When the hotel is the destination

Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes

For: icon status and poolside people-watching

Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc needs little introduction. For more than a century, the grande dame has drawn writers, aristocrats and the Riviera’s best dressed to its clifftop perch above the Mediterranean. Guests come for the famous saltwater pool carved into the rocks and stay to see who might drift past their sun lounger. The 22 acres of gardens sloping down to the sea, the Dior Spa and Michelin-starred Louroc with its Provençal specialities simply reinforce a decision well made.

Amangiri, Utah

For: architecture and total solitude

There’s a reason Amangiri keeps turning up in people’s plans. Set in Canyon Point, Utah, its modernist architecture feels carved straight out of the surrounding desert. Suites open onto vast views, many with private plunge pools, while days tend to revolve around the central pool built around a 165-million-year-old rock formation that proves notoriously hard to pull yourself away from. Floating meditation sessions, stargazing and the spa are otherworldly. This is a place people come to switch off completely and stay put.

Singita Lebombo Luxury Lodge & Safari, Kruger National Park

For: glass-walled suites in the wild

Singita Lebombo sits high above the N’wanetsi River in a private corner of Kruger National Park, its glass-walled suites inspired by eagles’ nests and anchored into the cliffs. Game drives are, unsurprisingly, excellent, but the lodge itself has a habit of stealing attention. Between time on the rooftop terrace, laps in the pool, wine tastings and sessions at the culinary school, even the most lion-focused guests find themselves happily distracted. This is a safari chosen as much for the experience of staying here as for what unfolds beyond the glass.

Cap Rocat, Mallorca

For: fortress living at its finest

Crossing a drawbridge to reach your hotel is the first clue you’re in for a unique stay. Set within a former military fortress inside a protected nature reserve above the Bay of Palma, Cap Rocat is Mallorca at its most private. The most secluded stays are the Sentinel Suites, carved into old defensive positions, with cliff-edge terraces, siesta-worthy hammocks and private pools. A spa set 20 metres underground is where time really starts to slow, while long evenings at Sea Club leave little reason to look beyond the walls.

Kasbah Tamadot, Morocco

For: a world of its own

Set high in the Atlas Mountains, Kasbah Tamadot makes everyday life feel a long way off. Whether it’s a leisurely dip in the infinity pool with Mount Toubkal in view or time spent drifting between the hammam and sun-soaked tennis courts, it’s easy to lose track of time here. Mountain biking and scenic treks are on offer if you’re feeling energetic, but the grounds are just as persuasive, particularly when the day’s highlight is a hands-on tagine-making session in the kitchen. Evenings tend to finish under the stars at the open-air cinema.

Hotel Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole

For: secret society vibes and the bar scene

Il Pellicano is the kind of hotel that exists in the imagination long before you arrive. Created in the 1960s by a charismatic American socialite and a British aviator, it quickly became a magnet for Hollywood friends and European high society. Life here drifts between the Beach Club, cliffside swims and those unmistakable white-and-yellow striped towels (you know the ones), before gathering at Bar All’Aperto, where aperitivo keeps its own hours. Tennis courts, a spa and a well-stocked wine cellar make a strong case for staying exactly where you are.

Soneva Fushi, Maldives

For: slides, stars and serious fun

Soneva Fushi turns escapism into something joyful. Think vast villas, private pools and slides that carry you straight into the lagoon. Indoors and outdoors blur, with retractable roofs opening at the touch of a button for nights spent drifting off beneath a sky full of stars. Dining leans into the theatre too, with Flying Sauces, a treetop platform reached by zipline and hosted by visiting Michelin-starred chefs. Guests don’t come here simply to see the Maldives. They come for this particular version of it.

Fogo Island Inn, Fogo Island

For: a hotel worth the journey

There are few hotels that genuinely feel off the beaten track, and Fogo Island Inn is one of them. Its striking, stilted architecture takes its cue from traditional fishing stages, rising above the North Atlantic with 29 rooms shaped around floor-to-ceiling views and furniture crafted by local artisans. For a place this remote, the inn offers plenty to occupy you, from wood-burning saunas and open-air hot tubs on the rooftop to a cinema created with the National Film Board of Canada and a library devoted to all things Newfoundland.