London
The first European outpost for Gansevoort, the New York hotel company known for its A-list rooftop playgrounds, arrives in the autumn. The Curtain hotel will be in Shoreditch, we hardly need tell you. The 120 rooms will have green leather chesterfields, contemporary art curated by Steve Lazarides — Banksy’s former agent — a swanky members’ club and a Red Rooster restaurant from the New York chef Marcus Samuelsson, whose No 1 fan is Barack Obama. As you’d expect, there will also be a rooftop terrace, with a retractable roof.
Opens in September; rates TBC; thecurtain.com

Bath
Rebecca Whittington, the woman behind Cornwall’s enduringly popular Scarlet hotel, is now working her magic on Combe Grove, a 42-room Georgian mansion in 70 sublime acres outside Bath. It will have a sexy woodland aesthetic, whimsical touches such as croquet hoops in the shape of flamingos, and wholesome dishes with punchy Middle Eastern flavours inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi. A spa will open in the autumn.
Late April; doubles from £120, B&B, combegrove.com

Devon
The Pig hotels are Britain’s undisputed champions of shabby chic, and the chain is busy introducing some informality to the Elizabethan, grade I listed rooms at the former Combe House hotel, in the Otter Valley, near Honiton, ready for it to emerge as the Pig-at-Combe in time for summer. Kitchen gardens are the Pigs’ trademark, and this one will have a 100-year-old vine twisting through a restored greenhouse. The Pavilion folly will house a wood-fired oven, with tables set up on the surrounding lawns for extra romance.
June; doubles from £149; thepighotel.com

Addresses to addCombe Grove, near BathCombe Grove, near BathCotswolds
Calcot Manor, a country house near Tetbury, deserves its many awards, but not everyone wants to spend upwards of £200 a night on a room. Its nod to austerity is the Painswick, a smart restaurant with rooms not far from Stroud. The chef, Michael Bedford, has a Michelin star under his belt, and he doesn’t feel the need to show off with fancy foams and liquid nitrogen — he’ll keep his menu simple and seasonal. The 16 rooms will be country casual, but the posh Palladian architecture will ensure you don’t feel short-changed.
March; doubles from £150; thepainswick.co.uk

Manchester
The local football fraternity and visiting bands such as One Direction adore the Great John Street hotel. They are likely to be just as enamoured of its little sister, King Street Townhouse, an Italian Renaissance-style building within easy reach of the city’s best shops, Chinatown’s restaurants and the Northern Quarter’s bars. The 40 bedrooms have striking floor-to-ceiling freestanding mirrors and quirky details — there’s a wall-mounted Thai headdress in one suite — but the star attraction is the rooftop garden and pool, eye to eye with the neogothic spires of the town hall.
Now open; doubles from £300, B&B, eclectichotels.co.uk

Lake District
Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume is the Lake District’s standout restaurant, with two Michelin stars and a reputation for the creative use of unusual wild ingredients. Its former head forager, Kevin Tickle, has been tempted away from the Rogan empire by the Forest Side, in Grasmere. It wasn’t the hotel’s swanky renovation that persuaded the chef to decamp, although the 20 bedrooms in powder blues, dove greys and raw wood finishes are rather lovely. Rather, he was won over by the Victorian kitchen garden, which has 120 raised beds, and by the natural larder of the hedgerows and woodlands of its 46 acres.
January; doubles from £275, half-board; theforestside.com

The Pig-at-Combe, in DevonThe Pig-at-Combe, in DevonParis
A trip on the Seine tops many tourists’ to-do lists. OFF-Paris Seine, the city’s first floating hotel, will soon allow you to go one better and sleep on the river, too. It will be moored at Quai d’Austerlitz, a 15-minute walk from Notre Dame. Given that its sister properties include Seven Hôtel, which has “levitating” beds cantilevered to the walls, and Hôtel Crayon, where the designer let her daughter draw on the wallpaper with a crayon, the design of the 58 rooms should be fun, as should sipping cocktails on its waterfront terrace.
Spring; doubles from about £115; offparisseine.com

Lake Como
The Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel loves Le Sereno, on St Barts, in the French Caribbean. To top up her tan in summer, she’ll soon have Il Sereno, which will strike a pose on Italy’s loveliest lake. The 30 waterfront suites are the work of Patricia Urquiola, Wallpaper magazine’s designer of 2015, and feature swathes of wood, stone and copper. There will also be a private beach, a 60ft lakeside infinity pool and two custom-made riverboats for sunset excursions.
June; doubles from £600, B&B, lesereno.com

New York City
The next stop for the savvy traveller to New York is Queens, specifically Long Island City. Already home to MoMA’s experimental offshoot PS1, cult comedy clubs and trendy restaurants, it finally gets a bona fide boutique property. The Boro Hotel shares the industrial-chic DNA of its Midtown rivals, but not the sky-high room rates. Yes, it’s 20 minutes on the subway from Central Park, but its 108 bedrooms have floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the iconic skyline you never see when you’re staying in Manhattan.
Now open; doubles from £130; borohotel.com

The Old Clare’s rooftop poolThe Old Clare’s rooftop poolNew York State
The once sleepy town of Hudson has become America’s answer to Chipping Norton, with Manhattan power couples making the two-hour drive to the Hudson Valley to unwind at its farm-to-table restaurants and browse its arty boutiques. Now style-conscious tourists have somewhere to stay that is as swanky as the executive weekend homes, thanks to the kitsch conversion of a 1920s movie theatre. The 27 rooms at Rivertown Lodge offer homespun hospitality, with brass and cast-iron fittings, and embroidered blankets.
Now open; doubles from £130; rivertownlodge.com

Philippines
For decades, Philippe Starck has created incredible Alice in Wonderland interiors for hotels. Finally, he’s opening his own, but he has kept the vibe at Aqua Boracay by Yoo surprisingly low-key, with neutral shades and natural fabrics for the 138 apartments. The drama comes courtesy of the setting: Boracay, an hour’s flight south of Manila, has snow-white sand and teal-green seas stuffed with Asia’s best coral reefs.
Summer; doubles from £199; yoohotels.com

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s hotel scene is red-hot right now, and the Wild Coast Lodge, in the island’s southeast, looks set to be its most exciting opening yet: 28 tented suites on a cappuccino-coloured, boulder-strewn beach, half a mile from Yala National Park, with four-poster beds and stargazing decks. Days will be spent tracking leopards, sloth bears and elephants in the park, followed by candlelit seafront barbecues.
October; rates TBC; resplendentceylon.com

Rivertown Lodge, in New York stateRivertown Lodge, in New York stateCambodia
Wellness is getting the catwalk treatment, as the fashion designer Kenzo Takada sizes up Cambodia’s first destination spa. Arovada by Akaryn is on Koh Krabey, a pristine island off the southwest coast. This is the man who made camouflage print fashionable, so it’s hardly surprising that the 40 pool suites work an organic look that merges seamlessly into the virgin rainforest. Therapies range from ancient acupuncture to cutting-edge blood analysis.
June; doubles from £1,245, full-board; akaryn.com

Sydney
Sydneysiders aren’t easily impressed, but they’re “double stoked” (very excited) by the Old Clare Hotel, in the newly hip Chippendale district. It has a rooftop pool and restaurants from Sam Miller (formerly of Noma), Clayton Wells (ex-Momofuku Seiobo) and, from next month, Jason Atherton. The 62 rooms have vintage furnishings and retain original features from the hotel’s former incarnation as a brewery, including a suite converted from the old boardroom.
Now open; doubles from £160; theoldclarehotel.com.au