, and concierges are on hand throughout.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Travelers spending an extended stay in Rome who want an apartment format with hotel-level service.
• What’s nearby: The Pantheon is a five-minute walk; Piazza Navona is about the same. The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain are each about 10 minutes on foot. Via Condotti, Rome’s main luxury shopping street, is a short walk north. The antiquarian bookshops and wine bars along Via dei Coronari are a short detour and considerably quieter than the main tourist corridors.

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Château la Commaraine

• Location: Pommard, Burgundy, France
• Why it’s notable: Founded in 1112 and once owned by the Dukes of Burgundy, Château la Commaraine has spent the last four years being restored into Burgundy’s first five-star hotel fully enclosed within its own working Premier Cru vineyard — the nine-acre Clos de la Commaraine, cultivated biodynamically under the Pommard appellation. The 37 rooms and suites include a circular tower suite, a suite sitting above the vat room, and a four-bedroom villa within the clos available from June. Two restaurants are led by Christophe Raoux, who holds the Meilleur Ouvrier de France — one of the country’s highest honors in the culinary trades, awarded by the French state every four years. Le Clos is open now as a bistro overlooking the cuverie; the vaulted-cellar fine dining room Le VIII opens in June.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Serious wine travelers.
• What’s nearby: Pommard village is walkable from the estate. Beaune, the medieval capital of Burgundy wines and home to the Hôtel-Dieu and the Marché aux Vins, is about two miles away. The Route des Grands Crus runs directly through the area, connecting Gevrey-Chambertin to the north and Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet to the south. Dijon is about 30 minutes by car; Lyon is roughly 90 minutes south.

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Fairmont The Red Sea

• Location: Shura Island, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia
• Why it’s notable: The Red Sea Development is Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion attempt to turn 90 islands, dormant volcanoes, and 125 miles of coastline into a world-class tourism destination — and it has, from day one, told the outside world remarkably little about how that is going. Fairmont The Red Sea has 193 rooms, six dining concepts including an overwater restaurant, a spa, and an 18-hole championship golf course on Shura Island — yet there is no booking page, no working hotel website, and no firsthand account of anyone actually staying there. If you can get in, the natural environment — coral reefs and archipelago islands that have seen almost no tourist traffic — is unlike anything else in the region.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Serious divers and anyone curious enough about Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast to be an early visitor.
• What’s nearby: The resort sits within the Red Sea Development’s archipelago on Shura Island. The surrounding islands and coral reefs are the draw — snorkeling, scuba diving, and waters that remain nearly pristine. Getting here means flying into Red Sea International Airport, which serves the development directly. The nearest city is Al-Wajh, about 35 miles northeast.

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Hotel Corduroy

• Location: Montauk, New York
• Why it’s notable: The former Sunset Montauk on West Lake Drive has been converted into a 29-room boutique hotel designed around Montauk’s surf history. The original 1983 three-building structure was kept intact, with grasscloth walls, rattan furniture, vintage cassette players, and a sun-faded palette carrying the interior throughout. The social center is the Lawn, a communal outdoor space with bay views, fire pits, and yard games. Complimentary bikes and beach gear are included.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: New Yorkers who want a well-designed place to sleep in Montauk.
• What’s nearby: Sunset Beach and the marina are steps away. Montauk’s surf breaks — Ditch Plains is the most consistent — are about 10 minutes by bike. The Montauk Lighthouse at the eastern tip of Long Island is a 15-minute drive. For food, Surf Lodge, Navy Beach, and Duryea’s are all within a short drive.

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The Inn at Hancock

• Location: Hancock, New Hampshire
• Why it’s notable: Open since 1789 and recognized as the oldest continuously operating inn in New Hampshire, the Inn at Hancock sits on a Main Street where nearly every building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. New ownership acquired it in 2022 and spent three years on a full restoration, emerging with 15 individually designed suites with Frette linens and Floris London bath amenities, a French-influenced seasonal tasting menu across three distinct dining rooms, and PINKS Lounge, an à la carte grill done out in crimson with a raw bar and a fire pit. The interiors, designed by Kerri Landry of Heston Woodcock, mix Chinoiserie fabrics, period antiques, and bespoke furnishings.The interiors, designed by Kerri Landry of Heston Woodcock, mix Chinoiserie fabrics, period antiques, and bespoke furnishings.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Anyone based in Boston or New York looking for a rural New England weekend with good food and considered interiors.
• What’s nearby: Hancock village is walkable, with the Harris Center for Conservation Education a short distance from the inn. Mount Monadnock — one of the most hiked peaks in the world — is about 20 minutes by car, with trails open year-round at Monadnock State Park. Peterborough, which inspired Thornton Wilder’s Our Town and is home to the MacDowell artists’ colony, is 10 minutes by car. Boston is roughly two hours south.

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La Tiara di Cervo

• Location: Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy
• Why it’s notable: Alfonso Dolce — CEO of Dolce & Gabbana — built this nine-acre estate on the granite hillside above Porto Cervo’s marina as his private vision of Sardinia. The 26 Grand Suites, organized into four clusters named after gemstone colors, are one- to three-bedroom residences with kitchens stocked with local produce, sea-facing terraces, and twice-daily housekeeping. The property is managed by Aldo Melpignano, whose Borgo Egnazia in Puglia is widely considered one of Italy’s finest hotels. Lu Pisantinu, a Porto Cervo institution with more than 40 years of history feeding the Costa Smeralda’s well-heeled, is part of the property.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Guests who want a private villa on the Costa Smeralda with the service of a five-star hotel.
• What’s nearby: Porto Cervo village is a short courtesy car ride from the estate. Cala Granu, one of the clearest bays on the Costa Smeralda, is accessible by transfer. The Costa Smeralda’s beaches, sailing waters, and neighboring coves are the main draw. Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport is about 35 minutes by car; Delta Air Lines now operates a nonstop from New York JFK to Olbia, making this the first summer Sardinia is within direct reach of US travelers without a connection.

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Moxy Budapest Downtown

• Location: Budapest, Hungary
• Why it’s notable: Moxy Budapest Downtown occupies the former Hungarian Dance Academy on Kazinczy Street, in the heart of Budapest’s Jewish Quarter. Austrian firm BWM drew on the building’s dance heritage and the legacy of Empress Elisabeth, Hungary’s beloved 19th-century queen, for the interiors. A graffiti mural by local artist Áron Hidvégi connects the lobby to the neighborhood’s contemporary creative scene. At 281 rooms, it is firmly midrange, with Bar Moxy, a 24-hour gym, and the rooftop bar Saddle & Sky above Pest. The location, one of the most active nightlife and cultural streets in Central Europe, is the reason to book it.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Anyone who wants to spend a long weekend in Budapest without paying boutique hotel rates.
• What’s nearby: Szimpla Kert, the ruin bar that started the city’s entire scene, is steps away on Kazinczy Street, as is the Karaván street food courtyard. The Kazinczy Synagogue is on the same block. The Great Synagogue on Dohány Street — the largest in Europe — is a five-minute walk. The Danube and the Chain Bridge are about 20 minutes on foot; tram 4 or 6 on Király Street connects the rest of the city quickly.

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OKU Bodrum

• Location: Bodrum Peninsula, Türkiye
• Why it’s notable: OKU has built a consistent identity across Ibiza, Kos, and Andalusia — adults-only, pared-back minimalist, poolside DJ sets, Nikkei-inspired food — and Bodrum brings that to one of the Aegean’s most dramatic coastlines. The 58-room property sits on the north coast of the peninsula on a protected bay, backed by mountains, facing the Aegean. A collaboration with Turkish art curator Begüm Güney brings sculptural installations throughout the property. Teyo, the open-air Nikkei-inspired restaurant, overlooks a tropical and Japanese garden; the Round Bar sits on the cove-side jetty, which also doubles as the departure point for boat excursions to nearby islands and lagoons.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Anyone who has done Ibiza or Kos with OKU and wants the same experience on a Turkish coastline.
• What’s nearby: The fishing village of Gümüşlük, known for its pebble beaches and family-run fish restaurants, is accessible by boat or car along the peninsula. Yalıkavak, once a quiet north-coast village and now a luxury marina with serious restaurants, is about 15 minutes north by car. Bodrum town — with its castle, bazaar, and the ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus — is about 20 minutes by car. Milas-Bodrum Airport is roughly an hour’s drive.

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Sublime Sand

• Location: Comporta, Portugal
• Why it’s notable: The founder of Sublime Comporta, Gonçalo Pessoa, opened the original property in 2014 after placing a newspaper ad in 2001 to buy land on the Alentejo coast, making it the first luxury hotel on that stretch of coastline. Sublime Sand expands the property to 43 private villas spread across 120 acres on the other side of the road, with the original now renamed Sublime Terracotta. Guests of both properties share access to each other’s restaurants, beach club, and spa. Beefbar, the Monte Carlo-born steakhouse with locations worldwide, and Davvero, widely considered one of the best Italian restaurants in Portugal, are both worth the trip from Lisbon on their own.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Families or groups who want the Comporta experience without splitting up across separate hotels and restaurants.
• What’s nearby: Comporta’s Atlantic beaches stretch for more than 40 miles and remain genuinely uncrowded even in summer — a car is essential to explore them. The Sado Estuary Nature Reserve, home to a resident dolphin population, is accessible by boat from Tróia. Herdade da Comporta, the area’s main wine producer, is just outside the village. Lisbon is about 90 minutes north by car.

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The Vanderpump Hotel

• Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
• Why it’s notable: Lisa Vanderpump — the British restaurateur and Bravo reality television star behind a Las Vegas hospitality empire that now spans six venues — has rebranded The Cromwell, a 188-room boutique casino hotel at Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, as The Vanderpump Hotel. The rooms, designed by Vanderpump and partner Nick Alain in what they call an “industrial romantic” style, feature moss-green walls, dusty lilac accents, velvet headboards, and lighting calibrated to flatter. The rooftop pool Soleia, with panoramic Strip views, opens with the hotel and Pinky’s by Vanderpump, her cocktail bar at the Flamingo next door, is a short walk.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: Vanderpump fans, obviously.
• What’s nearby: The location is as central as the Strip gets — Caesars Palace is directly across the street, the Bellagio fountains are a 10-minute walk south, and the High Roller observation wheel is about 15 minutes north on foot. The ARIA and Cosmopolitan are each within a 10-minute walk. For anyone staying to gamble, the casino floor at The Vanderpump Hotel is small and relaxed by Strip standards.

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Zannier Île de Bendor

• Location: Île de Bendor, Provence, France
• Why it’s notable: In 1950, Paul Ricard — the French entrepreneur who invented pastis — bought a barren 17-acre island off the port of Bandol and spent the next two decades turning it into his personal vision of Provençal life, with artists’ studios, restaurants, a sculpture garden, and a sailing club. His descendants still own it, and after closing in 2021, the island reopens under Zannier Hotels as a car-free retreat reached only by a seven-minute ferry from Bandol. The 93 rooms sit across three distinct sections: the 1960s-glamour Delos block, the raw-stone Soukana beside the spa, and La Madrague’s former fishermen’s cottages by the harbor. Michelin-starred chef Lionel Levy oversees the island’s four restaurants, three bars, a café, and a crêperie.
• Type of traveler who will love this hotel: This summer will see A-listers and those in the know.
• What’s nearby: Bandol port is seven minutes away by ferry, with hourly crossings in season. The town’s weekly market and wine estates make it one of Provence’s most underrated stops, known for some of France’s best rosé. The Calanques National Park, the limestone cove system between Marseille and Cassis, is accessible by boat excursion from Bandol. Marseille is 45 minutes by regional train from Bandol station.

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