Call it the year of the visionary: The best of 2025’s five-star debuts have proudly singular points of view. That’s because many of them are passion projects driven by hands-on owners, each creating the kind of property they themselves would want to visit. Take philanthropist Denise Dupré, who’s behind France’s Château de la Commaraine. There’s a dearth of high-end accommodations in this part of Burgundy, which she has resolved to change by transforming this castle, parts of which date to 1112 C.E., into a 37-room hotel. When completed, it will host a spa and two restaurants that serve the biodynamic wines now produced by the surrounding estate. Travel specialist Jules Maury of Scott Dunn Private calls it a game changer and has already started booking clients for the opening in late 2025. Then there’s jewelry designer Thelma West and her partner, former Apple exec Stefano Liotta, whose Casina Cinquepozzi will reimagine an 18th-century farmhouse in Italy’s heel...
