Seven Hidden Doorways Partners Included on Condé Nast Traveler’s Gold List 2025

December 12, 2024 by Hidden Doorways

We’re thrilled to celebrate seven extraordinary Hidden Doorways destinations named to Condé Nast Traveler‘s prestigious Gold List! Highlighted not only for their beauty, comfort, or impeccable service, these are the hotels that the magazine’s editors say they “recommend to our friends, that we tell stories about later” — places that inspire deep emotional connections and unforgettable memories: 

The Leela Palace Jaipur
Silver domes, hand-painted art on the walls, suites with courtyards and plunge pools, marble fountains, and intricately carved statues of pachyderms play their part in the overall scheme of this palace hotel. Spread across eight acres, the 200-key property is nestled in the foothills of the lush Aravalli hills with rooms, restaurants, and villas laid out in a beautifully planned amalgam of indoor and outdoor spaces. The terrace, with its domes and chhatris (named after the famous Hawa Mahal in Jaipur’s old city), is perfect for private meals under the stars. What makes The Leela stand out in a city of palace hotels is its integration with Jaipur by way of its art and culture and a curation of experiences including private access for guests to Jaigarh Fort and the City Palace as well as its glamorous soirees like the Writer’s Ball during the Jaipur Literature Festival and the much-feted Leela Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Polo Cup during the season.

Ellerman House
Built for the shipping magnate Sir John Ellerman in 1906, this is one of the most splendid Edwardian mansions on one of Cape Town’s most beautiful coastal sites, with prime views of the boulder-strewn swimming coves below and of sunsets. In the exclusive Bantry Bay area, Ellerman House has 11 rooms, two suites, two villas, and one-and-a-half-acre hillside gardens, all verdant lawns, waving palm trees, and aromatic Cape fynbos beds. The staff members treat everyone like a houseguest by pressing clothes, running bubble-baths, delivering antique silver pots of just-picked mint for tea, and advising on the perfect wine. Each individually decorated sea- or mountain-facing bedroom features art belonging to the house’s owner, Paul Harris. He has one of South Africa’s finest private collections, including 19th-century landscapes by Thomas Bowler and contemporary portraits by Gerard Sekoto, which decorates the house and its adjoining gallery. The service within its airy, light-filled spa, its amply stocked cellar, and its sunny restaurant is personalized; chefs happily whip up individual favorites, like rich Cape Malay curries and fresh lobster salads, as well as treats that are set out daily in a help-yourself pantry. For families, two more-contemporary villas enable children to splash about in their own pool without disturbing those indulging in a formal English tea on the shaded verandas or lazing on a pool lounger while watching seagulls wheel above the Atlantic. This feels like a gracious grande dame of a hotel—a clubby space that encourages you to slow down and be spoiled.

Kalesma
Since the 1960s, Mykonos has been known for a very singular brand of hedonism. One that revolves around dance-until-sunrise parties fueled by cocktails and thumping DJ beats. Kalesma is a pulse-slowing alternative that taps into the zeitgeist with yoga sessions, mocktails, a cold plunge, and views so spectacular that even device-addicted guests abandon their screens. Perched on a bougainvillea-draped hilltop overlooking Ornos Bay, this discreet retreat has no shortage of pleasures, from a sensational farm-to-fire restaurant to a dazzling new spa. Twenty-five one-bedroom suites and villas all have plunge pools as well as sunrise and sunset views. They’ve become so in demand the owners are adding 19 for next season.

SUJÁN Jawai
At Suján Jawai, even the sleepiest of heads will find it hard to resist rising early and hopping into an open-top jeep to bounce over ancient granite rocks in search of Rajasthan’s wild leopards. Rewilding efforts have helped to protect a rare balance here, where humans and animals live in harmony and mutual respect without conflict. The camp has sleek, uncluttered tents and a pool for cooling post-safari dips. Hearty, healthy food is made with ingredients from local farms and the camp’s kitchen gardens, and tales of the day’s leopard sightings are recounted over G&Ts by the campfire. Hearing the low rumbling call of a leopard reverberating off the rocks in the darkness, you’ll realize there are fewer more magical settings than this. 

The Brando
Marlon Brando first came across the 18-isle atoll of Tetiaroa while scouting locations for his 1962 movie Mutiny on the Bounty. Now, more than 60 years later, the late actor’s beloved island hideaway is maintained by his family as a singularly unique resort, where stays feel like they’re once-in-a-lifetime. The wild South Pacific feel is intact, with just 35 luxe thatch-roof villas scattered across the main island—each has a private plunge pool and access to the sea. As you hike past ancient open-air temples or snorkel among schools of colorful fish, you’ll be able to appreciate wildlife conservation efforts so remarkable that researchers regularly fly in to study.

The Fife Arms
Reasons to love the Fife Arms? Yes, the 16,000-odd works of art—including a pair of Picassos, Richard Jackson’s neon chandelier, a taxidermy haggis, and watercolors by Queen Victoria and King Charles III. Add in the fact that no one in Braemar seems to have a bad word to say about the Swiss art dealers Ivan and Manuela Wirth, relative outsiders when they took over this tired Victorian coaching inn in Cairngorms National Park. But the real joy of the Fife Arms is that it’s great fun: You’ll find everyone here, from out-of-towners to locals with their dogs—not to mention a team of wry, wise-cracking staff ready to make an event out of everything from whisky tastings at Bertie’s Bar to bracing wild-river swims followed by horse box sauna sessions.

Trisara
Slapdash developments have made it increasingly difficult to find Phuket’s postcard fantasy, but even two decades after opening, Trisara still feels blissfully cut off from the fray. Strewn throughout a jungle-cloaked cape in the island’s quiet northwest, its villas offer wide-screen sea views and heaps of privacy, while down at the private beach, regulars (many of them of A-list caliber) laze along the 147-foot-long saltwater pool. The resort is also home to Phuket’s most ambitious restaurant, Pru, where Dutch chef Jimmy Ophorst earned Thailand’s first Michelin Green Star for its zero-waste tasting menus made with homegrown and locally sourced ingredients such as black crab from Phang Nga and caviar from Hua Hin.

Click here to view all of the winners:
www.cntraveler.com/story/gold-list-top-hotels-and-resorts-in-the-world