After what feels like an eternity, summer 2024 has finally hard launched. And while an exodus of sea-starved city-slickers flock to the nearest coastline, other urbanites are content with running wild and looking pretty in their newly sun-drenched streets.
For cool cosmopolites staying put this season, we’ve rounded-up some of summer’s best hotel happenings, so that you can soak up those daylight savings, big-city style.
LONDON
Mas Des Infermières x The Laslett
Filmmaker Ridley Scott is well known for his litany of cinematic hits – Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien, Thelma and Louise… He’s lesser known for his wines, which he’s been producing at his family’s Luberon vineyard, Mas des Infermières, since 2010. This summer, Notting Hill townhouse, the Laslett, is teaming up with the vineyard for the launch of the hotel’s alfresco terrace. Until 23 August, visitors can enjoy a dedicated menu of Mas des Infermières’s Provençal wines – including a new sparkling rosé, available for the first time in the UK – and suggested food pairings. The leafy terrace will see elements of the estate’s playful branding (illustrated by Ridley himself) throughout the space, with custom touches and a bespoke wine cart, bringing the spirit of the Luberon to London.
Mas des Infermières’s pop-up at the Laslett will run until 23 August.
CAPE TOWN
Daniel Buren x Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel
Famously anti-studio, Daniel Buren is an artist who has been making art in-situ for most of his career. His colourful installation work always responds to the environment it’s made in, and often involves viewer’s participation to ‘activate’ each piece. This remains so in his latest series, Haltes Colorées, travaux in situ pour MITICO 2023–2024, which has been produced as part of an ongoing collaboration between Belmond hotels and Galleria Continua. Back for its third year, MITICO is showcasing newly commissioned Buren works across six of its hotels, including Cape Town’s poised pink lady, Mount Nelson. Within the historic ‘Nellie’, Buren invites guests to admire the garden’s central fountain, which he’s transformed into an architectural artwork that toys with light and reflection.
Daniel Buren’s installation will be on display until February 2025.
PARIS
Hôtel de Crillon x The Skateroom
This summer, Rosewood’s Hôtel de Crillon in Paris is partnering with the Skateroom, a platform for art and social change, to produce a unique exhibition championing the dynamism of skateboarding, a sport which will be making its Olympic debut in the city this July. Conceived by fashion’s collab queen, Sarah Andelman, and curated by Aline Asmar d’Amman, architect and founder of Culture in Architecture – the design studio responsible for Hôtel de Crillon’s recent renovations – the exhibition will feature skateboards adorned by world-renowned artists like Cindy Sherman, Juergen Teller, Jenny Holzer, Ai Weiwei, Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol. Guests are invited to explore the art throughout the historic hotel, including guest suites. And, if you’d like a souvenir, a limited-edition collection by French artist Inès Longevial will be available for purchase, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Skateroom’s social initiatives.
The Skateroom will be on show at the Hôtel de Crillon until 14 September.
BOLZANO
Parkhotel Mondschein x Cinema Paradiso
Few things are more romantic than curling up with your beau for a movie under the stars. Except perhaps, curling up with your beau for a classic Italian film under the stars, in the shadow of the Dolomites. And that’s exactly what’s on the menu at Parkhotel Mondschein this summer, a design-forward stay in the South Tyrolean capital of Bolzano. Every Wednesday from July to September, the hotel will be hosting poolside screenings of their favourite Italian flicks in the hotel garden, with freshly made popcorn and drinks from the Luna Bar. Launching on 17 July, the first screening will be Giuseppe Tornatore’s – aptly titled – 1980s drama Nuovo Cinema Paradiso.
Cinema Paradiso at Parkhotel Mondschein runs from 17 July to 11 September.
SAN FRANCISCO
Radiant Human x 1 Hotel San Francisco
Seeking a path to self-discovery this summer? Let Radiant Human be your guide. Founded by New York artist Christina Lonsdale, Radiant Human is a mobile aura-photography studio, which blends science and mysticism to reveal the hidden energies that shape you. This July, Christina will be bringing her camera magic to the east coast, for a special two-day pop-up at 1 Hotel San Francisco. An immersive salon will showcase a mini exhibition of limited-edition prints, which have been created in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art, and guests will have the opportunity to have their aura captured by Christina, receiving a polaroid keepsake to take home. Through this unique experience, you’ll see yourself in a whole new light – but don’t sleep on it, this ephemeral medium has since been discontinued, so when the film runs out, the project will end.
Radiant Human will be in situ at 1 Hotel San Francisco from 12 to 14 July.
ATHENS
Habiba wine x Mona Athens
Athens is having a moment right now, and so are low-intervention wines, which is why Habiba wine and boutique hotel Mona make the perfect pair. Based between Paris and the Cyclades, Habiba is a fashion-forward natural-wine producer, who will be taking over Mona’s rooftop bar every Thursday through to Sunday until the end of July. Alongside hearty pours from a curated selection of natural and biodynamic wines from all over Europe, they’ll be spinning some Psirri-ously cool avant-garde records. Add Acropolis-gazing views to the mix for some top-tier summer sipping.
Habiba wines will be in residency until 15 July.
CHICAGO
Tracey Anderson x Pendry Chicago
She’s trained everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow and J Lo to Madonna and Posh Spice. Now, guests of the Pendry Chicago can follow suit, getting their sweat on the Tracy Anderson way as part of a brand-new nationwide tour. Having risen to prominence in the noughties, Tracy Anderson – and her eponymous training method – is singular in her approach, using music to expand the mind-body connection and targeting the oft-overlooked accessory muscles to create lean, dancer-like physiques. Over the course of four days, Tracy Anderson trainers will be leading hour-long workouts designed to sculpt, tone and balance the body through her classic mat sequences, while introducing elements of Tracy’s latest programme, HeartStone, a moving meditation.
Tracey Anderson trainers will be leading workouts at Pendry Chicago from 18 July to 21 July.
SYDNEY
Danielle Alvarez x Ace Hotel Sydney
Loam is more than a lobby. Situated on the ground floor of Surry Hill’s Ace Hotel Sydney, Loam is also a bar, restaurant and all-day neighbourhood spot where guests and locals come to mooch and mingle. Last year, they launched a year-long chef series with Sydney-based social enterprise, Two Good, which invites some of Australia’s most esteemed cooks to create a menu that revolves around the a central theme of ‘doing more with less’. This summer, they’ll be welcoming Californian-Cuban chef and author Danielle Alvarez for the third instalment of the series. Alvarez, known for her farm-to-table cooking, will host a multi-course dinner, with donations going toward Two Good’s mission to help women affected by domestic violence and homelessness.
Danielle’s dinner will take place on 3 July from 6.30pm. Reservations are required.
BANGKOK
Pride 2024 x The Standard Bangkok
Celebrate pride month in style at the Standard Bangkok Mahanakhon, where a fabulous programme of festivities awaits. There’s a bar crawl running daily throughout the month, which sees guests sampling special pride cocktails on a tasting tour of the hotel’s four bars, and an afternoon tea inspired by LGBTQ+ history. Elsewhere, fashion designer Takara Wong has given the fourth floor Parlour bar a colourful, Pride makeover, and there are bi-weekly screenings – including Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name on 27 June – of LGBTQ+ movies. Conclude your rainbow-chasing month with a boozy Pride brunch organised by G-Spot, Thailand’s premier gay party-planner where drag performances and cocktails are accompanied by hearty à la carte dishes.
The Pride programme at the Standard Bangkok runs until 30 June.
BALTIMORE
Derrick Adams x Ulysses
It’s difficult to imagine what would make Ulysses hotel cooler. This kitsch-y, counter-cultural stay is inspired by Baltimore’s native son, the filmmaker John Waters, and has suites named after his characters, Flamingo motifs and film-set good looks. But you needn’t imagine, for the arrival of Swann House (the hotel’s brand new club) cements its cool rep. And this summer, the historic townhouse-turned-lavish-hangout will host Beautiful Decay, an curatorial project by Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams, which responds to the state of architectural spaces in his hometown of Baltimore. The inaugural iteration will feature artist Nicholas Wisniewski, whose solo show Just Below the Surface will preview at Swann House this July.
The exhibition will be on display until 8 July.
And if you change your mind, there’s always the beach. Check out our full collection of coastal hotels