Seasonal stays: hotels for every month of 2025
From cherry blossom to fall foliage, follow the changing seasons at these picture-perfect properties and get your 2025 travels planned to a tee
01/12/2024
January
Where: Tromsø, Norway
Why now? It’s a bewitching new British Airways route, puts you within camera-clicking distance of the northern lights and is home to Norway’s first museum dedicated entirely to trolls. Bonus.
Check in: If the orca and ice motifs at Moxy Tromso (left) don’t remind you that you’re inhabiting a real-life winter wonderland, we don’t know what will. This dapper city-centre stay has a modern mojo and plenty of witty, low-key touches, from tongue-in-cheek bedside artworks to graffiti-style murals in the communal spaces. Opt for a room with a fjord view and savour cocktails in the bar. There’s also a fitness centre: your warm-up act for sledding, snowshoeing, whale watching and more brisk adventures on the other side of the hotel’s front door.
February
Where: Doha, UAE
Why now? As if winter sun, dunes, safaris and sandboarding weren’t enticing enough, Doha’s February rewards also include the Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF). It’s also proudly unveiling a clutch of new hotels…
Check in: Box-fresh stays include Rosewood Doha (right), whose twin towers will be embellished with ornate, coral-inspired design details in tribute to the bountiful local sea life. Guests will have no reason to stray far from their rooms, thanks to the in-house brasserie, deli and speciality restaurants. There’s even a 1,050sqm ballroom and cigar lounge. Additional boons include Asaya, the social wellness club on a mission to align your chakras, and the Manor Club, for curated services and all the assistance you need to live your bougiest life in the UAE.
March
Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Why now? Early spring is the time to unleash your inner Claude Monet, who was so impressed by the region’s blooming tulip fields, he lamented they were “impossible to convey with our poor colours” (we reckon he did all right).
Check in: The dapper Max Brown Museum Square (left) comprises four traditional townhouses, a stroopwafel’s throw from an array of heritage attractions. Rooms are decorated in warm caramel and cinnamon hues, adorned with sartorial flourishes including leather accents, Pop Art-style pieces, covetable leather furniture and Crosley record players. Beds are irreproachably comfy, the coffee is freshly brewed and well-behaved pooches can come, too. Get in the mood for your stay by listening to the hotel’s Spotify playlists.
April
Where: Tokyo, Japan
Why now? Hot on the trail of Dutch tulips comes Japanese sakura, aka cherry blossoms. Admire the candy-coloured foliage from leafy hotspots Hirosaki Castle (right), Mount Yoshino and Shinjuku Gyoen.
Check in: In Japan’s mega-capital, splash out at The Peninsula Tokyo, which puts the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park and the shopping mecca of Ginza right on your doorstep. Drink in the sweeping cityscapes from Peter, the hotel’s 24th-floor restaurant and bar (go on, give it some Lost In Translation movie main character energy) before heading up to your spacious bedroom, complete with the requisite views and plenty of tech wizardry. Book a suite for complimentary early check-in and late check-out (6am and 10pm, respectively) and a driver to take you to any nearby dinner reservations.
May
Where: Florence, Italy
Why now? Give it two months, and the Cradle of the Renaissance will be as crowded as the Duomo’s ceiling fresco – and just as sticky-hot. Spring flings deliver fewer selfie-sticks and breezier climes.
Check in: An hour south of Florence, Borgo Pignano (left) begins to welcome its first guests of the season at the start of spring – and, boy, are they in for a treat. There are 750 acres of fully explorable farmland (roaming is encouraged), a limestone-cut infinity pool, cosy-chic accommodations and Pignano’s horses at golden hour, swishing their manes like a L’Oréal advert... It’s the garden of the Eden (if Eden had a Green Michelin star). Take part in soap-making, focaccia-baking and landscape painting – or simply kick back with an Aperol Spritz on the lawn, doing blissfully little.
June
Where: Barbados, Caribbean
Why now? If there are five more magical words than ‘Barbados Food and Rum Festival’, we are yet to read them. Visit the award-winning festival and enjoy the lack of crowds at the start of low season. And while June may immediately precede hurricane season, the island’s protected west coast rarely sees any action.
Check in: The only thing missing from Sandy Lane’s pristine stretch of Platinum Coast is Rihanna frolicking around singing ‘Umbrella’– not that you’ll need one here. Set amid an ancient mahogany grove and nearby cerulean waves, Sandy Lane (right) has been wooing the jet-set crowd to its flamingo-pink sun-loungers and matching parasols for the last 60 years. Unwind with rose petal spa treatments in the pampering spa, perfect your swing on the sea-view golf course or dine with added romance at its fleet of restaurants and bars.
July
Where: Upstate New York, USA
Why now? Red, white and blue, baby! Independence Day means lawn games, fireworks and a couple of cold ones in the Land of the Free.
Check in: Once a summer resort for 20th-century revellers, Kenoza Hall today is a year-round retreat for strung-out New Yorkers and transatlantic travellers looking for their own slice of authentic Americana. Rolling down toward the lake (left), this Catskills mansion has an events calendar filled with sound baths and prime rib dinner feasts, s’mores by the campfire and even an exclusive hour dedicated to cookies and conversation in the Parlor. Since it’s high season, Kenoza’s outdoor pool is at its most tempting, while the neighbouring lake comes alive with dog walkers, boats and canoes. Finally, don’t miss the lauded spa or a maple bourbon cocktail in the bar – and snag the rooftop deck suite for a prime sunbathing spot.
August
Where: Tbilisi, Georgia
Why now? New route alert! And while British Airways starts flying to Georgia’s capital in March, hang on until summer, when you can tack spectacular mountains on to your city break.
Check in: As Tbilisi continues to heat up in the global tourism stakes, so do we expect more and more savvy travellers to cotton on to its most exciting hotel. Stamba (right) – which translates as ‘publishing house’ in a nod to the building’s former use – isn’t just a supremely stylish stay. It’s also a co-working space, a photography museum with ever-revolving exhibits, a boutique shop, low-intervention wine bar, coffee shop, ramen joint and more. It’s also home to Georgia’s first indoor vertical garden. Ease yourself in at the library (home to 84,000 books – expect anything less from a former publishing house?) and take a cocktail or two at the Pink Bar. And don’t worry about which room you get, as they’re all equally beautiful.
September
Where: Kenya, Africa
Why now? Welcome to the greatest overland migration on Planet Earth, as millions of wildebeest move, en masse, across East Africa. Situate yourself in the Maasai Mara for its grand finale.
Check in: In a suitably wild corner of the Maasai Mara game reserve (left), Sala’s Camp isn’t just a front row seat to the annual migration (it’s one of the first camps to offer glimpses of a thousand white-bearded wildebeest grumbling through the river), but a spellbinding show all year round. It’s suitable for couples and bigger groups (it has tents that accommodate both) and is the kind of understated luxury that doesn’t try to hide the rustic pleasures of this one-of-a-kind postcode, while making sure you’re thoroughly pampered by hot showers, dazzling plunge pools and full-board dining. Speaking of which, candlelit dinners under the stars and ‘bush breakfasts’ come included, so you can eat your morning pancakes beside some wallowing hippos, if you’re lucky.
October
Where: Vancouver, Canada
Why now? Nowhere does Halloween like North America. In Vancouver, book in for Gastown’s famous ghost tours and watch Stanley Park’s forest cover turn 50 shades of fall.
Check in: Canadian brand Fairmont is responsible for some of the country’s most legendary hotels – and it has not one, but three to choose from in Vancouver. Go for the trio’s middle child, Fairmont Pacific Rim, positioned with a front-row seat to Coal Harbour (where seaplanes swoop down to land on the water) and the North Shore mountains beyond. On frosty days, make a beeline for the outdoor fire pits and indoor hot tub, and book in for the hotel’s 90-minute Nordic Spa experience, where you’ll flit between cold plunge pool and cedar-plank sauna. As the sun sets over the city, take your place at one of not just Vancouver’s, but Canada’s best bars, Botanist, on the ground floor.
November
Where: Bangkok, Thailand
Why now? Who said ‘new route’? British Airways is once again flying to Thailand’s dazzling capital, where, throughout November, lantern festivals (Loy Krathong and Yi Peng) add some spiritual lustre.
Check in: Combining a city-centre location and skyline views with lush gardens and tropical relaxation, Conrad Bangkok (left) is an ideal place to sleep off the long flight you took to get here. Jet lag-busting lures include the 7th Heaven wellness centre, encompassing Bodyworx fitness facilities, a sparkling outdoor pool, a jogging track, tennis and padel courts and a blissful spa. Choose a lofty room or suite to survey the jewel-box city shimmering beneath you by night or stake out a Residence for maximum space and privacy. Epicurean jewels in Conrad’s crown include Cantonese-inspired Liu restaurant and KiSara for Japanese fine dining.
December
Where: Bruges, Belgium
Why now? Flanders’ fairy-tale city spends its year filling camera rolls with photogenic canals. At Christmas, it’s filling stockings with waffles, chocolates and sweet treats galore.
Check in: With roaring fires in nigh on every room and a sweet-spot location just north of the main square (which remains the city’s most crowd-drawing Christmas market until 5 January), The Notary (right and opening image) is the place to stay in Bruges – for those with exceptional taste, that is. That’s because owner Pieter Porters has infused every suite with a sumptuous sense of fantasy (and made sure his team serves a knockout breakfast to those who can tear themselves from bed, come morning). Its secret garden is best left for warmer months, but the velvety lounge – where you can snuggle up, fireside, with a game of chess – is perfect for a winter’s evening.
Fly into Brussels and take any of the regular, one-hour trains to Bruges city centre
