How the world's top hotels are beginning to re-open - and when you'll be able to go

North Island in the Seychelles is re-opening on 1 June
North Island in the Seychelles is re-opening on 1 June

As the planet eases slowly out of lockdown, some of its most luxurious hotels are cautiously re-opening or announcing their intention to do so in June or July.

Others, including some of the UK’s best-loved boutique hotels (like all The Pigs, for instance), where the two-metre social distancing guideline makes it impossible to achieve the 70% occupancy level most need to break even, are having to wait. So where can we go?

As you will know, while other countries around the world are announcing initial plans for easing quarantine rules for visitors, our own two-week quarantine for everybody arriving in the UK, whether as visitors or citizens returning from elsewhere, begins on 8 June.

The foyer at Claridges, looking through to the Reading Room, where afternoon tea is served
The foyer at Claridges, looking through to the Reading Room, where afternoon tea is served

So there has never been a better time to support our hotels at home. While we don’t yet know exactly when lockdown will end, most properties are building in the flexibility to change dates if necessary. Everyone is doing all they can to make the guest experience as enjoyable as possible when we do make it back.

“From all the enquiries we’ve had in the last two weeks, we know that guests are keen to return,” says Stephanie Hocking, the CEO of Brownsword Hotels, a collection which includes Gidleigh Park in Devon and Amberley Castle in Sussex.

“There's a definite balance for people between committing to a booking and a fear of leaving it too late and peak dates not being available.  So to help our guests we introduced our flexible booking policy offering amends up to 48 hours before a stay with the option to select a new date within 12 months.

"We’re incredibly fortunate that many of our properties are situated within extensive, beautiful grounds – Gidleigh Park enjoys a 107-acre estate – even city centre The Bath Priory sits within a four-acre garden.”

Gidleigh Park in Devon - Paul Wilkinson
Gidleigh Park in Devon - Paul Wilkinson

If government guidelines permit, London’s Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley will all quietly re-open at the beginning of July, with world-class deep cleaning and other measures in place. But they hope the essence of the experience will stay the same.

“It's about striking that balance," says Claridge's General Manager Paul Jackson. "We are implementing world-class levels of health, hygiene and safety protocols while maintaining that magical atmosphere for which the hotel has always been loved.

"We've had so many enquiries for afternoon tea when we do re-open, so in that instance, for example, we'll ensure social distancing is in place by spreading into the private dining spaces when necessary. But the flowers, the pianist, the champagne trolley - they will all be back!"

Some of the UK’s bigger estates seem to be made for social distancing. Heckfield Place in Hampshire - all 438 rolling acres of it - is hoping to open at some point in July. It will be introducing seven-night ‘Safe Haven’ packages in Chamber Room categories and above, where you stay for seven nights but pay for five until 19 December, to encourage guests to really unwind as they might on a longer-haul holiday.

It will also be offering guests imaginative tucked-away dining options and encouraging people to enjoy outdoor suppers, barbecues and picnics when the weather permits.

Grand Hotel Kronenhof in Pontresina
Grand Hotel Kronenhof in Pontresina

Elsewhere, Beaverbrook in Surrey, with its 470 acres of manicured gardens and woodland, has just 35 rooms spread between three buildings, one a vast mansion house. It hopes to open in July and when it does, it will be with a lower occupancy, temperature checks on arrival for both spa and hotel guests and a sanitising and disinfecting service for hands and luggage on arrival.

There will also be fewer tables in the restaurant and exclusive-use ‘house party’ packages offering clusters of three bedrooms, ideal for families or groups of friends.

Further afield, Hotel Byblos in St Tropez will re-open on 17 June, with remote check-in just prior to arrival, glass screens at all reception desks, social distancing in all restaurants and systematic disinfection of all areas multiple times a day.

Meanwhile Hôtel Métropole in Monte-Carlo will re-open gradually from 19 June, initially with in-room dining. The spa, fitness room and restaurants will open at a later date. Hotels Le Meurice and Plaza Athénée in Paris are both opening on 1 July but have released no further details yet.

Italy will see a flurry of openings in June. In fact, Borgo Egnazia in Puglia has already re-opened, but for now just with its exclusive-use villas and casette, which are liberally spread around the estate and have kitchens or kitchenettes. The resort is encouraging families to take longer ‘re-uniting’ stays, by creating home-from-home set ups in each villa.

Others opening in June include Masseria San Domenico in Puglia, L’Andana in Tuscany and Rocco Forte Hotels will re-open Hotel de Russie in Rome, on 19 June.

Villa Magnifica at Borgo Egnazia in Puglia
Villa Magnifica at Borgo Egnazia in Puglia

Hotels in Switzerland are still awaiting instructions from the government on how to proceed. What we do know is that when it re-opens on 3 July, Grand Hotel Kronenhof in Switzerland’s Pontresina will no longer offer its epic buffet breakfasts – everything will be plated from now on – and sittings for dinner will be much more significantly staggered.

It is also launching four new social distancing-friendly ‘spa platforms’ for yoga, Pilates and meditation, positioned on the hillside below the hotel overlooking the Engadine Valley.

With its low population density, vast open spaces and very few cases of Covid-19, Iceland has fared better than many places and says it is opening to foreign tourists on 15 June.

Where better to steal away to than 13-room Deplar Farm, a retreat on Iceland’s remote Troll Peninsula, which re-opens bookings on 1 June and will welcome its first guests on 15 June.

While full-lodge takeovers have always been available here, they are now being actively encouraged. Infrared thermometers are available to staff and guests on request, as are masks and gloves.

In New York, one of the world’s worst-hit cities, The Mark will re-open on 15 June, with stringent practices in place, such as temperature checks for everyone arriving at the hotel, a luggage disinfection service, rooms left empty for 48 hours between stays and a ‘do not enter my room’ rating (not to be confused with ‘Do not disturb’) that guests can request on check-in, so all interactions happen in front of, rather than inside the room.

Aerial view of Amangiri in Utah
Aerial view of Amangiri in Utah

In the desert wilds of Utah, Amangiri re-opened this week and its new glamping offering, self-contained Camp Sarika, which is a short distance from the main hotel, will open on 1 July. The hotel has removed all paper from its guest rooms – everything is digitized.

Rooms are left empty for 24 hours between bookings, guests can opt out of ‘turn down’ and ‘linen change’, tables in the restaurant will be six feet apart and facials will not be offered at the spa (although they are available on request).

Another to go paperless when it opens on 10 June is Hotel Esencia on the Riviera Maya, once the beach house of a glamorous Italian duchess. Here, all information available around the hotel will be provided by QR code. Guests can even sign their own phone with their finger so there is no need to use a pencil or touch the hotel iPad.

It’s all a big lifestyle shift, but hotels and resorts worldwide are rising to the challenge.

“We’re still working on the logistics of all this,” says Narelle McDougall, General Manager of Silversands in Grenada, which also will re-open early June with all its menus provided by QE code. “But you can expect temperature checks at the airport on arrival using a touchless forehead monitor, electrostatic spray technology to improve surface sanitation and room service meals at no extra charge.”

The spa at Deplar Farm in Iceland
The spa at Deplar Farm in Iceland

Those who have had to postpone their weddings may be heartened to hear that the world’s most famous honeymoon hotel, North Island in the Seychelles, will open on 1 June, the day the country's international airport re-opens.

Initially it will only be available to people coming in on private jets or chartered flights, but commercial routes are expected to resume in July or August. All guests will be required to take a coronavirus test 48 hours before flying there.

But rest assured, as a private island resort with just eleven villas, considered the most romantic in the world, social distancing won’t be a problem.

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