Tourism in 2009 defied the credit crunch, gave us even more spectacular resorts and offered up unparalleled levels of luxury.

A round-up of the year’s best luxury travel places and openings.

1 -The New Yorker Hotel

Located in an 80-year-old Art Deco building, the legendary New Yorker Hotel completed a five-year $70 million renovation project in January.

2 – Mandarin Oriental Sanya, China

Private villas with individual plunge pools are standard lodgings at the Mandarin Oriental Sanya resort on Hainan Island, just off the Vietnam coast.

The resort opened in March.

Hilton Hotels Corporation has announced that it has signed a management agreement with Diyar Al Bahrain, to open the first Conrad hotel in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2011.

The Conrad Bahrain, will be located in one of Bahrain’s most luxurious developments, the newly-built Reef Island off Bahrain’s capital city Manama and will feature 250 guest rooms and 50 apartments.

The Conrad will also offer its business guests unparalleled meeting facilities, including a business centre incorporating the latest technology, six sizeable meeting rooms, two banquet rooms and an impressive ballroom.

To wind down, guests will be able to enjoy the hotel’s shopping arcade or utilise the fitness facilities, including a tennis court, squash court, swimming pool and health club. Reef Island’s features will also include, among other attractions, open parks, an Aquarium, a luxury shopping mall, a marina and a Yacht club.

Ithaa, which means pearl in Dhivehi, is the world’s premier undersea restaurant, secured five metres (15 feet ) below sea level, surrounded by a coral reef , at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in Rangalifinolhu, Maldives

The award-winning Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa became Conrad Maldives Rangali Island on 18 December 2007 – This is in line with Conrad’s positioning as the luxury brand within the Hilton Family, with services & facilities.

The five-by-nine meter restaurant is encased in R-Cast acrylic which is a transparent acrylic roof offering 270° panoramic view to its customers.