Best Hotels & Lodges

Sapporo is one of Japan's most liveable cities – spacious, grid-planned, and blessed with excellent food, craft beer, and easy access to both ski slopes and seafood markets. Opened in December 2025, the hotel sits just a four-minute walk from JR Sapporo Station, with direct access to the underground walkway that keeps you sheltered from winter's bite. The design threads Hokkaido's earthy tones throughout, and facilities punch above typical city-hotel weight: a grill restaurant showcasing local produce, a guest-only public bath, and a Premium Lounge with terrace views for those in higher-tier rooms. It's a polished base for exploring the city's ramen alleys, craft breweries, and – come February – the famous Snow Festival.

Standing proudly on Naples' seafront since 1882, this iconic establishment has been welcoming illustrious guests through its stately doors for generations. Positioned in the heart of the city with unrivalled views of Castle dell'Ovo and the glittering Bay of Naples, you'll be immersed in both history and luxury from the moment you arrive. Belgian financier Oscar du Mesnil was so captivated by Naples' beauty that he built this waterfront gem during the city's grand urban transformation. Today, the hotel maintains its heritage charm while discreetly incorporating modern comforts. Whether you're sipping prosecco at the panoramic Sky Lounge as the sun sets over Mount Vesuvius or enjoying a morning espresso on your private balcony, you'll understand why celebrities and travellers alike have made this their Neapolitan pied-à-terre for over a century.

Marataba Lodge offers a super-luxurious safari experience within an exclusive private concession in the Marakele National Park. This vast wilderness area spans a staggering 75,000 hectares of spectacular terrain at the far western range of the Waterberg Mountains in Limpopo Province—an easy four-hour drive from Johannesburg. A private airstrip offers a fly-in option. Renowned for superb game viewing, this malaria-free Big 5 reserve covers some of South Africa’s most dramatic landscapes, with soaring mountain ranges, wide stretches of savanna, dense indigenous forests and permanent waterways.

In a landscape of granite peaks, roaming leopards and the the quaint villages of Jawai, SUJÁN blends sophistication and eco-living with its 10 luxury tents. Breaking with tradition, the tents are industrial chic with their mix of burnished metal and canvas - all seasonally rebuilt on shipping containers to minimise their footprint. Black and white photos of leopards and pops of scarlet, paying homage to the signature turbans of the Rabari herdsmen hint at days spent in the wilderness. After a welcome of rose lemonade or champagne, SUJÁN is a fine-tuned camp with adventure in its roots.

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.