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…

