This article originally appeared in Travel+Leisure.
Believe it or not, the past 12 months were big for hotel openings. Flinging open their doors for the first time, these new and revamped properties welcomed guests inside with a (masked) hello and a taste of travel's future.
Our guide to the essential openings of the past year took us to 29 countries in pursuit of the unforgettable. Over the course of 2020, T+L writers and editors trekked to a remote Namibian tented camp in a vast nature reserve, surfed the waves at a boho-chic resort in Baja Sur, Mexico, and sipped Sazeracs on the porch of an 1891 former residence in New Orleans. While there are plenty of extravagant stays and familiar brands on the list, we committed to featuring properties that are the best at what they do while displaying a sense of innovation. Brand new builds, century-old architectural masterpieces, and family-run boutiques are all in the mix.
Ahead, you'll find a hotel or resort for every taste and travel goal. There's a 19th-century mansion in Jaipur, India, reborn as an intimate urban escape. A sleek getaway amid lush tropical forest on Malaysia's Desaru coast. A safari lodge in Botswana's Okavango Delta where African art is as big a draw as the wildlife. And a Massachusetts wellness retreat, set on hundreds of acres of wilderness in the Berkshires, where meditation, beekeeping, and organic food awaits. Read on for all 73 properties on the 2021 It List — your next adventure is a few clicks away.