22 don’t-miss travel destinations for 2015

Your what, where, how and why guide to 2015.

Baccarat Hotels & Residences New York
New York, New York

Virgin Hotels Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

 Another beloved brand making its first foray into the hotel space, Virgin enters the hospitality world on January 15. It will launch in Chicago’s Central Loop district, with a four-star spot in a converted 1928 bank building that brings the contemporary cool of the airline’s upper-class airport clubhouses to 250 rooms and suites plus a glammed-up American diner, Italian coffee and wine bar and the Commons Club, a lounge, bar, restaurant and public gathering space with a member-only feel. A rooftop izakaya and cocktail joint will open in the spring. (From $209)

Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina
Oahu, Hawaii

With hotels on Maui, Lanai and the eponymous Big Island, Four Seasons is no stranger to Hawaii, but with this oceanfront hotel, meant to open by the end of 2015, it’ll have its first outpost on Oahu. Located on the island’s west shore, 17 miles from the Honolulu airport, the 400-plus-room stay will reimagine the Ihilani, a modern, gleaming-white 17-story hotel tower first opened in 1993, most recently a J.W. Marriott and originally designed by noted California architect Edward Killingsworth. For its $250 million, year-long redo and expansion, Four Seasons turned to a standout team of aesthetic arbiters, including 2013 Pritzker Prize-winning Tokyo-based architect Toyo Ito and local interior-design maven Mary Philpotts McGrath. When complete, the hotel will add another draw to the 650-acre Ko Olina development, which also includes a beach club, seaside white-sand lagoons, a deep-water marina and award-winning Ted Robinson-designed 18-hole golf course. (Rates not yet available)

Baha Mar
New Providence, Bahamas

Bahama House Inn
Harbour Island, Bahamas

AltaGracia
Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica

About two and half hours driving from the international airport in the capital of San Jose (or 25 minutes by chartered plane), this self-described “boutique hacienda,” opening in January, breaks new ground in the relatively unexplored mountains of southern Costa Rica. Its nearly 900 acres, only 100 of which have been developed, will bring to the area something of a luxe-safari experience, with hiking, horseback-riding and other adventures offered alongside the largest spa in Central America, seven different dining options and 50 one- and two-bedroom red-tile-roofed villa-like casitas, each blending influences colonial and contemporary and providing their own private panoramic terraces. (From $660; half board)

The Ritz Paris
Paris, France

Many of Paris’s palace hotels have recently shuttered for major renovations and restoration, not least of all this Place Vendôme grand dame, which will debut its much-anticipated facelift in the fall, after a three-plus-year closure — its first since Cesar Ritz first opened it in 1898. When the curtain comes off, guests will find the public spaces and 143 wood-paneled rooms and suites sensitively reimagined by French designer Thierry W. Despont, who’s reinstalling the Ritz’s priceless collection of furniture and art in a newly pastel-hued mise en scene. The hotel has also added an informal restaurant and a clear retractable roof over a formerly open-air courtyard, as well as a third kitchen at its cooking school, a new ballroom and a completely rethought spa. (Rates not yet available)

The Lanesborough
London, England

When this Hyde Park Corner icon reopens in the spring, following an 18-month closure, it won’t just have a top-to-bottom redo to show for itself. The grand 93-room hotel — once an aristocratic mansion built adjacent to what would become Buckingham Palace — will also now be the first British outpost of the Paris-based Oetker Collection of luxury hotels, whose City of Light flagship, Le Bristol, is a fashionable favorite. Designed by decorator Alberto Pinto, in one of his final projects before his death in the fall of 2012, the redone Lanesborough will retain its classic Regency aesthetic, with decadent details such as marble floors, crystal chandeliers and embellished wood and plaster ceilings. An expanded spa will arrive in 2016. (From$900)

Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain
Dujiangyan, Sichuan, China

Nestled at the base of western China’s Qing Cheng Mountains, adjacent to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Dujiangyan and a 60-minute drive from the major city of Chengdu — which has a rising profile and wealth of new hotels of its own — this May-opening spa resort will be wellness- and sustainability-minded, Bangkok-based Six Senses’ first hotel in mainland China. The 113-suite resort’s modern design and pristine park-like setting combine ancient and modern, mixing pagoda-roofed structures and natural materials with clean lines and a soothing, contemporary palette. Major draws include the large gardened spa and two beautiful pools, as well as the nearby giant panda center and access to the cultural, natural and antique wonders of the surrounding area. (From $340 including breakfast)

Angama Mara
Maasai Mara, Kenya

This high-end safari camp opens in May, just in time for the annual Great Migration of wildebeests and zebras. Its 30 contemporary-styled tented rooms and suites perch on a soaring escarpment where Bernardo Bertolucci filmed “Out of Africa,” at the very edge of the Great Rift Valley, their window walls and wooden decks overlooking the land below. (Angama means “suspended in midair” in Swahili.) Twice-daily expert-led game drives bring guests out into the Maasai Mara National Reserve, tracking wildlife, with walking safaris and hot air ballooning also available. The project comes from Steve and Nicky Fitzgerald, the husband-and-wife duo who until recently ran the top-flight Africa outfitter andBeyond. (From $750 per person)

Park Hyatt Zanzibar
Stone Town, Tanzania

The island of Zanzibar — a popular post-safari sand-and-surf destination just off the coast of Tanzania — will get a fresh dose of contemporary international style this March, when a Park Hyatt opens in its main town’s historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage site.Blending Arabic, Persian, Indian and European design influences, the beachfront resort’s 56 rooms and 11 suites include many with Indian Ocean views, as will the outdoor infinity pool. The restaurant will take a globe-spanning point of view and the three-suite spa comes from the Asian brand Anantara. (From $450)

Brown Beach House
Tel Aviv, Israel

When it opened a few years back 2015, the boutique Brown TLV hotel took Tel Aviv by storm, combining a masculine, mid-century residential look and feel with great food, cossetting service and seriously cool cachet. No wonder Claire Danes made it her home when shooting Homeland’s first few seasons. Now, the folks behind that seductive spot are headed to the city’s coveted coastline, opening this 40-room spot as Tel Aviv’s first small-scale, high-style hotel right on the city’s Mediterranean coastline. When it debuts in February, guests will find a retro beachy vibe (think Miami in the 1950s), water views from nearly all the rooms, the restaurant is fresh fish and grilled focus, an indoor bar with a surf club feeling and sand floor and an alfresco spa lounge dotted with cabanas, chaises and a huge hot tub. (From $195)

2015’s Top Spots for Every Travel Taste

For Romance/For Couples
With drastically improved airlift and the recent openings of boutique private-island luxury hotels — not least of all the new eco-conscious Brando — offering intimate, exclusive, but fully inclusive experiences, Fiji and French Polynesia are where I’m focused for 2015. I was once told as many people visit the Hawaiian islands in one day as visit French Polynesia in a year, and that as many people visit Fiji in a year as visit French Polynesia in a month, and it certainly feels that way! — Julia P. Douglas, founder Jet Set World Travel
For Families
Colombia is the new Caribbean for those after a shot of culture with their kid-friendly fly-and-flop winter vacations. The recently opened W Bogota offers a stylish start in the capital followed by a quick flight to Cartagena, where chic boutique hotels as well as high-end brands like the Four Seasons are claiming their piece of this seafront colonial city. New Yorkers will have an easy trip home thanks to JetBlue’s increased Cartagena airlift. For those who prefer the countryside, tiny Hacienda Bambusa just reopened in the country’s picturesque coffee-growing highlands. — Henley Vazquez, co-founder and CEO, Feather+Flip
For Culture-Seekers
Italy’s the place to be for travelers interested in art, history, food and culture, especially in 2015. EXPO Milan, the World’s Fair, runs for six months starting May 1, exploring the theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” and featuring cutting-edge architecture, international cuisine and many other interesting elements. The Venice Biennale will take place around the same time next year, making for an irresistible combination. We’re customizing private tours to include both events, as well as other highlights of Italy.” — Ashley Isaacs Ganz, founder and CEO, Artisans of Leisure
For Cruisers
The top 2015 cruise spot is Southeast Asia: Myanmar and cruising along the Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia are especially hot, now offering safe, reliable and luxurious modes of river travel with such companies as Uniworld, Trails of Indochina and AmaWaterways. With extensive touring best for slightly younger, fit and active travelers, this area and these cruises provide an exciting, interesting and culturally enriching opportunity. — Tom Baker, president, CruiseCenter.com
For Adventure Junkies
The opening up of the Ogasawara Islands makes Japan especially attractive for exploration-ready nature lovers in 2015. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, the 30 tropical islands of various sizes are reached in 25 hours by boat from Tokyo. Today 36% of all plants, 28% of all insects and 94% of all land snails found in the archipelago are endemic to the islands. — Justin Wateridge, managing director, Steppes Travel
For Foodies
Cuba is experiencing an explosion of privately-owned restaurants, providing residents and tourists with exciting new food options, particularly in Havana. Leading this charge is two of the world’s best chefs, Basque chef Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz and Mexico’s Enrique Olvera, who are set to open restaurants in 2015. This wave of food luminaries, which even includes returning Cuban emigrants, are putting a creative spin on traditional Cuban dishes that is bound to attract foodies from around the world. — Philippe Brown, founder, Brown + Hudson
For History Buffs
2015 is the perfect time to visit South Africa, as the country commemorates 25 years since the end of apartheid. The recent unveiling of the SunStar in November 2014 is one example of how the country is looking at its past — and towards its future. The impressive sculpture situated atop Cape Town’s Signal Hill was constructed primarily with steel from the fence that used to surround Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. An ingenious way to transform a piece of history into a thing of beauty. — Dennis Pinto, managing director, Micato Safaris
For Big Spenders/Luxury Hounds
Private jet trips across the vast expanses of Chile have come on the radar of wealthy travelers because they offer incredible natural landscapes, from the Patagonia to the Atacama Desert, as well as fabulous lodges like those from Awasi and the new Viña Vik in the Millahue wine valley. You get stunning unspoiled beauty and very cushy retreats with fabulous food and wine. — Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder and CEO, Indagare
For Wallet Watchers
Merida is being rediscovered by those seeking a cultural vacation on a budget. Most people think of Mexico and the beach for a vacation, but Merida, with its colonial history, provides a culturally rich city-centric experience without having to fly to Europe. It’s been called the second Paris or the Paris of Mexico, but it’s much cheaper. Come for January’s arts festival or February’s Carnaval, and stay at Hacienda Misné or Mansion Merida on the Park. — Sean Murphy, editor in chief, Jetsetter
For Couch Crashers
Among Airbnb travelers, we’ve seen that some of the fastest-growing destinations are next-door alternatives to popular ones. For instance: Andorra – instead of Spain or France – proved to be a top trending destination with over a 300% increase in bookings. — Chip Conley, head of global hospitality and strategy, Airbnb
TOP PHOTO: Nassau’s massive Baha Mar opens this spring with a nightclub and VIP villa designed by Lenny Kravitz; Credit: Dave Proctor/startraksphoto.com