These 7 Iconic Hotels Are Finally Reopening—and We’re Super Excited About It

It’s been a long two-year wait since Singapore’s esteemed Raffles Hotel shuttered to the world, but the 1887 landmark finally reopened this month, and the results are as magnificent as we’d hoped. Rooms are brighter and airier, suites feature new enhancements and butlers for every guest, and an overhauled food and beverage program includes new restaurants like Le Dame de Pic along with new details for old classics such as herringbone floors in the Tiffin Room and plantation-inspired patterns on the iconic Long Bar (where the Singapore Sling was famously invented). Don't fret: despite these new trimmings and trappings, the hotel’s colonial heritage was kept perfectly intact. Plus, thanks to Singapore Airlines’ new nonstop flight from Seattle to Changi Airport launching September 3, getting here has never been easier.

Hayman Island, one of Australia’s most stunning private island resorts sequestered in the northernmost reaches of the Whitsunday Islands, has changed owners a few times but has finally settled into the very capable hands of InterContinental. After two years of rebranding and renovating, the property reopened in July with five new restaurants and bars (from modern Australian to pan-Asian to its own kombucha brewing production), a spa with 13 treatment rooms, and all those over-the-top experiences—jet ski excursions to hidden beach coves, seaplane rides over the Great Barrier Reef—Hayman is famous for.

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A-listers have been obsessed with this idyllic hillside resort ever since John F. Kennedy and Jackie O. honeymooned here in 1953—that is, until last January, when mudslides tumbled through Montecito and all but wiped it out. Stars (and star seekers), we’ve got good news: San Ysidro has officially rebuilt and reopened, and, aside from the grounds (which have been re-landscaped), looks just as it did before—save for a few convenient updates. Guests pass through a stone gatehouse via a winding driveway lined with centuries-old olive trees and lavender, where 41 bougainvillea- and vine-covered cottages are decorated country-house–style with antiques, fireplaces, and four-poster beds. The ones you want to book come with their own private plunge pools overlooking the 500-acre grounds.

After a three-year, $150 million overhaul, Norway’s historic Britannia Hotel is once again giving travelers a compelling reason to make the journey up to Trondheim. Built in 1870, the Britannia was the rendezvous point for significant Norwegian events—including where explorer Fritjof Nansen recounted his journeys in the Arctic to world geological societies—and remains one of Scandinavia’s most important hotels. Today, you’ll find six restaurants and bars including one run by Bocuse D’Or-awarded chef Christopher Davidsen along with a glass-domed Palm Court, a spa with an indoor pool, and 257 rooms across 11 room categories outfitted with Hästens beds.

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Talk about bad luck: one week after London’s venerable Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel reopened after a $130 million refurb, a fire ripped through its roof and upper floors, forcing it to close once more. But even smoke and flames couldn’t keep this icon down, and in April, it opened again, even better than before. Just like its original 1889 itineration, the hotel’s Edwardian roots shine through in the lobby’s grand staircase and marble columns as well as the 181 Art Deco guest rooms, which are done up with leather headboards, copper-leaf mirrors, and patterned carpets whose foliage motifs echo the leafy park across the street. The spa is its own kind of destination, featuring an amethyst crystal steam room and basement lap pool—the perfect place to burn off those calories you inevitably consumed at London’s only Daniel Boulud restaurant onsite.

King Alfonso XIII's storied Hotel Ritz Madrid was a place where luminaries like Eva Perón, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, and Salvador Dalí called home, and where Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco kicked off their honeymoon back in 1956. As time passed, however, the hotel lost its luster, finally closing last February in preparation of a $121 million overhaul. If all goes according to plan, the property will reopen later this year as a new-look Belle Époque stunner once again worthy of its “Golden Triangle” address. Expect a new basement spa with its own indoor pool, a fully restored glass-roof lounge and terrace garden, and a see-and-be-seen bar poised to become the city’s hottest hangout.

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The demolition of Tokyo’s historic (but not earthquake-proof) Hotel Okura three years ago was hotly contested, but naysayers might sing another tune once they see the remake. Despite being much bigger (100 more rooms than the original, topping out at 508) and much more modern than its predecessor (the low-slung profile has been replaced with a 41-story skyscraper), steps were made to keep some of Okura’s old magic alive. The lobby, which featured prominently in the 1960s Bond novel and accompanying film You Only Live Twice, was redesigned by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi after his father’s original design, incorporating some of the same décor—hexagonal lanterns, midcentury chairs—along with reproductions of the space’s signature shoji paper windows and woven silk wall tapestry. The dimly lit fifth-floor Orchid Bar was also recreated and is an atmospheric alternative to the hotel's sleek new restaurants and contemporary guest rooms.