Conde Nast Traveler releases 2009 Hot List

Conde Nast Traveler’s 13th annual May "Hot List" issue is the ultimate insider’s guide to the newest and hottest hotels, restaurants, spas, and nightclubs opened all over the world in the past year. The editors scoured the globe to check out hundreds of new properties, rigorously evaluating each one on a standard set of criteria. The result is a definitive guide to the world’s most exciting new establishments destined to become instant classics.

The 2009 Hot List features 140 new hotels and resorts, 50 new restaurants, 35 new nightclubs, and 50 new spas, whose design, service, and amenities transcend industry standards.

The hotel findings range in size from a three-pavilion hideaway outside of Sydney to a 2,034-room high-rise on the Vegas Strip, and in price from $89 at a Palm Springs hot spot to $2,050 for a sprawling safari tent in northern Botswana.

It isa sign of the times as hot and trendy doesn’t have to mean pricey. Check in to 43 of the hottest hotels for under $250-per-night. The 140 hotels and resorts on this year’s Hot List span 53 countries and include new-to-the-list destinations Israel, Mongolia, Peru, Slovenia, and Zimbabwe.

    U.S. properties named to the list include:
    InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa, Paradise Valley, Ariz.
    Montage Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, Calif.
    London West Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.
    SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Calif.
    Resort at Pelican Hill, Newport Beach, Calif.
    Ace Hotel & Swim Club, Palm Springs, Calif.
    Se San Diego, San Diego, Calif.
    Cavallo Point, Sausalito, Calif.
    Bardessono, Yountville, Calif.
    Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, Avon, Colo.
    Capella Telluride, Telluride, Colo.
    The Regent, Bal Harbour, Fla.
    Viceroy, Miami, Fla.
    Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Fla.
    Mondrian South Beach, Miami Beach, Fla.
    Mansion on Peachtree, Atlanta, Ga.
    Avia, Savannah, Ga.
    Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii
    The Blackstone, Chicago, Ill.
    Dana Hotel and Spa, Chicago, Ill.
    Hidden Pond, Kennebunkport, Me.
    Mandarin Oriental, Boston, Mass.
    Hotel Ivy, Minneapolis, Minn.
    Encore Wynn, Las Vegas, Nev.
    Encantado, Santa Fe, N.M.
    Greenwich Hotel, New York, N.Y.
    Thompson LES, New York, N.Y.
    The Nines, Portland, Ore.
    Hotel Saint Cecilia, Austin, Tex.
    Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa, Dallas, Tex.
    Arctic Club Hotel, Seattle, Wash.
    Four Seasons Hotel, Seattle, Wash.
    Donovan House, Washington, D.C.
    Iron Horse Hotel, Milwaukee, Wis.

The most sought-after reservations are for gussied up gastropubs with stellar cocktails or pocket-sized restaurants with just a handful of tables. From a $25 prix fixe lunch at Maison Boulud in Beijing to a $59 four-course dinner at Convivio in New York, their list of 50 restaurants has amazing values abound.

    U.S. restaurants on the Hot Tables List include:
    California: Palate Food & Wine, Glendale; Kogi BBQ, Los Angeles;
     Zinnia, San Francisco
    Florida: Sra. Martinez, Miami
    Georgia: Holeman & Finch, Atlanta
    Illinois: L2O, Chicago
    Louisiana: Cochon Butcher, New Orleans
    Massachusetts: Hungry Mother, Cambridge
    Nevada: Wazuzu, Las Vegas
    New York: Convivio, Corton, John Dory, L’Artusi, New York
    Oregon: Lincoln, Portland
    Pennsylvania: Zahav, Philadelphia
    Washington: Poppy, Seattle

   Go online to cntraveler.com/hotlist for 65 additional tables

A little R&R is just what the doctor ordered, and as luck would have it, this past year delivered a bumper crop of superlative spas from Macau to Mexico. Their reviewers left no hot stone unturned in their effort to identify the 50 transcendent spots for head-to-toe pampering.

    U.S. spas on the Hot Spas List include:
    California: Spa Montage, Beverly Hills; Spa at Pelican Hill, Newport Beach
    Colorado: RockResorts Spa at the Arrabelle, Vail
    Florida: Icon Brickell at Viceroy Miami; Lapis at the Fontainebleau,
     Miami Beach
    Georgia: 29 Spa at the Mansion on Peachtree, Atlanta
    Nevada: Spa at Trump, Las Vegas
    New Mexico: Spa at Encantado, Santa Fe
    New York: Caudalie Spa at the Plaza Hotel; ESPA at the Peninsula; Sense,
     a Rosewood Spa, The Carlyle; Shibui Spa, Greenwich Hotel, New York City
    Texas: Stoneleigh Spa, Dallas

    For 30 more new spas, go to cntraveler.com/hotlist

Just when we all needed a drink, nightlife got serious. This year, absinthe made a comeback and hotel bars got their glam on. From Beijing to Bogota — they have 35 of the hippest hangouts in which to get your groove on.

    U.S. nightclubs on the Hot Nights List include:
    California: Bardot Hollywood, Los Angeles; Infusion Lounge, The Press
     Club, San Francisco
    Colorado: Liquid Sky, Snowmass
    Florida Louis, Sunset Lounge, Miami Beach
    Illinois: Vertigo Sky Lounge, Chicago
    Nevada: Frankie’s Tiki Room, XS, Las Vegas
    New York: Apotheke, Rose Club, New York City
    Texas: PM at the Joule, Dallas

    For the runners-up, 10 more bars worth swinging by to see, check out cntraveler.com/hotlist

Full reviews of each hotel, restaurant, nightclub and spa can be found in the May issue of Conde Nast Traveler, on newsstands April 21, 2009 or at www.cntraveler.com/hotlist

Source: Conde Nast Traveler