Relais & Châteaux has added eight new members to its Association in recent months, bringing the total number of newcomers to 31 properties this year. Within that stable is Lizard Island which joined the elite membership in March, reported first by LATTE.
The newest members, in destination in the US, Italy and Norway, invite guests to explore the culinary, cultural and environmental heritage of their region, which they play a part in preserving and enhancing for the next generation.
The newest additions include:
The Modern, New York, United States
Located at the Museum of Modern Art, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant features refined yet unexpectedly playful dishes that highlight exceptional ingredients and seasonality in three distinct culinary experiences: an ever-evolving tasting menu in the dining room overlooking MoMA’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden; an à la carte menu in the lively Bar Room; and an experiential tasting menu in the center of all the action at the Kitchen Table.
2-Michelin starred restaurant 2024
Botanique Hotel Experience, Campos do Jordão, Brazil
Designed expressly to give guests an immersive experience in the luxuriant botanical world of Campos de Jordão – a vast, protected reserve halfway between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Built to blend into the verdant surrounding forest, the Botanique Hotel Experience sits on a hillside in the midst of the Mantiqueira Mountains. Brazilian architects and artists are behind its design, a combination of enormous clay stones extracted from the nearby rivers, pink cedar wood, and chocolate slate.
7 suites and 13 villas
CasaMolle, Vicuña, Chile
South of the stunning Atacama Desert, one of the most parched regions on the planet, lies the Elqui Valley, a land of different type of vegetation. This oasis is the setting for the 42-acre estate – graced with cactus gardens and embraced by Elqui River – that shelters the 24 rooms of the CasaMolle. The all-inclusive approach means the CasaMolle Hotel can offer guests a great variety of experiences. By day, there are hiking, kayaking, and horseback riding to enjoy, or tours of the vineyards that produce the famed local beverage pisco and wine, as well as meditation sessions and spa treatments; by night, the hotel invites guests to try starwatching from its open-air amphitheater.
24 rooms
Vetera Matera, Matera, Italy
In southern Italy, sits the Basilicata region, home to Matera, an urban jewel that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a wonderland of white stone houses climbing and tumbling across a rocky mountaintop, woven together by a tangle of alleys and spectacular staircases. The city is famous for the Sassi, troglodyte dwellings dug into the mountain and first occupied during the Paleolithic era. And it is some of these very Sassi – admirably restored – that serve as the setting for the Vetera Matera.
The 23 rooms boast broad windows looking out onto scenery that has been the backdrop for countless film productions worldwide, coupled with large terraces for taking in the panorama of the surroundings. The views from the heights make the most of the superb location in the city’s historic center.
23 guest rooms (including 8 junior suites)
Hotel Diepeschrather Mühle, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
Half-an-hour’s drive from Cologne, the Hotel Diepeschrather Mühle is a veritable sanctuary offering a delicious, relaxing gourmet getaway in the North Rhine-Westphalia countryside. Refresh body and soul on revitalising strolls and hikes through the verdant landscape, or admire the half-timbered houses of Bergisch Gladbach. The Hotel Diepeschrather Mühle has been a long-cherished dream for this celebrated Michelin-starred chef, and he has given it his all. It will have 25 rooms, including five suites, a spa with a large outdoor swimming pool, and two restaurants.
25 guest rooms (including 5 suites)
Norway’s fjords are one of the country’s treasures, an environment of breathtaking beauty, soothing and yet wild. Set on a hill overlooking the fjord of the same name, the Storfjord is a cluster of substantial, dark-timber buildings of traditional Norwegian architecture combines the appeal of a mountain lodge with the advantages of a high-end hotel. The log walls topped by a grass-covered roof shelter warmly welcoming interiors. Whatever the season, the Storfjord Hotel offers an authentically Norwegian stay, including a broad spectrum of outdoor activities: downhill skiing and alpine touring in wintertime, cruises and fishing trips on the fjord, kayaking adventures, bike rides, Nordic wildlife observation, and, of course, relaxing treatments at the spa with panoramic views of the landscape.
30 rooms (including 20 suites)
This Stockholm landmark building houses the first establishment in Sweden to be selected by Relais & Châteaux. The property, known as “Oscar I Minne,” was originally built in 1870 with the purpose of providing a home for widows in need. It was commissioned by Queen Josephine as a tribute to the memory of her late husband, King Oscar I. The Stockholm Stadshotell is centrally located in the capital’s trendy quarter of Södermalm, surrounded by designer fashion boutiques, art galleries, and restaurants, making it the ideal location for soaking up local culture. The team behind this brand-new property, intent on immersing guests in an ambiance that is both distinguished and intimate, enlisted architectural specialists in restoring historic buildings.
The hotel will also feature the essentials of a Swedish spa: sauna, ice bath, sensory showers – ensuring truly relaxing moments after a day of urban exploring.
32 guest rooms (including 9 suites)
Villa Cortine Palace is the quintessence of Italian romanticism characterising cinematographic works. It is an extraordinary property, just minutes from the petite, walled, medieval town of Sirmione, on the tip of the peninsula.
Lake Garda, the largest of the Italian lakes, encircles the property, resembling a sparkling sea that can be accessed from the hotel’s substantial pier. The elegant building still has all its 19th-century charm: high colonnades, coffered ceilings, wall frescoes, floors of marble or marquetry. In these historic surroundings, home to stately antique furniture and Murano crystal, the atmosphere is refined yet brightened with warm and joyful Italian spirit.
52 rooms (including 8 suites)
