5 of the best places to vacation in May
A slew of stylish new openings leads our pick of May’s must-book hotels. By JEREMY WAYNE
L’ARLATAN Arles
Swiss entrepreneur Maja Hoffmann and celebrated Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo are the visionaries behind the reborn L’Arlatan, which occupies a Renaissance palace built over incredible Roman ruins. With its loopy armchairs, amoeba-shaped mirrors, cascading lights and painted armoires, Pardo’s designs reference the Catalan modernismo as much as Van Gogh, who drew his own inspiration from the surrounding Provençal landscape. There’s also the small matter of two million glazed tiles, used in murals, on floors and on walls throughout the property to stunning effect. Yes, L’Arlatan surprises you at every turn, until the only surprise left is just how damn good this hotel is, from its super-comfortable guest rooms and bathrooms to its heavenly pool and utterly charming (and inexpensive) Mediterranean-focused restaurant. The hotel is also a focal point for the Rencontres d’Arles, the town’s famous photography festival held each spring, when boho crowds swirl around the hotel and its ivy-clad courtyard garden.
FAUCHON L’HÔTEL Paris
Overlooking L’église de la Madeleine (Madeleine church), a stone’s throw from Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris’ fanciest deli has opened its first hotel. With its candy-colored interiors, fashion-inspired photography, jewel-like bedrooms and vast bathrooms, Fauchon takes the boutique hotel concept to a new tier. The hotel’s guiding principle is GLAM – that’s to say Glamor, Location, Attention to detail and ‘Mesdames’ – signifying the special attention paid to female guests: great lighting, intuitive housekeeping and restaurants where single female diners are made to feel comfortable. The same goes for the hotel bar, The Glam’Hours, where you can stop by for post-shopping, pre-dinner cocktails. Add to this the Carita Beauty Spa, minibars (or Gourmet bars, as they’re known) stuffed to the gills with Fauchon treats, and deeply gracious service that just glides, and it explains why – in a city not short of good hotels – that Fauchon L’Hôtel is already up there with the best.
HOTEL SANTIAGO Santiago
The old Grand Hyatt in Santiago, which had long been in need of a makeover, has become a Mandarin Oriental, which is very good news indeed. Situated in the upscale Las Condes business district with the snow-capped Andes as a backdrop, the hotel has already relaunched, but there is some work still in progress. Out go the heavy drapes and clunky ’80s furniture, in come remodeled guest rooms and bathrooms, scrumptious white linens, and lush, re-landscaped gardens. With five restaurants, including a Thai and a Japanese, and English bar Duke’s, Hotel Santiago has dining and drinking sewn up, while its lagoon-style pool and tennis courts give it the feel of a complete urban resort – so much so, you may never need, or wish, to venture out. If you do, the hotel’s very experienced concierges can arrange skiing trips, a visit to local wineries or even a day at the beach – nothing is more than 90 minutes away.
FOUR SEASONS ASTIR PALACE HOTEL Athens
Once the summer playground of billionaire Greek shipping tycoons, along with what used to be called the ‘international set’, the Astir Palace – now managed by the Four Seasons hotel group – has been reborn. Located in Vouliagmeni on the Athens Riviera, and just relaunched after a massive makeover, the hotel is looking glorious. The Nafsika sea-view garden suites are superb, all pale colors and flooded with light; plus, with eight bars and restaurants, no one is going to go hungry here. The hotel’s retro vibe makes it easy to imagine the late Greek actress Melina Mercouri wafting through the Avra Terrace in her ’60s kaftan, or table-hopping to chat with fellow diners at Pelagos, the hotel’s signature restaurant, which specializes in sophisticated Greek seafood. But the hotel’s pièce de résistance has to be its ravishing pool – with little islands of olive trees at the water’s edge – so cleverly constructed that it appears to be afloat in the Aegean.
MR. C COCONUT GROVE Miami
From the fourth-generation Cipriani brothers, Ignazio and Maggio, and hot on the heels of their Mr. C hotels in Beverly Hills and New York, comes Mr. C Coconut Grove, a very chic opening in this well-established, newly fashionable Miami neighborhood. Suspended on diagonal stilts, with a façade dotted with portholes (think ’60s Courrèges), the 100 guest rooms and suites all have a nautical look, while the view from the hotel’s rooftop pool is thrilling. Up on the roof, too, is Bellini, Mr. C’s signature restaurant (where, of course, they make an irresistible cocktail of the same name) that serves Italian classics, fresh seafood and divine pasta dishes, and where all the tables are dressed in snowy linen. Back at ground level, Il Giardino is a garden terrace so intimate and ravishingly lovely that, especially at dusk, it would take a heart of stone not to fall in love with it. Or, indeed, just fall in love.