Small Luxury Hotels of the World is delighted to bring to some rays of sunshine into the hospitality industry this September with the opening of three new small, independently-owned hotels. Located in Italy, France, and Spain, each showcases themes that are relevant to today’s traveller – from absolute privacy to pure mindfulness, considerate living and the fact that small, now more than ever, is beautiful. In the Maldives, we welcome back a former member hotel which is home to the world’s first and only under-the-sea spa.
Stay Small, Stay Local at Galleria Vik Milano in Milan, Italy
Opened on Tuesday 1st September
88 rooms from €245 per night including breakfast
With bold murals, striking sculptures and a colourful palette this hotel is a canvas for Milan’s creative side. Representing the city’s rich artistic heritage, Galleria Vik Milano is part hotel, part post-modern art gallery. Bedrooms and corridors are exhibition spaces with each bearing the hallmark of a renowned artist – from Giuseppe Gonella and Pino Pinelli, to Felipe Cardena and Shinya Sakurai – and there are no televisions here, the art is the star of the show. Two restaurants complete the picture: Vikissimo for dawn-to-dusk food and drinks, and I Dodici Gatti dedicated to wood-fired pizza. The hotel is located in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and is circled by Milan’s best-loved shops, landmarks, restaurants and galleries meaning that you don’t have to venture far to get your culinary, cultural or couture fix – it’s all literally on your doorstep.
SLH Insider Tip: Book the Adriano Pompa Gallery Suite to sleep in a mezzanine-level bed beneath a Renaissance-esque mural.
Stay Small, Stay Considerate at Les Sources de Cheverny in the Loire Valley, France
Opened on Tuesday 1st September
49 rooms from €275 per night including breakfast
Nestled in the heart of the Loire Valley vineyards, Les Sources de Cheverny pays homage to its location in the same way as its Bordeaux sister, Les Sources de Caudalie – the birthplace of the renowned Caudalie skincare brand. The area has been designated by UNESCO as a ‘living cultural landscape’. Everything from the local produce served in the restaurant, the artisanal wooden WaterRower fitness machines, the solid oak jacuzzi and thermal pool to the antioxidant and anti-aging grape seed extracts of Caudalie’s signature treatments in the Spa des Sources complements the surrounding farms, vineyards and the estate’s 45 hectares of woodland. Here guests can rejuvenate in the spa, inspire energy with a forest based yoga session, bathe in nature and feed their minds. The jewel in the crown, however, may be Le Baron Perché, an iconic wooden suite perched on stilts overlooking the lake. The suite is filled with neutral colours, unusual objects sourced by owner Alice Tourbier at local flea markets, and a private Nordic bath.
SLH Insider Tip: Discover the region on the Loire à Velo cycle route with the hotel’s complementary bikes. More than 900km of cycle paths await meandering through Loire vineyards, along the banks of the river and past Renaissance chateaux.
Stay Small, Stay Exclusive at Torre Del Marques in Matarraña, Spain
Opened on Saturday 29th August
18 rooms from €270 per night including breakfast
Offering just 18 rooms, Torre del Marques is a 15th-century farmhouse that has been brought back to life for the 21st-century and beyond with a bio-sustainable makeover and an organic zero-kilometre restaurant. The hotel is located in Aragon, one of the least discovered regions of the Spanish countryside yet easily accessible from Barcelona, and is set within 150 hectares of forest, farmland and vineyards. With the region sometimes referred to as the ‘Spanish Tuscany’ guests here can enjoy local delicacies surrounded by the gardens and groves that provide them – olives, almonds, honey and black truffles are showcased on the menu alongside local wines like Tempranillo and grape must Mistella. The hotel’s Suite Room spaciously accommodates four people with two connecting rooms and an outdoor terrace.
SLH Insider Tip: Small enough to feel like a home away from home Torre del Marques can be booked out exclusively for larger groups of friends or family through SLH’s Exclusive Use service.
And welcome home to… Stay Small, Stay Private at Huvafen Fushi Maldives, Paje, Maldives
Re-opening on 1st November
44 rooms from USD1,645 per night including breakfast
Welcome back to former SLH member Huvafen Fushi Maldives. This island isn’t known as ‘Dream Island’ for nothing – a quintessential hideaway offering a total escape and ensuring complete privacy. Rooms vary from a two-bedroom beach pavilion with garden and pool, to an ocean bungalow with pool, three-tiered deck, staircase into the sea and, inside, a glass floor to see myriad tropical fish. Avoid seeing anyone with dinner on a sandbank or an overnight on the resort’s traditional 65ft dhoni. The hotel is also home to the world’s first and only under-the-sea spa with two underwater treatment rooms with panoramic reef views.
SLH Insider Tip: Mix ancient traditions and modern techniques with the ground-breaking massage style of Beata Aleksandrowicz. The massage combines deep tissue and trigger-points techniques with energy work, Thai stretches and touch therapy.
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