Tablet Hotels Design Awards 2026: Best New Hotel Designs (Mexico & More)

Corona Island sits in the Islas del Rosario archipelago off Colombia's Caribbean coast and holds a 2025 Michelin Selected distinction — a signal that places it among a small tier of recognized island retreats in the region. The property trades on its setting: coral-fringed, boat-access only, and operating at a scale that keeps the experience at low capacity.

Lizard Island Resort sits on a private island within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, 270 kilometres north of Cairns. Forty villas occupy over 1,000 hectares of national park framed by 24 beaches. The property holds a Star Wine List recognition for 2026 and packages all stays with daily gourmet meals, unlimited beverages, and direct reef access via private dinghy.

An 11-room adults-only retreat on the Oaxacan coast, Casona Sforza pairs Alberto Kalach's arched architecture with rough-luxe interiors by Mexico City's MOB Studio. The in-house restaurant La Bóveda anchors a dining programme around hyper-local Oaxacan ingredients filtered through French technique. Rooms from $632 per night place it at the upper tier of Puerto Escondido's boutique hotel circuit.

An adults-only, ocean-front boutique hotel in Ventanilla, Oaxaca, Casa Yuma occupies a quieter stretch of the Pacific coast than Puerto Escondido's surf-heavy centre. The property trades volume for restraint, with minimalist architecture that references Oaxacan materiality rather than generic beach-resort aesthetics. It sits in the design-led tier of the region's small-hotel scene, alongside properties such as Hotel Terrestre and Hotel Escondido.

Hotel Sevilla occupies a restored 19th-century colonial building on 62nd Street in central Mérida, where the Yucatán's hacienda-era architecture has been reinterpreted around generous proportions, natural light, and intimate garden courtyards. For travellers seeking a base that reads as a historical document rather than a lifestyle product, it sits within a small category of Mérida properties that use original structure as the primary design statement.

A five-room art hotel inside a preserved Porfirian mansion on Avenida Yucatán, Maison Celeste operates as a gallery, event venue, and boutique stay simultaneously. Ground-floor spaces rotate exhibitions and pop-ups while the rooms above are finished in single-color palettes with local artisan furnishings. Rates start around $355 per night, and rooms book well ahead during Mexico City Art Week.

Singita Kwitonda Lodge sits at the edge of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda's Kinigi district, earning Michelin Selected recognition in 2025 as part of a small tier of East African lodges that position design and conservation practice as their core proposition. The property aligns with the premium gorilla-trekking corridor, placing it in a peer set that includes Wilderness Bisate and One&Only Gorilla's Nest, where the physical setting and architectural language carry as much weight as the safari program itself.

A 1930s stone manor on the edge of Nairobi's indigenous forest, Giraffe Manor sits in a category almost entirely its own: twelve individually styled rooms, Rothschild's giraffes wandering the grounds at all hours, and a private retreat with spa, infinity pool, and Kenyan cuisine at Daisy's Cafe. Ranked 94.5 points on La Liste's 2026 Top Hotels list, it draws travellers who want wildlife proximity without sacrificing comfort.

Among Auckland's CBD hotels, The Hotel Britomart occupies a different register from the city's international chains. Rated 94 points by La Liste's Top Hotels 2026 and priced from around $251 per night, this 104-room waterfront property makes its case through handmade bricks, salvaged timber, and a seafood-focused all-day restaurant rather than through scale or spectacle.

A Michelin Selected riad in Marrakech's Bab Doukkala quarter, Riad Botanica occupies a restored traditional house where the medina's architectural logic — courtyard, zellige, layered planting — shapes the stay as much as any amenity. The address places guests within the northern medina's quieter residential fabric, removed from the commercial pressure of Jemaa el-Fna, with the city's historic hammams and souks within walking distance.

Soho House São Paulo occupies a converted property in Bela Vista, earning Michelin Selected recognition for the 2025 hotel guide. The São Paulo outpost of the members' club group brings the brand's food-and-drink programming to one of South America's most competitive hotel markets, placing it in a distinct tier from the city's traditional five-star properties.

A Leading Hotels of the World member on Easter Island, Nayara Hangaroa sits at the edge of Hanga Roa where the Pacific horizon is unbroken in three directions. Its dining programme draws on Polynesian and Chilean ingredients that are genuinely difficult to source anywhere else on earth. For remote luxury at this latitude, it occupies a narrow peer set alongside Explora Rapa Nui.

Rosemary occupies a Médina address on Rue de la Bahia, holding Michelin Selected status in the 2025 guide to hotels and stays. The property sits within the compact, riad-dense quarter near the Bahia Palace, where small-scale hospitality and mediated calm define the category. For travellers placing Marrakech on a broader Morocco itinerary, it represents a considered Médina base with guide-level recognition behind it.

Set inside 'La Viennoise,' a late 1800s building on Mahmoud Bassiouny Street in Downtown Cairo, Mazeej Balad Boutique Hotel offers five individually conceived suites, each built around a named fictional character drawn from the city's social history. Pricing is available on request. For travellers seeking a small-scale, character-driven property in the middle of Cairo's historic core, this is a rare option in a district better known for administrative buildings than boutique hospitality.