The most discerning of travelers heading on vacation to Florida or other southern states in 2025 have a robust selection of new tourism draws, from theme parks to luxury hotels and refined dining in even some surprise corners of this cultural mecca. Plan accordingly—and maybe add a few days to your itinerary—to indulge in the best of the South.
Florida
Celebrating 25 years of luxury hospitality, the Mandarin Oriental, Miami hosts a “Celebration of Memories” this May, just prior to its permanent, end-of-month closure. A new North American flagship Mandarin Oriental, Miami, hotel will open by 2030 with 121 luxurious guestrooms, including 34 suites. In north Florida, The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island and tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou will open a signature tennis center in April.
Following a $30 million renovation, Tampa’s 210-room Hotel Flor, originally the Floridan Palace Hotel, is now part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton. Plus, the Walt Disney World Swan has revitalized guestrooms.
Following revitalization of the former Chesterfield, The Vineta Hotel, the Oetker Collection’s first U.S. hotel, will open this year with 41 luxury rooms in Palm Beach. As part of a more than $1.2 billion expansion project, the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center will soon connect to a new, 801-room, five-story Omni Hotel Fort Lauderdale. Elsewhere, the new St. Regis Longboat Key Resort is readying for its first summer season with St. Regis Butler Service across 168 rooms and 26 suites, a dedicated Pool Butler and guest access to 800 feet of private beach.

On May 22, Universal Orlando Resort’s newest theme park, Universal Epic Universe, will open with more than 50 attractions in five “worlds;" Celestial Park, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon—Isle of Berk, Dark Universe and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Ministry of Magic. With 500 rooms and suites, a new Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel, will also open with a dedicated park entrance. At Walt Disney World Resort, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will debut two new stage shows next month, and this summer, The Magic Kingdom will introduce the new “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away” parade.
Opening this spring are Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s new Wild Oasis with more animals and a Tree Top Drop tower ride, and SeaWorld Orlando’s new Arctic-themed flying theater experience. In late 2025, the new Daytona Aquarium & Rainforest Adventure will unveil an indoor rainforest, while Key Largo’s Ocean Exploration Center for Marine Conservation will open a new $6 million, 4,000-square-foot REEF facility in June.
More Down South
Alabama: This spring, twice-daily Amtrak passenger train service will debut between New Orleans and Mobile. A new $56 million Lodge at Gulf State Park, a Hilton Hotel, will open this year with 350 rooms. This waterfront hotel is near the new Gulf Coast Eco Center with a farm-and-garden complex, art center, bicycle hub, wetland lab and demonstrations.
Overlooking downtown Montgomery, the new 99-room Elevation Convening Center and Hotel will appeal to upscale travelers delving into civil-rights-focused history. In Birmingham, the new boutique Painted Lady, situated within one of the Automotive Historic District’s oldest buildings, has 22 newly redesigned accommodations.
Arkansas: Within a 1913-era building, the new 62-room boutique The Waters Hot Springs, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, has opened after an $8 million revitalization. The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is now performing in Little Rock’s new $11.75 million Stella Boyle Smith Music Center, while Bentonville’s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is adding galleries, studios and dining options.
In Marion, the newly renovated, enlarged Sultana Disaster Museum opens this spring, followed by the debut of its exhibition gallery next year. The focus is America’s greatest maritime disaster—the April 27, 1865, explosion of the steamship Sultana on the Mississippi River. Many passengers killed were Union soldiers heading home from Confederate prison camps.
Georgia: Travelers will discover 30 luxury villas, a 50-foot waterfall, spa and restaurants at Jasper’s new 48-acre Cypress Resort, opening in phases now through 2030. Farther east, the new 44-room Municipal Grand, a cocktail-centric luxury boutique hotel in Savannah, has opened. Within Atlanta’s Centennial Yards, the 292-room Hotel Phoenix, will debut this summer in Atlanta, offering a rooftop restaurant and resort-style pool with private cabanas.
In Austell, Six Flags Over Georgia will welcome thrill seekers with Georgia Gold Rusher, a new free-spinning gondola ride. The Water’s Edge expansion of Valdosta’s Wild Adventures theme park includes new family-friendly rides and animal habitats. This fall, Atlanta’s expanded National Center for Civil and Human Rights will reopen with new galleries, including one displaying artifacts and papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Kentucky: Lexington celebrates its 250th anniversary with a new guide to commemorative activities. In late 2025, Louisville’s Speed Art Museum will unveil a $22 million makeover, including a new outdoor park and sculpture garden while Churchill Downs is completing a $90 million grandstand update by May. Horse race fans will find enhanced ticketed seating options, improved grandstand amenities and a new second-floor outdoor garden with concessions and wagering windows.
Also, the new $75 million Hotel Bourré Bonne Louiseville, a Curio by Hilton property, just opened with 168 accommodations and a rooftop pool and bar. It’s close to Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail distilleries.
Louisiana: Le Pavillon, New Orleans, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel known as the “Belle of New Orleans,” has completed a $19 million renovation. The Cabildo, once the seat of Spanish colonial city hall and now part of the Louisiana State Museums, now features a “Bienvenue Lafayette” exhibition honoring the Marquis de Lafayette.
In Lake Charles, the Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu, home to 400 costumes, will open in a new location later this year. Plus, that destination’s new, $30-million Port Wonder is debuting this month as home for the Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Nature and Science Center with aquariums and stingrays.

Mississippi: In 2027, the 200-room Okhissa Lake Lodge near Jackson will open as the state’s first Destination by Hyatt hotel. Guests can expect outdoor programming for Homochitto National Forest, culinary options, cabin suites, a swimming pool, spa, restaurants and a boardwalk overlooking the marina.
In Gulfport, Hotel Vela, a new boutique hotel developed by two James Beard semifinalists, has debuted an upscale, intimate lodging and dining experience. Its Siren Social Club includes a speakeasy-style restaurant. Plans are underway for a future, new interpretive center at the Vicksburg National Military Park, Mississippi’s most-visited cultural site.
Missouri: Thrill ride enthusiasts will likely love Six Flags St. Louis’ new, 17-story-high “THE JOKER: Carnival of Chaos,” a pendulum ride with a top speed of 75 mph. St. Louis’ new Museum of Illusions recently opened with illusion rooms and holograms. At the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus, the Museum of Art and Archaeology and Museum of Anthropology offer renovated galleries showcasing ancient artifacts and contemporary art.
The Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery in Branson has reopened after a $7 million renovation with new interactive exhibits, learning spaces and fish galore. With pet-friendly guestrooms and suites, the 118-room boutique Origin Kansas City, a Wyndham Hotel, opened in fall 2024 as the first-ever hotel on the Berkley Riverfront.

North Carolina: On June 1, the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, honoring “Miracle on the Hudson” pilot C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger, (formerly Carolinas Aviation Museum) will open in a new space at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT). The star attraction is the Airbus A320 from US Airways Flight 1549, which Sullenberger landed on water in 2009. A permanent “Dueling Dinosaurs” exhibit starring two 67-million-year-old dinosaurs opens this month at Raleigh’s North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
In the Blue Ridge foothills, luxury, tranquility and southern fusion cuisine await at Tryon International Equestrian Center’s new 96-room Overmountain Lodge in Mill Spring. Bordering Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cataloochee Ranch, now a Relais & Châteaux property, has reopened after an extensive revitalization. Fresh from a luxury transformation, The Sanderling Resort on the Outer Banks has a new restaurant from Vivian Howard, chef, author and PBS’ “A Chef’s Life” personality.
South Carolina: In Bluffton, the new interactive FOODseum showcases the region’s rich food heritage, including Gullah, Geechee, seafood and farm-to-table cooking. Look for culinary exhibits, guest lectures, hands-on seminars and displays about Lowcountry agricultural history.
New on Charleston’s waterfront, The Cooper will open this year with 191 luxurious rooms, a 7,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, restaurants, an infinity edge pool and on-site marina with luxury boats/yachts for guest use.
Tennessee: Celebrating Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday, Memphis’ Graceland has a new “Elvis 90 for 90 Exhibit” with 90 artifacts. The Chattanooga Zoo has opened a new Cape of Africa exhibit with warthogs and other animals, while the Nashville Yards complex now includes The Pinnacle, a live music venue. In Gatlinburg, Ober Mountain’s new Cloud Catcher Zipline has four parallel ziplines starting at 3,400 feet in elevation.
In Pigeon Forge, Dollywood Parks & Resorts marks its 40th season with new celebrations. The new 210-room Caption by Hyatt Downtown Nashville and Nashville’s 187-room Printing House Hotel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, are new upscale properties to check out.

Virginia: In Doswell, Kings Dominion welcomes the new Rapterra wing coaster—launching riders to 65 miles per hour in four seconds. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has unveiled Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge, a new, family-friendly, inverted roller coaster. In Virginia Beach, the new Atlantic Park surfing lagoon is now open year-round. Nauticus, Norfolk’s downtown maritime museum and science center, is fresh from a $21.5 million renovation, while the 7,500-seat Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront debuts this summer in Richmond.
Roman luxury meets southern charm at Danville’s newly opened Caesars Virginia with 320 upscale accommodations, a casino and full-service spa. The 64-room, upscale boutique Hotel Petersburg, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton property, is newly restored. Additionally, the luxurious, 28-story JW Marriott Reston Station, Virginia’s first JW Marriott, will debut this summer.
West Virginia: The newest route of West Virginia Mountain Rides’ program is Heritage Highway, a 200-mile scenic southern loop that’s the fifth in West Virginia’s Mountain Rides program. The roundtrip drive from Beckley through the Hatfield-McCoy and New River-Greenbrier Valley regions takes about five hours.
Guided Elk Management Tours, roundtrip from Logan’s Chief Logan State Park, have resumed. West Virginia’s Winterplace Ski Resort in Ghent is undertaking a two-year, multimillion-dollar capital improvement project with upgrades to its snowmaking system and slope lighting.
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