Inside the world’s best hotels for 2024

It’s been a tense start to the year in travel, with five people trapped — then rescued — from a Slovenian cave this week, as well as the terrifying Alaska Airlines incident on January 5 that left a hole in the side of a Boeing 737 Max 9. To calm our nerves, here are some happier tales of globe-spanning love stories, China’s search for a Monkey King and the sexiest new hotels opening in 2024.

Where to stay in 2024

The only thing better than a day of sightseeing and sampling local cuisine is resting your tired head on a big, fluffy pillow in your sumptuous hotel. Here are 24 outrageously sexy new hotels we’re excited about this year, including spots in Italy, Japan and Transylvania.

Resorts don’t get spicier, however, than the fictional “White Lotus” of the hit HBO show (which, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The Season 3 filming location has now been revealed, with filming scheduled to begin next month.

Passalacqua, a luxury hotel on Lake Como, was voted the best hotel in the world at the inaugural World’s 50 Best Hotels awards at the end of last year. Take a look inside and see what all the fuss is about.

Love, family and adventure

As a reservations agent at Pan American World Airways in the early 1980s, Italian-American Angela Renda told friends she had the world at her fingertips and “didn’t want to be tied down.” Then she traveled to London and a surprise meeting changed her mind.

Growing up as a millennial in Taiwan, Denise Sung had a very different dream: She yearned to meet a guy — and his name would be Sebastian. At 26, she met German Sebastian Fuchs in a Hong Kong bar. The name bit was easy, but the path to love was a little more complicated.

North American couple Courtney and Justin Orgias always made traveling a priority in their relationship, and after settling down with kids, they were keen to keep exploring the world as much as they could. After Covid changed their working lifestyles, they sold everything to become a digital nomad family. Here’s what happened next.

Our changing planet

Snow is an increasingly precious commodity at ski resorts around the world, particularly at lower altitudes. Now, to protect themselves against the vagaries of the climate crisis, some resorts have turned to stockpiling snow between seasons.

And while less snow is falling worldwide, there are still some resorts that are good bets for shimmering white slopes this season. Here are our top picks.

It’s a long road ahead to creating a greener future for our planet. Will guilt-free long-haul flights ever be possible? This is what we know so far.

And while used cooking oils are the biggest hope when it comes to sustainable aviation fuel, a UK company has turned its attention to another waste matter: Sewage. Human sewage. Here’s why you shouldn’t discount a future flight on a poop-powered plane.

Hail the Monkey King

Ever considered living in a cave and being hand-fed bananas by strangers? Then China’s Wuzhishan Scenic Area has the job for you.  It’s looking to hire someone to dress up as the mythical Monkey King character, and there is $842 a month on offer for the right candidate, according to state-affiliated Shangyou News.

Duties include donning a mask and costume and holing up in the mountainside. If things get a little sticky, though, our partners at CNN Underscored, a product reviews and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have these tips on removing sweat stains from anything — even tunics for primate royalty.