This story is part of the Fall Travel issue, which is on sale here.
Though we often associate fall with the end of things as summer winds down and leaves change color, really it’s a season of new beginnings. School starts again. Fiscal years begin. Fans of the Detroit Lions have reborn hope for a few fleeting months. And, this year, from South Dakota to South Beach, a slew of cool new hotels are opening right in time for the holiday season.
In Colorado, the Air Force Academy opens its first public hotel, complete with a flight simulator and front-row mountain views. Down in Florida, the Keys get a resort that promises to finally bring some good food to the islands, and the home of bourbon titan E.H. Taylor becomes a 14-room boutique in Frankfort, Ky. Around the United States, fantastic hotels are opening before the end of the year that’ll have you looking ahead to see how soon they book. Here’s the best of them.
Populus – Denver, Colo.
Opening early fall
The country’s first “carbon-positive” hotel has already created a big buzz as one of the greenest hotels in America. Let’s put aside, for a moment, that they’ve planted tens of thousands of Engelmann Spruce trees in nearby Gunnison County, and look at the Populus guest experience. The exterior windows are shaped like Aspen eyes — staying here is as close to sleeping in a tree as you can get while still enjoying central AC. Inside, you can soak up all that energy-saving natural light from the rooms’ window hammocks: small couches built into the windows that are perfect for daytime napping. On the rooftop, there’s a garden where you can breathe in nature with views of Civic Center Park. (As we’ve noted before, the effectiveness of offsetting carbon emissions by planting trees, which is what the Populus claims to do with its trees in Gunnison County, is still debated among climate experts.)
Ashbrook Hotel – Frankfort, Ky.
Opening early fall
Kentucky’s capital city is criminally overlooked. When visitors come to follow the state’s Bourbon Trail, they whiz through and forget about the city as soon as they move on to Lexington. A pair of new hotels opening this fall hopes to keep travelers around longer. Ashbrook Hotel is set inside the home of Buffalo Trace Distillery founder E.H. Taylor and the mansion has been reconfigured into a 14-room hotel, with five ornate suites and nine standard rooms. There’ll also be a stately library, meticulous gardens and an on-site farm-to-table restaurant.
The Delegate – Frankfort, Ky.
Opening early fall
Frankfort’s other exciting hotel addition is The Delegate in downtown. It’ll combine two historic brick buildings into one seamless structure, with high ceilings and exposed brick to give it the feel of staying in a distillery. The Delegate will have 48 rooms, a distillery-to-table restaurant and a bourbon tasting room, as well as an outdoor patio for sipping when the weather is warm.
Hotel Saint Augustine – Houston, Texas
Opening in October
The funky Bunkhouse Group opens its first H-town project in October with the Hotel Saint Augustine, a five-building community set around a tranquil courtyard pool. Though Bunkhouse may be best known for the Austin Motel, its converted motor inn in Austin, this all-new build is thoroughly 21st century, with a linear, earthy design meant to blend in with the surrounding landscape. Inside, sexy, modern décor done up in reds and golds give the place a pinch of glam, while modern art fills common areas and lines every wall. The on-site restaurant Perseid is helmed by James Beard-nominated chef Aaron Bludorn, whose local credits include Navy Blue and his eponymous Bludorn.
Hotel Polaris – Colorado Springs, Colo.
Opening in November
Possibly the most fun hotel experience coming to America this year will be inside the new Hotel Polaris, on the grounds of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Its on-site flight simulator will be the only one at a U.S. hotel, so you can escape your kids by pretending to fly away in a fighter jet. Polaris also immerses you in the landscape of Colorado Springs, with an elevated, heated pool deck where you can take a dip and look out at the mountains. The ninth-floor rooftop bar brings even better views and a long menu of craft cocktails to accompany them, and there’s a six-room spa with more alpine vistas.
Three Waters Resort & Marina – Islamorada, Fla.
Opening in fall
The birthplace of the Rum Runner gets a whole new look this fall, when Holiday Isle is reborn as Three Waters Resort. Once simply a frozen-drink stopover on the way from Miami to Key West, the reimagined resort will offer 214 beachy rooms, a Latin American food hall on the sand, a swim-up bar and on-site pizza shop. Its most alluring new offering is The Cove, an adults-only resort-within-a-resort where every room is a king suite. Guests can also check out the new Rum Library, a grand spot to sample rums from around the world. And yes, you can still pop into the Tiki Bar and enjoy a Rum Runner from the place where it all began.
Nobu Hotel New Orleans – New Orleans, La.
Opening in fall
If you haven’t been to New Orleans in a while, the old Harrah’s on Canal Street is now Caesars New Orleans, and the crown jewel of its new iteration is the opening of its own Nobu Hotel. This hotel-within-a-hotel concept brings elegant Asian design to 54 rooms inside Caesars, much like it did at the Eden Roc in Miami Beach. It’ll provide an exclusive, luxury alternative to guests who want to stay between downtown and the French Quarter, with an entirely separate experience from the rest of Caesars. Of course, it’ll also bring the celebrity-favorite restaurant Nobu to the Big Easy, whose opening is slated for late summer.
Hotel Petersburg – Petersburg, Va.
Opening in fall
Petersburg, Va., is a little-known Colonial gem, just south of Richmond, Va., and northwest of Norfolk, Va. This fall, the historic town will see the return of Hotel Petersburg, a landmark hotel that has sat derelict since 1969. Its current comeback has been over a decade in the making and the result is nothing short of stunning. The place is pure early-20th-century elegance, with white marble columns fronting a marble main staircase adorned in brass fixtures. The six-story building will also have a rooftop bar with views of the town, as well as a meeting space born out of an old barber shop.
Canopy by Hilton Sioux Falls Downtown – Sioux Falls, S.D.
Opening late Q4
Downtown Sioux Falls has a delightfully walkable urban core, stretching down Phillips Avenue to Falls Park and the bustling new Steel District. The evolved industrial area is the heartbeat of Sioux Falls’ creative scene, and it finally gets a full-service hotel with this Canopy. The modern boutique from Hilton will bring a restaurant with a sunny outdoor patio to enjoy the rushing Big Sioux River. Its 2,016 rooms will have similarly sweeping views over the park and cityscape. If you want to explore beyond the parts of the city that are immediately walkable, the hotel will also provide loaner bikes to all its guests.
Andaz Miami Beach – Miami Beach, Fla.
Opening fall/winter
As all good luxury lifestyle brands do, the swanky Andaz has found its way to Miami Beach, taking over the historic Confidante hotel building. The new hotel will move its check-in desk upstairs so guests can gaze at the ocean while they get their room keys, and is also completely redoing the pool decks, turning them into secluded, tropical refuges behind foliage and chic cabanas. Perhaps the most welcomed new additions will be the food and beverage concepts, all led by the legendary José Andrés. He’ll be creating a new craft cocktail bar in the lobby, as well as one of his to-be-announced signature restaurants.
