In a country of vivid contrasts, Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto offers the right blend of timeless aesthetics and modern-day indulgences, making for an ideal base from which to discover the city’s many secrets.

Four Seasons Kyoto wows from the moment of arrival until you bid it a fond farewell, with self-assured service, wonderfully calming interiors, sensational gardens and a spa so sublime it,s a destination in its own right.

A secluded jungle retreat tucked away in Mexico’s tropical Yucantán peninsula with a mystical cenote at its heart, even the most “basic” villa at Chablé Yucatán boasts a stunning outdoor plunge pool, two bathrooms including a moon shower, and a king-size bed.

The resort is home to countless iguanas and diminutive Yucatecan deer, and an astounding variety of birdlife. You’ll feel like you have escaped to a unique Eden, only with gracious service.

Prepare to enter a higher state of relaxation through the magnificent spa, thoughtful dining options and understated luxury that fills every nook and cranny.

If you've never visited Uxmal, truly a wonder of the world, and you want somewhere luxurious to stay, with world-class cooking and a first-rate spa, this is your best bet.

To the Yucatán and 38-casita Chablé Resort on a colonial estate near Mérida, where the cenote-centered spa is the draw.

Just an hour from the coast, Chablé marries Méridan hacienda hospitality with beach-resort-style amenities (like the glamorous, palm-tree-lined pool that could've been plucked from Tulum).

Ten years in the making, it's a hotel of two halves: a stunning modern spa and painstakingly restored 19th-century hacienda.

The rooms are precisely as ornate and opulent as you’d want a 16th-century palazzo to be; you don’t need a view of the canals to know without a doubt you’re in Venice.

Five-star Palazzo Venart boasts 18 extravagantly decorated rooms and suites that aim to challenge Venice’s accommodation grandes dames.

Just about every single square inch has been coaxed back into Technicolor life, the finished product a testament to the crack team of art historians and artisans, and antique experts from the Fondazione La Fenice.

Sure, it’s a cliché, but for good reason: The Ritz has been synonymous with effortless Parisian glamour for decades, an insouciant ultra-luxe spot for the world’s most luxurious travelers since Cesar Ritz and chef Auguste Escoffier opened it in 1898.

A full renovation a few years ago brought back a lot of the burnish that the years had faded; its public spaces - among them the Bar Vendome and the storied Bar Hemingway - have been rebooted without losing any of their fin-de-siecle grandeaur, and are as much a lucus of Paris social life as ever.

Since the completion of its multi-million dollar renovation, the Ritz Paris has brought renewed energy to its historic interiors, along with Michelin-starred dining and a redesigned spa.

Sorely missed during a nearly four-year closure and renovation, the reopened Ritz Paris is grander then ever before.

In novels, songs, and common parlance, there's not a word that evokes the romance and luxury of Paris better than the Ritz.

It added a Chanel spa and an underground ballroom, and thankfully kept those swan faucets.

It was all worth the wait. Four years after closing its doors for renovation, the new-and-improved Ritz has kept the Belle Époque glamour but added some modern necessities: speedy Wi-Fi, new plumbing, and a one-of-a-kind Chanel spa.

Legendary it is, and a four-year £175m makeover has made it only more so... The staff are still brilliant: charming, intuitive, proud to be there. It's all just a little fresher. A little breezier.

A 37-room boutique hotel that embodies that seemingly effortless elegance that we we love to associate with Paris.

Le Roch is an elegant boutique hotel that cleverly combines history, good taste and a sense of contemporary style, with a relaxing approach.

A much-needed boutique property in the first with spacious rooms and private hammams in suites.

Shanghai Terrace is one of Chicago’s top Chinese restaurants, and, true to its name, offers outdoor seating with a view of the Miracle Mile.

The Peninsula is one of Chicago's most upmarket hotels, the choice for Hollywood stars and other VIPs. With tech-laden rooms, a view-tastic pool, luxurious spa and location smack bang in the middle of the fancy commercial district, who can blame them?

Wonderfully functional and intuitive room design – and beautiful.

As Chicago's hotel scene grows with more and more modern brands, this 17-year-old stays rocksteady with a classic spa on the 19th floor, a refined bar scene and a dim sum garden in a nod to the brand's Eastern roots.

In the winter months the Bar at the Five-Star hotel is a popular spot. There’s only one highly coveted table in front of the fireplace, so get there early to claim your seat.

Overlooking the city’s Magnificent Mile, the Peninsula Suite’s 2,000 sq ft wraparound terrace provides elevated views of Michigan Avenue, Chicago Avenue and Lake Michigan.

This luxury pad posted in Water Tower Park, one of Chicago's historic high-rises, not only claims one of the best locations in the city - it's right on Magnificent Mile - but it has great style, too.

Southern charm and grandeur with a clean, contemporary finish: that’s The Dewberry in a nutshell.

An eight-year quest to turn a drab, 60s-era federal building into a modernist work of art in a city that trades on Southern colonial quaintness, is nothing short of a smashing success.

Bartenders in white jackets make drinks the old-fashioned way; They're stirred. Which feels just right for the hotel in a 1960s federal building.

The new bar for boutique Southern luxury was set with the opening of the Dewberry.

Among the attractions are the Hawanawana Spa and the spectacular Jack Nicklaus Manele Golf Course; excursions include Jeep rides, catamaran tours, horseback outings, and much more.

Overlooking Hulopoe Bay, this sublime retreat offering beachside urban chic with stunning views of the deep blue sea and astonishing rocky coastline has reopened after a major renovation.

Head to the Four Seasons for the away-from-it-all feel that Lanai does best, but with plenty of amenities—two pools, four restaurants, and an excellent spa

Not many lodges offer such a diversity of activities, in such style and in such a wild, UNESCO-protected destination. Which makes this place pure gold.

Guests have first-hand access to the largest waterfall in the planet and prime viewing of the freely roaming wildlife, plus luxury suites and private villas to come home to.

Even if you never leave your room, the scenery - a watery landscape teeming with wildlife - will keep you enthralled.

Matetsi is a rare beast. The lodge itself - brand new, brilliantly run, hip as anything - is rare in itself... But what makes it properly, jaw-droppingly extraordinary is its location... The real stars are the staff: All highly educated, all highly dedicated.

The hotel blends into its surroundings thanks to the “light” building, with its many windows awash with sunlight reflected by the lake. The garden, with around 183 varieties of plants, creates a gorgeous floral landscape that syncs up with the environment.

Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola reimagines what a vacation on Italy's most cinematic lake should look like with vertical gardens, geometric armchairs, and a floating staircase.

Il Sereno is a restrained antidote to Como’s gilded grandes dames... The layout puts all eyes on the water, with a 450-foot shoreline and lakeview terraces in every room.

Il Sereno is a whippersnapper set to shake the lake. Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola is famed for her use of colour and texture - here copper, wood and stone - and her furniture: the hotel's lofty lounges and sundecks are crammed with her curvaceous sofas and wicker chairs, to glorious effect.

Don’t be fooled by the small scale of this downtown Healdsburg hotel — though it weighs in at a mere five rooms and suites, SingleThread Inn offers what might be one of the most luxurious experiences in California.

The food is hyper-seasonal, and the rooms are outfitted with understated high-end amenities, like Ratio coffee-brewers and Zalto wineglasses.

When the property debuted earlier this month, it immediately joined the ranks of esteemed destination restaurants across the country centered on farming their own ingredients

The rooms themselves are plush, with raised-platform futon beds, deep-soak tubs and jersey kimono-style pyjamas.

This serene modern ryokan expertly blends Japanese tradition with the style of Tokyo. Hoshinoya’s 84 tatami-covered rooms have access to a hot spring-filled onsen and incredible dining options.

Inside, hushed tones, soft lighting, a gentle instrumental soundtrack and minimal aesthetics have you walking about barefoot in minutes, to pad across your room's tactile tatami flooring before diving into the cushiony softness of the low-lying bed.

Shoes slipped off at the entrance. Sliding paper screens. Low futon beds. Hot spring onsen bathing. And tatami mat flooring (even in the lifts). Welcome to Hoshinoya Tokyo, the city's first luxury five-star traditional ryokan inn, housed in an 18-storey skyscraper.

Take a dip in Hoshinoya Tokyo's hot spring-fed pool.

Get ready to swoon–a private island in the middle of the turquoise Indian Ocean is the stuff of daydreams and fantasies, and they actually come true at the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli, the glamorous accommodations of would-be honeymooners worldwide.

A private island set a 35-minute seaplane ride away from Malé aiport, The St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is as close to heaven on Earth as you can get, with powdery white beaches and a private lagoon.

Like a page in a holiday brochure, jewel-blue Indian Ocean waters ring this petite plot of white sand threaded with swaying palms. One of six places to wine and dine, the Whale Bar beckons with magnetic allure at sundowner o’clock. By day, lose yourself in the Blue Hole, a tour de force in hydrotherapy pools.

Forty-four-overwater suites with dolphins and manta rays swimming under your deck.

You come here for two reasons. One, for the impeccable St. Regis service. And two, because the look of this private-island resort will leave you speechless.

The Barnett is home to some genuinely lively, inviting public spaces. Seaworthy is set in an 1832 Creole cottage, while Trattoria Barnett combines classic Italian and Southern flavors, and the Rooftop serves small plates and seasonal cocktails in a verdant outdoor space.

A sassy spot in the Warehouse District in which to bed down, kick back and sip a Sazerac by the rooftop pool, cooling off after a night of southern dining and jazz in the Big Easy.

It's hard to impress New Orleanians, but this swanky jewel box has done just that. It's a real head turner.

While it may be tempting to stick around the property all day with a glass of Etna Bianco in hand, Greydon House is perfectly positioned for exploring the abundant charm of downtown Nantucket, with the iconic Whaling Museum located just a couple of steps past the front door.

Greydon House is located in the center of town, and its design includes an 1850s building with maritime oil paintings and the inviting sense of a ship captain's stateroom. Could this get any better?

Design team Roman and Williams outfits an 1850s Greek Revival with Ivory Coast chieftain chairs, Les Indiennes bedding, blue-and-white Portuguese tiles - and not a whale print in sight.

Greydon House is an island game-changer... In the ground- floor bistro, British chef Marcus Gleadow-Ware cooks up a storm, with nearly all the produce local... A New England winner.

Its tree house-style spa, high in the canopy and away from the shore, is the most serene place for a massage this side of Ubud.

Come for a romantic escape (the ocean-inspired scheme is glamorous, not kitschy) or a group vacation (the 6,239-square-foot penthouse has a huge terrace and hot tub).

... Guests are thrilled to find a property that is exclusive, serene, and accents custom amenities not found anywhere else.

On the edge of a canyon with soul-stirring views of the rugged Hajar Mountains, the hotel has sleek rooms with balconies and villas with private pools. It offers a plethora of activities, from hiking and abseiling to cooking and photography, and a truly sensational spa.

The locale makes even simple pursuits, vertiginous swims in the infinity pool or dinner on a glass platform cantilevered over the chasm, thrilling.

It's been five years in the making, and the buzz around this mountaintop five-star was so feverish that they had an Omani royal turn up unannounced on day one. Now you can explore this isolated, craggy wilderness, where goats scamper and wolves roam, without skimping on in-room massages or Amouage lotions.

Clean-lined minimalism with crisp white bedding, mid-century furniture, and teak shutters overlooking the cyan waters of Grand Cul-de-Sac.

...the stylish accommodations are awash in white, aquamarine and tan. Dark teal throws and pillows, aqua desks, sand dollar imprints on dresser knobs and white coral sculptures remind you of the sand and waves just outside (the more private garden-view rooms have pops of magenta).

This Grand Cul-de-Sac newcomer is at once glamorous and unpretentious.

Feel like splurging on a suite? You’ll be rewarded with every New Yorker’s dream escape–a sprawling outdoor terrace. A NYC gem and another gorgeous and one-of-a-kind jewel in the Thompson portfolio, The Beekman is The Big Apple at its best.

Gorgeous design, two excellent restaurants, and a location in a newly revitalized downtown NYC neighborhood.

With dark wood floors, vintage furnishings swathed in velvet, and distressed leather headboards, the room feels almost more English country house than downtown Manhattan.

You can't help but look like a million bucks at the emerald-and-brass Deco bar, under a skylight that's nine stories up.

You could just have a drink in the restored atrium of the Beekman, but you should spend the night to appreciate this architectural wonder from all angles—and at all times of day.

And in FiDi, nowhere's hotter than the Beekman... it has been brought stunningly back to life by Martin Brudnizki, and everything that could be preserved has been. Add in restaurants Fowler & Wells and Augustine, and, well... this place is off the scale.

This boutique guest house with just five individually styled rooms makes a virtue out of its quirky minimalism. The Instagrammable interiors are dotted with thoughtful design touches. Dinner, which is prepared on request, is superb and served in the candlelit garden.

It seems to exist for no reason other than to bring a little bit of gratuitous beauty into the world.

The formality of India's grand hotels can be a bit much. This cheerful "Rajasthani riad" eschews local design cliches, swapping in sunlit minimalism for expected dazzle.

The property earns high marks for its posh rooms, easy beach access, and superior dining and spa options.

If you prefer modern neutrals to Arabian opulence, this low-rise resort is for you. It's just a few sandy steps away from one of the city's best beaches, and boasts landscaped gardens with three pools, gorgeous open-plan rooms and a cracking seafood restaurant.

There’s truly nothing else like it, in Provence or anywhere else.

A sensational hotel on the 600-acre grounds of Château La Coste.

Inside, the cool, understated look is an essay in myriad shades of white so as not to distract from the staggering views of Mont Ventoux, the Luberon massif and, on a clear day, the Alps. The result is a triumph.

A light-filled food-and-wine hotel alongside a Tadao Ando-designed art gallery and a 500-acre sculpture park.

Though the hotel is popular with families, guests traveling sans children can opt for the serene, adults-only pool that’s set back from the beach.

The 76-room resort is located on six acres with a lovely flat beachfront pool, where you can walk directly into onto the sand and into the ocean. There are also two restaurants, three bars, and a beauty of a rum-tasting bar. The remarkable authentic Thai spa is a standout with real Thai houses shipped in to create a small village of pampering.

The rooms are big and beautiful, with marble bathrooms large enough for a cocktail party. Some have balconies overlooking the twinkling ocean; others across bushes bursting with chirping bananaquits.

And for a hotel with such a grand atmosphere, the Nolinski is relatively small, with 45 guest rooms and suites. You’ll be glad they’re soundproofed — this is a busy part of the city.

New kid on the block Nolinski is a cut above your common-or garden Parisian pied a? terre. Behind it is the creative flair of Jean-Louis Deniot, who was entrusted with transforming an ex-office building into a peaceful, intimate city bolthole more akin to a kooky private members' club.

A swanky yet subdued sparkly gem of mirrors, polished brass fixtures, opulent fabrics, and petrol blue hues, the hotel fuses Gulf-style luxury with Parisian scale and a twinkle of 30s South Floridian Art Deco.

Palé Hall is a destination for quiet retreat, comfort and culinary indulgence. Situated in the tranquil Dee valley, this grand, historic, high Victorian mansion has an idyllic woodland garden rolling down to the banks of the river.

Squirrelled away in a secluded valley in North Wales is this grand old Victorian pile - 18 rooms, spectacular views, food to die for.

Just go ahead and say it: Downton Abbey. The comparisons are inevitable, and the thrill the same, when you pull up to Palé Hall, a high-Victorian mansion in North Wales...

The result is a country house hotel that has hit the ground running... handpicked staff, many who have worked with the chef previously, are on the ball, the service is spot on and the atmosphere is inviting and intimate.

The young (and young at heart) flock to this hotel's lush and leafy rooftop bars after dark.

While it pays homage to its Chinese roots through clean and spare design, it also draws on Miami's reputation as a cultural melting pot with international influences ranging from South American cuisine to a Bali-inspired rooftop bar.

Proof that Miami has more to offer than beaches and buzzy clubs - the city's biggest opening last year, EAST, happened in downtown's Brickell City Centre.

The real star of the show, however, is the fifth floor open-air pool deck with four pools and views over an extraordinary Climate Ribbon-canopy.

The once staid Le Toiny has gone cucumber-cool with an interiors makeover by Lady Bee Osborn. She's bathed everything in a light, airy palette and layered on all sorts of natural, tactile materials such as figured sycamore and limed timber.

The only hotel on Côte Sauvage got a breezy design refresh and a new beach club.

The bar builds on the world summoned dreamily from the past: lazy mahogany ceiling fans, fragrant curls of cigar smoke in the fumoir, and a truly world-class fleet of rums.

Laid-back, dressed-down newcomer Villa Marie Saint-Barth has set tongues wagging in St Barth's... the hottest new hotel on the chicest island in the Caribbean

It feels remarkably relaxed for St. Barth. The cliché of visiting the private home of a well-traveled friend holds true here. An extremely well-traveled friend...

Just inland and Caribbean chic with rattan furniture, ceiling fans, wainscoting, and pops of hot pink and canary yellow.

The minimal resort is set in the forested hills of southern Mie Prefecture, complete with spacious villas, hot spring onsen baths, sea views, delicious seafood and expansive spa.

Go for a Watsu session (aquatic bodywork, for the uninitiated) at Amanemu in Ise-Shima National Park.

It's unique within the Aman family in that it offers a classic onsen experience, blending the traditional ryokan with Aman's sense of space.

This is picture-book Japan... All is very Aman: muted tones and natural textures, with sliding wicker walls you can move to create your own space.

Aman's first property in rural Japan is a contemporary reworking of the hot-spring tradition. The scale is Aman - villas and pavilions dotted among the shrubbery and connected by winding pathways - but the details are Japanese: slate roofs, wicker lampshades and hi-tech loos galore.

Like the best riads it’s an unparalleled place to pass your time, hidden away from the noise of the city in the house’s countless nooks, in the gardens, by the pool, or on the terrace at sunset.

A converted 19th-century palace on a fairly quiet part of the medina near Bab Doukkala where you can relax and chill out.

Charming from start to finish, and always someone about when you need them.

Does the perfect cabin in the woods exist? It does now. A new hotel within a hotel in New York’s Catskill Mountains promises forest bathing without the grit, a dose of nature while keeping it hygge.

Scribner's Catskill Lodge, a former 1960s motor lodge turned modernist skier's refuge, with fluffy duvets and mountain-facing deck chairs.

Call it the Brooklyn of the north. The 38-room hotel's backgrounder reads like a dossier of vision and acumen in New York's hippest borough... Scribner's Catskill Lodge is easily worth the train ride for a long weekend of urban adventuring.

Its 652 acres of dramatic elevations and virgin forests are home to just 30 extraordinarily luxe timber villas, each of which includes a private sundeck and an infinity-edge plunge pool among its many, many high-end comforts.

One of the finest private islands in the Indian Ocean, certainly one of the most dramatic, run by the sure-handed spa specialist group, with rewilded nature that's been given the time and space to make a comeback.

The pièce de résistance is the spa, shoehorned between the archipelago's iconic black boulders, with a yoga pavilion so close to the water the sea spray cools you during poses.

There are many beautiful resorts here in the western Indian Ocean but nothing else feels quite like this... The resort is small and tucked into the lush vegetation of the hillsides providing total privacy and stunning ocean views.

This was once a coconut plantation, and it's taken nine years to regenerate. But, boy, was it worth the wait... the handful of villas are so well hidden you'll barely notice them, with private infinity pools, gobsmacking views of neighbouring islands and swings. Yes, actual swings.

It feels both connected and secluded; friendly but quietly respectful of one's peace and privacy; rooted in its environment and the broader social, cultural and regional context. If ever a place was aptly named, it is Félicité.

Between the epic design details, the dizzying views, and the dangerous amount of good drinks flowing from its two bars, the Thompson offers one of the most delightful stays in Seattle.

The buzzed-about Nest cocktail bar occupies indoor and outdoor space on the rooftop, but much of the building’s shiny glass encases the hotel’s rooms and suites, so floor-to-ceiling windows are a standard feature.

With thoughtful maritime touches and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Elliott Bay, it's exactly the kind of sleek hotel we've been waiting for in this city.

The Four Seasons occupies a purpose-built modern tower and offers its trademark standards of comfort, an excellent spa, and some beautifully designed restaurants on its extensive ground levels.

You'll de-stress from every pore in the eucalyptus steam rooms at Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island, where heated spa loungers have epic city views.

On 1,300 acres filled with animals and organic gardens, a Central American philanthropist has built one of the region's most luxurious eco-resorts.

But while staying inside may be tempting, the truly exclusive experiences await in exploration of the verdant surroundings... With all on offer, Nekupe, which means "heaven" in the tongue of the indigenous Chorotega tribe, is sure to live up to its name.

Come here for laid-back luxury and easy beach access.

Malibu's hideaway for the super-rich remains the room to nab along the coast, with an ultrachic new look thanks to designer Waldo Fernandez, and an upscale restaurant and wine bar overlooking the Pacific.

Its uncluttered, contemporary design is perfect for a setting that produces perfect sunsets, and the service is spot-on but unpretentious, as befits a beach house.

There's also the Malibu Beach Inn, one of the few places to stay in this enviable zip code, which underwent a spot-on renovation but still has those epic ocean views pretty much wherever you look.

The 67-room hotel taps into new-wave Catalan design with yak's wool bedcovers loomed in neighboring Terrassa and prints by designer Clara Arnus.

Designed by Brooklyn firm Studio Tack, Casa Bonay is housed in a 19th-century building on a leafy street in the Eixample district. Its warmly minimal rooms are brought to life via original mosaic floors and solariums or balconies...

Say hola to Casa Bonay, brainchild of Barcelonian chica, Ine?s Miro?-Sans and her 'house of friends' - a collaborative melting pot of local fashion designers, craftspeople, foodies and a coffee roaster.

More of a club than an ordinary hotel, it's filled with young, successful creatives in search of experiences rather than anything so pedestrian as luxury... Yep, that's a half jack of Belvedere Vodka in the mini-bar and a hand-woven wool blanket by local outfit Els Teixadors on your bed. Cutting-edge comfort is what this place is all about.

Get members-level perks (unlimited candy, rooftop pool, in-house movie theater) at this hip, design-forward Soho Club outpost.

The mixed patterns and club chairs are Soho House go-tos, but the brand's "cool frumpery" gets a refresh with terra-cotta barrel-vaulted ceilings and washed-out blues, reds, and golds that feel distinctly Catalan.

Catalan architecture cements the sense of place, but dedication to comfort makes this six-floor club a place you want to linger.

If there's one thing Soho House is really, really good at, it's detail. You will want to steal EVERYTHING in the bedrooms, from the fringed lampshades to the custom-made iron bedheads... Soho House Barcelona, in fact, is really, really good at an awful lot of things - and that's why we love it.

The Barcelona branch comes with locally-inspired touches such as traditional red bricks on the double-height vaulted ceilings — but it is still very clear that you are in a Soho House.

Danish owners mix Orkney chairs with shaggy sheepskin and mid-century touches at this centuries-old farmhouse. And Highland hygge is born.

Killiehuntly, in fact, feels more like an Alpine mountain chalet, with interiors concocted from an array of influences... Think of it as "hygge in the Highlands"; like staying in the weekend home of a Danish dignitary.

This comfortable, civilised hotel is set on being saintly, with a chic Left Bank location and atmosphere that keeps up the Saint-Germain spirit.

A St. Germain hotel that feels like Paris, part tassels and velvet, part abstract black-and-white photography.

Nothing feels cookie cutter at 11 Howard, where every piece of furniture, art, or bath product is enough to make you want to pause and take a look.

There's a huge mural spearheaded by Koons, a Calder mobile in the lobby, the buzzy street-level restaurant Le Coucou, all before you get upstairs to the hotel proper—a Scandi-chic oasis of soft pink, dove gray, and blond wood.

11 Howard makes its mark with a Scandinavian design sensibility complemented by impressive artistic credentials, with pieces by Hiroshi Sugimoto and Alexander Calder... High ceilings and plush but minimal furnishings crafted in Denmark set the rooms apart

Already a major hotspot for the city's creative types... the perfect understated statement hotel bang in the midst of crackling, trendsetting SoHo.

And this doesn't feel like a luxury hotel plopped down in the city straight from elsewhere: Local favorites abound, including vinyl on loan from Jack White's Third Man Records, bespoke jeans that guests can order from Imogene + Willie and have fitted in their rooms, and in-room cocktails courtesy of WithCO.

As one of the first boutique hotels in all of Tennessee, Thompson’s latest offering fills in a long-standing gap for a diverse and energetic city whose story of revitalisation is rapidly continuing to unfold.

The Brentwood sports subtle nods to the area's equestrian roots (the famed racetrack is across the street).

Chou and Studio Tack took some of their design cues from Saratoga Springs’ equestrian-inspired heritage, with an immaculate board-and-batten exterior reminiscent of a stable, reclaimed white oak flooring in the lobby, antique gilded mirrors and vintage oil paintings depicting country landscapes.

New Mexico's sunsets are most vivid when seen from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Ted Turner's turn-of-the-century Casa Grande, where you'll return to pan-seared bison after your hike.

Tile by tile, inch by inch, every room and piece of furniture has been brought back to its original gilded beauty... The historically exacting redo of all the rooms, spread out on two floors, is quite dazzling.

A world away from the steely skyscrapers and broad avenues of Downtown Chicago, The Robey slots perfectly into its hipster setting, between the trendy neighborhoods of Bucktown and Wicker Park.

This Art Deco building with its moody lighting, Hopperesque palette, and glassed-in roof bar speaks to the sexier side of Chicago.

You'd be hard-pressed to find another Windy City hotel to rival the Robey's alchemy of great aesthetics, prime location, and thrumming atmosphere.

A riverside 'bathhouse' has its own steam room, sauna, pool and hot tub, while other amenities include a communal dining space, bar, river-front terrace, children's teepee, climbing wall and games room...

Nestled away in Colorado’s Taylor Canyon, the lodge feels like summer camp for discerning grown-ups, combining archery, rafting, fishing, and mountain biking with farm-to-table dining, a sauna, steam room, and salt-water pool.

Timber Cove Resort, a renovated A-frame on the cliffs looking out at the Pacific, with a long, inviting bar where you could easily spend an entire weekend drinking too much Sonoma wine.

Given its location on 25 acres of craggy coastline, against a backdrop of picturesque redwood trees and panoramic vistas of the sea, 46-room Timber Cove has always been a sought-after hideaway. But this recent makeover elevates the visual experience to meet contemporary design standards.

While relaxing with a glass of white in the lobby's patinaed club chairs, arriving guests walked in, out, and back in. They though they'd stumbled into our living room. It's that cozy.

At once cozy and bright, the boutique property - formerly a private home - is outfitted with vibrant cerulean velvet sofas that echo the turquoise ocean below...

Those colorful oil canvases and ceramic mugs you're sipping coffee from (and even the staff's name tags and bracelets) come from the 81-year-old art collective Cattle Track down the road.

The whitewashed walls and grey salvaged wood roofs of the boxy bungalows – which are called ‘studios’ – serve as perfect canvases for one-of-a-kind textile pieces by local artists and colourful modernist furniture that pays homage to the artisans of the nearby Cattle Track Arts Compound, whose works grace the walls.

Loaner wellies, an always-stoked fire, a pint of ale when you arrive—it's as if your best friend inherited a grand country estate (and a knack for impeccable service).

It is a rare pleasure, the Pig... The newest Pig is in a fiercely grand Elizabethan mansion, but the grandness stops there; inside is so relaxed it's basically horizontal... In fact, the whole place has a scrubbed feel to it. It's a pink-cheeked, garden-fresh lungful of Devonshire air.

From the cocktail bar entrance hall to on-trend rooms, beautiful grounds and tempting dinner menu, the fifth hotel in the Pig litter should suit the most discerning of snouts.

With its peaceful location and simple-yet-exclusive style, the hotel offers itself as a haven for travellers seeking a tranquil getaway.

The 20 suites at the resort are all unique and created by the owner’s fine taste in linens and art. Whether facing the courtyard, the artistically inspired pool or the sea, they are all unique and special.

The ultimate off-the-grid resort offers travelers one of the most relaxing and luxurious experiences available in Italy.

It Parisian designer Dorothée Meilichzon delivers another spot-on hotel in buzzy ninth.

This casual boutique hotel near the Grands Boulevards is the sort of dynamic, imaginative hotel where you feel at ease as soon as you walk inside. It has a design by rising talent Dorothée Meilichzon, friendly staff and a restaurant that has quickly become a Parisian rendezvous. Expert rating: 8/10.

Not a trace of stucco at this hyper-futuristic resort where designer Miguel Angel Aragones makes you feel as if you're walking on water.

All the cube-shaped rooms front the ocean, but what sets the Mar Adentro apart from the pack is a specialist art and music programme.

A reflecting pool wraps around this striking seaside property... The rooms are divvied among stark white cubes that appear to float along the edges of the pool.

The design is intended to mimic the infinite linearity of the horizon, and so the fourth side of the pool is left open to a view of the sea... one of the most unique hotels south of border.

Instead of rooms, there are luxe safari-style canvas tents with hardwood floors and rain showers.

It has the real flavour of the island, and we don’t want to lose that. We want the eclectic, quirky and diverse community of Harbour Island to last forever.

An exclusive, intimate and luxurious getaway set on nearly two miles of coastline. The intimate property offers the ultimate in privacy for high-profile visitors, hidden within a forest-lined cove and built to host no more than five couples at a time.

Helena Bay Lodge promises to be the world's best new luxury hotel... The six-course degustation dinner, served outside on the terrace by the lodge’s tux-clad maitre de, is not to be missed.

See brighter-than-bright green hills after helicoptering to your seaside villa at New Zealand's Helena Bay Lodge.

The kind of conscientious care you’ll get is clear from the staff-to-guest ratio alone: 53 employees for a maximum of only 10 visitors.

Wedged between jungle and ocean, it's the most luxe jumping-off point for game drives in Yala National Park.

It's the dream: a five-star, family-friendly hideaway on the edge of Yala National Park - steps from the crashing surf and rocky outcrops - where peacocks, monkeys, wild boar and the occasional water buffalo vie for their patch of paradise.

For creature comfort loving wildlife fans, this ocean-facing jungle haven is hard to beat. Expert rating: 8/10.

The journey (To Santani) reminds you just how nail-bitingly impatient you really are. Because when you finally reach it and bump along the rocky track to see purple roses floating in pools and birds flitting about the trees and misty hills in the distance, you immediately feel all stress melt away.

Set on a working tea estate, Sri Lanka's first high-end wellness resort has Ayurvedic-based spa treatments and a chef who serves exceptional vegan dishes (and plenty of biodynamic wine).

The first destination spa in Sri Lanka is all about wellness—and not the ascetic Western kind that’s all juicing and boot camps. Santani’s approach is more subtle, with ayurvedic spa treatments, meditation, and health food.

One of Sri Lanka’s best dedicated spa properties... It’s Eden for those battling stress, exhaustion, or weight gain, or anyone with a simple desire to put away the iPhone (Wi-Fi access is by request only) for an escape into the great, refined outdoors.

... The focus, clearly, is on healthy living; from the cleansing foods to the tailor-made spa, yoga and therapeutic programmes, including ones that deal with trauma and sleep deprivation.

This private island retreat feels like the happy love-child of a breezy Maine beach house and a tropic-exotic beauty: salt-white sand, cobalt-blue sea and a house of sumptuous, airy bedrooms. We love the unexpected touches...

The design is intentionally hard to classify... something that exists in very few places in the world. That's in addition to the island itself, with its perfect white sand and clear turquoise waters just feet away from the house.

When not swimming, snorkelling, diving or kayaking, it will be possible to laze by the pool, try a pizza-making class or have the island’s staff prepare a lunch to be taken on the veranda... As for the villa itself, it’s a befittingly homely place.

A different view entirely from the geodesic dome-like tents at The Highlands, the only luxury camp on Tanzania's Olmoti Volcano, which has Africa's highest lion density.

It’s the first camp near the northern gate of the Ngorongoro Crater, so while most visitors queue at the southern end in the early morning, Asilia guests can sleep in, then take a leisurely descent to the crater floor.

With abundant wildflowers, solar lanterns and star-speckled skies, the camp feels like an enchanted garden, while at night wood-burning stoves, faux-fur throws and a good stock of malt whiskies make perfect sense when you're at a chilly altitude of 8,700 feet.

They look like something from a wacky New Age community but are, in fact, sturdy and comfortable... You can lie in your king-size bed looking at the stars and there’s a wood-burning stove, and a panoramic wooden deck.

Other diversions include a proper spa with three treatment rooms and a 15-meter infinity pool. And you’re surrounded by lovely gardens, an impressive art collection, and beyond, the Franschhoek wine country in all of its glory.

The latest entrant in the Franschhoek valley has raised the bar and then some. It is perched on the slopes of the Dassenberg and there are just 17 elegant rooms. Expect sublime views of the landscaped gardens and oak-lined river, an arresting art collection and excellent facilities. Expert rating: 8/10.

Still dreaming about tempura langoustines with smoked leeks, wild garlic, and parsley, and that bottle of Mullineux & Leeu chenin blanc.

A beautifully landscaped, 17-room gem with its own wine cellar (tastings are gratis for guests), a spa, and a farm-to-table restaurant.

The view is nothing short of monumental, with its rolling fields of grapevines and ancient oak trees backed by jagged Lord of the Rings mountains. Every manicured inch of Singh's 168-acre estate has been tamed and polished...

It's very much a resort, so there are all sorts of bells and whistles (three restaurants, a kids' club, that sort of thing) and a stonking Banyan spa.

The opening of the Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay boasts at least a couple of firsts: the first all-pool villa resort in Morocco, and the first outpost of the Singaporean brand in Africa and along the Mediterranean... the resort ticks all the boxes of an idyllic beach retreat.

A beautiful bay a half hour’s drive from Tangiers or an hour and a half from Casablanca, it’s a perfect gateway to Chefchaouen (the famed Blue City) and the UNESCO-protected Andalusian town of Tetouan.

Beyond is the pool surrounded by high walls and pillars and cleverly designed so guests can skinny-dip with abandon... The resort mixes the simple and exotic... The spa is a sepulchrally calm space next to a tranquil garden, where traditional techniques combine with natural ingredients.

The Marfa Book Company, a 21-year-old local institution, moved into the hotel lobby where it shares space with paintings by Texan Jeff Elrod.

The hotel’s minimal, industrial spaces were created by Houston-based Carlos Jiménez Studio, while the 55 rooms have been dressed by interior designer Alice Cottrell with Austrian sheepskin rugs and distressed leather couches.

The 26 art deco-inspired rooms have been stylishly outfitted with Louis de Poortere rugs, and Fontana Arte and Flos lamps, while public spaces have been dressed with black and white marble, and a palette of blues, pinks and dusky reds.

With Dimore Studio in charge of design, this new Paris address has a warm feel and strong Art Deco influences. With a mahogany and velvet interior, orange-toned Seventies fabrics and Asian-inspired screens, it is typical of the Milanese duo’s signature style...

A secluded stretch of beach on the southernmost coast of Sri Lanka is just one of the smart draws of this 152-room resort, where the sound of the ocean is louder than patrons’ chatter.

The resort lives up to Anantara’s marketing promise to connect “modern travelers” to “genuine places, people and stories through personal experiences.” Every luxury hotel company is selling that now, but here, Anantara is delivering.

Tourism on Sri Lanka’s unspoilt south coast is on the rise and luxury Asian hotel brand Anantara has been one of the first to plant its flag on the beach. Totally tropical are the only words that describe this former coconut plantation near Tangalle. Expert rating: 7/10.