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Every year, the luxury travel pros at Condé Nast Johansens – essentially a Michelin-style guide to the very best hotels that money can buy – dish out a load of awards to hotels across the planet.
The 2027 Awards for Excellence took place this week at London’s Montcalm Mayfair, recognising hotels across five global regions in categories spanning standout design, exceptional service, brilliant bars and culinary excellence.
One of the most coveted categories is Best New Hotel. Considering only one hotel per region can take home the award, receiving this accolade is a game-changer for recently opened properties.
This year’s Awards for Excellence recognised four new hotels in this category. Aethos London Shoreditch, which opened on the site of a former Nobu hotel at the end of 2025, was named the best new hotel in the United Kingdom. And we certainly co-sign – in Time Out’s recent five-star review, we called Aethos London Shoreditch ‘a self-assured boutique stay that fully understands its neighbourhood and clientele’.
Andaz Lisbon, a swanky Hyatt hotel in the Portuguese capital, took the crown as the best new hotel in Europe and the Mediterranean, while private coastal club Birch House in Florida’s Fort Lauderdale clinched the prize for North America.
Over in South Africa, Maloba Lodge, a new safari stay in the Northern Cape, beat out all other new hotels across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The best new hotels in 2026
- Aethos London Shoreditch, London, UK
- Andaz Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Birch House, A Private Coastal Club & Retreat, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
- Maloba Private Game Reserve, South Africa
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