For our inaugural list of the most stylish hotels in the world, we asked designers, artists and editors across the GQ universe to help us handpick the most absurdly good-looking places to stay. The creative teams behind these temples to design are placing provenance (and in many cases, sustainability) over smooth edges, curating details down to the last lampshade. The result? Twenty-one destinations that are built like works of art.
Hoshinoya
There’s an onsen bath on the roof at the Hoshinoya in downtown Marunouchi. Anywhere else in the world this would be a gimmick, but they don’t do gimmicks at the Hoshinoya; they do ultra-high-end hospitality – omotenashi, as the Japanese call it. The bath sits atop 17 floors, which local architect Rie Azuma conceived as a series of reimagined ryokan (traditional inns) stacked on top of each other, with a communal tea lounge on every floor. And if you don’t want a dip, you can try your hand at the sword training sessions at dawn.
“Hoshinoya is an incredibly elegant hotel. There are real health benefits to onsen [hot springs] and this allows you to enjoy them in a beautiful setting in total luxury.” – Actor and model Devon Aoki
Hoshinoya is a Japanese resort brand with incredible omotenashi game. Find another of its masterpieces on a forested hillside overlooking Mount Fuji, where it opened one of the country’s first glamping hotels.
Estelle Manor
Fashion crowds aren’t often drawn to the muddy depths of the Cotswolds. But Estelle Manor has taken the stuffy English country hotel playbook and chucked it out of the window. No detail, from the sprawling Roman-style baths to the monogrammed leather coasters, was left uncurated in the refurb of this Jacobean manor house. Owner Sharan Pasricha and the legends at Roman and Williams had a field day bringing the hotel and members’ club to life, blowing out on ornate chandeliers, Victorian antiques, and a surplus of silk sofas.
“One of the things I loved most about Estelle Manor was the art collection. The first piece that struck me when I walked in was the big Billy Childish painting in reception. It was lovely to see one of his works in such a beautiful setting.” – Fashion designer Daniel W. Fletcher
Like Estelle’s vibe? Try one of three more interiors home-runs from the Roman and Williams duo: NoMad in London, buzzy restaurant La Mercerie in New York, and the Reykjavik Edition in Iceland.
Villa Mabrouka
After its heyday as a destination for Beat poets, Tangier – the coastal city a tangerine’s throw from Spain – slipped off most people’s Moroccan itinerary. Recently, though, the kasbah’s made a comeback: a new generation of locally-owned, internationally-minded galleries is elevating the city into the art world’s top tier. British designer Jasper Conran has reimagined Yves Saint Laurent’s old house as a 12-room hotel that overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar. An immaculate waterfront garden originally designed by Madison Cox sits centre-stage, and the earthy vibes extend inside – where Yves’ signature shades of green and blue abound. – David Annand
Benesse House
Think Night at the Museum with Kusama sculptures. Benesse House encompasses both a mindblowing museum of contemporary art and an intimate, minimalist hotel. One of its four accommodations, Oval, is accessible only by monorail, on a hilltop on Japan’s remote “art island” Naoshima. You can also bed down inside the museum itself, a semi-subterranean design from architect Tadao Ando that minimises aesthetic disruption to the natural surroundings. It’s difficult to believe that this museum-slash-hotel – so advanced, so comfortable – was built more than 30 years ago. – Keishi Iwata, senior lifestyle editor, GQ Japan
Barracuda
Scandinavian Minimalism on Brazil’s densely forested Bahia coast sounds like an odd cultural clash until you discover that actual Swedes – including ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, no less – were involved. Barracuda is an immaculately designed bolthole where the Nordic restraint is a perfect counterpoint to the surrounding lush forest. Go as a group and rent one of the villas, which sleep up to 16 and come with staff. – D.A.
Sun Ranch
Nowhere with a badminton court can take itself too seriously – and so it is at the Sun Ranch, a new hotel 15 minutes inland from Byron Bay, where the decor is 1970s-meets-Californian-farmhouse-meets-festival-afterparty. Set in 55 acres of regenerated farmland, the hotel was cofounded by creative director Julia Ashwood and former fashion designer Jamie Blakey, who enlisted the help of their creative friends to give the space the feel of a welcoming luxury commune, including a hilltop fire pit and a floating, wood-fired sauna. – D.A.
Rosemary
Back in the ’90s, during a boom in converting traditional Moroccan homes into guest houses, the best way to experience Marrakech was to sleep on the roof of a riad for 30p a night. These days, it’s a stay in one of the Rosemary’s five art-filled suites, taking in the marble baths, terrazzo floors, and stained-glass doors. The hotel’s co-owner, Belgian sculptor Laurence Leenaert, pulled together pieces from 40-odd local artisans to create a pared-back riad aesthetic. – D.A.
Les Roches Rouges
Les Roches Rouges feels very, very far from the shoulder-rubbing of its neighbours Cannes and Saint-Tropez. Situated in what was once a 17th-century fishing town, the hotel inhabits an unusually tranquil pocket of the jam-packed Côte d’Azur. A vision of midcentury modernism on the outside, its mellow interiors are filled with Guy Bareff’s earthenware wall lights and Rosemarie Auberson’s colour block paintings, which don’t distract from the money shot: a cliffside Mediterranean vista.
“Les Roches Rouges is all about the sea views and the modernist design for me. Festen Architecture, the same architect duo that designed our flagship London and NYC stores, has created an effortlessly sophisticated atmosphere, with calm tones that let the natural surroundings take centre stage.” – Sandra Sándor, founder of luxury brand Nanushka
Adrère Amellal
Travelling is a chance to switch off, but when you really want to unplug, without wi-fi – or even lightbulbs – you head to Adrère Amellal. Positioned on the saltwater Siwa Oasis in far west Egypt (a seven-hour drive from Alexandria), this eco-lodge is totally off-grid. But the monastic vibes go beyond tech: the hotel’s sandcastle-esque design is total desert minimalism, with several rooms carved out of the neighbouring mountain.
“The architecture is really integrated in its surroundings. It’s one of the most magical places on earth.” – New York-based Egyptian artist Laila Gohar
Boca de Agua
The architectural world has Frida Escobedo fever. She’s working on a wing of the Met – and revamped London’s Serpentine Pavilion in 2018 – but somehow, the designer found time to mastermind this box-fresh collection of treehouses in Quintana Roo. It’s a textbook example of her light-touch Latin modernism: the raised treehouses minimise the resort’s eco footprint, while her signature latticework keeps the spaces cool and breezy. At Boca de Agua, she took a low-impact approach, building rooms from Chicozapote wood and sourcing furniture from local brands such as Bandido Studio.
Frida Escobedo’s trademark latticework also makes an appearance at Hotel Boca Chica, the beloved Acapulco retreat and golden-era Hollywood hangout, which she helped freshen up with pop-coloured furniture and concrete parasols.
Hotel Corazón
After the runway shows, the European fashion mafia shuts up shop for summer. The consiglieres still head en masse to Ibiza, but, these days, the capos are all in Mallorca, specifically the Tramuntana mountains and even more specifically, Hotel Corazón, a new 15-room finca on the winding hill road between Sóller and Deià. It’s the brainchild of fashion photographer Kate Bellm and her artist husband Edgar Lopez. Famous for her sun-saturated images of beautiful people, Bellm has channelled that spirit into the hotel, which radiates a welcoming calm via the dark-peach walls, matching bed linen, and retro futuristic furniture. – D.A.
Villa Palladio
It’s no easy feat for a crimson hotel to stand out in Jaipur, India’s “pink city." But Italian entrepreneur Barbara Miolini and Dutch designer Marie-Anne Oudejans went down the maximalist route and won. In a country estate on the edge of the city, every single wall, ceiling, bedframe, and pillow is done out in bold vermilion hues.
Nine Orchard
Dimes Square – the much-hyped microneighbourhood on New York’s Lower East Side – is still hanging on to its sexy-gritty rep, even after the arrival of its first luxury hotel, housed inside a refurbished 1912 bank building. Nine Orchard’s new reign is down in part to the details, such as the Ojas speakers in each room that play music curated by DJs Stretch Armstrong and Devon Turnbull.
“In the past year this has easily become my favourite hotel in New York. The decor, location and vibes are unmatched. I adore walking into the room or waking up first thing in the morning and turning on the radio station. It’s so specifically curated for me and nobody but me. I’m the only person in the world.” – Singer-songwriter-actor Moses Sumney
Le Coucou
The ten floors, 55 rooms, and two chalets that constitute Le Coucou could have been ripped from the Japanese animation firm Studio Ghibli. Lampshades are reminiscent of ice cubes, coat hooks are shaped like owls, and armchairs cosplay as characters out of fairy tales. The hotel’s pointed gables create an interlocking castle, nestled on a hillside near the ski resort Courchevel in the French Alps. Designed by Pierre Yovanovitch, everything seems playful and opulent, but never vulgar. – Tobias Frericks, head of editorial content, GQ Germany
Xigera Safari Lodge
Safaris can be grim experiences: hordes of Jeeps chasing harassed-looking elephants while you swat mosquitoes in the rear. Not so at Xigera, a luxe lodge on the edge of Botswana’s Okavango Delta that doubles as a living gallery of African art. Madoda Fani and Chuma Maweni are among the creatives who contributed site-specific works, like tables carved out of fallen tree trunks and brass sculptures in the shape of the Delta’s flow. The pièce de résistance is a steel treehouse modelled on a baobab tree, where you can eat – and sleep – under an unobstructed night sky. – D.A.
Château Voltaire
The new go-to boutique hotel for a crowd of au courant city dwellers. Zadig & Voltaire founder Thierry Gillier is a newcomer to the hotel business, and with Château Voltaire, he’s pulled off a festive and elegant French vibe that’s all warm tones, antique armchairs, and art deco details. Festen Architecture oversaw this takeover of three 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-century buildings, transformed into a hotel and restaurant that are equal parts unshowy and parfait. It’s Paris’ answer to London’s Chiltern Firehouse and the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. – Pierre Alexandre M’Pelé, head of editorial content, GQ France
The Fife Arms
Not content with helming one of the art world’s mega-galleries, the couple behind Hauser & Wirth have turned their hand to hospitality. The Fife Arms, on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park, is a hunting-lodge-meets-Tate-Modern (think Logan Roy on a shooting weekend). At the end of a dreich day on the moors, you can down your dram of whisky under a Man Ray photograph. Or a Picasso painting. Or a Lucian Freud portrait.
The Cōmodo
For a while there, Bad Gastein was living up to its name. Once the revered hub of the Austrian spa scene, the region hit hard times: buildings were abandoned, and the village started emptying out. But in 2017, Salzburg governor Wilfried Haslauer announced a regeneration project for the area, ushering in a new breed of creatives on the hunt for an affordable holiday spot. Now Bad Gastein is bustling again, and the centre of the action is The Cōmodo, a one-time clinic turned midcentury-style playhouse by Berlin design duo Barbara Elwardt and Piotr Wisniewski. – D.A.
The Venice Venice Hotel
Don’t call it an “art hotel.” Instead, just mention in passing that Venice Venice has got a better collection of paintings than many publicly funded regional galleries. Opened just last year by Alessandro Gallo and Francesca Rinaldo (the couple who founded Golden Goose sneakers), the grand old building was once a 13th-century Byzantine palace – one of the oldest on the Grand Canal. The duo refitted the original structure with works by Bruce Nauman and Hanne Darboven, a suite inspired by Christo, and another dedicated to the radical Arte Povera movement. Enjoy prime views of the Rialto Bridge, or get lost in the Francesco Simeti tapestry hanging in the bar. – D.A.
Downtown LA Proper
“Downtown LA Proper is an interior design dream. I fell in love with the colourful, Mexican-inspired tapestry-style mural that adorns the vaulted ceilings of the entrance, flanked by huge cactus trees. When I walked in, I remember thinking, This is what I want my house to look like when I grow up. Special mention to the ground floor restaurant Caldo Verde, which serves incredibly vibrant, vegetable-focused dishes, and the beautifully-tiled rooftop pool, surrounded by exotic plants, that has incredible views of downtown.” – Chef Ixta Belfrage, author of Mezcla
Aman Tokyo
Aman’s Tokyo outpost is neither its newest (that would be its New York offering on 5th Avenue) nor its flashiest (probably also New York). But the hotel is the stuff of dreams for urban design fiends. Creator-in-chief at Dior Men and Fendi couture Kim Jones counts it as one of his favourite places to stay: “It’s like a home from home.” That is, if home were the top six floors of an Ōtemachi skyscraper. Australian architect Kerry Hill helmed the design here, where floor-to-ceiling windows and a ruthlessly monochrome colour scheme manage to give off an air of celestial calm – while casually connecting to a five-line subway station and looking out over the most populated city in the world.
The late Kerry Hill was the go-to architect for Aman Resorts, the über-luxe hotel group frequented by A-listers and the ultra-high-net-worth crowd. Catch another one of his masterstrokes at Amankora – a collection of lodges perched near the Tiger’s Nest monastery in Bhutan.
A version of this story originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of GQ with the title “GQ’s Most Stylish Hotels on the Planet 2024: Art & Design Edition”