Each year we turn to Jack Ezon, the CEO and Founder of EmbarkBeyond, a luxury travel agency that specializes in celebration travel. And each year Jack spotlights for us and you his picks for the top luxury hotel openings for the year. This week we go to Northern and Central Europe.
Austria
1. Mandarin Oriental, Vienna
Set in a restored Art Nouveau building designed by Alfred Keller in 1903, in what was once the city’s commercial law court for the past century, the Mandarin Oriental Vienna will have 163 rooms and suites, a winter garden, a pool, and a fitness center.
England
2. The Chancery Rosewood London
London’s hotel boom shows no signs of slowing down. Rosewood’s second location is on Grosvenor Square in the former American Embassy building. With 137 rooms and suites, all designed by Sir David Chipperfield, the hotel will also have a signature spa, six flagship retail spaces, extensive dining and entertainment spaces, including five restaurants, and a ballroom for up to 1,000 guests, one of the largest in London.
3. Six Senses London
They kept the exterior of the landmarked historic department store, The Whiteley. Still, everything else has been built up in high style, and it is transforming Bayswater, which has the best location but is never quite gentrified like its neighbor, Notting Hill. Comprising 109 guest rooms, suites, and a Six Senses Spa, it will debut the brand’s membership concept, Six Senses Place, a new private member’s club where wellness, community, and celebration meet. Rumor has it a world-famous rock star bought one of the residences also on offer.
France
4. Château de la Commaraine, Pommard
From the owners of the award-winning Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa comes this sister hotel–a castle undergoing a full renovation—launching in summer 2025 in the small village of Pommard. It will have 37 rooms, two restaurants, a spa with an outdoor pool, and a winery on-site.
Finland
5. Katona Manor
This new Finnish resort is a game-changing luxury lodge for the Nordics. The 11-room resort is designed more like an African safari lodge. Each room is set in its own private building, incorporating local wood and lake-facing windows. The circular main building represents the circle of life as well as the cycle of the year, which is at the core of Katona’s ethos and gateway to Finnish Lakeland, the largest lake area in Europe with over 55,000 of the world’s cleanest lakes. Guests are invited to explore—whether with snowshoes, cross-country skis, kick sleds, SUPs, or hiking boots–depending on the season, and culinary offerings are hyper-local, from nearby foraged mushrooms to fresh lake fish.
6. Balder Lodge, Lapland
This adventure lodge features 16 spacious suites and 4 igloos, ideal for winter experiences and northern lights sightings. On-site activities include snowmobiling, reindeer sleigh rides, and dog sledding, plus snowshoeing, skiing, and unwinding in Lapland’s extraordinary nature. Conveniently located just 15 minutes from the airport and Levi’s Center, Balder Luxury Lodge is your perfect base for discovering Lapland.
Germany
7. Brenner’s Park
This Oetker icon will reopen in spring 2025 following an 18-month renovation that went down to the beams. Glamour and indulgence will be at the heart of the revival, a fun contrast to the hotel’s legendary Villa Stéphanie, which focuses on effective health and well-being experiences. Epic adventures await in the Black Forest and beyond with the region’s spa houses, vineyards, and racecourses.
8. Chiemgauhof Lakeside Retreat, Bavaria
This ultra-private 28-suite lakeside retreat has been reimagined by renowned architect Matteo Thun and will reopen in 2025. It will feature an 18-hole golf course and three elegant restaurants with views of the lake and the Chiemgau Alps. This is an active traveler’s paradise with stand-up paddleboarding, hiking, and more.
9. The Florentin Frankfurt
Is Frankfurt shedding its nickname of “Bankfurt” and getting cooler? The former Villa Kennedy will reopen in 2025 as a new 147-room luxury hotel in the former Speyer family villa, close to Frankfurt’s museum district and the city center.
Holland
10. Rosewood Amsterdam
Housed in the former Palace of Justice, Rosewood Amsterdam will overlook the Prinsengracht (the Prince’s Canal), one of the city’s most beautiful historic waterways. Many of the 134 guestrooms and suites will have views of this waterway. The hotel will also have one of the city’s only indoor swimming pools and an Asaya spa.
Scotland
11. Kilchoan Estate by Dunton
Dunton Hot Springs’ first international resort, with just six villas ranging from one- to five-bedrooms on a 13,000-acre estate in the Scottish Highlands’ Knoydart Peninsula along its western coast. Dating back to the 12th century when it was part of the Somerled kingdom, it can only be accessed by boat or foot. The rugged and remote landscape is one of the area’s primary attractions.