Author Ilona Kauremszky is jet-setting on location.
THE YEAR I OUTRAN MY SUITCASE
As the final days of the year wobble toward the finish line—much like my poor overworked suitcase, whose wheels now rattle like a maraca, I can’t help but grin at the jet-setters who proclaim, “There’s nowhere new left to go.”
Bless their mileage-club hearts.
Meanwhile, I’ve been off collecting passport stamps by ship, squeezing into middle seats on planes, reclining on rail journeys with #nofilter, pedalling through medieval villages, and even hitching tractor rides in wine country (research, obviously).
And after all that, what thrills me most? New hotel openings. Fresh keys. Hot debuts. You know, it’s the early-buzz at 5 a.m. airport cafés that make travel insiders lean in conspiratorially over their double espressos.
So, in my continuing quest to champion the next “must-bookmark” stays for 2026, I’ve singled out three blockbuster openings—in Peru, Argentina, and England—that tug at my imagination with the force of a Spielberg adventure, an Almodóvar mood piece, and a classic English novel.
All different, all delicious, all destined to make even your most high-flying, “been-there-done-that” friends suddenly feel very behind the curve.
Let’s unlock them.
TINAJANI, PERU: A CANYONSCAPE SPIELBERG WOULD SCOUT IN A HEARTBEAT
If Steven Spielberg went location hunting for his next grand, sweeping epic, I’m convinced he’d helicopter straight into the crimson folds of Tinajani Canyon. Tinajani has a natural drama—those red spires! That endless sky! That feels storyboard-ready.
No CGI required.
Tucked in one of the most untouched corners of the world is Tinajani’s new tented retreat. It opened recently with much fanfare and for good reason. The place blends elemental landscapes with contemporary calm in a way that feels both cinematic and soulful. Tinajani is Andean’s first private conservation area. Just six campamentos housing 12 guests total. No crowds, no clutter—only elemental luxury carved directly into the Andes.
Why travelers will feel the magic
Tinajani’s experiences are scripted. You’ll find blazing-sunrise rituals with local hosts, canyon treks, artisan encounters, and night skies so star-stuffed they’d make Kubrick reposition his camera.
Rooms
Each of the six campamentos includes a sleeping tent designed in handwoven Andean textiles and a companion lounge tent perfect for hot-tub stargazing. Standard tents come with solar-heated showers, wood-burning stoves, heated stone floors, heated towel rails and private decks. While you won’t score a formal Presidential Suite, Tinajani’s version of top-tier indulgence is total seclusion. How about you get an entire campamento to yourself?
A kitchen with altitude
Meals accentuate a wild soul. Think smoky trout, quinoa stews, and melt-in-your-mouth potatoes. There’s also reportedly a rustic Andean fondue that has me daydreaming. Don’t miss the api, a warm, spiced purple-corn drink that tastes like the Andes.
Spaces that glow
A restored farmhouse serves as the communal heart, framed by lantern-lit walkways and an open-air dining pavilion.
Design with a conscience
Local adobe, timber, raised walkways, and low-impact tents ensure the canyon remains the star of the production.
Why Tinajani deserves a closer look
Because it offers the kind of stillness, vastness, and unfiltered nature that even film directors spend millions trying to recreate. For anyone craving awe without interruption, this canyon is calling your name.
Rates at Tinajani start from $1,320 for a double occupancy room on a fully inclusive basis, including shared transfers and excursions. For more information, visit https://www.tinajani.pe/
Check rates online at Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda.com, or Hotels.com.
Traveling Soon? These useful links will help you prepare for your trip.- Get a universal plug adapter
- Buy Travel Insurance
- Get an eSim to be able to use your smartphone abroad.
- Get a Car Rental
- Get a universal plug adapter
- Buy Travel Insurance
- Get an eSim to be able to use your smartphone abroad.
- Get a Car Rental
AWASI MENDOZA, ARGENTINA: A WINE-WORLD DRAMA FIT FOR ALMODÓVAR
If Pedro Almodóvar ever traded his Madrid apartments for Malbec country, he’d probably shoot a vineyard melodrama at Awasi Mendoza. You get moody sunsets, sweeping vines, dramatic silences, and colors so saturated they rival his film palettes.
This new jewel, set across 35 acres in Luján de Cuyo, promises a brand of intimate, cinematic indulgence. Awasi Mendoza (formerly Cavas Wine Lodge) has 17 private rooms, each with its own terrace, its own privacy, its own “don’t-bother-me-I’m-living-my-best-life” aura.
Why travelers will fall hard
Awasi’s signature “one guest, one guide, one vehicle” philosophy means you’re the star of your own wine-country screenplay. Expect private tastings with boutique winemakers, horseback rides through vines, and spontaneous Andean picnics. You’ll most likely totally enjoy the drives into the foothills that feel like location scouting for a road movie.
Rooms
Standard villas feature king beds, artisan textiles, big windows, big terraces, and even bigger vineyard views. The top-tier villas, which are Presidential-style sanctuaries, boast expanded living spaces perfect for in-villa tastings and firelit evenings.
Feasting, the Awasi way
The culinary team focuses on seasonal storytelling. Insiders tell me that slow-smoked Andean lamb, vegetables kissed by fire, and the empanadas are still steaming from the oven. Of course, you’ll need to order the sparkling Malbec spritz and drink it at sunset.
Public spaces built for pause
Everything conspires to slow your pulse and heighten your senses. Hang out by the shaded patio, vine-brushed courtyard, and the flickering fireplace. This is where you savor, sip, sigh, repeat.
Design rooted in terroir
Traditional Spanish colonial architecture shapes a villa village that blends into the vineyard instead of dominating it.
Why Awasi Mendoza deserves a closer look
Because it’s the kind of place where you can live out your own director’s-cut vineyard fantasy: slower, warmer, more intimate, utterly bespoke. awasi.com
Check rates online at Expedia or Hotels.com.
THE NEWT IN SOMERSET, ENGLAND: A GARDEN EPIC THOMAS HARDY WOULD WRITE HOME ABOUT
Ah, Somerset. A land of orchards, Georgian manors, meandering hedgerows, and literary ghosts. Thomas Hardy would have set entire chapters here, and Daphne du Maurier would have turned these gardens into atmospheric metaphors.
It’s fitting, then, that The Newt, Somerset’s ever-evolving garden estate, unveils a new wave of rooms in spring 2026. Expectations are high with the debut of Yarlington Lodge. The restored Grade II listed Georgian country house will be available for exclusive use.
Why travelers can’t resist
With 800+ acres of gardens, orchards, wildflower meadows, woodland trails, Georgian architecture, and a working estate, The Newt, imho, feels like stepping into a novel you never want to finish. It’s experiential escapism in the best, most English way.
Rooms
Yarlington Lodge will offer accommodations for up to 32 guests across three newly restored properties. This heritage property blends all the hallmarks of The Newt’s signature Hadspen House. Standard rooms bring sash windows, panelled walls, and freestanding tubs. All rooms unfold like private chapters: think garden views.
Public spaces with prose
Let’s pivot back to The Newt in Somerset, back at Hadspen House. You’ll find glasshouse dining, velvet-and-brass lounges, and a stable yard that still honors its original timber bones.
Design & heritage rolled into one
French restoration architect Patrice Taravella’s Parabola garden remains the estate’s showstopper. Immerse in a walled, spiralled ode to symmetry and soil. Hadspen House continues its stately Georgian glow, updated with meticulous love and modern restraint.
Why The Newt deserves a closer look
Because it’s a living novel, designed with families and group travel in mind, Yarlington Lodge offers a secluded base to explore The Newt’s 2,000-acre landscape of orchards, woodlands, alongside specially curated experiences celebrating the best of the southwest.
Rates at The Newt in Somerset start from £785 per night based on two sharing on a B&B basis. The rate also includes access to garden, estate, and spa facilities, as well as a 12-month Newt Membership. https://thenewtinsomerset.com
Closing Thoughts
If Tinajani is for filmmakers and Awasi for drama lovers, The Newt is for the readers. The ones who dog-ear pages, hoard bookmarks, and swoon for weathered stone, walled gardens, and countryside quiet.
And, if 2025 has taught me anything, it’s that the world is still brimming with dazzling new sleepovers waiting just offstage.
So as 2026 approaches, I’m more than ready to pack my bags—again—in search of rooms that surprise, landscapes that stir the imagination, and hotels that carry a subliminal message like “This is where your next story begins.”
Have tips on properties that deserve to be on the wanderluster’s radar? Drop your favorites in the comments below—because I’m always scouting the next great place to lay my head (and so are fellow travelers ready to dream up their next escape).
Photo credits: Supplied + ©Brunofio ravanti_83
