Baiae, considered the first resort, appeared in 100 B.C. along the then-pristine shores of Naples, Italy. It was known for an extravagant, hedonistic lifestyle, with emperors such as Nero, Caligula and Augustus building palaces to reflect their decadent affluence. During its heyday, Romans traveled from throughout the boot-shaped peninsula to splurge on food, drink, spas and sport, experiencing the best life had to offer. Due to volcanic activity, half of it sank into its eponymous bay, where it can be visited as an underwater park today.
It took nearly two millennia for the idea to cross the Atlantic, arriving in Hot Springs, Virginia in 1766 as Homestead Resort. The property opened with 18 rooms across 300 acres, growing from modest beginnings to nearly 500 rooms over some 2300 acres. Now, that also includes two golf courses, a spa, and a two-acre water park for families.
In the 250 years since Homestead Resort opened, it seems that builders never stopped trying to create the perfect resort. In 2026, the goal seems to be everything, everywhere, all at once. One half of the best new resorts showed up in towns that never had a luxury property, like a $300 million ski resort in Keystone, Colorado or a designer experience in downtown Whitefish, Montana. The other half that opened this year are destination reinventions, gutted to the studs and rebuilt with new restaurants, pools, and updated price tags.
This year’s range of experiences is genuinely wide: You can sleep in a safari tent in New Hampshire for under $200 a night or on a Rockefeller beach in Hawaii for north of $1,300, and both of them just opened. Whether you’re glamping along the Appalachian Trail or eating Mexican food on Hawaii’s Big Island, these destinations will give you moments that will last longer than the Roman Empire.
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San Antonio, Texas
Reopened March 2026
The Hyatt Hill Country opened on a 300-acre former cattle ranch in 1993. At the beginning of this year, after a three-year, $100-million-plus renovation, it now has the Big Spring, a 2.2-acre swimming lagoon with white-sand beaches, cabanas, and water activities such as stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking, making it the first of its kind in the central United States. The lake is a little more than a football field and half across and four feet deep, creating a luxurious inland water experience available only to resort guests. The makeover also included Rancher Hall, an event venue overlooking the artificial lake, and nearly three dozen golf bays alongside the existing 27-hole course. For families, the property also includes a five-acre water park with a 950-foot lazy river, a FlowRider wave machine, and Camp Hyatt for kids. Rooms start around $280.
Asheville, North Carolina
Opened March 2026
Shining Airstreams have worked in Yosemite, Joshua Tree, and Zion, but Asheville is AutoCamp’s first location in the Southeast, with added luxury tiny-home accommodations. The property sits on 16 wooded acres within steps of the nearly 340 million-year-old French Broad River, considered the third-oldest river on Earth. Travelers can hang in the clubhouse, dip into a plunge pool, or explore curated experiences with a focus on the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. Fido can come along, too. Rates begin at $300. For the price, you’re getting a design-forward glamping experience in a part of the country that could use every traveler it can muster after the 2024 devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene.
Keystone, Colorado
Opened May 2026
Keystone has always been the family-friendlier, slightly less flashy cousin of Vail and Aspen, and Kindred is its first real luxury hotel. The $300 million resort has 107 rooms and 95 plush residences, with a six-figure budget, and sits at the base of the River Run Gondola. The property features four restaurants, including Kinji Sushi, Keystone’s first omakase, and more than 200 pieces of commissioned Colorado art throughout the property, curated by Denver’s NINE dot ARTS, a women-owned arts curation company. In summer, rooms start around $183 a night, but during peak ski season, rates start at $500 to $800. The heated pool and hot tubs are open year-round but are especially good for après ski, steps from the gondola, where groomed trails offer chances to shred the gnar on fresh powder.
White Mountains, New Hampshire
Opened June 2026
This is the first Under Canvas in New Hampshire, but it marks the brand’s 17th across the country. Located on the western side of the White Mountains with views of the Presidential Range, this 86-acre property is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Boston and features 45 luxury safari-style tents with wood-burning fireplaces and pull-chain showers to conserve water. Under Canvas typically offers guests menu options based on the location, including craft beers and regional dishes. Staying on property feels like an otherworldly experience, but it’s the beginning of the New England fall foliage season during the day, with endless opportunities to hike. At night, the stars come out to dance, with no light pollution to distract from their high-wattage appeal. Rates start around $296 a night.
Whitefish, Montana
Opened January 2026
The resort town of Whitefish, Montana, the gateway to Glacier National Park and home to serious skiing, had never had a luxury snow lodge until Larch House arrived. Designed by Seattle-based Olson Kundig, architects of other notable properties like Park City’s Marcella Lodge and the glamping experience in Washington’s Methow Valley, the 39-room boutique property spans 10 lookalike buildings in the town’s historic Railway District. Guests can view the Northern Rockies from the heated rooftop pool and courtyard fire pits, and a general posture of quiet luxury rounds out a property that feels less like a ski lodge and more like something you’d find in snowy destinations like Sweden or Aspen. Enga, the on-site restaurant, features Montana game dishes of nut-crusted elk chops and smoked trout rillettes that outpace the hotel itself, with guests abandoning dinner plans in town after stopping in for appetizers. Rates from around $302 a night.
Paradise Valley, Arizona
Reopened January 2026
The Scottsdale Plaza Resort opened in 1975 and served as a reliable, if unremarkable, place to stay in Paradise Valley for decades. Then IHG’s Kimpton brand took it over and invested $70 million to turn it into something else entirely. It now has 224 rooms and 36 casitas, anchored by six pools, Spa Miralina, and Hecho Libre. Under the culinary guidance of James Beard Award finalist Wes Avila, known for humble beginnings on the LA-based food truck Guerrilla Tacos before moving into full-service dining, the restaurant is his first foray into the Southwest, giving the resort a specific food identity that most desert properties in the Paradise Valley region don’t have. In 2027, the property will have 404 accommodations, including luxury residences and will open Arizona’s first Katsuya, named after the late master sushi chef. Rates start around $359 a night.
Charleston, South Carolina
Opened March 2026
Tons of genteel properties offering Southern hospitality adorn every inch of Charleston, but the Cooper lays claim to the city’s first waterfront luxury resort. This brand-spanking-new 191-room coastal property sits elegantly on the harbor’s edge, positioned for minding the tide. Atop the roof lies the sparkling infinity pool, while a 7,000-square-foot spa provides deep country-soul restoration. At the private marina, a diverse boat fleet, strictly for guests, is moored to the docks, providing sailing experiences from yachting to a fly-fishing skiff to find what’s biting in the creeks. The signature dining experience, the Crossing, is anchored as a Mediterranean, not Lowcountry, experience, with wood-fired whole fish, a raw bar, and spreads. It is expensive by any stretch of the wallet, with peak-season rates in April running north of $1,600 a night for a balcony king, and the presidential suite crosses five figures. But the Cooper offers a different game than the boutique Piazza houses on King Street, becoming Lowcountry’s answer to waterfront resorts in nearby Florida or the Caribbean.
Kohala Coast, Hawaii
Reopened February 2026
When businessman and philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller — yes, one of those Rockefellers — opened the Mauna Kea on Kauna’oa Bay in 1965 as Hawaii’s first luxury resort, it was meant as a love letter to help preserve the spirit of aloha. Sixty years later, following a nearly $240 million renovation, it reopened with renovated guestrooms and suites, two new pools, a redesigned golf course, and a 22,000-square-foot spa, the largest new spa built on the Big Island in more than a decade. And for the culinary enthusiast — because aren’t we all — there are two signature restaurants among the nine bar and food destinations. Hau Tree Cantina cooks up contemporary regional Mexican, which you don’t expect to find on the Big Island, and there’s Manta, which answers that pū call (a conch trumpet) with a luxury Pacific Rim menu focusing on the 28,000-square-foot on-site garden and existing relationships with area fishermen and ranchers. With rates over $1300 a night, guests experience arguably one of the most important hotels in Hawaiian history, with 60 years of preserved coastline and 500 pieces from the Rockefeller Art Collections, which included antiques from Southeast Asia and Hawaiian kapa cloth and quilts.
Brian Garrido is a food and travel writer, who has contributed to Eater, Thrillist, Indianapolis Monthly, Meetings Magazine, Modern Luxury magazines, and other outlets, in addition to working in destination and culinary marketing. He has explored over 200 cities across six continents, covering food traditions, dining culture, and the hospitality industry.
Source: www.thrillist.com
