The best new hotels in Central and South America and the Caribbean
The below list forms our annual Hot List edit of the best new hotels in Central and South America and the Caribbean and features a diverse mix of properties, from beachside resorts to tented camps and neighbourhood boltholes. 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 Asia
- The best new hotels in Australia and New Zealand
- 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.
- Habitas Atacamahotel
Our Habitas Atacama, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
There’s a stillness in the Atacama Desert, where undulating red-sand landscapes are graced with brittle shrubs, slow-moving camelids, and the impending volatility of geological formations. But safe from the towering volcanoes and bursting geysers, ripe for days of exploring, the recently opened Our Habitas Atacama is an oasis for adventure travellers. Here, adobe walls and thatched roofs keep travellers rooted in the destination, with earthly pleasures like a plant-focused menu and desert-herb body scrub that speak to the wellness-inclined. The sprawling 51-room lodge is a natural extension of the Our Habitas brand – which has already found a home in bohemian destinations like Bacalar, Mexico, and Agafay, Morocco – promising creature comforts like a shimmering pool with cocktail service, as well as quiet gardens where you can plop down to stargaze at night. The elevated but unfussy atmosphere is a treat in a destination best known for its backpacker accommodations and ultra-high-end lodges: Much like the nearby Licancabur volcano, which straddles the Chile-Bolivia border, Our Habitas lands invitingly in the middle. From £240. Megan Spurrell
- Silversands Beach Househotel
Silversands Beach House, Grenada
Grenada is just 26 miles long, but it packs a punch: here you will find lush rainforests, nature reserves, spice plantations, the charming town of St. George’s, and beaches so perfect that they look photoshopped. For those seeking a serene island escape, the 28-room Silversands Beach House is the place. Time seems to stop here, a feeling that begins the moment you drive up the entrance and the turquoise waters of Porto Beach come into view. The rooms and suites are so lovely – private terraces, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the sea, calming shades of cream and light wood – that you may never want to leave, but the dreamy infinity pool and sandy beach just a few steps away make a great case for venturing out. The food at the upscale Mediterranean-inspired Azzuro restaurant is another highlight: pasta is made in-house, seafood is locally sourced, and the roasted vegetable pizza (plus addictive sorrel cocktails) is the perfect finale to a day spent on the water. There’s also plenty to experience nearby, and the staff will gladly guide you through activities, whether it’s touring the beautiful island with Garth or a rum tasting with Shanel and Lester. The vibes are unhurried, gracious, and sweet, and you’ll feel yourself slipping into island time along with everyone else. From $TK. Pallavi Kumar
- Andean Travelhotel
Puqio, Arequipa, Peru
Peruvian hotel brand Andean has form when it comes to instilling sharp modern design in the most dramatic of settings, from Titilaka on the shores of Lake Titicaca to Cirqa in the cobblestoned streets of Arequipa. But with eight-room Puqio, it has reached new heights. The tented camp, which also has some traditional adobe round houses, is Peru’s first. It sits in the show-stopping Colca Valley, where Inca-era agricultural terraces line the hillsides and gliding Andean condors mirror the slow pace of life below. In the tradition of the great safari camps, expert guides take travellers to look for wildlife during the day, or on treks and horseback rides to nearby archaeological sites. But there’s a sense of adventure that goes beyond admiring the nine-foot wingspan of the local birds of prey or taking photos of the ubiquitous free-running vicuñas, cute Peruvian relatives of the llama. There are zingy outdoor showers and cosy fire pits from which to watch the sunset over the Colca Canyon (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon). And, although the lodge sits in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, its artful menus and creative cocktails feel on par with Lima’s best restaurants, with a spin on local ingredients such as coca leaves and sancayo (a mouth-puckering cactus fruit). Puqio marks a new era for the Colca Valley and allows travellers to bed into the area’s slower pace for several days, in digs that make it hard to leave. From £649. Megan Spurrell
- Casa Lucíahotel
Casa Lucía, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Buenos Aires has many epithets, but none are quite as fitting as “the Paris of the South” – especially when you venture towards the elegant café- and park-strewn barrios of Retiro and Recoleta. It’s here, in the middle of Calle Arroyo, where Spanish hotel group Unico has unveiled Casa Lucia, one of the city’s most exciting hotel launches in recent memory. Housed in the Edificio Mihanovich – a 20-story neoclassical icon that was the tallest building in South America when it opened in 1928 – the hotel (which sat closed for the past five years) has emerged from a top-to-toe renovation where porteño glamour seeps into every space. There’s the light-flushed atrium lobby, covered by a glass roof that connects two seven-story wings of the original building, as well as a spa and a 52-foot pool flanked by mirrors. Just off the central atrium is Cantina Restaurant, where the steaks would impress a hungry gaucho, and Le Club Bacan, an intimate lounge bar serving up tapas, louche sounds, and more than 400 wines chosen by master sommelier Aldo Garcia. Rooms are spacious and modern, with a cool palette of grey greens; many have outside balconies with sun loungers and outdoor showers affording wide views over the city to the Río de la Plata. It all feels like a soothing embrace in a city that – for better or worse – often skews on the side of chaos. From £470. Stanley Stewart
