» Every year our team of contributors and editors vet hundreds of hotels that swing open their doors promising all sorts of industry catnip from holistic spa treatments to rockstar bartenders to unprecedented access to some of the world’s hardest-to-reach locations. Most of these openings are…perfectly fine.
But only a fraction are what we’d call ‘hot.’ Our army of sleuths spent the last year checking into hundreds of new properties, assessing everything from Wi-fi strength to rooftop pool scene. Ultimately, the hotels and cruises that land on this list are the absolute best of the best; the game-changing, boundary pushing, vacation-making openings that are so good, we’re already dreaming about going back. Eighty-two made the cut this year. Peruse all of our Hot List galleries to find out what we love most about each winner. »