The Best New Hotels in Africa and the Middle East: 2024 Hot List
"Arabic script covers the ceiling of the Writers Lounge in the new Raffles Al Areen Palace Bahrain—verses by famed local poet Ahmed Mohammed Al Khalifa celebrating the tiny kingdom’s rich culture. The hotel—a collection of 78 angular villas in pristine white, with ornate mashrabiya screens, pointed archways, and private pools—is designed to celebrate the same. Artworks reference the nation’s pearl-diving and maritime history, most evocatively in a ceramic sculpture inspired by the seashells that litter Bahrain’s seabed. The adjacent Al Areen Wildlife Park and Reserve is reflected in the conservatory-like lobby, which opens into a reception hall filled with cascading plants, water fountains, and loungers in emerald green. Within the low-lying villas—available in one-, two-, and three-bedroom iterations—pale wood is offset by intricate Arabesque wall carvings, beds are covered with Stearns & Foster mattresses made exclusively for Raffles, and a bedside diffuser by Parisian brand Compoz emits scents tailored to your mood. Raffles’s dedicated team of butlers can be reached 24/7 to organize a special bath ritual or a barbecue with a private chef. If you can bear to drag yourself away from this cosseting space, all-day dining restaurant Palma specializes in Mediterranean food with a Bahraini touch, using ingredients sourced from Bahraini and Saudi producers; and Ycone Paris by celebrity chef Yazid Ichemrahen has an artful display of viennoiserie, pastries, and desserts, including the chef’s signature crème brûlée with vanilla from Madagascar and Tahiti. From $1,200. —Pearl Yan" - CNT Editors
