Reports of travel’s death have been greatly exaggerated. With gas prices at a four-year low, a resurgent dollar, and hotel rates dropping, 2009 is shaping up to be the year of the deal. For those who can still afford to travel, there are more reasons than ever to embrace the world’s most arresting destinations. Some, such as Acapulco and Honolulu, are reborn classics now basking in the retro-cool spotlight of a second act. Others are enjoying the reverse fortunes of a falling currency, which means places like London, Melbourne and Budapest are not only bursting with hot new places to play and stay at, but are cheaper to visit than in 2008. We’ve also included our favorite picks for the been-there-done-that crowd: rising stars like Doha (stirring a revolution in the art world); Zambia (southern Africa’s next adventure playground); and Laos (finally playing hotel catch-up with Cambodia’s colonial charm). It’s time to hit the road again.
Acapulco | Mexico
WHAT’S HOT: LAS BRISAS
The place that became virtually a byword for package tourism has reinvented itself for the retro-cool era. Mexico’s red-hot boutique brand, Grupo Habita (which gave us La Purificadora in Puebla) debuts two new hotels here, one by the tiny beach made famous by the classic Elvis movie, the other high up in the hills of Las Brisas. A clifftop Banyan Tree also opens this year, while the town’s two classic hotels, Fairmont Pierre Marques and Las Brisas (pictured), have been completely overhauled to keep pace with the new Acapulco.
Istanbul | Turkey
WHAT’S HOT: FOUR SEASONS BOSPHORUS
Right now Istanbul is the most talked-about European city that’s not in Europe. For while Turkey’s entry into the EU remains stalled, its hotel scene is in overdrive (and its visitor numbers have broken all records). W Hotels first led the charge of the hot new five-stars with its remodeled townhouse vibe in Akaretler Row. Then came Four Seasons Bosphorus, setting a new standard in palatial waterfront hotels. The latest opening is the Park Hyatt Istanbul Macka Palas in Nisantasi — one of several trendy neighborhoods putting Istanbul back on the world shopping map.
French Quarter | New Orleans
WHAT’S HOT: THE ROOSEVELT
Before Katrina forced its closure, the French Quarter’s Roosevelt Hotel spent 115 years as the go-to place for the glitterati. Now the 15-story Art Deco tower is poised to return as the beacon of Baronne Street. After an aborted overhaul by Fairmont, Waldorf=Astoria purchased the hotel in 2007, pouring $100 million into its restoration. Now reopening in June, the Roosevelt will have 500 guestrooms, a luxury spa and streetside restaurant — not to mention the reborn Blue Room, the famed supper club that hosted such luminaries as Louis Armstrong and Ray Charles.
Doha | Qatar
WHAT’S HOT: MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART
If you want to measure the heat of Doha’s rising star, think of Bilbao and what Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim did for that gritty Spanish city. Having just opened the world’s first major museum entirely dedicated to Islamic art (a tiered palace, pictured, designed by I.M. Pei), the emirate’s capital has become a veritable magnet for culture vultures. Starting next month, you’ll probably find them socializing at the poolside Shisha lounge, or Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market, inside the new W Doha.
Ravello | Amalfi Coast | Italy
WHAT’S HOT: AUDITORIUM OSCAR NIEMEYER
Legendary architect Oscar Niemeyer (the guy who built Brasilia) has just turned 101. But that hasn’t stopped him in his quest to complete one of Italy’s most iconic concert halls. His futuristic curve of concrete cradled into the hillside is poised to transform Ravello’s historic summer festival season (inaugurated in 1953) into a year-round celebration of the arts. That in itself should be enough to shine the spotlight back on Ravello when it’s completed later this year. But there’s more: Gore Vidal’s former villa — an impossibly remote mansion suspended over a bluff facing the Med — is also slated to reopen. If it’s done right, it may well be the most exclusive address anywhere on the Amalfi Coast.
Melbourne | Australia
WHAT’S HOT: THE RIALTO
Melbourne isn’t Australia’s largest city (that will have to wait until 2028), but it’s fast becoming the country’s premier trendsetter. Its brand new observation wheel has got both Sydney and Adelaide following in Ferris fever, while a clutch of new properties is poised to revitalize Melbourne’s historic hotel scene. This includes the Rialto, a turreted 10-story treasure that dates back to 1891, when it was the largest building in the world’s richest city. Now it’s InterContinental’s first lodging in Melbourne — soon to be rivaled by a new Grand Hyatt.
Budapest | Hungary
WHAT’S HOT: GRESHAM PALACE
Hungary’s plunging forint has turned its capital into one huge garage sale. But Budapest’s burgeoning fashion district is only one of the treasures to be found in Middle Europe’s most elegant city. On the Pest bank of the Danube, the Gresham Palace (the city’s most spectacular showpiece from the Art Nouveau era) has regained its original splendor as a Four Seasons. Meanwhile across the river, a symbol of Hungarian creative spirit lights up the night in the ultra-contemporary Lanchid 19. With a façade of shifting light, the hotel was envisioned by the country’s leading contemporary artists.
Kings Cross | London | England
WHAT’S HOT: KINGS PLACE
If your prevailing portrait of Kings Cross was formed by scenes of Bob Hoskins squiring a prostitute through the mean streets of Mona Lisa, then you’re in for a pleasant surprise. What was for years one of London’s skankiest areas has now been reborn as the home of Britain’s new Eurostar terminal, servicing record-breaking fast trains for 50-million passengers a year traveling to France. But the glam factor extends beyond trains. The area’s regeneration has already produced an outpost of New York’s Gagosian Gallery, Britain’s hottest organic restaurant (Acorn House), and Kings Place, the capital’s first concert hall to open in 26 years. Stand by for 2010, when Marriott intends to resurrect the historic St. Pancras Chambers (pictured) as a Renaissance hotel — 70 years after the last paying guests checked out.
Luang Prabang | Laos
WHAT’S HOT: VILLA MALY
Cambodia’s neighbor is fast playing catch-up as it welcomes more and more of the been-there-done-that crowd. This spring, Laos opens its first railway line (a three-mile blip connecting Friendship Bridge with Thailand), and in December hosts its very first international sporting event, the South East Asian Games. Visitors to World Heritage town Luang Prabang will also find a growing clutch of boutique hotels — many within the historic villas that once belonged to the royal family before the communist takeover in 1975. But if a royal residence is too predictable, then you’ll have to wait until later this year: Amanresorts plans to turn an old hospital into the latest luxe hotel.
Dallas | Texas
WHAT’S HOT: DALLAS ARTS DISTRICT
If your idea of Big D involves a ten-gallon hat, then it’s time to pay a new visit. These days, it’s a blossoming Arts District that’s redefining the Texas city, thanks to a clutch of A-list architects. Think: Renzo Piano (Nasher Sculpture Center, pictured), Rem Koolhaas (the shape-shifting Wylie Theatre, opening this year) and Norman Foster (the Winspear Opera House with retractable glass façade, also this year). Of course, a happening hotel scene — with such recent additions as the Ritz-Carlton and the boutique Joule — doesn’t hurt either.
Zambia | Africa
WHAT’S HOT: TOKA LEYA CAMP
While Zimbabwe has struggled with political unrest, its peaceful neighbor Zambia has arisen as the adventure capital of southern Africa. Adrenaline junkies can test their mettle on the world’s highest bungee jump and in the “Devil’s Swimming Pool” (a natural infinity pool right at the precipice of Victoria Falls). New eco-conscious camps have also sprung up along the Zambezi, such as Wilderness Safaris’ luxurious Toka Leya (pictured), with a dozen climate-controlled tents, a (manmade) infinity pool and a raised sundeck where you can nibble on brick-oven pizza.
Honolulu | Hawaii
WHAT’S HOT: WAIKIKI BEACH WALK
America’s 50th state can, by some measure, thank its 44th president for its latest step into the spotlight. Barack Obama may be back in Washington but his recent R&R time on the beachfronts and golf greens of his native Honolulu has put Hawaii back on the exotic islands map for many Americans. Good thing the city’s Waikiki neighborhood is already in the midst of a sweeping makeover, including the new Waikiki Beach Walk, which has stayed the concrete jungle for a more pedestrian-friendly complex of hotels, restaurants and shops.
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