Conde Nast Traveler Unveils 16th Annual Hot List: The Best New Hotels and Resorts, Spas, and Restaurants in the World

NEW YORK, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Conde Nast Traveler's 16th annual May Hot List issue is the ultimate insider's guide to the hottest new hotels, spas, and restaurants of the year. Of the thousands of new properties that opened in the last year, our editors traveled incognito to 49 countries to visit 172 new hotels, evaluating each on a standard set of criteria including service, food, atmosphere and amenities. Their mission? To discover the best in the world. This year, 121 made the cut.

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The 2012 Hot List features 121 new hotels and resorts, 35 of the world's most blissful spas, and 20 hot new restaurants from 21 hot chefs.

The Hot List hotels range in size, price, and style, from the small, subtle tents at the Sanctuary Zebra Plains camp in Zambia, to the $3,878-a-night all-inclusive Abu Camp in Botswana. But you don't need to break the bank to visit these hot and trendy retreats—49 of this year's hotels and resorts offer rooms for less than $300 a night. Best represented on the list is the United States, with 12 entries, followed by United Kingdom, China, and Italy, each with 7 apiece.

Also in the May Hot List Issue, Conde Nast Traveler recognizes industry tastemakers and trend-spotters from within the Hot List Class of 2012. The Predictors are:

• Chef Wolfgang Puck
• Interior designer Rachel Ashwell
• Architects and designers Peter Stamberg and Paul Aferiat
• Spa director Ghislain Waeyaert
• Hotelier Ian Schrager

The Hot List also includes a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Hot List including:

• The Hotties: 18 little hotel details we loved this year.
• The Best and Worst of Hotel Trends: Innovations that changed our lives forever, and those we'd rather forget.
• The Hot List All-Stars: Our reviewers name their favorite hotel of all time.
• Confessions of a Hot List Reviewer: All-true tales from the road.

U.S. properties on the 2012 Hot List include:
The Saguaro, Scottsdale, Arizona
Hotel Lautner, Desert Hot Springs, California
Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California
Mr. C Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
Aulani, Oahu, Hawaii
Public, Chicago, Illinois
Hotel Modern, New Orleans, Louisiana
The Saint, New Orleans, Louisiana
Four Seasons Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland
Ruschmeyer's, Montauk, New York
Hotel Americano, New York, New York
The Prairie by Rachel Ashwell, Round Top, Texas

U.S. Spas include:
Hotel Bel-Air Spa by La Prairie, Los Angeles, California
Elle Spa, Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach, Miami Beach, Florida
Laniwai, Aulani, Oahu, Hawaii
NoMI Spa, Park Hyatt Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Tree Spa at Hidden Pond, Kennebunkport, Maine
Kiehl's Spa 1851, New York, New York

U.S. Restaurants include:
A-Frame, Los Angeles
Picca, Los Angeles
Son of a Gun, Los Angeles
Red Medicine, Los Angeles
The Dutch, New York
Tertulia, New York
Fatty 'Cue, New York
Isa, New York

To view the complete Hot List, visit http://www.cntraveler.com/hot-list/2012 and stay tuned for the Hot List app, available in June.

SOURCE Conde Nast Traveler