The Best New Beach Hotels in the World: 2025 Hot List
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We've spent the last 12 months sleeping, eating, and sailing our way around the globe in order to bring you the 29th edition of the Hot List, our carefully curated annual collection of the best new (and reborn) hotels, restaurants, and cruise ships in the world, and we had a ton of fun doing it. How could we not when it involved activities like zip-lining to dinner in the Maldives, sleeping in an actual tree house in Kenya, and eating a truly memorable meal in a converted auto body shop in Mexico City? The through line of this year’s list is joy—something we could all use a little more of in our lives. These are the 2025 Hot List winners for the best new beach hotels in the world.
See the entire Hot List for 2025 here.
Anantara Hotels & ResortshotelAnantara Ubud — Bali
$$$ |
Hot List 2025The magic in Anantara's newest property on Bali isn't necessarily on-site, despite the sweeping terrace that sits like a nest atop the jungle canopy on a mountain, the individual bungalows carved into the hillside, the fantastically delicious cuisine that makes you realize Indonesian food should rival Italian on the world stage. Anantara knows that, in a place like Bali, unprecedented access is the biggest luxury. Which is why it has focused on bringing its guests to the heart of the true Bali, one undisturbed by the hordes of travelers on the coast. This means private sessions with Hindu high priests, guided tours through lesser explored water temples, and immersive visits to isolated mountain villages. But of course, it's nice to know that after a day of trekking through rice paddies and going on cultural explorations, the hotel's signature spa will welcome you back with a full massage, with native birdsong just audible through the large windows overlooking that gorgeous jungle. From $576. —Erin Florio
Banyan Tree Valle de GuadalupehotelBanyan Tree Valle de Guadalupe — Mexico
$$ | Hot List 2025Located in the vast northern Baja California peninsula, Valle de Guadalupe has long been a favorite for in-the-know West Coast travelers. But now the Napa of Mexico has stepped into the global spotlight thanks to the July 2024 opening of Banyan Group’s wellness hotel Banyan Tree Veya Valle de Guadalupe—the first international luxury property in the area. Designed by acclaimed Mexico City–based architect Michel Rojkind, it features 30 earthy pool villas, five restaurants, and a slew of regionally inspired spa treatments. But in true Valle de Guadalupe fashion, the shining star just may be the property’s private winery, Pictograma. Purists might wonder whether a wellness retreat is the right place for a winery. One glass of post-hydrotherapy red will erase any doubts. From $339. —Annie Daly
Mark Mediana/The Boca RatonhotelThe Beach Club at The Boca Raton
$$$ | Hot List 2025There is travel, and then there is the lazing bliss of vacation. And when you check into the Beach Club at The Boca Raton, you check out of reality. The sumptuous escapism is largely thanks to the butler-like service: The toughest decision you’ll face will be whether to lounge at the pool, beach, or spa. In December 2024, the Beach Club completed a $130 million renovation, including 210 redesigned guest rooms and suites, two new restaurants, and a completely refreshed lobby featuring a new bar and café. With natural marble, limewashed plaster walls, and cerused woods, the design emulates a serene coastal feel—sans in-your-face tropical embellishments. Pro tip: If there’s a place to splurge on an ocean view, it’s here. I stayed in a seventh-floor balcony room and in the morning, we would open the floor-to-ceiling windows to watch the sun rise over the water before we momentarily fell back asleep to the ocean breeze, as if floating on a cloud. From $1,090. —Hannah Towey
Roman Réglade / Courtesy Cheval Blanc SeychelleshotelCheval Blanc Seychelles
$$$ | Hot List 2025LVMH’s much-anticipated sixth property, Cheval Blanc Seychelles, sits on the southwest coast of the Indian Ocean archipelago’s largest island, Mahé. Its 52 private-pool villas, designed by architect Jean-Michel Gathy, are scattered along Anse Intendance beach and up into the thickly forested hillside that hides its Guerlain Spa. Inspired by Creole architecture, villas have high vaulted ceilings and sliding glass doors, designed to pull the outdoor deck and infinity pool into sharper focus. Palatial beds sit on a dais for no-need-to-move ocean or treetop views, while a palette of textured artworks, fabrics, and ceramics balances the vivid natural landscape. An intuitive butler–slash–personal assistant or majordomo is on call 24/7, and wait staff are relaxed, thoughtful, and discreet. Five restaurants serve myriad cuisines from Japanese to French haute cuisine to Italian classics to Creole dishes. Many guests will be happy dialing room service, however, determined to enjoy Cheval Blanc’s triple promise: exclusivity, exceptional service, and privacy. From $1,945. —Clare Dight
Natelee CockshotelDelano Dubai
$$$ | Hot List 2025Delano’s Middle Eastern debut on Bluewaters Dubai, a man-made island also home to the world’s largest observation wheel, has the potential to be as disruptive as the original Delano in Miami. An antidote to the city’s marble and chandelier-laden five-star hotels, the interiors here are pared back, the scale reassuring. Forget your run-of-the-mill “standard” and “sea view”—rooms here have romantic-sounding monikers like Rising Light and Waking Eclipse, references to the sweeping horizon and vistas of the water, more of a rarity in Dubai than you might think. Rose Bar may not offer the same Hollywood A-list-spotting opportunities as its Miami counterpart, but it does a good job of capturing its decadent speakeasy vibes, and homegrown hospitality group Rikas Hospitality Group is behind the resort’s intriguing restaurant concepts, which include coastal Anatolian cuisine at Blue Door and French Slavic at Maison Revka. From $750. —Selina Denman
MarugalhotelDunas de Formentera — Spain
$$$ | Hot List 2025I was barefoot the first time I checked into what was then known as Las Dunas Playa, a sandy-floored, bare-bones beach resort with a crescent slip of a swimming pool. My now husband and I sipped cañas at an open-air bar and slept in a pared-back beach bungalow among scrubby sand dunes, the crash of waves just meters from our bed. I’d never seen stars so bright. Las Dunas became our offshore escape when Ibiza hit peak midsummer mercury. Sixteen years on, it is smartening up, and though Formentera fiercely protects its dunes, forbidding new constructions, hotelier turned sustainability pioneer Pablo Carrington and his peerless Marugal group are experts at treading lightly. Today, the hotel has been restored and renamed Dunas de Formentera, retaining the stripped-down vibes but in more salubrious surroundings, with service that is discreet and chatty. In the capacious bedrooms—some of the island’s largest—daybeds and limewashed Balearic walls are the perfect foil to sabina-pine-framed Mediterranean views. Split-level outdoor terraces are shaded by banana plants and lavender, while meandering walkways lead back to that same crescent pool and soaring bar. Restaurant tables and raffia chairs cluster beneath resinous evergreens. As we wander down the silvery boardwalk that links the beach bungalows with the hotel itself, we stumble across our first-night casita. Despite a creamy micro-cement makeover, elegant terra-cotta styling, and a smart terrace, it still echoed with the crash of the waves. And by night, those stars shine just as bright as the first time I saw them. From $425. —Maya Boyd
The Dunlin, Auberge Resorts CollectionhotelThe Dunlin, Auberge Resorts Collection — Johns Island, South Carolina
$$$ | Hot List 2025Auberge Resorts Collection’s Lowcountry debut centers the coastal charm of the sparkling South Carolina sea islands. Transformative wildlife immersion abounds over 2,000 acres that include a marshfront pool and dining, in-room soaking tubs overlooking the water, and an on-site farm fueling craving-worthy Southern food. There are dolphin and seabird safaris amid the towering piles of massive oysters that make up the meandering coastline (those bivalves will be fresh on your plate come dinnertime), and 72 summer-cottage-style rooms with coastal-grandma-chic design: Scalloped sun umbrellas, wicker furniture, and mint-hued gingham make every inch of the place feel like an ethereal yet timeless summer home. Aptly named for the region’s plover sandpiper, The Dunlin, Auberge Resorts Collection is the perfect marriage of Southern sophistication and nature’s bounty. From $550. —Shannon McMahon
Michelle ChaplowhotelFairmont La Hacienda Costa del Sol — Cadiz, Spain
Hot List 2025Fairmont aims for La Hacienda Costa del Sol to be the top golf and beach resort in southern Europe. The resort spans over 990,000 square feet and includes an award-winning golf club and direct access to a two-and-a-half-mile beach. With beautiful views of Morocco and Gibraltar, it sits in a less-traveled area of the Costa del Sol, near Sotogrande, ideal for those seeking relaxation, water sports, gastronomy, and culture. Guests can enjoy golf, dolphin watching, and visits to cozy small villages and verdant forests. The resort’s design by Daar Studio features tiered buildings and independent villas, maximizing sea views and blending with the landscape. The decor, by Studio Ibu, includes natural materials and earthy tones for intimacy. The 153 rooms and suites, plus 47 villas, vary in size and come with private gardens (the luxury ones with pools). The Spanish chef Benito Gomez oversees the Dalmar restaurant, focusing on relaxed dining with shareable high-quality dishes. From $445. —David Moralejo
Joe Thomas/Four SeasonshotelFour Seasons Cabo San Lucas Cabo del Sol
$$$ | Hot List 2025Just when you thought Cabo couldn’t possibly need another top-shelf resort, the Four Seasons opens on a sweep of pristine coastline between the towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo and proves you wrong. Of course it has the requisite Baja building blocks–excellent fish tacos, Pacific views, and a chic pool scene–but what sets it apart is that it stays true to its location and history while feeling thoroughly grounded in the present. Like its updated take on a traditional Mexican village square, including a cobblestone drive and whitewashed buildings but also a buzzy artist-in-residence studio and a gourmet deli with great coffee and regional wines and spirits. Or its excellent Nikkei-inflected restaurant Cayao from Mexican-born chef Richard Sandoval. Or the stunning Tierra Mar spa that marries Indigenous healing modalities with cutting-edge technology. Perhaps Cabo didn’t need just any luxury hotel–it needed this one. From $1,380. —Rebecca Misner
Natural SelectionhotelGweGwe Beach Lodge — Cape Town
$$ | Hot List 2025Set within a private concession of the Mkambati Nature Reserve, this intimate lodge provides a front-row seat to one of the most unspoiled stretches of the Wild Coast. Guests are miles from civilization yet cosseted with comforts such as wood-burning fires and South Africa’s top wines. A biodiversity hot spot, the area gives guests endless opportunities for adventure, including treks to dramatic waterfalls and kayak excursions to remote gorges. Nine rooms feature deep soaking tubs and private 16-foot pools, both of which afford views of the crashing waves and surfing dolphins. The lodge sits on land owned by local villages, and every stay benefits the community. From $385. —Jen Murphy
Martha VosdouhotelGundari Resort — Folegandros, Greece
Hot List 2025The first luxury boutique resort on the Greek island of Folegandros is an authentic refuge from its energetic neighbors in the Cycladic archipelago. With no airport or cruise terminal plugging it into the tourism circuit, this is the donkey-straddling Greece of old: rugged, unspoiled landscapes and quiet villages that nurture their age-old traditions. Gundari’s 27 earthy limestone suites and villas are perched on cliffs that soar above secluded beaches lapped by sparkling Aegean waves. With private infinity pools, a swim-up bar, and cuisine overseen by Lefteris Lazarou, guests can disconnect from the world in style. From $655. —Noo Saro-Wiwa
Giulio Ghirardi/Hôtel du CouventhotelHôtel du Couvent — Nice, France
$$ | Hot List 2025There’s a deep sense of contemplation about this former nunnery turned hotel in Nice’s Old Town. In 2014, Valéry Grégo began collaborating with Studio Mumbai and Studio Méditerranée for the architecture, and Festen Architecture for the interior design to transform the abandoned shell (deconsecrated in the 1980s) into the South of France’s most soulful place to stay. The result is movingly beautiful: The 88 bedrooms include carefully conjoined nuns’ cells, airy conversions of chapter rooms, and those in a sensitively added new wing—all lime plaster, muted linens, and antique finds. The subterranean circuit of thermal pools is inspired by the ruins of Roman baths nearby; a herbalist dispenses custom-blended teas from his apothecary tucked along one the cloisters. In the three restaurants, many of the ingredients come straight from an organic farm in the Var valley. This restorative refuge is a heavenly study in simplicity and a slower side to the oft-glitzy Côte d’Azur. From $410. —Fiona Kerr
Mattia Aquila/Hotel Le Dune PiscinashotelHotel Le Dune Piscinas — Sardinia, Italy
$$Those familiar with Costa Smeralda will find Sardinia’s southwest coast a surprise. But then again, everyone will find it a surprise. It’s one of Europe’s last wildernesses, where crooked juniper bushes jut from billowing dunes. The hotel was once a warehouse for the nearby ironworks, which was inherited by an Italian colonel who made it into a simple hotel before the current owners spent three years transforming it. Lined by an art installation of LED candles that flicker as you pass, a stone-hewn tunnel used by mine carts now leads to the spa. In the bar Negronis are mixed beneath wooden beams taken decades ago from a medieval tower, while behind an aquarium-like window, chefs prepare octopus and polenta. The surrounding hillsides and eerie mining relics can be explored by e-bike or quad bike, but mainly guests walk down the boardwalk to the empty sands or slouch by the pool with a glass of Vermentino, later gathering on the piazza for the sunset show. A total original. From $365. —Rick Jordan
Anna Pihan/Il DelfinohotelIl Delfino Seaside Inn — Australia
$$ | Hot List 2025This lo-fi chunk of coastline on the North Coast of New South Wales has been causing ripples thanks to newcomer Il Delfino. Perched on the cliffside and peering over the Pacific Ocean, the original 1940s wave-lashed building has been transformed into a chic seaside inn that feels snatched from the Mediterranean. Each of the accommodations has been named after glittering Italian seaside settings—Ravello, Ischia, Portofino, Cinque Terre, and Scopello—with charming details like vintage Italian lamps, one-off ceramics, knick-knacks, and hand-painted murals on the walls. Crisp white linens, playful striped daybeds, and views across the frothy ocean guarantee a dose of il dolce far niente—the sweetness of doing nothing—in this go-slow fishing town. From $575. —Chloe Sachdev
hotelMaxx Royal Bodrum
Hot List 2025Not a year goes by without a glitzy new arrival along Turkey’s Turquoise Coast, so it takes something particularly special to turn heads, and superyacht bows, in these parts. Maxx Royal Bodrum Resort, the group’s third after Kemer and Belek, did just that in spring 2024, having called on celebrated Turkish architect Mahmut Anlar to blend a futuristic resort between iridescent azure seas and verdant hills. There are suites, gargantuan villas, sleek lagunas, and terraces that flow into shared infinity pools in which minutes soon turn to hours. Resorts along the Bodrum Peninsula tend to not shout about their culinary offerings, but Maxx Royal is doing things differently. The food consumed in the restaurants is just as crucial as the treatments that extract toxins in the Maxx Wellbeing Centre. Linen-clad hotel guests start with poolside iced lattes and, once little ones are whisked off to a ludicrously fun kids club, the rosé sipping commences; some choose instead to embark on the 90-second walk to Scorpios’ beach club nestled in the same horseshoe cove. This is one Aegean hangout that’s got rival hoteliers scratching their heads—and scribbling over their plans. From $1,041. —Connor Sturges
Jack JohnshotelNujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve — Saudi Arabia
Hot List 2025Saudi Arabia’s Ummahat Islands are one of the most unvisited archipelagos on earth—the perfect setting, then, for the first ever Ritz-Carlton Reserve in the Middle East. Nujuma (inspired by the word nujum, which means “stars” in Arabic) opened here last year and is giving the Maldives a run for their money. Its spheroid Foster + Partners–designed overwater villas are secluded and connected by an eye-catching circular walkway elevated above a Red Sea that teems with dugongs, giant stingrays, hawksbill turtles, spinner dolphins, and pristine coral. Saudi heritage is infused into many aspects of this resort, from the cuisine inspired by Arabian traditions to balmy stargazing sessions led by an astronomer who recounts traditional tales of the constellations. From $2,200. —Noo Saro-Wiwa
Rupert PeacehotelOne&Only Kea Island — Greece
$$$ | Hot List 2025One&Only is the first major hotel group to open on Kea, a little-known Cycladic island not far from mainland Greece. The design emphasizes locally sourced stones, with lots of open, mottled-concrete structures that let the natural cove setting speak for itself. Tranquility is key; rooms are more like individual villas, and have private patios, secluded balconies, and 24- and 29.5-foot infinity pools. For such a contained resort, there's a lot on offer. At the foot of the valley is the tree-shaded Bond Beach Club, which serves Mediterranean-Asian fusion cuisine, and behind that is the spa, the largest within the One&Only group, where guests can indulge in bespoke treatments from Subtle Energies. Then there’s its kids club and sports center, with a tennis court and a paddleball court, and guests can book in for scuba diving and day trips on its 1967 wood yacht. At the peak of the hilltop is the central lobby and main restaurant with almost panoramic views across the Aegean and to the temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio beyond. —Charlotte Davey
Peter Island ResorthotelPeter Island Resort — British Virgin Islands
$$$ | Hot List 2025 
Readers' Choice Awards 2017From the moment the resort’s yacht glides into the serene waters of Yacht Harbor in Sprat Bay, the transition from passenger to prized guest is practically instantaneous. Peter Island is the largest private island in the British Virgin Islands, yet the resort has managed to capture an utterly intimate vibe. In 2017, Hurricane Irma tragically destroyed homes and upended lives throughout the Virgin Islands. The resort strives to be as sustainable as possible; it has a reverse osmosis water purification plant and two wind turbines that can generate up to 75% of the island's power. And yet Peter Island still doesn't mess with what works, and leans into a familial flavor of hospitality that feels like you’re at your favorite aunt and uncle’s for the holidays. From $1,000. —Kat Chen
The Potlatch ClubhotelThe Potlatch Club — Bahamas
$$$ | Hot List 2025Travelers who want to feel like they’re summering at a friend’s beachfront estate will thoroughly appreciate the laid-back vibe of the Potlatch Club on the isle of Eleuthera. The lush property has only 11 keys on 12 acres, a seamless service team who’ve worked together for more than 20 years at other hotels, and a cluster of storied structures, some of which date back to 1923. In the 1950s, after the property was purchased by a trio of socialites, it became a private hideaway for celebrities like Paul McCartney, who honeymooned here with Linda in 1969. Current owners Bruce Loshusan and his business partner Hans Febles began work on the resort in 2016; Loshusan recruited Nassau-based interior designer Amanda Lindroth to help produce the dreamy, relaxed atmosphere that encompasses what people find enchanting about island life: white shiplap ceilings, pink coral stone floors that extend to the bathrooms, and cozy wooden porches with rattan daybeds and chairs. From $775. —Alexandra Sanidad
John Athimaritis/Six Senses La Sagesse GrenadahotelSix Senses La Sagesse — Grenada
$$$ | Hot List 2025The tiny volcanic island of Grenada is both an unexpected and obvious choice for Six Senses’ foray into the Caribbean. Compared to big-hitting neighbors like St. Lucia and Antigua, it has been overlooked by travelers to the region. But this means that it remains largely uncrowded and retains a more rustic version of tourism. Six Senses has done well to anchor itself to that: Here, your welcome ritual begins with a sensory spice “tour;” its 56 suites and 15 villas are stylish but designed to sit unobtrusively on the landscape; and its curated excursions—rainforest hikes; Rastafarian farm visits—spotlight the best of Grenada’s natural bounty. In classic Six Senses style, wellness is a key protagonist, and you can seek out everything from aerial yoga to sleep therapy, as well as treatments like the Caribbean Cleansing Ritual that nod to the surroundings. It’s very tempting to stay put, heading to the spa or sipping rum cocktails poolside, but you’d do well to pair off with one of the property’s community hosts and head out: to spice-laden markets in its photogenic capital or for a bit of beachside limin’ (defined locally as “kicking with friends”), a beloved national pastime. From $1,000. —Arati Menon
Stevie MannhotelSoneva Secret — Maldives
$$$ | Hot List 2025After having defined the Maldives for a generation of switched-on travelers, how could Sonu and Eva Shivdasani possibly raise the bar? Well, for a start, the design is even more open to the elements than at Soneva Jani or Fushi: Those who wish can sleep with their doors open to the sound of waves seemingly lapping up toward their toes. A different private chef each night brings a rotating global menu to the table—though nothing beats zip-lining down to the restaurant out at sea. Anyone looking for Maldives one-upmanship, meanwhile, will be thrilled by the movable “floating” villa on stilts in the ocean. Seven nights full board from $18,325 per person, including flights and transfers. —Divia Thani
hotelVoaara Madagascar
$$$ | Hot List 2025As a professional traveler Philippe Kjellgren has visited 150 countries and more than 2,000 hotels. So when he opened his first hotel, seasoned globe-trotters took note. The resort, on 100 acres of Nosy Boraha, off Madagascar’s east coast, fulfills every island cliché, from its tropical forests to its pale aquamarine bays. The seven buttermilk-colored thatched bungalows and a three-bedroom beach and pool villa are simple but filled with life-affirming treats: a cooling Naturalmat bed, bottles of rich coconut oils, and driftwood tables and pillars. The Med-meets-Asian meals conceived by Spanish chef Aleixandre Sarrion include fresh prawns and fish with well-dressed salads and wicked flans, and are enjoyed beachside atop a starlit top-deck “Bird’s Nest” or in the veg garden. Two thatched bandas serve as massage rooms; one of two boats can be chartered for expeditions, and bikes are available to explore the island, whose fabric-adorned cemeteries are a reminder of the Malagasy’s unique culture. From $1,095. —Lisa Grainger