Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. To calm our nerves, here are some happier tales of globe-spanning love stories, China’s search for a Monkey King and the sexiest new hotels opening in 2024. Here are 24 outrageously sexy new hotels we’re excited about this year, including spots in Italy, Japan and Transylvania. Passalacqua, a luxury hotel on Lake Como, was voted the best hotel in the world at the inaugural World’s 50 Best Hotels awards at the end of last year. Hail the Monkey KingAn employee dressed up as Monkey King at Wuzhishan Scenic Area in the northern Chinese province of Hebei.

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Persons: CNN — It’s, —, Angela Renda, Denise Sung, Sebastian, German Sebastian Fuchs, Courtney, Justin Orgias, Covid, It’s, King, There’s Organizations: CNN, Boeing, Resorts, Warner Bros, Pan American World Airways, Shangyou, American Airlines, US Locations: Slovenian, Italy, Japan, Transylvania, Lake Como, London, Taiwan, German, Hong Kong, Chinese, Hebei, Jinjinghouge, Texas