Small, intimate and well-placed, a good boutique hotel offers far more than just a place to lay your head.
The best, especially those in the charm-filled cities of Europe, exhibit local flavor, distinctive character and a strong connection to the community.
While the pandemic may have put paid to many travel plans over the past two years, things are looking slightly more hopeful for 2022, with a number of new boutique hotels slated to open across Europe by the end of the year.
Whether you’re looking for a home away from home, a hideaway from the bustle of the city, or somewhere in the center of it all, here are some of the most stylish new European boutique boltholes to watch out for this year.
Gleneagles Townhouse, Scotland
From presidents and princesses, to prestigious performers and professional athletes, Scotland’s legendary Gleneagles estate has hosted more than a few famous faces over its nearly 100-year-old run.
So it’s perhaps no surprise that the new Gleneagles Townhouse, a small, urban offshoot coming to Edinburgh’s New Town this spring, is one of the year’s most highly-anticipated openings.
Gleneagles’ new kid sister will take up residence in a historic building on St. Andrew Square, with 33 well-dressed guestrooms, proving good taste runs in the family.
Gleneagles Townhouse, 39 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Xenodocheio Milos, Greece
With seven airy, whitewashed estiatorios all around the world, restaurant brand Estiatorio Milos isn’t afraid of casting a wide net.
The upmarket Greek seafood eatery entered into new waters this year with the opening of Xenodocheio Milos, its first boutique hotel.
Located right in the heart of downtown Athens, the 43-room property is a minimalist temple of gastronomy, with views over the pine-covered Lycabettus Hill and the neoclassical Old Parliament House.
Xenodocheio Milos, Kolokotroni 3-5, Athina 105 62, Greece
Passalacqua, Italy
Practically piled with Renaissance palazzos, grand dame hotels and private villas, it takes a lot to stand out in a destination as glitzy as Lake Como.
But Passalacqua, a 24-suite historic mansion-turned-hotel, has managed to do just that even before opening its doors.
Set in the village of Moltrasio on land once owned by Pope Innocent XI, Passalacqua comes from the De Santis family, owners of the impossibly lavish Grand Hotel Tremezzo.
Expect romantic rose gardens, bathrooms of bronze-veined Breccia Pontificia marble and what’s set to be the largest suite on Lake Como when the boutique hotel launches this spring. Fully equipped with its very own music room, this suite is where Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini once played his piano.
Passalacqua, Moltrasio, Italy. Exact address TBC.
The First Roma Musica, Rome, Italy
Situated just 10 minutes from the Spanish Steps in Rome’s upscale Prati district, The First Roma Musica is a study in soothing neutrals, light woods and clean, modern lines.
Opening this spring, the brand new property offers guests a relaxing refuge from the hustle and bustle of the Eternal City.
The new hotel features 24 rooms, many with floor-to-ceiling windows, along with a chic, cocooning spa with an indoor swimming pool and a rooftop bar with panoramic vistas over the Tiber River.
The First Roma Musica, Rome, Italy. Exact address TBC
Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, England
The ultra-sophisticated Mandarin Oriental may not be a boutique hotel brand in the traditional sense.
But the brand’s second foray into the English capital after the palatial Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park checks all of the right boxes.
With just 50 bedrooms, the new Mandarin Oriental Mayfair promises to deliver discreet, understated and intimate luxury when it launches in late summer.
Mandarin Oriental, London, United Kingdom. Dedicated website and exact address TBC
Como Le Montrachet, France
The COMO Group is to become the first international luxury hotel company to enter the unmatched Cote-d’Or wine region this year with the launch of Como Le Montrachet.
Opening in the vine-covered heart of Burgundy, the 31-key property looks like something from a French fairytale.
A real oenophile’s dream, the boutique hotel will be assembled across four historic buildings in the vineyard-fringed village of Puligny-Montrachet. Cheers to that.
Como Hotels, Puligny-Montrachet, France. Dedicated website and exact address TBC
ΟΝ Residence, Greece
A true labor of love and dedication, the gorgeous ΟΝ Residence launches in Greece’s charming “co-capital” Thessaloniki later this year.
The Art-Deco-inflected property will resurrect the eponymous Olympos Naoussa restaurant, a one-time hangout of the jet-setting glitterati, adding further glitz and glamor to the waterfront.
A partnership between TOR Hotel Group and Grivalia Hospitality, ΟΝ Residence holds 60 on-trend rooms, the highlight of which are the four ON Suites, on the first two floors of the restored 1926 mansion.
ΟΝ Residence, Leoforos Nikis 5, 546 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Palazzo Rainis Hotel & Spa, Croatia
Positioned right on the glittering Adriatic Sea in the red-roofed Istrian town of Novigrad, the Palazzo Rainis Hotel & Spa takes its name from an affluent Venetian family who ran a pharmacy in Novigrad from 1857 to 1930.
The new property features 16 high-designed rooms and suites, with stylish touches like chevron parquet floors, contemporary four-poster beds and coffered ceilings.
Guests checking in this spring will also find a new fine dining restaurant named Chemistry and Potion’s, an aperitive bar stocked with Croatian and Istrian wine.
Palazzo Rainis Hotel & Spa, Kastanija 1, 52466 Novigrad, Croatia
Chateau Denmark, England
With maximalist psychedelic wallpaper, punky graffitied headboards and Dracula-worthy gothic bathrooms strewn with blood-red velvet, London’s new Chateau Denmark hotel looks absolutely bonkers in the best possible way.
Slated to open in the spring of 2022, the 55-key indie hotel is arranged across 16 buildings in London’s buzzing Soho neighborhood, taking inspiration from its Denmark Street location, a former stomping ground of British iconoclasts such as The Sex Pistols, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix.
Chateau Denmark, Denmark Street, London, United Kingdom