This year’s Hot List vovers 29 countries
from Argentina to Vietnam. The 60 hotels in our final selection were chosen
from hundreds of suggestions from our correspondents worldwide. Despite the
economic climate there were many strong contenders; and the best vary from
futuristic towers to ocean- edge villas and revamped grandees dames. Plus, in
this Olympic year, we offer a preview of the hotels about to open in London.
Hot List 2012 - Asia Australia
India: The Oberoi, Gurgaon
The
Oberoi, Gurgaon
Welcome to the next level in Indian luxury.
Located in the city of Gurgaon, some 30km south of Delhi, the new Oberoi
Gurgaon has set a new benchmark for India’s urban hotels. Gurgaon is an
important commercial hub dominated by cranes and construction workers building
corporate headquarters call centres and a multitude of malls claiming to be
‘the largest in Asia’. In stark contrast to this congested, dusty din, the
Oberoi is a cool oasis set in nine acres of the most valuable real estate in
India. The architecture is sleek; the lofty public spaces bathed in natural
light. The somewhat stark interior design is softened by impressive
contemporary art, a cobalt- blue reflection pool and a massive ‘living wall’
planted with almost 3,000 wedelia plants. The bedrooms are among the largest in
India (even entry- category rooms are the size of suites in most other high-
end hotels) and luxurious touches include a round- the- clock butler service, a
24- hour spa (particularly useful given Delhi’s unsociable flight times),
suites with heated lap pools, a modern India restaurant speccialising in fresh
seafood (flown in daily) and a cigar humidor room.
When to go
Avoid the scorching hot months of April and
May leading up to the monsoon. Delhi’s best weather is between October and
March, the Indian winter season.
Room to book
The Premier category rooms on the fourth
floor have the best views across the reflection pool to the spectacular jewel-
box lobby.
00 91 124 245 1234; www.oberoihotels.com.
Double from $716
China - Hotel ICON – Hong Kong
Hotel
ICON – Hong Kong
First things first: discard any thoughts of
yet another hotel stuffed into a skyscraper in the vaguely louche environs of
Tsim Sha Tsui East. Rather, ICON’s architecture suggests a high- rise
greenhouse or aquarium, with light flooding a lobby that stretches across the
entire ground floor. A 230- quare- metre vertical garden provides a delicious
trompe- I’oeil effect and, as an adjunct to the Polutechnic University. ICON is
imbued with a youthful air. All of this contrast neatly with the veteran
designers who helped shape the hotel, of whom Sir Terence Conran and local
heroes Rocca Yim, Vivienne Tam and Barney Cheng are probably the best known:
Justin Wong is less renowned, but his abstract cartoons do much to brighten the
upper floors. And while all the hotel’s 262 rooms and suites are excellent examples
of a work- and- play ethos, it is the upper floor that make the most sense. The
main reason for this is the club lounge, Above & Beyond, which is a
sparkling, cosmopolitan salon with the look of permanent cocktail hour. Next
door, Chef Joseph Tse demonstrates why food is the subject of so many Cantonese
conversations. Final plaudits go to the health club, where nine- metre- high
windows look over metropolitan views best described as panoramic.
The
vertical garden at Hotel ICON
When to go
Hong Kong is a year- round destination, but
the weather is (usually) at its dreariest from January to March.
Room to book
Anything facing south or with some sort of
angle on the harbour.
00 852 3400 1000; www.hotel-icon.com.
Double from $274
