All eyes are on you, San Antonio. After being deemed one of the coolest cities and America's next big thing, it seems we can’t make a move without someone taking notice. The most recent attention for the city comes from Travel + Leisure’s highly coveted It List of the world’s best new hotels.
Released earlier this week, the 11th annual report took three key factors into account to determine the top hotels, all of which opened in 2015: a killer location, impeccable design, and the ability to bring something new to the table. Of the 49 hotels selected, one San Antonio hotel makes the cut.
Travel + Leisure predicts that Hotel Emma will become an instant San Antonio classic. "A brewery turned hotel sounds like a hipster cliche," writes T+L, "but the Roman & Williams-designed showstopper advances the industrial-chic aesthetic."
In addition to its attention to detail, Hotel Emma's location in the trendy Pearl District adds value to the destination with popular shops, restaurants, and bars nearby. And as its own culinary hot spot, the travel magazine praises the hotel's implementation of local bread from Bakery Lorraine, fresh food from the Pearl's biweekly farmers market, and throwback iceboxes in each room that hold fixings for margaritas. T+L also notes Hotel Emma’s bar Sternewirth, which dates to 1883, where old fermentation tanks double as a place to lounge with a cocktail or brew.
The mostly international list includes 10 hotels in the U.S., and the only other Texas hotel is Austin’s South Congress Hotel.
“Enter the South Congress, which takes everything you love about the Live Music Capital of the World and rolls it into a three-story structure on ultra-vibrant South Congress Avenue,” writes T+L. The magazine commends South Congress Hotel's design and its abounding common spaces like Café No Sé and Central Standard, women’s clothing boutique Sunroom, the industrial-style Revival Cycles, New York’s luxe nail salon Tenoverten, and the long-awaited Otoko from Paul Qui.
“The It List showcases new hotels and resorts that raise the bar in a variety of ways, from great design to spectacular settings to service and product innovations,” says editor Nathan Lump in a release. “These are places that don't just provide a place to sleep — they deliver experiences that travelers will find both stimulating and transporting.”
The complete list of the planet’s best new hotels is available now ahead of the magazine's March issue, which hits stands February 12.
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San Antonio's Hotel Emma has been named one of the best new hotels in the world by Travel + Leisure.
