I’ve listed plenty of good hotels since starting this site — including, most recently, my ranking of 8 Great Hotels in Guadalajara and 8 Great Hotels in Mexico City. But, of course, for some reason, people seem to pay more attention when Travel + Leisure does it (poor me — although I have written for Travel + Leisure Mexico, so maybe people paid more attention then).
At any rate, Travel + Leisure is big on lists, in case you haven’t noticed. They also like to make you click around quite a bit to get through them. So to save you some clicking, I’ve sifted through the It List 2016: the Best New Hotels on the Planet, and have rounded up the magazine’s picks for Latin America right here.
Casa Fayette
Guadalajara, Mexico
I recently had dinner at this trendy boutique hotel, which is part of Grupo Habita, the most stylish hotel company in Mexico (I included it in my roundup of 8 Great Restaurants in Guadalajara). Set partly in a classic Art Deco mansion, this 37-room hotel costs $132 a night and up (not bad), and packs a trendy punch.
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Four Seasons Casa Medina
Bogota, Colombia
For some reason, the luxury hotelier Four Seasons decided to open not one, but two new hotels in Colombia‘s capital. The Four Seasons Casa Medina Bogota is the top pick of the two by Travel + Leisure. Editors like its setting, in a 1946 mansion built by Santiago Medina Mejia. The location in the popular, upscale Zona G is another selling point for this 62-room property, as are the courtyard and the Spanish restaurant Castanyoles. Rates start at $199 a night.
Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba
Sacred Valley, Peru
With its proximity to Cuzco and Machu Picchu, Peru‘s Sacred Valley is among the must-see regions for many South America vacation itineraries. The 36-room Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba offers lovely views of the surrounding countryside and mountains, and is a good base for tours of ruins at Ollantaytambo as well as hanging out at the property’s own 10-acre farm. Travel + Leisure also praised the restaurant. Room rates start at $462.
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Casa Malca
Tulum, Mexico
When it comes to Mexico beach destinations, Tulum is decidedly a hotspot nowadays. The 36-room Casa Malca hotel — which is set in a villa complex that some claim was built by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in the 1980s — offers a style-conscious place to rest your head, with large guest rooms graced with polished concrete floors and contemporary art on display throughout the property. Rates start at $700.
Esperanza
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
The luxury hotel scene in Los Cabos, Mexico is big, but there’s always room for one more, it seems. Esperanza, an Auberge Resort, has 57 renovated suites and casitas with a 21st-century take on Mexican hacienda style. Travel + Leisure says that the rooms have the “area’s largest private patios, with hammocks or hot tubs facing the Sea of Cortés.” Rates start at $550.
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Amanera
Playa Grande, Dominican Republic
Aman Resorts opened this Dominican Republic beach property on the nation’s northern coast, complete with a Robert Trent Jones Sr. golf course, a beach club and 25 casitas furnished with Indonesian teak and concert. The property is good for beach vacations with kids, too, thanks to the pool and the hotel’s guides, who lead expeditions through the jungle reserve. Rates start at $950.