The pandemic may have put a temporary damper on most people’s travel plans, but it hasn’t stopped the hospitality industry from moving forward with an extensive pipeline of new hotels scheduled to open next year. From sophisticated urban high-rises to nature-oriented retreats, the hotels debuting in 2022 prove there are many ways to define upscale travel. Here are some of the hottest new openings.

Florida is gearing up to welcome at least two new and noteworthy luxury hotels in 2022. The 158-room Mandarin Oriental, Boca Raton will feature two rooftop pools; a spa; fitness center; and multiple upscale restaurants and bars, including Mandarin Oriental’s signature MO Bar + Lounge, situated on the rooftop with an outdoor terrace. The adjacent Via Mizner Golf & City Club will provide additional leisure activity options for guests.

Nearby, West Palm Beach will become home of Banyan Cay Resort & Golf, Florida’s first Destination by Hyatt hotel and the first full-service Hyatt-branded property in Palm Beach County. Set on 250 acres, the property offers golf practice facilities as well as access to a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course. Accommodation options include 150 guestrooms and 22 three-bedroom villas.

In New York City new properties in the works include the 446-room Hard Rock Hotel New York, which will have a rooftop lounge and two entertainment venues, and Six Senses New York, the first North American property for this wellness-oriented IHG brand. The 136-room property, set inside The XI, a complex of two towers designed by architect Bjarke Ingels, will have two restaurants and one of the chain’s trademark spas.

In Texas, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts marks its return to Dallas at Cityplace Tower with a rooftop infinity pool and lounge and more than 21,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Travelers looking for an upscale way to enjoy nature, meanwhile, might consider Southall in Franklin, Tennessee, a 325-acre farm being reborn as a luxurious country getaway complete with guestrooms, cottages, a spa and activities themed around farm, wellness, adventure and culinary programs led by James Beard Award multi-nominee Chef Tyler Brown.

PHOTOS: © ROCK HOUSE

New luxury hotels are in the works around the Western Hemisphere. In the Caribbean, new openings for 2022 include Rock House Turks and Caicos, a resort set on 14 oceanfront acres on the north coast of Providenciales, and Cabot Saint Lucia, the second golf-oriented hotel by the team that created Cabot Cape Breton, a golf resort in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Speaking of Canada, some 19 new hotels will open around the nation in 2022, according to Top Hotel News. Among them is Andaz Toronto – Yorkville, which will boast 160 rooms including 15 luxury suites as well as 12,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Farther south, in Mexico, new upscale properties include Wyndham Grand Mexico City and Esplendor by Wyndham La Condesa, located together in the trendy La Condesa neighborhood. The combined property will have six dining venues, a gym, spa and even a VIP (Very Important Pets) program.

Travelers to Mexico’s Caribbean coast will find new places to soak up the sun when they check into the 735-room Hilton Tulum All-Inclusive Resort, set to open next year adjacent to Conrad Tulum, scheduled to open in fourth quarter 2021. The hotels share some amenities, including a meetings and events complex and spa facility. Also new to the Hilton portfolio is the 173-room Waldorf Astoria Cancun with a spa, five restaurants and bars and more than 55,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Also in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, the upscale Kanai resort complex will witness two hotel openings next year. The 180-room Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai features six food and beverage outlets as well as a spa and a 2,217-square-foot penthouse suite. The 124-room St. Regis Kanai Resort will be the third St. Regis property in Mexico.

London will witness the debut of two interesting luxury hotels in 2022. Included in the mix is Raffles London at The OWO, the first Raffles property in the United Kingdom. Located in London’s Old War Office (a filming location for five James Bond movies and Netflix’s The Crown), the 125-room property will have nine restaurants and bars, a spa, a ballroom and a Winter Garden that serves afternoon tea. Also in the works is Park Hyatt London River Thames, located in the Nine Elms area on the south bank of the river, conveniently close to upscale shops, parks and restaurants.

© BROADWICK SOHO

“Gritty glamour,” meanwhile, is a term used to describe the unique style at Broadwick Soho, an independent luxury hotel slated to open in London next year. The 57-room property will include an Italian restaurant with a terrace and rooftop cocktail bar.

Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, Red Carnation Hotel Collection is preparing for its debut in Scotland with the opening of 100 Princes Street. The 30-room property, which will offer views of Edinburgh Castle, will exude an ambience similar to that of sister property Hotel 41, located in London.

Travelers considering a 2022 trip to Rome will find attractive new options, including the 160-room InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace, set in an early-20th-century palazzo that once served as an ambassador’s home. Also in the works is Six Senses Rome, yet another example of the expansion of IHG’s wellness brand. The 95-room property, the first Six Senses in Italy, will feature a spa, restaurant, events terrace, rooftop terrace and courtyard garden.

Vienna is another European city that should be on the itinerary of any globetrotter seeking out new luxury hotel experiences. Rosewood Hotels is currently putting final touches on Rosewood Vienna, housed in a 1930s former bank building, while Almanac Vienna will open in a picturesque mansion in the historic Palais Henckel-Donnersmarck.

Looking to the Middle East, new luxury properties include The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, opening in Dubai next to Atlantis, The Palm. The 795-room resort’s contemporary architecture will house a wellness center, 17 restaurants (including five headed by celebrity chefs) and an expansive lobby with one of the world’s largest jellyfish tanks.

In Morocco, new hotels include the 181-room Park Hyatt Marrakech, offering an 18-hole golf course designed by Kyle Phillips and inspired by Moroccan gardens. Nature lovers, meanwhile, will find new ways to pamper them- selves in South Africa, where The Homestead — a 12-suite, eco-friendly, ultra-luxury lodge — will open on Nambiti Private Game Reserve, offering customized game drives, cooking classes and other unique experiences.

Travelers in the mood for glamorously branded accommodations may consider a trip to Japan, where Tokyo will welcome its first Bvlgari Hotel in late 2022, set in a dramatic skyscraper. The 98-room property will have a spa, indoor pool and multiple dining venues as well as a top-of-the-line Bvlgari Suite.

PHOTO: © WYNDHAM

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, meanwhile, is in growth mode in China, with new properties including Wyndham Foshan, located in the Foshan Nanhai complex, and Wyndham Grand Fuqing Resort, located in Haikou Town.

Hyatt has a number of hotels in the pipeline throughout Southeast Asia. Its Alila Hotels and Resorts brand, for example, will debut two new properties next year: Alila Dalit Bay, a 152-room waterfront hotel in Malaysia; and Alila Kothaifaru Maldives, located in Raa Atoll, a picturesque region of the Maldives. Elsewhere in the Hyatt portfolio, Park Hyatt Jakarta is to open in Indonesia’s capital, set in the top 17 floors of the new MNC Land Tower, while Park Hyatt Phu Quoc will open on the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc.

Racecar enthusiasts may want to take a look at Hyatt’s Unbound Collection, which will debut Fuji Speedway Hotel, a themed property in Japan that will provide access to a motorsports museum overlooking Fuji Speedway racetrack.