Tampa’s Edition named among best new hotels in the world

Travel + Leisure announced its 18th annual “It List” of the best new and renovated hotels, and Tampa’s new Edition made this year’s list along with luxury resorts across the globe.

Tampa’s first five-star hotel is the jewel of Water Street Tampa, the $3.5 billion downtown development from Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment. The opulent hotel had a grand opening party in October that brought out celebrities like Lenny Kravitz, who gave a private, VIP-only concert at Amalie Arena.

For Travel + Leisure, the Edition keeps company on the list with a mountain oasis in Morocco, an over-the-top beach resort in Bali, and city-chic properties in Berlin, Doha and New York, among others.

“You’ll know you’re in Florida the minute you step into the lobby’s verdant forest of palm fronds,” the magazine raved. “And you’ll know you’re at the white-hot Tampa Edition because, as a guest, you just breezed past a line of locals hoping to get in at one of the hotel’s seven dining spots, now among the city’s most coveted bookings.”

Michelin-starred chef John Fraser was brought on to lead the food program for hotelier Ian Schrager, credited with co-creating the “boutique hotel” category of accommodation.

The magazine went on to praise the Edition’s clean lines, pale woods and pops of color in the interior design, a sizable gym and spa and spacious rooms “smartly designed for luggage-storage, with plenty of outlets for everyone’s devices.”

This year’s It List is available now online and in the May issue of Travel + Leisure, on newsstands April 21.