Smashing plates, scoffing grapes, lighting sparklers: we all have our trusted traditions when it comes to ringing in the forthcoming year. Our pick of the best places for New Year’s Eve celebrations around the globe will kick off 2026 on the right note, whether you’re going all out at dinner in Dubai, adventuring with the family in Thailand or enjoying an intimate night away in the English countryside. For champagne, countdowns and fireworks, read on — midnight kisses and sticking to resolutions are on you.
EDINBURGH
For a Hogmanay hootenanny
Edinburgh is synonymous with New Year’s Eve, or rather Hogmanay, the Scots’ word for the last day of the year. It’s steeped in history and brings the drama (we’re looking at you, flaming-torch bearers) with celebrations that blend past with present: Princes Street becomes the colourful stage for fairground rides, pop-up bars, performances and dancing. It’s an all-bells-and-whistles festival that crescendos with fireworks at midnight.
Market Street Hotel is in the heart of the festive action. It’s set beside Waverley Station in the Old Town, so you can spy all of Hogmanay’s revelry from the Nor’Loft rooftop bar — and you’re just a wander away if you want to join in. Champagne and sweet treats are your make-it-beyond-midnight fuel, and you’ve got a prime vantage point for watching fireworks light up the city.
Local traditions Brush up on the lyrics to ‘Auld Lang Syne’ to belt out over the rooftops; hone your Wim Hof breathing techniques for chilly, first-day-of-the-year dips; and find yourself a tall, dark-haired gent… The latter can be for various reasons, number one being ‘first-footing’, the Scottish custom where the first person — historically a brunette man — to cross your threshold after midnight will be a bearer of good fortune (and gifts) for the coming year.
What to wear The bracing nature of Scottish weather means you’ll want several layers under your kilt to keep you toasty while frolicking by Princes Street’s music stages or up Calton Hill for glimmering city views. Don fancy dress if you’re making the half-hour drive or train to South Queensberry for the ‘Loony Dook’ — a New Year’s Day swim in the Firth of Forth that’s guaranteed to blow away any cobwebs.
THAILAND
For a family focus
Twixmas is often marked by days on the sofa, working your way through gifted chocolates and binge-watching box sets, but over in sunny Phuket, things look a little different at Como Point Yamu. While grown-ups socialise at poolside barbecues or seafood-market feasts, little Smiths will be kept busy with a host of Christmas-inspired crafts and outdoorsy activities: mornings might be spent painting fans, decorating cookies or tie-dying t-shirts, followed by an obstacle course, archery or Thai boxing.
As New Year’s Eve approaches, kids can craft a card and gift box, plus a crown to wear on the big night — a gala evening themed around The White Lotus at La Sirena restaurant. A special menu, live music and Phang Nga Bay-framing fireworks are set to dazzle, but if any kiddos tire early, babysitting can be arranged with advance notice to give parents a less Cinderella-esque bedtime.
Local traditions You get a few chances for a new-year refresh in Thailand: after the Western New Year, February’s Chinese New Year celebrations bring red lanterns and lion dances to Phuket’s old town; and in April’s Songkran (Thai new year), locals celebrate with water fights, street parties and temple visits.
What to wear Channel some of the more glamorous looks from The White Lotus for the gala dinner, but unlike the show, only bring drama in the form of bold prints, oversized shades and floral accessories. Or take a cue from the hotel’s Italian leanings with sharp tailoring. Little Smiths can debut their kids’ club creations.
COTSWOLDS
For a country escape
This year, put someone else in the hosting seat — namely Estelle Manor: a stellar bucolic stay that dials it up for New Year’s Eve in the Cotswolds. Its celebrations are quintessentially English: champagne breakfasts roll into estate romps, then thawing out by the fire (or in the Roman-style bathhouse ahead of party prep).
Come evening, you won’t need mistletoe as your wingman: the glamorous dinner, live band and glittering fireworks display will all inspire romance. While the grown-ups mingle in their sequins and sparkles, little Smiths will get their fair share of festivities with arts and crafts, face-painting and a disco. As your 2025 concludes in style, you’ll start next year on a high note: on 1 January, wine tastings and lingering lunches continue the revelry; or get a leg up on your resolutions at the hotel’s juice bar or with an Indian Potli massage, which will restore all manner of sins.
Local traditions Wassailing is a centuries-old Pagan ritual that takes place around Twelfth Night to encourage a good harvest for the year ahead. It’s a spirited celebration, typically held in an orchard, where gatherers sing, dance, bang pots and pans, and pour cider onto the ground. Swing by Dyrham Park on 3 January for traditional festivities; there are apple trees in Estelle Manor’s walled garden, but they’re better suited to quieter summonings of new-year fortune.
What to wear Twinkle in your most festive threads: say, Galvan silk dresses, Rabanne silver-disc bags and feather-trimmed Sleeper sets. Bring a swimsuit, too, for completing the spa’s restorative thermal circuit on New Year’s Day.
FLORENCE
For luxury-tinted wellness
As much as we all expect to wake up on 1 January a completely different person (‘new year, new me’ and all that), progress doesn’t happen overnight. On Florence’s verdant outskirts, former schoolhouse Collegio alla Querce is giving you a headstart with its three-day renewal retreat, starting on 30 December 2025 — a wellness-oriented way to wrap up this year and look to next. If you don’t have the stamina for the full programme, just pick your favourite bits from sculpting Pilates and yoga sessions, transcendent sound baths, Tuscan-herb rituals or guided meditations — all well-intentioned ways to float yourself into 2026.
Local traditions Many Italians believe in a longstanding superstition that wearing red underwear to see in the new year will bring love, luck and fertility, so pack accordingly. For New Year’s dinner, cotechino con lenticchie (pork with lentils) is a symbolic dish; lentils are reminiscent of coins, and the meat represents prosperity. You’ll get a take on this at the hotel’s gala dinner, with braised beef cheek and black truffle as your good-fortune bringers.
What to wear Loose, comfortable activewear in earthy hues feels fitting for this pampering programme. If you’re looking to balance out your holism with some hedonism, the hotel’s La Gamella restaurant is hosting a gala dinner on New Year’s Eve. The dress code is black tie with a hint of gold — a little opulence before you’re back in your neutral hues at yoga the next morning.
ST MORITZ
For a ski adventure
As far as winter wonderlands go, Swiss spa town St Moritz delivers some snow-globe-worthy scenes. Set back from the lake’s shores, Grace La Margna hotel is poised for Hallmark-style festivities, with its art nouveau façade, restored period features and a cockles-warming spa. Instead of fireworks, the town organises an annual, early-evening torch procession by the lake, with mulled wine and soup stations to keep you toasty.
New Year’s Eve is naturally associated with looking forward, but the hotel’s roaring-Twenties-themed evening will let you time travel to a night of Gatsby-esque revelry. Choose between upmarket restaurants The View, Stüvetta or Beefbar as the setting for a lavish, live music-soundtracked dinner; N/5 – The Bar is your after-party host for a more contemporary start to 2026, with late-night snacks, signature cocktails and DJ sets.
Local traditions For a proper Swiss start to the New Year, hit the slopes; if that doesn’t remedy your sore head, a carb-and-dairy overload at a fondue restaurant should do the trick. Raclette is the local dish of choice for celebrations, as is ice-cream — as the clock strikes midnight, a scoop is dropped on the floor to welcome good luck and prosperity for the forthcoming year (but you could just eat yours instead).
What to wear Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby should be your style inspiration for the host of events across Grace La Margna on New Year’s Eve. If your feathered accessories and flapper dresses take priority when it comes to suitcase space, let hotel staff arrange ski hire for you — a healthy dose of fresh, mountain air will be just what the doctor ordered on 1 January.
DUBAI
For decadent dining
There’s a ‘go big or go home’ feel to Dubai at any time of the year, but this attitude reaches its apex over New Year’s Eve. One&Only One Za’abeel jumps on the bandwagon with a festive programme that caters to every whim. Each of the hotel’s nine (nine!) restaurants puts on a show, which prelude the headline act: the city’s midnight fireworks that illuminate the Burj Khalifa. Countdown with a bespoke five-course dinner at Michelin-starred La Dame du Pic, or get your personal butler to keep brining drinks to your poolside cabana for an intimate tête-à-tête at Tapasake.
Evenings at Aelia and StreetXO enjoy a different aspect, overlooking the fireworks set off around the Dubai Frame, and the Sphere hosts the afterparty, where big-name DJ duo Nervo will play late into the night as you celebrate under the metal-dome bar, with city views as sparkling as the dancefloor. The next morning, debrief your night over hair-of-the-dog Bloody Marys and breakfast at Aelia’s (served till 11am).
Local traditions From One&Only One Za’abeel’s terraces and restaurants, you’ll get front-row seats to most of Dubai’s best firework shows. If you fancy getting closer to the action, head down to Al Seef, Burj Park or The Palm for their stellar displays.
What to wear With so many celebrations happening across the hotel and your inviting suite only a lift ride away, why not pack a few outfit changes: a cocktail dress to start your night, polished eveningwear for dinner, and disco-ball-inspired dressing for dancing until the early hours.
TORONTO
For a late-night party
If you’re looking to level up socially in 2026, then celebrating your New Year’s Eve at cool-kid hideaway Ace Hotel Toronto is a good way to kick off your resolution. Set in the heart of the city’s Fashion District, this soigné stay draws an equally stylish crowd. Culturally savvy sects gather here year-round, and 31 December is no exception, with two parties taking place. ‘Cool Intentions’ is Ace’s more laidback get-together in the mid-century-inspired lounge, with lo-fi tracks. Rooftop bar Evangeline will host ‘Alpine Noir’, an après-ski-style evening with midnight bubbles, DJ sets and an appropriately late finish. From up here, you’ll have a prime viewpoint for admiring firework displays across Toronto
Local traditions Daring Toronto residents gather at the city’s Lake Ontario shores on New Year’s Day for the Polar Bear Dip, an endorphin-raising — and charitable — way to kick off the year. Less bracing is the Salute to Vienna concert, a decades-old event inspired by Austria’s Neujahrskonzert, with soul-stirring orchestral, song and dance performances on 1 January.
What to wear Channel a Canadian hipster at the lobby bar’s event, with Arc’teryx threads and small beanies. Faux fur, velvet and satin are your mod-Alpine staples for the rooftop party; pair with a generous dusting of blush for that sun-kissed, ski-tan look.
For more Yuletide spirit, discover our collection of hotels with festive offers