The holidays arrive this year with fresh exuberance, as if every city decided to shimmer wholeheartedly by way of ethereal lights, verdant wreaths, and champagne gestures. Designers from Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, and more lean deeply into fantasy, hotels deftly craft their own seasonal universes, and fashion houses turn the simple act of looking into an immersive performance. Picture yourself entering a lobby off of a grand city park and suddenly the pace of December slows; a knowing bartender hands you something sparkling and spiced; a divine tree beckons and embraces like a warm memory.
From Los Angeles to London, New York to Rome, Ralph Lauren to Fendi, these are the destinations creating the most sumptuous portals into the season, places where winter invigorates the room and stages an unforgettable show.
Hotel Anna & Bel × Anthropologie: Philadelphia’s Celestial Winter Dream
Courtesy of Hotel Anna & Bel, Gab Bonghi Photography.
Gab Bonghi Photography
Inside Fishtown’s beloved Hotel Anna & Bel, the holidays open like a lavish storybook—the familiar rooms suddenly washed in pearl-lit shimmer thanks to Anthropologie’s seasonal takeover. There’s a softly theatrical quality to it: you step through the doorway and the lobby seems to tilt toward the tree, a tall, gold-laced beacon dripping with brass ornaments and tiny glass spheres that blink like stars on cue. Across the way, sculptural branches climb upward in a quiet glow, their pearlescent diamonds casting delicate reflections on the hotel’s original woodwork.
Up the staircase, its banister dressed in light as if traced by a quiet procession, the atmosphere shifts from warm to almost lunar. The signature Anna Suite feels especially charmed this time of year: winter books stacked like friendly companions, limited-edition ceramics with that Anthropologie cheek, and surfaces that seem to welcome a hand to linger. There’s no need to rush here. The hotel has the tempo of a snow globe that someone just gently turned over, letting the flakes drift beautifully.
The Tess: Atlanta’s Velvet-Trimmed Holiday Haven
Courtesy of The Tess.
At The Tess in Buckhead, designer Tori Williams has created a holiday mise-en-scène that feels both grand and wonderfully personal. Before you even cross the threshold, the hotel’s fictional muse—Tess herself—seems to greet you through the pair of nutcrackers standing guard beside a sumptuous burgundy bow. It’s the kind of entrance that nudges you into celebration mode immediately, no persuasion needed.
Inside the lobby, garlands with copper accents sweep across the space with a confidence that suits Atlanta’s spark. Velvet wreaths anchor corners with a plush glow. And then there’s the flocked trees—tall, quietly snowy, touched with the warm sheen of champagne tones—holding their own against the swirl of December. Upstairs at the rooftop restaurant, Tesserae, a navy-and-gold tree stands before the skyline in a way that feels cinematic. You sense how the palette ties the building together: burgundy, gold, champagne, carrying the mood from street to sky. A holiday hideaway with posture and heart.
Claridge’s × Burberry: London’s Legendary Tree, Reimagined
Courtesy of Burberry.
This season, Daniel Lee brings a grounded British romance to Claridge’s annual Christmas Tree—already a beloved pilgrimage for Londoners, now transformed into something staggeringly tactile. The 16-foot fir is dressed in bows made from surplus Burberry fabric, each one soft and sculptural, nodding to Victorian unity traditions without drifting into nostalgia. Thistle branches—prickly, proud, distinctly Scottish—spiral through the greenery, rooting the tree in the landscapes where Burberry’s cashmere comes to life.
Hidden brass bells chime subtly when the lobby doors sweep open, and the handmade baubles carry the faint glimmer of someone’s breath still on the glass. At the base, oversized chess pieces stand like gentle protectors while cushions and throws gather around them in a casual, come-sit-here warmth. Beyond the tree, Claridge’s hums with Burberry touches: doormen wrapped in check scarves, lifts upholstered in plush patterns, cocktails with winter’s quiet bright note. And tucked within the lobby—a Burberry pop-up glows with scarves, outerwear, and the coveted bell-boy teddy bauble, limited to 300 pieces and already whispering collector energy.
FENDI: A Metamorphosis in Holiday Light
FENDI Holiday Season 2025, London Harrods Windows. Courtesy of FENDI.
FENDI’s holiday windows feel drawn from a diary of dreams, vignettes written down fondly and swiftly, hoping the lustrous details wouldn’t slip away. Inspired by the Falena wing patterns of the Spring/Summer 2026 pre-collection, the displays reveal an eight-part metamorphosis—moths unfurling, pausing, toying, and finally lifting, all within a magenta landscape that rises into a soft white haze.
Each creature is crafted with astonishing tactility: leather, embroidery, polished gold, small notes of fur brushing against bright dots of yellow. They hover like talismans, still and shifting all at once, chasing light across the windows of Harrods and Avenue Montaigne. In Rome, the brand’s holiday tree unfurls as a mirrored metal sculpture, a contemporary galaxy bursting with glass orbs painted in the same vivid graphics.
The Lowell: New York’s Fireside Glow
Courtesy of The Lowell, photo by Nico Schinco.
Step inside The Lowell this time of year, and suddenly Manhattan leans into something more intimate, set with velvet, flicker, and lived-in glamour. Wood-burning fireplaces crackle, each tended by a Fireplace Butler who carries Applewood as a treasured ingredient. There’s a tranquil softness in the air as the rooms fill with cedar or lavender.
The restaurant Majorelle gives Christmas Eve a lush French poise: chestnut soup steaming near black truffle, saffron drifting through lobster risotto, a Bûche de Noël that looks almost too sculptural to slice. On New Year’s Eve, the hotel gleams in black tie as dinner melts into live music, then dancing. Meanwhile, afternoons bloom with Dior Lily of the Valley tea—pastries polished like jewels, sandwiches whisper-light, cakes with a sense of couture. Even the cocktails dressed for the occasion: a snappy Jingle Margarita, a sparkling Holly Spritz, a decadent Holiday Flip. This elegant winter haven, moments from Central Park, is irresistible.
Walker Hotel Greenwich Village: Old New York, Decked out for Winter
Courtesy of Walker Hotel Greenwich Village.
The Walker Hotel Greenwich Village has a talent for well-balanced nostalgia. This season, its Art Deco silhouette glows warmer, as if the bricks themselves have been waiting all year to be wrapped in garlands. Outside, greenery climbs, traced with amber lights that flicker like 1930s marquee bulbs.
The lobby is a holiday tableau out of a classic film reel: a towering Christmas tree serenades beside a toasty fireplace, velvet seating inviting long conversations, and ornaments selected for their humble elegance. What makes it special is the ease of it all, and you feel at home, even if you’ve never stayed there before. You’ll notice the scent of winter flora and fauna, the tapping of the neighborhood drifting in from the street, the sense that every guest crossing the threshold is adding a line to the hotel’s ever-growing New York story.
Ralph Lauren Holiday Experience: Los Angeles’ Storybook Weekend of Style & Spirit
Elsa Hosk; photo by BFA, Courtesy of Ralph Lauren.
Ralph Lauren opens the holidays in Los Angeles with a cinematic calm that feels native to the city. The experience unfolded over a long weekend that began with Laufey’s voice drifting through a private evening with stars like Kate Hudson, Ali Wong, Andra Day, Phoebe Dynevor, Rufus Wainwright, Lake Bell, Cooper Koch, and more. By morning, the Ralph Laurent space became a small town of its own: the RL67 Vintage Shop with its quintessential sweaters, the Workshop where artisans sit with embroidery hoops, and a Coffee Truck that perfumes the air with cinnamon and fresh espresso.
Children tugged parents toward the Ralph Lauren tree farm, where Oregon pines posed casually, while wreath-makers shaped branches into fragrant circles. The West Los Angeles Children’s Choir made a radiant appearance, and a Giving Tree at the center of it all gathered stars engraved for loved ones and as donations to the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Palazzo Diedo × Berggruen Arts & Culture: Venice Freezes Time
Olaf Nicolai, Eisfeld II. Installation view, December 2025, Palazzo Diedo, Berggruen Arts & Culture. Photo by Stefano Mazzola_Getty Images. Courtesy of Palazzo Diedo, Berggruen Arts & Culture, and the artist.
Venice lets the season drift in viscerally, through mystical fog and tender echoes. At Palazzo Diedo, artist Olaf Nicolai sharpens that sensation into something transcendent. Eisfeld II transforms the palazzo’s frescoed grand hall into a living ice field, a 100-square-meter rink set beneath centuries of painted ceilings. As you enter, the temperature coolly drops, as does your pace.
Skates glide across the surface while a bespoke soundtrack by Berlin band To Rococo Rot whirls throughout the room, heightening the senses. Lightboxes at either end flash the words ENJOY and SURVIVE, a timely provocation. The installation feels suspended between pleasure and endurance, elegance and effort, an artwork that invites you to participate fully.
