THE 2024 HOT LIST

Our pick of the best new hotels in the world

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INDIA 
TAJ GURAS KUTIR RESORT & SPA, GANGTOK

The one thing you should wish for before you visit Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok is clear skies-all-important for the hotel's USP: views of Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, from every room. The property is set on the hill slopes of Pangthang forest, about 20 minutes from Gangtok, on land leased from Sikkim's former prince, filled with Guras or rhododendron, the state plant. It is also all over the menu-from a colourful salad to the Guras Avenue cocktail with gin, pears, and the flower.

The 69 rooms all have mountain views and the presidential suite comes with a pantry and butler. Only 2.8 acres of the 15 acres have been built upon and the rest is nature, with a waterfall where you can dip your feet. Here, I don't need to go to a viewpoint.

My king-sized bed itself is one.

You can run on the treadmill at the gym, sit in the jacuzzi, get a couples massage at the spa, all with Kanchenjunga for company.

But it does its best to offer more than the mountain. The front doors open onto a walkway lit by giant flaming cauldrons at night. The food has a local touch at Machan, with dishes like bhuteko bhaat, thukpa, and tingmo. This part of the world loves its noodles and momos, so Taj has brought its Asian specialty restaurant Soi & Sake.

The curated décor-from the books in the lobby to the artwork over my bed-gives the hotel a curious intimacy. And of course, everything just feels better with a Kanchenjunga view. SANDIP ROY Doubles from about ₹29,000; tajhotels.com

INDIA
THE LEELA ASHTAMUDI,
A RAVIZ HOTEL

Along a southern braid of the off-radar Ashtamudi Lake, two hours from Thiruvananthapuram airport, lies a gloriously secluded 93-key tropical getaway-The Leela Ashtamudi, A Raviz Hotel.