This week on The Hotel Spotter:
1 Hotels opens a 252-room property in Austin, three more resorts for Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea and the Michelin Guide reveals its 2026 hotel selection. Also, Banyan Group acquires Newmark Hotels & Reserves
The best new hotels this week:
1 Hotel Austin
1 Hotels has opened a 252-room property in the Texas capital, its 15th hotel since launching in 2015.
Three more luxury resorts for Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea
Three new properties have opened at AMAALA, Saudi Arabia's Red Sea resort, bringing the total number up to seven at Triple Bay.
Nearly 3,000 hotels make the grade in the Michelin Guide's second Key selection, with 470 being added across 79 destinations — including 18 new Three-Key properties.
The Michelin Guide has released its second annual Key selection which, like its famous restaurant stars, awards hotels one, two or three keys for those offering exceptional experiences.
The 2026 Michelin Key selection now includes 2,832 hotels — 155 Three-Key, 657 Two-Key and 2,020 One-Key properties — with 470 new additions in 79 destinations.
Just 18 hotels have been awarded three keys for the first time, with six in Asia, eight in Europe, two in Oceania, one in Africa and one in the Americas.
The Banyan Tree owner brings the Cape Town-based company into its portfolio, adding 26 hotels, lodges and reserves across Africa.
Banyan Group, owner of Banyan Tree and Angsana, has acquired Newmark Hotels & Reserves, boosting its presence in Africa with 26 hotels, lodges and reserves.
The deal takes Banyan Group’s portfolio to almost 130 resorts and gives it a solid footing in a continent where it only had a small imprint.
Newmark operates across seven countries — Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe — with more than 1,300 rooms in a range of city hotels, nature lodges, island retreats and private game reserves.
In the pipeline
Accor’s MGallery Collection has signed New York’s Ink 48 as its flagship hotel. The 222-room property will undergo an extensive renovation before joining in 2028.
Minor Hotels will open the Anantara Jadcherla Hyderabad Resort in 2029. The 185-room hotel is part of the group’s plan to open 50 properties in India within the next decade.
Austria’s first Pullman hotel is set to open in Vienna in 2028, following a rebranding and renovation of the existing Lindner Hotel Vienna Am Belvedere.
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@thehotelspotter Hard Rock Hotel Malta has opened in St. George's Bay on the Mediterranean island, with 397 rooms, 11 swimming pools and 10 dining and nigh... See more
