Some of the best stays we book are at hotels that are not quite open yet. Pre-opening rates can be 30 to 40 percent below stabilised pricing, and the staff-to-guest ratio is unmatched. There is risk - construction delays, soft openings without all amenities, the occasional teething issue - but for the right traveller the trade is worth making. Here are the five openings we are watching most closely for 2026 and 2027, the rates we have seen, and the advisor-channel mechanics behind pre-opening pricing.
Why pre-opening pricing exists
Hotels at pre-opening have two scarce resources: bookings and reviews. The first guests through the door set the early reputation of the property - they post photographs, write reviews, talk to their friends. The hotel needs them, badly. So it offers them rates 25 to 40 percent below where the property will eventually settle, often paired with extra perks (an upgraded category, an extended stay night, a credit) that would be impossible to get later.
Pre-opening rates are usually offered first to advisor networks - typically twelve to sixteen weeks before public bookings open. They are 'introductory' but in practice often hold through the first full season. We always pair pre-opening bookings with a flexible cancellation policy and a backup property nearby in case the opening date slips, which it does on roughly one in three openings.
Rosewood Amalfi Coast (opens 2026)
A cliffside compound above Praiano with thirty-two suites, a Rosewood Spa, a bayside restaurant by an Italian three-star chef and an organic farm. The site sits on the road between Positano and Amalfi proper - a more residential location than either headline town, with views directly across the gulf to Capri.
Rosewood is the cleanest pre-opening operation in the industry. The team typically opens with full inventory and runs an extended soft-opening period at advisor rates before formally announcing. We have already secured pre-opening rate cards for the 2026 season at roughly 30 percent below the brand's stabilised pricing in Italy.
Aman Niseko (opens late 2026)
Aman's first Hokkaido property, on the slopes of Mount Annupuri. Aman Niseko will be a year-round property - winter ski-in/ski-out access, summer hiking and onsen - with a private onsen complex, three restaurants and a small number of branded residences for sale alongside the hotel keys.
Aman's pre-opening rates are notoriously hard to access (they are released through advisor networks for less than 48 hours before sell-out). We have a long-standing relationship with Aman and place our clients on the early-access list as soon as the rate sheet circulates.
Mandarin Oriental Mayfair (open, soft pricing through April 2026)
Mandarin Oriental Mayfair opened in summer 2024 in the former In and Out Club building on Hanover Square, with fifty rooms and seventy-seven private residences above. The hotel is currently still in soft-pricing mode for the spring 2026 season - rates are 25 to 30 percent below the comparable Connaught and Claridge's room categories, which the property is positioned to rival.
For travellers who want a contemporary alternative to Mayfair's grand-dame heritage hotels (Claridge's, the Connaught, the Berkeley), Mandarin Mayfair is the most interesting option in the city right now. We book through Mandarin's Fan Club preferred-partner programme.
Six Senses Telluride (opens winter 2026/27)
A slope-side mountain retreat in Mountain Village with a wellness focus and farm-to-table dining. Six Senses Telluride will be the brand's first major North American mountain property - sixty rooms and a small number of branded residences - with the slopes literally at the door. The wellness programme is led by the Six Senses team that built the Vana, India offering.
We are tracking this opening as a potentially game-changing alternative to Aspen and Jackson Hole for the 2027 ski season. Pre-opening pricing has not yet been published; we expect the first rate sheet to circulate in spring 2026 for the following winter.
The Peninsula Istanbul (open, soft-opening pricing)
The Peninsula Istanbul opened in early 2023 across the Bosphorus from Topkapi, in a restored 1907 Ottoman maritime building with a new tower behind. 177 rooms and suites, three restaurants, a 25-metre pool overlooking the Bosphorus.
Two and a half years into operations the property is still offering soft-opening pricing for stays through 2026, with Peninsula's PenClub perks (early check-in, late check-out, a USD 100 food and beverage credit and a free room-category upgrade subject to availability). For travellers who have not been to Istanbul in a decade - and most have not - this is the property to use as a base. The renovation of the old city, the new Galataport district and the contemporary art scene have made Istanbul one of the most interesting capitals in Europe again.
How pre-opening pricing actually works
Pre-opening rates flow through three channels: the brand's preferred-partner programme (Aman Generations, Mandarin Fan Club, Peninsula PenClub, Rosewood Elite, Four Seasons Preferred Partner, etc.), direct GM relationships with the property, and the consortium relationships our agency holds with the major brands. The published rate is rarely the best rate, particularly for stays in the first 90 days of operations.
We have found that pre-opening rates can be 30 to 40 percent below stabilised pricing, with the gap closing rapidly once the property has six months of reviews on the major OTAs. The lesson is to book the first season - months 1 through 6 - and to work with an advisor who has the channels to access the rates that never appear publicly.
The risks (and how we manage them)
Construction delays are the most common pre-opening risk. Roughly one in three new luxury openings slips its publicly announced date by 4 to 12 weeks. We always book pre-opening stays with a no-penalty cancellation window of at least 14 days before arrival, and we have a backup property identified and held nearby for every booking inside 60 days of opening.
Soft-opening teething is the second risk: amenities (spa, certain restaurants, kids' clubs) sometimes lag the room product by weeks. We confirm in writing what will and will not be operational on the dates of each booking, and we adjust expectations and pricing accordingly. Once these two risks are managed, pre-opening becomes one of the highest-value categories in luxury hotel booking.
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