Best Hotels & Lodges

Portofino (all 500 metres of it!) has charmed royals and Hollywood stars since the 1950s – and the famous Eight Hotel charms just as many today! Set inside a renovated Ligurian townhouse on a sleepy side street, the boutique hideaway is a lovely alternative to the grand dames on the water: small, quiet and just a couple of minutes' stroll from the harbour's colourful chaos. Breakfast happens under the chestnut trees in the private garden, there's a heated jacuzzi on the deck for aperitivo hour, and a complimentary shuttle will whisk you down to the emerald cove of Paraggi when the beach calls.

A land of helichrysum and juniper, of vast spaces and vibrant colours, Sardinia amazes and captivates. In the silence of a centuries-old park, your gaze turns to the immensity of the crystalline sea, and reality becomes a dream. A whisper of luxury awaits you in the whiteness of spaces furnished with care and passion, where refined culinary experiences marry with ancient traditions, renewed to create perfect images, cut out on the light paper of dreams. Make a wish, you're in L'ea Bianca

Perched on a forested hilltop overlooking the Sea of Okhotsk, this is a refreshingly relaxed base for exploring one of Japan's most extraordinary corners. The Shiretoko Peninsula – whose Ainu name means 'the end of the earth' – earned UNESCO status for good reason: brown bears patrol the coastline, orcas cruise the waters, and drift ice transforms the sea each winter. Back at the resort, the approach is decidedly Scandinavian-inspired, embracing 'hygge' – that cosy, unhurried contentment the Danes do so well. With all-inclusive drinks, a recently renovated onsen, excellent buffet dining and genuinely warm service, it's a comfortable cocoon from which to venture into the wild.

Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse nestles in the beautiful Kamberg region of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, set on 202 hectares of rolling hills at the foot of the Drakensberg mountains. It is owned and run by Richard and Mouse Poynton, whose many years of experience, passion for cooking and flair for ingenuity have created a rare experience in this serene mountain setting. You'll be welcomed warmly, stay in idyllic accommodation, walk in the mountains, wallow in the silence far from traffic and meetings, enjoy seven-course dinners and be pampered in the spa. Just gaze at the view and feel the tension dissolve.

Villa Bordoni is a ‘Patrician Villa’ – the former country residence of the Bordonis, a family of wealthy merchants from the city of Florence. The villa was acquired by David and Catherine Gardner in 2002, and lovingly restored over a period of more than 3 years to create a beautiful country hotel and restaurant in this historic villa, overlooking the valley of Greve and commanding exceptional views of the Chianti landscape.

On the Umbria–Tuscany border, the Bolza family spent three decades on a project most hoteliers wouldn't touch: restoring an 11th-century castle and its 3,700 acres of wilderness, one step at a time. Count Antonio bought the estate in 1994 and since then, his son Benedikt (handily also an architect), has designed nearly every object, fabric and fixture on the property. The result feels like you're stepping into someone's astonishingly beautiful home — and one that comes with a candlelit subterranean Bathhouse carved from the old wine cellars and a stable of Spanish purebreds, too! It opened in 2021, and (impressively) already holds Three Michelin Keys, the guide's highest honour.