Wallpaper * Special Weekend October / The Best New Hotels To Book Now / By Lindsay Cohn / Publisher Wallpaper *

In most places (at least those that play host to the crop of new hotels we’re eyeing up), October means rustling leaves, sweater weather and a clutch of design-led stays that bring the cosy vibes and call for lingering.

We’re eyeing up a revived charmer in a leafy corner of Vermont, a culture-centric hotel in Malta’s capital and a luxurious hideaway with heaps of hospitality pedigree on the under-the-radar Indonesian island of Rote. Also on our radar this month: the hip Eastside of Los Angeles enclave of Silver Lake finally gets the chic hotel it deserves, and yet another fashionable boutique boîte opens in London’s Covent Garden.

The world’s best new hotel openings

Hotel Lucile, Los Angeles, USA

Occupying a thoughtfully restored 1931 church, originally designed by architect Scott Quintin and revived by Electric Bowery, Hotel Lucile, the latest addition to Casetta’s portfolio, is a stylish new stay, art gallery, culinary destination and gathering place in East LA’s hip Silver Lake.

Preserving stained-glass windows and soaring arches while layering in custom furnishings, a collection of contemporary artwork – including two murals of nearby Eaton Canyon and Elysian Park by artist Erin Lynn Welsh – created in partnership with Uprise Art and L.A.-based Rhett Baruch Gallery and collected antiques, the intimate property features 25 rooms arranged around a courtyard as well as a New American French restaurant and bar, Sous Sous, developed with the team behind De La Nonna.

Hotel Lucile is located at 1629 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026, United States

Read our full hotel review of Hotel Lucile

NIHI Rote, Rote Island, Indonesia

The founders of NIHI Sumba just debuted a highly anticipated conscious luxury concept and hospitality academy on remote Rote Island in Indonesia’s Nusa Tenggara Timur province.

Fitting a project of this scale and soul, it took a team of renowned architects and designers to bring the vision of NIHI Rote to life, blending natural beauty (think: ocean views and lush tropical gardens) and local culture. Walter Wagner and Habitat 5 Bali took the lead on the 21 traditional Rotenese villas, with modern interiors by Dara Huan’s DH Liberty using local materials. Hart Howerton crafted the open-air public areas – including the arrival, spa, games pavilion and signature restaurant – with Caroline Usher’s Studio UBD leading the charge on the breezy, earthy design.

NIHI Rote is located at Boa, Rote Barat, Boa, Rote, Kabupaten Rote Ndao, Nusa Tenggara Tim. 85982, Indonesia

Romègas Hotel, Valletta, Malta

Located in Malta’s historical capital, Romègas is the result of a five-year restoration and renovation of a 16th-century palazzo, carried out by EM Architects, with the help of an archaeologist and reconstruction contractor.

In contrast to the rich heritage of its structure and ancient carvings, the interiors, by fifth-generation, family-run local studio Camilleri Paris Mode, take a more contemporary lens. Across the 22 rooms and suites (some of which feature traditional Maltese balconies), restaurant and rooftop pool area, locally sourced materials – including bespoke wooden panelling and Palladiana terrazzo flooring – and works by emerging Maltese artists tell a story of present-day creativity and provide calm from the bustling city below.

Romègas Hotel is located at 41-47 Old Bakery Street, Valletta VLT1454, Malta

The Seminary, Old Bennington, USA

The Seminary, burgeoning New England hospitality brand Place in Mind’s flagship, restores the 1829-built Bennington Seminary, an all-boys boarding school that later served as a country club, a collegiate writers’ retreat and a private residence in the idyllic Vermont town of Old Bennington, transforming the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places from relic to revival.

Hendricks Churchill led the architecture and design, reconstructing the original bell tower, restoring a barn, preserving original windows, salvaging old wood doors and beams, matching historic paint colours such as creamy white and dark forest green, replicating millwork, and filling rooms with period character through woven textiles, hand-carved furniture and artwork.

The Seminary is located at 3 Seminary Lane, Bennington, Vermont 05201, United State

The Webster Covent Garden, London, UK

While London certainly isn’t lacking in design-savvy hotels, The Webster Covent Garden has already piqued the interest of the creative crowd with its narrative-driven design by London-based architecture and interior studio Red Deer and fabulous location beside Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

Fashioned as a place to mix, mingle, chat over terrace cocktails and eventually snooze in the refined rooms, the property feels current yet with a timeless charm that flows between the nostalgia of hand-selected books and mid-century armchairs, the bold tiled floors at Carmelina’s, and the shimmering disco ball at Carla’s List, ebbing between heritage and modern whimsy.

The Webster Covent Garden is located at 62 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3JW, United Kingdom

Cori Hornbæk Hotel, Denmark

Cori Hornbæk Hotel is an aesthetic homage to the Danish Riviera. Breathing new life into a once-forgotten architectural gem originally designed by Ole Falkentorp in 1935, Copenhagen-based Jon Clausen of NVMBR Architects and Scandinavian studio AART resurrected the coastal crash pad.

Perched on a sandy beach on the northern shores of Zealand, overlooking the Kattegat Strait, the hotel’s interiors exude contemporary Nordic sophistication, with warm, muted hues and clean lines spanning its 77 rooms, five townhouses, bar and restaurant.

The property also possesses a spa that, like everything else, is inspired by the raw beauty of Hornbæk’s coastline.

Cori Hornbæk Hotel is located at Havnevej 25, 3100 Hornbæk, Denmark

Read our full hotel review of Cori Hornbæk Hotel

Maison Le Chevreuil, Meursault, France

In conceptualising Maison Le Chevreuil, the idea was to create a smaller, design-driven alternative to the grand château stays throughout Burgundy. Two rising local architects, Aubin Prost and Johanna Leserre, took on the responsibility of renovating the structure and shaping the interiors into something spirited yet sleek, guided by heritage but distinctly fresh.

The result is a cosy bolthole with a whisper of luxury located on the main square in the village of Meursault. The reception area – with its terrazzo marble floors made from fragments of local Corton stone, rammed earth (pisé) bar, natural clay plaster walls and oak accents – does triple duty for check-in, coffee and cocktails.

Rooms, too, are a masterclass in craftsmanship, with thoughtful details such as Hästens beds, rounded seating and curved showers inspired by wine tanks.

Mansion Le Chevreuil is located at 1 Place de la République, 21190 Meursault, France

Public West Hollywood, USA

In opening Public West Hollywood, hospitality giant Ian Schrager brings his trademark style – polished, but with a subversive edge – to West Hollywood, a place known for boozy brunches and all-night benders.

The hotel – a meeting of the minds between the legendary hotelier, architects John Pawson and Alan Bell, and interior designers Francois Champsaur, Aurore Rouillay and ISC Design Studio – isn’t necessarily catering to a raucous crowd, though some revellers will no doubt stop in, intrigued by the metallic magenta sculptures by artist Anselm Reyle in the lobby, views of the Hollywood Hills from the park-like rooftop or in need of a plush bed to sleep after letting loose on the nightclub’s black-and-white checkered floor.

If you prefer to skip the late-night antics in favour of a flick, bedrooms come with private screening rooms.

Public West Hollywood is located at 8300 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069, United States

Quinta Filippa, Laje, Portugal

Hidden away on a 40-hectare estate in the Portuguese countryside, Quinta Filippa is a 16-room, wellbeing-oriented hotel, wrapped in nature and made for slow living. The architecture, much of it restored by Portuguese architectural studio Arquiprivée, taps into the agrarian heritage of the Leiria region.

The interiors – a collaboration between owners Mike Schwalbach and his wife, Nikki Mol, and Nanouk Souren van Ramshorst of Circle Studio – take a thoughtful approach, consciously embracing local materials such as original stone and upcycled wooden ceiling beams alongside handmade ceramics and streamlined furniture.

Daily activities like guided hikes, farm visits and bread baking, wellness amenities – including a 25-meter heated saltwater pool, infrared saunas and ice baths – and farm-to-table dining foster a grounded approach to restoration.

Quinta Filippa is located at Beco Tropical 5, Laje, 2425-612, Portugal

Recess Hotel & Club, Savannah, Georgia, USA

For Recess Hotel & Club, Left Lane’s latest hospitality project, following the opening of Hotel Bardo Savannah in 2024, the in-house team, in partnership with Atelier Pond, transformed the Beaux-Arts-style Manger Building, one of Savannah’s first skyscrapers, into a nostalgia-driven, new-school stay, tapping into the city’s creative rhythm and a sense of youthful whimsy.

The 221 rooms – including 62 bunks – are fun-loving and functional, with analogue elements such as push-button light switches, original mosaic tile flooring and custom throws by local artist Juliana Lupacchino.

Each floor has a rumpus room, a guest-only social hub with vending machines, vintage board games and Mahjong tables. Other highlights include a bathhouse circuit (steam rooms, saunas and cold plunges), a convivial bar shrouded in lush greenery and a tiled rooftop pool.