It’s been a little while. As you’ll know from my About page, I tend to write in seasons - I’ll publish a run of five or six posts and then go quiet for a bit. It might seem unusual, but I genuinely believe in sharing when I feel it, not to a schedule.
I wanted to give you something really useful so here’s a biggie!
I’m revisiting the list of hotels I flagged back in January as ones to watch for 2026. This is a recap of which ones have now opened - or are about to - and where you can already book, often at a reduced introductory rate. It’s a long list but I provided a handy summary of them categorised by budget at the start. They all have pools, naturally.
Two quick honesty notes.
First, these are openings I’m tracking, not hotels I’ve stayed in although some of them are associated with hotels where we stayed so I linked to that review. I pay for all my own stays, so the proper reviews come later, once I’ve been in the water.
Second, the booking links: they’re sometimes direct, but in some cases they’ll take you through to sites like Booking.com via affiliate links. That means if you book through them, I may receive a small commission. It costs you nothing, but I want to be upfront about it. All my content is free so this is a way to support me, thank you if you do click and book through!
Next week I’ll be back with a review of our stay in Comporta last year, followed by our Comporta itinerary the week after (or possibly the other way round - we’ll see, if you have a preference tell me in the comments).
Indicative “from” prices per night for two, in each hotel’s own currency . (offer) marks a hotel with a live opening deal, detailed in its entry below.
Most affordable (under ~€250)
Terreno Barrio, Palma - from ~€135 (offer)
Bellonias Villas, Santorini - from ~€140 (offer)
The Nici, Cornwall - from £155 (offer)
One Shot Buenavista, Ibiza - from €169 (offer)
Crafted at Powdermills, Sussex - from £200
Hotel Monte Mulini, Rovinj - from ~€216
Collini Hotel, Mykonos - from €234 (offer)
Mid-range (~€250-450)
Verneuil la Douce, Normandy - from €250
Kove Hotel & Spa, Mykonos - from €257
Aya Resort, Cyprus - from €258
Le Relais d’Amboise, Loire - from €300 (offer)
Magma Resort, Santorini - from €331 (offer)
Les Sources de Vougeot, Burgundy - from €350
W Sardinia, Costa Smeralda - from €356
La Darbia, Chianti - from ~€360
Casa Bonavita, Malta - from ~€390
Hôtel Crillon le Brave, Provence - from €395
Chapter Chianti, Tuscany - from €400
Oku Bodrum, Turkey - from €425 (offer)
Upper / special-occasion (~€450-800)
COMO Cordeillan-Bages, Médoc - from ~€490
Château de la Commaraine, Burgundy - from €570 (offer)
Zannier Île de Bendor, Bandol - from €620 (offer)
Four Seasons Mykonos - from ~$700 (offer)
Vestige Binidufà, Menorca - from €650
Parian Chronicle, Paros - from $718
Eréma on Milos - from €700
COMO Le Beauvallon, Saint-Tropez - from €800
Gran Hotel Margalida, Mallorca - from €800 (offer)
Top-end / splurge (€1,000+)
Santo Mine Oia Suites, Santorini - from €1,038 (offer)
Airelles Palladio, Venice - from €1,200 (offer, via Virtuoso)
Villa San Michele, Florence - from ~€1,450 (offer)
Whole-house / exclusive-use
Yarlington Lodge at The Newt, Somerset - from £8,500/night (sleeps the whole party)
Rates on request (not yet loaded / by enquiry)
Romègas, Valletta; Fouquet’s Mykonos (suites & villas); Arcora, Lapland (opens December); Serras Sevilla (opens September)
Aya Resort - Ayia Thekla, south-east Cyprus. Adults-only, 48 suites, overwater bungalows and garden suites with private plunge pools - more of a scene than my usual quiet pick, so go for the energy. Pool: a 3,000 m2 centrepiece pool with DJ programming. → Book: Stay22 · from €258/night
Zannier Île de Bendor - Île de Bendor, facing Bandol. Paul Ricard’s private island reborn as a Provençal village, 93 rooms across three areas (Delos, Soukana, Madrague). You probably saw it all over your social media. Interestingly someone I really trust (Mr Tripper) wrote a review that does seem to indicate that the hotel will need time to really come into its own and I sensed that from the pictures. But it’s an attractive proposition and the prices will likely go up next year so here you go. Pool: the social Delos pool plus a calmer garden pool at Soukana, and indoor/outdoor pools in the wellness centre. → Book: Stay22 · from €620/night · Opening offer: 3rd night free (pay 2, stay 3) on Junior Suites and Suites, through 1 November 2026 - there’s a pay 3, stay 4 version too.
COMO Le Beauvallon - Grimaud, directly across the bay from Saint-Tropez. A 42-room Belle Époque grand hotel, close enough for the energy, far enough for the quiet, with a private pontoon for boat arrivals. Pool: a 25-metre outdoor pool framed by parasols and palms, plus COMO Shambhala wellness. → Book: Stay22 · from €800/night
Les Sources de Vougeot - Château de Gilly, in the heart of Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits. From the owners of Les Sources de Caudalie - a 14th-century abbots’ residence, 49 rooms, restored terracotta and original woodwork. Pool: a Spa by Caudalie beneath the vaulted stone cellars with their vine-based treatments. → Book · from €350/night
Château de la Commaraine - Pommard, 2.5 miles from Beaune. From the team behind Royal Champagne where we stayed before; 37 rooms on a 9.27-acre estate, many overlooking the vines. Pool: an 18-metre heated outdoor pool, spa and fitness centre. → Book from €570/night · Opening offer: up to 25% off when you book direct.
Verneuil la Douce - Normandy. A 140-year-old Maison de Maître with an arts-forward, “Demeure d’art” feel and a lovely glass-roofed cocktail salon. Lovely decor. Pool: the hotel was already open, but the spa-with-pool I was waiting for went live in mid-May. → Book: Stay22 · from €250/night
Le Relais d’Amboise - Amboise, at the foot of the château on the banks of the Loire. The former Le Choiseul and Le Manoir Les Minimes merged into a single 63-room five-star hotel set in about a hectare of riverside park, with a bistronomic restaurant, and a rooftop bar over the river. Pool: an outdoor seasonal pool in the heart of the park with views up to the château (roughly 15 April to 31 October), plus the troglodyte Spa des Roches by Clarins. → Book: Stay22 · from €300/night · Opening offer: 15% opening discount.
Airelles Palladio (Venezia) - Giudecca Island, five minutes by boat from San Marco. This one is expensive but I am really tempted! It’s a rare thing:a pool hotel in Venice, and not just one pool, threee! It’s in a historic estate restored with Italian craft and French refinement and a stylish boat taking you to the main island. Pool: three pools in the gardens plus a multi-level spa with an indoor pool. → Book: Stay22 · from €1,200/night · Opening perk: a complimentary room-to-suite upgrade when booked through a Virtuoso travel advisor (to 31 December 2026). Mr Tripper (him again) is a Virtuoso travel advisor!
La Darbia - An 11th-century hamlet between Panzano and Greve in Chianti. One of my favourites for 2026: 17 suites restored in pietra serena, terracotta and travertine, airy and minimalist. Pool: two panoramic outdoor pools, one per level of the estate, both facing the Chianti hills. → Book from ~€360/night
Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel - Fiesole, in the hills above Florence. Lots of media coverage on this one too. A 15th-century former monastery, reopened after an 18-month renovation and edited down to 38 rooms (I like that move toward intimacy), with a new Guerlain spa. Pool: the much-photographed pool set in 9,700 m2 of terraced Renaissance gardens. → Book: Stay22 · from ~€1,450/night · Opening offer: the “Flourishing Florence” package includes a €200 food-and-drink credit.
Casa Bonavita - Attard. Really really stunning decor, hence why it’s all over Instagram! A five-year restoration of a former family home by the founders of The Rug Company; 17 rooms, antiques, Sicilian marble, gardens you can have your aperitif in. Pool: two swimming pools within walled citrus gardens, plus a spa with hammam and cold plunge. → Book: from ~€390/night
Gran Hotel Margalida - Banyalbufar, in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca. A historic hotel reborn as an intimate 29-room grand-luxury bolthole on Mallorca’s dramatic west coast. Pool: an infinity pool with the Tramuntana behind it. → Book: Stay22 · from €800/night · Opening offer: 20% opening discount on direct bookings (promo code on their site).
Oku Bodrum - northern coast of the Bodrum peninsula. Adults-only, 58 rooms in Turkish marble and reclaimed stone, with direct access to a protected bay and its own jetty for boat trips. Pool: every room has a private pool, plus a poolside restaurant. → Book: from €425/night · Opening offer: 20% off the prepaid advance-purchase rate, with a complimentary welcome package.
Crafted at Powdermills - Battle, East Sussex. A Georgian country house on a 78-acre estate of woodland and lakes - the hotel was already open, but the reason it makes this list is the new outdoor pool, live for the season since May. Fun family fact: this is where two of my brothers in law got married years ago before it was spruced up. Pool: a classic British outdoor pool, plus a hot tub by the lake and wild swimming in the pond. → Book: Stay22 (from £200)
Yarlington Lodge at The Newt - Somerset. The Newt’s (one of our favourite UK hotels) first exclusive-use house - a seven-bedroom country home on 12 acres with full access to the estate (this is a whole-house, group/family booking rather than a couple’s break). Pool: a walled pool garden with a 22-metre heated outdoor pool and an indoor jacuzzi. → Book:(from £8,500/night, whole house, 2-night min)
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Arcora Boutique Hotel - Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, Lapland, Finland. Opens December 2026 and already taking bookings - boutique suites and sky villas, fine dining and a full wellness world. Pool: a rooftop infinity pool above the Lapland landscape, with saunas and hot tubs. → Book: rates on request
Serras Sevilla - steps from Seville Cathedral. Opening September 2026 in a 1915-17 Aníbal González landmark, 43 rooms - and in a city that hits 38 degrees, a pool is non-negotiable. Pool: a rooftop pool with cathedral views. → Book: Stay22 · rates on request
These have opened (or become bookable) since I published the January list, so they’re a bonus round.
COMO Cordeillan-Bages - Pauillac, in the Médoc. COMO’s first Bordeaux address, in the middle of the vines - made for a wine-and-swim weekend. Fun fact: Mr Bigg and I had a fabulous stay and meal here about 20 years ago when Thierry Marx was the chef. We still remmber the “sausage” even if the design at the time was not great; Maybe it’s now brought everything together. Pool: a 25-metre heated outdoor pool among the vineyards, plus COMO Shambhala. → Book: from ~€490/night
Hôtel Crillon le Brave - Crillon-le-Brave, at the foot of Mont Ventoux, Provence. We had a lovely stay two years ago and I will soon post a review. It now added rooms across three village houses and doubled the spa. I do recommend it! Pool: the main outdoor pool with Ventoux views, plus a new heated adults-only pool. → Book: Stay22 · from €395/night
Chapter Chianti - Cavriglia, in the Chianti hills. A polished new Tuscan opening - at 82 rooms it’s at the upper end of “boutique,” so I’m reserving judgment until I see it. Pool: a panoramic outdoor pool with a suspended underwater art installation, plus indoor and children’s pools. → Book: Stay22 · from €400/night
Borgo Pignano Florence — Florence, Italy -Bookable now, opens July 2026.
Borgo Pignano has been running a much-loved property near Volterra for years, and this is their Florence expansion — 32 rooms in Renaissance gardens north of the city, part of Relais & Chateaux. The headline is a 30-metre infinity pool carved from an ancient limestone quarry. Bookable now via Mr & Mrs Smith, from around £349/night.
Eréma on Milos - Milos, Cyclades, Greece - Bookable now, opens ~15 June 2026 Milos is the kind of island that doesn’t need a new hotel to make it worth visiting, but Eréma makes a strong case. Forty-one suites, every single one with a private pool facing the Aegean, the architecture sitting low in the terrain rather than competing with it. Design Hotels member The pools are what matters here and the ratio is as good as it gets - 41 suites, 41 pools. Bookable now, opens mid-June.
Fouquet’s Mykonos - Paraga Beach, Mykonos. I am not a big fan of what Mykonos became (I first set foot there about 25 years ago when it was still undiscovered) but if you are into the party vibe, then you can check this. The Paris institution lands on Mykonos with direct beach access. Pool: private pools for the villas and pool terraces for the suites. → Book: rates on request (suites & villas only)
Kove Hotel & Spa - Ornos Bay, Mykonos (MGallery). Olive trees, natural boulders and a beach bar - a softer side of Mykonos. Pool: a main pool terrace plus a rooftop hot tub and plunge pools in select suites. → Book: Stay22 · from €257/night
Santo Mine Oia Suites - Oia, Santorini. A discreet new suites address in the most-photographed corner of the island. I still think that Perivolas where we stayed 22 year ago is the best spot but have a look at this oen. Pool: private pools recessed into the cliff, with caldera views. → Book: Stay22 · from €1,038/night · Opening offer: “Stay Longer & Save” on 4+ nights, plus 10% off when you join their rewards programme.
Magma Resort Santorini - Santorini (Unbound Collection by Hyatt). Reopened for the season - low-key luxury away from the caldera crush. Pool: around 80% of the 59 rooms have a private pool or hot tub. → Book: Stay22 · from €331/night · Opening offer: 15% off room rates and 15% off Lava Spa treatments.
Bellonias Villas - Kamari, Santorini. Reopened fully renovated; 26 suites right on the black-sand beach. Pool: a K Studio-designed pool area and cocktail bar on the beach. → Book: Stay22 · from ~€140/night · Opening offer: 15% off all room types with code BELLONIAS15 - no blackout dates.
Vestige Binidufà - northern Menorca. I really want to try this one. It’s on my bucket list! A quiet new arrival on an 800-hectare estate of valleys and red earth. Pool: an outdoor pool with a pool bar, plus access to sister property Son Ermità’s pool. → Book: Stay22 · from €650/night
The Nici - Newquay, Cornwall. Opens 15 June. A £20m transformation of the old Hotel Victoria, 82 clifftop rooms above the Atlantic, Amalfi-inspired. We usually stay at Limewood or Chewton Glen when we go to the New Forest but that could be worth a try.. Pool: a heated outdoor pool and bar at the cliff edge (year-round), plus a 20-metre indoor pool and spa. → Book: Stay22 · Opening offer: 30% pre-opening discount live now, from £155/night.
Eréma on Milos - Milos, Cyclades. Opens mid-June (bookable now). 41 suites sitting low in the volcanic landscape; Design Hotels. Pool: 41 suites, 41 private pools - the ratio doesn’t get better than that. → Book: Erema website · from €700/night
Parian Chronicle - Kampos, Paros (Destination by Hyatt). Opens September, bookable now - quiet Cycladic design, low density. Pool: 39 of the 50 rooms have a private pool. → Book: (from $718/night)
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