HotelChatter

We waited, and waited...and waited. And finally, in late April 2010, the first-ever Armani Hotel (complete with muted beige checkered bedspreads and curvy walls) made its big, glitzy Dubai debut. Admittedly, the hotel got a bit of extra buzz from opening inside the Burj Khalifa, though there's certainly still plenty to get excited about for the remaining Armani properties. Next came Milan. And word on the street is Paris is up next—though in total, we're told to expect at least eight more hotels from the designer-turned-hotelier.

Speaking of Milan, the fashion-centric city was an obvious first choice for the first hotel by luxury watchmaker and jeweler Bulgari. More recently, Bulgari stepped up its game to ensure a grand opening for its new London property in time for the Olympics—and it succeeded. One review from a hotel insider said the hotel "oozed quality, while an editor from the Daily Mail simply wasn't into the hotel's black granite floors and Bulgari-jewelry-filled glass cabinets. One man's treasure is another man's...junk?

If bright colored walls, gold leather sofas and Maseratis are up your alley, you should probably add Missoni Hotels to your hotel bucket list. The fashion hotel has opened in plenty of interesting locations—including Edinburgh, the chain's first, which also won our award for Best Video Tour in 2010. Since then, the color-loving brand has also set its sights on Kuwait, Turkey, Oman, Mauritius, Brazil, and, yes, Doha.

Things sure have moved quickly for IHG's new fitness-oriented brand, Even Hotels. Since the initial announcement in late February, we've since gotten plenty of details on the design of the rooms as well as what exercise facilities will be available (hand weights, yoga mats and weight benches, in case you were wondering). An announcement of the hotel's first location should be coming sometime this Fall, with an expected opening date of early 2013.

And finally, how could we even think about talking about hot hotel brands without giving some love to Morgans Hotel Group's latest darling, Delano Hotels. While plenty of hotel brands are expanding all over the world these days, few are quite as savvy as the Delano, who is currently implementing a plan to open 10 hotels over the next three years. Though we already had Marrakech and Vegas on our radar, thanks to another announcement late last week, we can also look forward to a Delano in Moscow sometime in 2015. Then what, Delano? Then what?