Four hot new city hotels

Members-only style, with hotel benefits, in Atlanta

Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward district (or O4W, as the locals abbreviate it), one of the city’s most historic residential neighbourhoods, has been on the up for some years; it’s home to Ponce City Market, a nice stretch of the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail, good eating and nightlife along Edgewood Avenue, and some destination-worthy street art. Now it’s home to Forth Atlanta, the city’s first private members’ club-wellness complex, which is also a handsome hotel.

Forth Atlanta aspires to being a destination in itself

The 16-storey building, from the striking steel façade to the limed-oak spa interiors, is the work of New York- and New Orleans-based Morris Adjmi Architects. There are 196 rooms and suites, of which 39 have been designed for extended stays. Forth Atlanta aspires to being a culinary destination in itself, with four restaurants coming online over the next couple of months, among them a rooftop cocktail bar. The members’ club has its own private lounge and dining room, and both guests and members have access to the next-gen fitness space.

In residence in Copenhagen

The Hotel Sanders has garnered both the glowing street press and the industry kudos to justify its unofficial status as Copenhagen’s chicest hotel. With its spiralling staircase, marble sinks and English taps, courtyard breakfast and scads of indoor plants, it harnesses the intimacy of a house hotel in spaces that favour five-star style. It seems only natural that owner-creator Alexander Kølpin would want to replicate the Sanders magic: housed in a historic building overlooking the King’s garden, the new Sanders Residence sleeps up to six people in three bedrooms. The chef’s kitchen opens onto a dining room with a charming wood-beamed ceiling; the corner sitting room has uninterrupted views over the garden.

The service marries the Sanders Hotel standards with a few perks: complimentary airport transfers and an on-call concierge, who can arrange private trainers, in-room massages, nannies and more. Guests also have preferential access to the hotel’s amenities, including the restaurant, Sanders Kitchen, and the 1964 mahogany cruising boat, for sundowners while exploring the canals.

Opening the gates to Oman

Muscat, the Omani capital, is also the country’s gateway. Its extraordinary culture and landscapes, from the Al Hajar mountains and the ancient fort at Nizwa to the coral reefs of the Daymaniyat islands, are all easily accessed from the city by boat or car. In June, the St Regis Al Mouj resort opened seaside in the neighbourhood of the same name. The architecture, space-age and dynamic, is quintessential St Regis; adorning the public spaces inside is a design-art collection that intersperses work by Omani artists Anwar Sonya and Alia Al Farsi with others by Arne Quinze, Lorenzo Quinn and Barnaby Barford.

Its 250 rooms and suites layer the blues of the Gulf onto a base of gleaming white walls and light wood floors. There’s a private beach, a Guerlain spa, and outposts of Hakkasan and Lebanese favourite Em Sherif, for getting that smoked jasmine-tea rib or kibbah nayyeh fix.

Make yourself at home in Milan

Five years ago, Rocco Forte House opened on the Via del Babuino in Rome. An 18th-century palazzo divided into apartments with pistachio-green kitchens, hand-painted wallpaper murals in the sitting and bedrooms, and priceless Spanish Steps views, it also has its own roof terrace and gives guests access to the gyms, spas and restaurants at Forte’s neighbouring Hotel de Russie and Hotel de la Ville. It’s been such a success that a series of further Houses are underway.

First up: Milan, where the Rocco Forte House that opened last month in its own palazzo at the corner of Via Manzoni and Via della Spiga offers 11 one- and two-bedroom flats. Early next year, the House’s roof terrace will open; downstairs at lower-ground level there’s already a full fitness centre. The interiors – designed by Paolo Moschino and RF design director (and Sir Rocco’s sister) Olga Polizzi, who last collaborated on the Villa Igiea in Palermo – mix classical mouldings and Bonacina rattan, modern shapes and 19th-century frescoes.

@mariashollenbarger