High above Florence, where the city feels like a painted backdrop, Villa San Michele has always played by its own rules. Built as a 15th-century Franciscan monastery in Fiesole, the property reopens in 2026 after an 18-month renovation that favours clarity over gloss. There are just 39 rooms and suites, reshaped by Florence-based Luigi Fragola Architects using stone, terracotta and antique fragments that let the building speak. Three new signature suites take centre stage, including Limonaia in the former orangery and The Grand Tour, once home to Napoleon Bonaparte. A first-ever Guerlain spa slips into the hillside.
The Mediterranean
The 2026 hot list: the best new hotels in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain
The live list of 2026 hotel openings across France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain
Do you want to know where to book a stay in the Mediterranean, right now? Hotel aficionados want to know what’s new, what’s popular and where to go – and with a wave of highly anticipated debuts across France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, there are more places to explore than ever before. We maintain a current list of all new hotels around the Mediterranean that are set to open in 2026, conveniently divided month by month so you can see exactly when they opened. Here is the complete guide to the Mediterranean’s newest, best and buzziest hotels, inns and guesthouses.
Got hot tips on new openings? Email us.
Table of Contents
Top photography courtesy of Zannier Île de Bendor
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The Lake Como Edition
Cadenabbia, Italy
Set on Lake Como’s western shore, The Lake Como Edition arrives in March 2026 with a confidence that feels deliberately restrained. Housed in a restored 19th-century palazzo, the hotel resists nostalgia in favour of clarity: original arches and vaulted volumes are kept intact, then sharpened by Neri & Hu’s pared-back modernism. This is Edition at its most architectural. A floating pool edges out onto the lake. Interiors lean on stone, terrazzo and shadow rather than ornament. Food matters here too. Three-Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco makes his first move on Italian soil, shaping four dining spaces rooted in nature rather than spectacle. The Longevity Spa signals an interesting shift for Como: less glamour, more intent.
The Lake Como Edition
Via Regina 41
Griante Cadenabbia
Italy
Griante Cadenabbia
Italy
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Photography courtesy of The Lake Como Edition
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Villa San Michele
Florence, Italy
Villa San Michele
Via Doccia 4
Fiesole
Italy
Fiesole
Italy
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Photography courtesy of Villa San Michele
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1/5
Zannier Île de Bendor
Île de Bendor, France
Once a playground for artists, divers and Riviera eccentrics (Salvador Dalí drank here, Joséphine Baker danced here and Yuri Gagarin dropped by), Île de Bendor has always been more idea than island. Bought in 1950 by pastis magnate Paul Ricard, it became a curious cultural experiment: artist studios instead of villas, pétanque instead of pretence and France’s first scuba diving centre carved into its rocky edge. After five years behind hoardings, the seven-hectare island reopens as Zannier Île de Bendor, with 93 rooms spread across three distinct zones and a village rhythm rebuilt from the ground up. Concrete is gone, trees are back and pastis returns to the square. Eight places to eat, a serious spa, ateliers for artists and a short boat ride from Bandol.
Zannier Île de Bendor
Île de Bendor
Bandol
France
Bandol
France
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Photography courtesy of Zannier Île de Bendor
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Four Seasons Resort Mykonos
Mykonos, Greece
Perched above Kalo Livadi Bay on Mykonos’ quieter southeastern edge, Four Seasons Resort Mykonos takes a measured stance on an island better known for excess. Spread across a large sweep of coastline that runs from sand to cliff, the resort is designed to feel embedded rather than imposed, with most rooms, suites and villas opening to long Aegean views. The architecture follows Cycladic traditions by Greek architect Nicos Valsamakis, all whitewashed volumes and stepped courtyards, while interiors by Wimberly Interiors keep things restrained and tactile. Restaurants by Rockwell Group reference local kafeneio culture alongside relaxed poolside dining.
Four Seasons Resort Mykonos
Mykonos
Greece
Greece
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Photography courtesy of Four Seasons Resort Mykonos
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Hotel Danieli
Venice, Italy
Hotel Danieli has never pretended to be discreet. It sits openly on the Riva degli Schiavoni, facing the lagoon with the confidence of a building that knows it has seen more Venetian history than most museums. What makes it singular is not polish, but accumulation. Three palazzi from different centuries stitched together by bridges and staircases, with no attempt to smooth the seams. You move from the 14th-century Palazzo Dandolo into later additions almost without noticing, except for a sudden change in ceiling height, light or temperature. Public spaces feel ceremonial, almost excessive, while some rooms retain an idiosyncratic, old-world awkwardness that newer luxury hotels edit out. Arrival by boat still matters here. Under Four Seasons management from 2026, the interest lies in restraint: preserving Danieli’s irregularity, theatrical scale and unapologetic historic weight, rather than sanding it down into something polite.
Hotel Danieli
Riva degli Schiavoni, 4196,
Venice
Italy
Venice
Italy
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Photography courtesy of Hotel Danieli
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