From a 6,000-acre English reserve to a seven-generation Kyoto ryokan, the association's latest intake spans eight countries and a fair bit of culinary firepower.
Relais & Châteaux has welcomed 10 new members to its collection of independent hotels and restaurants, adding properties across the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, Japan, Mexico and the United States. It is a characteristically eclectic haul – heritage ryokans, vineyard estates, a Rockefeller Plaza newcomer and a couple of the dinner reservations everyone will be chasing.
In the United Kingdom, Wilderness Reserve joins from Suffolk, a 6,000-acre spread of restored farmland and lakes scattered with private villas and an eight-bedroom house, plus two restaurants. France brings two: Megève Bois, a 13-room alpine hotel with a wine cellar, restaurant and spa, and La Maison des Cimes, opening on the shores of Lake Saint-Point in the Jura in August 2026 with eight rooms and Nordic baths.
Italy lands a pair as well. Masseria AuraTerrae, in Polignano a Mare, is a freshly renovated estate with 22 rooms set among 60 acres of vineyards, while Relais Villa Corallo, in Sant’Omero, is an 11-room manor house on a 198-acre estate with two restaurants and a spa. Portugal’s entry is Verride Palácio de Santa Catarina in Lisbon, an 18-room palace overlooking the Tagus with a rooftop terrace and pool, and Switzerland adds Villa Florhof, a Zurich residence reopening after a three-year renovation with 13 rooms and two restaurants.
The collection’s traditionalist streak shows up in Kyoto, where Hiiragiya – a 23-room ryokan run by the same family for seven generations – joins the fold. The gastronomy is well represented too: Mexico City’s much-decorated Quintonil, from chef Jorge Vallejo and Alejandra Flores, comes in as a restaurant member. And in New York, The Nell is the long lead, a 134-room hotel at 10 Rockefeller Plaza with four dining venues and a spa, due to open in autumn 2027.
“It is an honour for me to welcome these ten new members to Relais & Châteaux, properties that share not only our values, but our passion for goodness and beauty,” said association president Laurent Gardinier. Ten more reasons, in other words, to keep the little map of members close at hand.