Germany
Blue Heaven, Frankfurt
Blue Heaven has to be one of the most striking new hotels to open anywhere in the world in 2005: a spectacular disc-shaped building with mirrored glass and a huge square panel in its middle section. It looks like a giant CD case — 20 storeys high.
It was designed by John Seifert, the London architect, and is being touted as “Frankfurt’s new landmark”. Blue Heaven, which is close to the city’s main exhibition halls, is expected to attract tourists as well as conference-goers, thereby helping to put Frankfurt on the city-break map. Part of the Radisson SAS chain, the hotel is due to open in September.
Details: 00 49 40 3502 3838, www.radissonsas.com. From £90.
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Iceland
Hotel 1919, Reykjavik
Reykjavik is so hip it almost hurts — and Hotel 1919, which is due to open in May, is the latest in its stable of stylish hotels.
Bang in the centre of town, next to the Icelandic parliament, this former shipping company office, built in 1919, pitches itself as “Reykjavik’s most exclusive address”. The design is “modern classic European — elegantly appointed and decorated”: not for funksters, more for people who want a stylishly refined place for a weekend break. And the rates are reasonable (for Reykjavik anyway) at less than £100 a room.
Details: 00 354 599 1000, www.hotel1919.is. From £96.
Ireland
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G Hotel, Galway
Due to open in July, the G Hotel is the biggest news in hotels in Ireland this year. It’s designed by Philip Treacy, the renowned milliner whose creations are worn by ladies who lunch and who go to Ascot, so there’s a lot of curiosity about how a fancy hat-maker will turn his hand to creating a hotel.
As yet, design details are hard to come by — being kept under the developer Monogram Hotels’ hat, so to speak. But the property has already joined Small Luxury Hotels of the World, which describes it as a “strikingly modern hotel standing in stark contrast to Galway’s weathered beauty”. The 98-room hotel has good views across Galway Bay.
Details: 00 353 91 865200, www.monogramhotels.ie. From £330.
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Italy
Casa Howard, Florence
Casa Howard, which opened last month, comes with a good pedigree: it’s the sister hotel of the highly popular (and quirky) property of the same name in Rome.
Rooms are individually themed, their names telling you about the decor — one is called Oriental, another is Black and White, another “Library” — and each has original features such as marble fireplaces, heavy old wooden doors, parquet flooring and antiques. The style is a mixture of old and contemporary, with splashes of colour amid period pieces. There’s also a large Turkish bath.
Details: 00 39 06 69 924555, www.casahoward-florence.com. From £125.
Spain
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Casa Camper, Barcelona
Could this be the first hotel to be inspired by a shoe? The Camper shoe company, which was founded in Spain and has spread across the world, has opened its first hotel in the city. Further Camper group hotels are planned around Europe.
The red, white and green “Camper colours” set the colour scheme in the 25 rooms, each of which has a mini-lounge with flat-screen television and a hammock in front of the balcony windows. It’s in Raval, an up-and-coming district popular with artists.
A Camper shoe store is next door and there’s a noodle bar of the same brand further down the street. Free bikes are available to guests, enabling them to explore the town. Plus there’s a roof terrace with great city views.
Details: 00 34 933 426280, www.casacamper.com, www.i-escape.com/casacamper.php. From £125.
Portugal
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Bairro Alto Hotel, Lisbon
Bairro Alto is reopening in April after a complete make-over overseen by Grace Leo- Andrieu, one of the designers behind recent smart revamps at the Lancaster in Paris, the Cadogan in London and the Cotton House on Mustique.
The style is plush and warm — rooms have amber, ochre and red colour schemes, and flat-screen televisions. There’s a Portuguese-inspired restaurant, a 1970s-retro bar with Italian sofas and a see-through dumbwaiter on which you can watch people’s orders ascend.
There are great views across rooftops and the Tagus River from some of the rooms.
Details: 00 351 21 340 8288; www.hotelbairroalto.com. From £160.
BEST OF THE REST
Paris, France: Hotel du Petit Moulin (00 33 1 42 74 10 10, www.hoteldupetitmoulin.com) is by Christian Lacroix, the fashion designer. Very boutiquey, darling, in the Marais quarter. From £123.
Graz, Austria: Daniel (www. designhotels.com) opens in June, with 101 minimalist but functional rooms. From £69.
Sicily, Italy: Kempinski Giardino di Constanza (00 39 0923 675000, www.kempinski.com) is a country resort in beautiful grounds, an hour’s drive from Palermo airport. From £185.
Ravello, Italy: Hotel Caruso (020-7960 0500, www.orient-express.com) is on a hilltop and is being refurbished by Orient-Express Hotels. It opens in June. There are 54 rooms and an outdoor heated pool with breathtaking views of the Amalfi coast. From £436.
Madrid, Spain: Hotel Urban (00 34 917 877770, www.derbyhotels.com) has 96 rooms, an already popular restaurant and a rooftop pool; the Prado is a ten-minute walk away. From £170.
All prices are per room.
Next week: best new long-haul hotels