The best new hotels in Asia: 2024 Hot List
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Asia’s hotel scene welcomed an array of notable openings in the last year, drawing our editor's attention to Sumba, Punakha, Jeju and more. The below list forms our annual Hot List edit of the best new hotels in Asia, and features a diverse mix of properties, from a new address that's become a classic in Hong Kong, to one of the coolest hotel swimming pools in Tokyo.
This selection of hotels is part of the annual Condé Nast Traveller Hot List 2024. See the other lists below:
- The best new hotels in Australia and New Zealand
- The best new hotels in Central and South America and Caribbean
- The best new hotels in Europe
- The best new hotels in the Middle East and Africa
- The best new hotels in North America and Caribbean
All listings featured in this story are independently selected by our editors. However, when you book something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
- Nikolas Koenighotel
The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, Japan
Three years after the opening of the Tokyo Edition, Toranomon, the brand’s second address in Japan is a delicate, intimate addition to the city’s luxury hotel scene. Both hotels share the same DNA, courtesy of the crafted minimalism of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma coupled with the edgy New York vision of Edition founder Ian Schrager. But there is added depth and warmth to the new hotel, reflected in its scale (just 86 rooms and suites spanning a new 14-story structure, resolutely low-rise by Tokyo standards); a quiet back-street location in buzzy, upscale Ginza; and an aesthetic that goes heavy on a dark walnut palette in contrast to the lighter oak of its sister hotel. Hedonism is a must at any Edition: at Ginza, guests indulge at Japan’s first Punch Room, with silver bowls of cocktails served in an intimate space (don’t skip the yuzu and brown rice tea), or at a plant-packed rooftop terrace serving natural wines – a unique experience for the city. From £630. Daniella Demetriou
- ALEX GRABCHILEVhotel
Cap Koroso, Sumba, Indonesia
For years after the millennium, Nihi Sumba was the only top-end stay on Sumba, an island of raw beauty, epic surf, wild horses and ancient animist culture. More competition has edged in over recent years, but none quite like Cap Karoso. Opened by French couple Fabrice and Evguenia Ivara on the island’s untouched western perimeter, it is surrounded by pointy thatch-roofed uma mbatangu homes, their design unchanged for centuries. Unlike many Sumbanese resorts, Cap Karoso doesn’t ape the local style. Its sprawling 47 rooms and 20 villas are straight-lined and concrete-clad, with a crisp tropical-modern feel. With slatted roofs casting perfect lines of shade and day beds sprinkled throughout, barefoot guests – the sort that flit between Tulum and Santa Teresa – waft around the pools, restaurant and surf-caressed beach. But Cap Karoso is still imbued with some of the magical old soul of the island. A striking artwork of coloured threads is draped on the back wall of the lobby, woven by Kornelis Ndapakamang, one of the best-known ikat makers on Sumba. Scattered everywhere are Indigenous symbols, sculptures and paintings. Fishermen populate the landscape and nut-brown wild horses gallop past. As the sun sets, everyone gathers for papaya spritzers and jackfruit piña coladas before dinner at the long communal table for just-caught-and-plucked feasts by the latest visiting chef – Oliver McGeorge from Paris’s Michelin-starred, sustainable Frenchie is lined up for summer. Doubles from about £245. Chloe Sachdev
- Andrew J LOITERTONhotel
Regent Hong Kong
I wouldn’t be the first to call a new hotel an instant classic, but few earn that praise quite so literally as Regent’s latest Hong Kong outpost. This Kowloon landmark has been around since the 1980s, but for the past two decades flew the InterContinental flag above its lobby. Since last November, after a top-to-bottom revamp spearheaded by Hong Kong-born designer Chi Wing Lo, the all-caps Regent emblem once again gleams golden over Victoria Harbour. Lo replaced the hotel’s Dynasty-era dazzle with a high-glam but timeless new look: Rooms come bedecked in blond oak and granite, with curvy furniture and brushes of onyx, brass, and caramel-coloured leather. The restaurants, some of which have been around since the hotel’s early days, have been spruced up and deliver a cross-cultural pick-and-mix of chichi Cantonese, fine Japanese, and steakhouse classics. At the new Qura Bar, sharp-suited bartenders mix Negronis and Sazeracs from vintage spirits that predate the hotel’s first iteration. Regent’s facelift has rung in a new era for this beloved property, but its trump card, luckily, remained unchanged: Few hotels offer a better vantage point over Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong’s neon-lit skyscraper jumble. From £615. Chris Schalkx
- Chris Schalkxhotel
JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa, Jeju, South Korea
South Korea’s Jeju Island has long been a beloved weekend getaway for local city slickers. They fly in for the miles of hiking trails that weave past soaring volcanoes and craggy coastlines, then flock to the island’s restaurants for their famed hay-smoked Jeju black pig, juicy mandarins, and shellfish caught by the illustrious Haenyeo divers. It wasn’t until recently, though, that Jeju finally had a resort worth traveling out of the way for. Pitched up on a cliff on the island’s southern tip, the JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa is a sprawling, straight-lined complex of basalt rock. For the interiors, hotel guru Bill Bensley drew inspiration from Jeju’s natural and cultural landscape: Jolts of yellow marble in the rooms nod to the canola fields that bloom every spring; the frames of timber hanok (traditional Korean buildings) in the lobby mimic the island’s oldest settlements. A spacious hot spring complex with indoor and outdoor pools, three local-minded restaurants, a tea lounge, and a jimjilbang (Korean-style sauna) with various themed rooms make it tempting to stay in – but the spectacular walking routes unfurling from the hotel’s art-studded backyard will convince even the staunchest couch potato to strap on their hiking boots. From £625. Chris Schalkx
- Jack Johnshotel
Shinta Mani Mustang, Nepal
Even by the standards of cult hotel designer Bill Bensley, this is a breakthrough project – for its embrace of Himalayan culture and spiritual traditions in a vast and mysterious landscape, overlooked by the 23,000-foot-tall Nilgiri mountain, one of the tallest on earth. The building, in local grey-brown Baglung stone, seems to melt into the arid, wind-scoured mountains and the black river that snakes around it: the sacred landscape of the ancient kingdom of Mustang. Inside, Bensley’s quirky interiors offer a warmer palette of cashmere-felt runners and goggle-eyed tiger rugs; drapes and banners referencing the prayer flags of the region; and lovely studies of the terrain by the Australian painter Robert Powell. There’s a large repertoire of treks and excursions in the company of knowledgeable guides that lead to ethereal mountain lakes, tiny centuries-old villages and the gorgeous frieze-filled gompas, or monasteries, of Tibetan Buddhism, fragrant with juniper smoke. These high-altitude exertions are followed by sublime picnic lunches on hilltops or by lakes. There are archery lessons, cooking classes, cocktails under yak-hair lampshades in the Aara Bar and consultations with a local amchi, a practitioner of Tibetan medicine. But staying and gazing is just as pleasurable. Each of the 29 rooms has floor-to-ceiling views of the Nilgiri, endlessly majestic and reverie-inducing as it absorbs the changing light and froths the wind around its triple peaks into tempests of clouds. Doubles from about £1,430. Chandrahas Choudhury
- Pemako Punakhahotel
Pemako Punakha, Punakha, Bhutan
This is the first top-end Bhutanese-owned hotel in the scene-stealing Punakha Valley east of Thimphu – home to the magnificent Punakha Dzong, the region’s iconic 17th-century fortress. And this is no small thing in a kingdom that has drawn big hitters such as Aman, andBeyond, and Six Senses. A series of buildings in the wooden, sloping-roofed Bhutanese vernacular style – including 21 tented villas – is slung across 70 lush acres of a river valley. The design was dreamt up by hotel designer Bill Bensley to unfold in layers, like the whorls of a lotus. Everything was plotted with the natural landscape in mind, and there was minimal felling of trees to create the one- to three-bedroom villas, each with a private heated pool and a spacious deck. Inside, Serge Ferrari fabrics and copper fixtures – including the bathroom tubs – meet an aesthetic rooted in Bhutanese culture, colours, and works of art. Druk beer is stocked in the minibar, there’s a traditional hot-stone bath in the spa, and prayer flags flutter on the lawns. From the welcome ritual by the resident lama and the warming butter tea to the guided excursions to temples and viewpoints, everything pays homage to the country, its people, and their spiritual beliefs. This is a place that invites you to slow down and be immersed in the quietude and beauty of the forest, the hills, and the river. From £1,393. Diya Kohli
- Tomooki Kengaku/Courtesy TRUNK(HOTEL) Yoyogi Parkhotel
TRUNK(HOTEL) Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, Japan
An event venue and planning service first and foremost, TRUNK’s incredible popularity as a hotel venue has encouraged its founder to expand throughout Japan’s capital, first with TRUNK(HOTEL) Cat Street, set within the street- and outdoor-wear Mecca just beyond the epicentre of roaring Shibuya, then TRUNK(HOUSE) – an incredible, single-room hotel located along the cobblestone alleys of Kagurazaka. “Copenhagen chic” is the prevailing style in all of the rooms – and throughout the hotel. If you’re opting for an entry-level room, pay the extra coins for a view of the park instead of the backstreets – the square footage is limited; the views of the sky and trees lend a feeling of spaciousness. Take special note of the more colourful pieces of art on the different walls – all created by special-needs artists through a special not-for-profit initiative; they’re available for purchase.
- Rahul Kizhakke Veettilhotel
Mementos by ITC Hotels, Ekaaya Udaipur, India
Breakfast by the lake, yoga under the stars, bird watching, nature hikes, outdoor movie screenings – no demand is too high at Mementos by ITC Hotels. The hotel, which is the first under ITC’s Mementos brand, promises mental souvenirs you’ll be tapping into days after your vacation. The hotel is situated 50 minutes from central Udaipur, but therein lies its charm. It’s a perfect alternative for travellers looking to spend time in the countryside, away from the thick of the throng yet within easy access to the historic centre. The 117 villas and suites start from 500 square feet and, depending on the category, come with either terraces, gardens, private plunge pools, or all of the above. All rooms offer a view—some overlook the valley, while others the lake. They are sumptuously decorated with golden accents simmered by a muted colour palette. Some bathrooms come with Victorian-style bathtubs that sit under sunroofs or the warm glow of a chandelier. For meals, there’s the ITC signature Royal Vega, where your silver thali gleams with recipes from the kitchens of maharajas of the past. At Kebabs & Kurries, feast on perennial favourites such as galouti kebabs, dal Bukhara, and nihari. But before you settle down in one of these restaurants, note that sunset drinks are de rigueur by the infinity pool at the Rock Bar. From £300. Shradha Shahani
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