Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/19/2011 -- Award-winning travel magazine DestinAsian has released its 8th annual Luxe List, showcasing the best new hotels and resorts to open in the Asia-Pacific region this past year. Each of the selected properties was visited by one of the magazine’s contributors and subsequently vetted by its editorial staff, who combed through dozens of candidate establishments before choosing the final list based on criteria such as design, service, location, and ambience.

Says DestinAsian Editor-in-Chief and Associate Publisher, Christopher Hill, “It’s a leaner Luxe List than last year’s, with, surprisingly, no entries from Australia and New Zealand. But the results are no less exciting, and certainly no less luxe—that rare convergence of style and substance that sets a place well above the rest. We have every confidence that these properties have all the makings of instant classics.”

A total of 36 new hotels and resorts are featured on the 2011 Luxe List, spanning 13 countries and ranging in size and style from a private villa in Chiang Mai to a rambling 19th-century palace in Hyderabad. They are:

China
- Four Seasons Hotel, Hangzhou at West Lake, Hangzhou
- Hotel Icon, Hong Kong
- Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund, Shanghai
- Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa, Lijiang
- Renaissance Sanya Resort & Spa, Hainan
- Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- St. Regis Lhasa Resort, Tibet
- Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund, Shanghai

French Polynesia
- Maitai Lapita Village, Huahine

India
- Devi Ratn, Jaipur
- Leela Palace Kempinski, New Delhi
- Rasa Jaipur, Jaipur
- Samode Safari Lodge, Bandhavgarh
- Saratha Villas, Chettinad
- Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad
- The Oberoi, Gurgaon, New Delhi

Indonesia
- W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak, Bali

Japan
- Capitol Hotel Tokyu, Tokyo
- Hotel Kanra, Kyoto
- St. Regis Osaka, Osaka

Laos
- Kiridara, Luang Prabang

Malaysia
- Muntri Mews, Penang

Maldives
- Anantara Kihavah Villas, Ba’a Atoll
- Six Senses Laamu, Laamu Atoll

Singapore
- Hotel Fort Canning

Taiwan
- W Taipei, Taipei

Thailand
- Hansar Bangkok, Bangkok
- Howie’s Homestay, Chiang Mai
- St. Regis Bangkok, Bangkok
- Thanyamundra Organic Resort, Khao Sak
- W Retreat Koh Samui, Koh Samui

United Arab Emirates
- One & Only The Palm, Dubai

Vietnam
- An Lam Ninh Van Bay Villas, Nha Trang
- Fusion Maia, Danang
- Hotel del’ Opera, Hanoi
- Six Senses Con Dao, Con Dao

About DestinAsian
The DestinAsian Media Group was founded in Jakarta in 2001 by Ronald Liem, both Publisher and Managing Director of the Group. DestinAsian is a bimonthly publication with a readership of more than 124,000. DestinAsian magazine has consistently won prestigious awards for editorial and photographic excellence from SOPA (the Society of Publishers in Asia) and other organizations. It is distributed to affluent travelers through newsstands, in-flight, both digital and print subscription, and controlled circulation throughout the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

Key markets include Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The publication targets those individuals who not only enjoy travel but who also appreciate the finer things in life. Visit http://www.destinasian.com for more information.

About the DestinAsian Luxe List
The DestinAsian Luxe List is an annual compilation of the newest style-savvy and luxurious hotel and resort properties in Asia-Pacific as assembled by the DestinAsian editorial team.

Visit http://www.destinasian.com/the-luxe-list/luxe-list-2011/ for more details.