Singapore

CREDIT: COURTESY OF RAFFLES SINGAPORE

Each year, there are just a handful of hotel openings that the travel-obsessed world awaits with bated breath. In 2019, all eyes were on Singapore, where the historic Raffles Singapore finally reopened in August after a two-year restoration. Now, the 133-year-old grande dame is a destination once more. In its new iteration, the property retains classic details — parquetry, mullioned French doors, the dramatic black-stained beams and banisters of the Grand Lobby — but has a fresh, bright look. At Changi Airport, meanwhile, the new glass-enclosed Jewel complex makes a long layover a pleasure, with nearly 300 shops, a movie theater, and a hotel. It has the feel of an enormous botanical garden, thanks to lush plantings and a towering central waterfall. Later in 2020, the city-state will also roll out new green spaces, overhauled railway stations, and pedestrian corridors linking parks and gardens­. —Lila Harron Battis