I’m the MailOnline Travel Editor – and these are the 37 greatest locations I’ve ever stayed in, from hyper-luxury resorts to chocolate field B&Bs and one very dramatic fortress

It would have been 38.

But this list was shortened by an incredible holiday rental in the Scottish village of Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula – Britain’s most remote mainland community – being sold.

However, this compendium of 37 of the best places I’ve stayed in during more than a decade of reviewing properties for MailOnline I’m confident is long enough to power up your wanderlust and warm-up your credit card.

In no particular order you’ll find hyper-luxury hotels, charming B&Bs, dramatic castles and pinch-me safari lodges.

How do I define ‘best’? Well, a property doesn’t necessarily need a stunning swimming pool or Michelin-starred dining to leave me desperate to return, as you’ll see (though they undoubtedly help).

What connects all these properties is that they combine an alluring location with charm, luxury, and incredible service to leave guests spellbound.

BRITAIN 

Hotel Meudon – Falmouth, Cornwall

Paradise found. On Cornwall’s south coast.

Hotel Meudon lies in a hidden valley just south of Falmouth and has a quite breathtaking eight-acre subtropical tiered garden.

Venture down the pathways leading away from the hotel and into the very bowels of the vegetation and the botanical set-up becomes like a scene from Jurassic Park, with leaves the size of home cinema screens sprouting forth amid moss-covered exotic trees.

And mere yards beyond this jungle-garden lies the hotel’s hidden private beach – Bream Cove. It’s accessible only by boat, a path from the hotel and the South West Coast Path, and further enhances the vibe of Lost Island.

Visit www.meudon.co.uk, call +44 1326 250541 and email reservations@meudon.co.uk.

Pepper Cottage – Kemerton, Cotswolds

‘The only thing that may disturb you at night,’ our host said, ‘is the thud of an apple dropping from a tree in the orchard, or the hoot of an owl.’

And in the daytime, the guest experience at Pepper Cottage B&B in Kemerton, in the Cotswolds, is equally stress-free.

Life here is one of gently crackling fires in the drawing room, lolling on beautiful furniture and congenial and engaging conversations with the utterly charming, worldly host, Toushy Squires.

Email peppercottage1@gmail.com or visit www.peppercottage.org.

Askham Hall – near Penrith, Lake District

They say fairytales are make-believe.

Grade I-listed Askham Hall hotel in the Lake District will leave you doubting this – it’s like a fantasy-fable house made real, with grand yet homely interiors, a kitchen garden straight from Middle-earth’s Shire and staff with welcomes warm enough for any Disney prince or princess.

I was there with my partner and young daughter following the hotel’s crowning as VisitEngland Small Hotel of the Year 2023.

Did it live up to the hype?

We’d fallen in love with the jewel of a property after just a few steps beyond the entrance lobby, where awards for the 19-bedroom hotel and its Michelin-starred restaurant, Allium, form a guard of honour.

Visit www.askhamhall.co.uk. 

Cameron House – Loch Lomond, Scotland 

Cameron House, a short drive north from Glasgow, is an enticing venue for ring-bearing boyfriends and their brides-to-be (I witnessed a proposal), for foodies, families, fishermen, football fans (there’s a sports bar), film fanatics (there’s an onsite cinema) and former U.S presidents (Barack Obama stayed in the Cameron Suite at the hotel during Glasgow‘s Cop26 climate summit).

What’s more, you’ll get service that’s nigh-on faultless, no matter whether you worked in the Oval Office or the Ovaltine office.

Our inviting family bedroom had a room with a children’s bunk bed that delighted our young daughter, a small living room, complete with a vibrantly red sofa and matching armchairs, a master bedroom with a wonderfully luxurious king-sized bed, a posh ensuite bathroom with separate rain shower, twin sinks and a bath (with a shower) and hipster vintage wallpaper throughout. 

Views? They’re outstanding. The hotel sits by Loch Lomond, home to 22 islands and 27 islets, with the piece de resistance view-wise being the mighty Ben Lomond, a mesmerising 3,193ft- (974m) tall ancient volcano. 

Visit www.cameronhouse.co.uk for more. 

Monachyle Mhor hotel – Perthshire, Scotland 

‘One to remember.’

This is how Monachyle Mhor hotel describes itself on its website.

Whoever pens the property’s online blurbs could have seriously ramped up the hype and there would have been no complaints from me, because this is one extremely special place to stay.

One to remember? You’ll never forget.

The magically remote location alone will prompt multiple visits, with the property lying in deepest Perthshire down a meandering single-track lane between lochs Voil and Doine.

Inside, eclectically furnished rooms, wonderful cooking and genial staff await.

Visit monachylemhor.net.

Kilmartin Castle – Argyll, Scotland 

A stay at Kilmartin Castle comes with a few warnings.

Check-in and you’ll need to mind your head, watch your step and keep an eye out for the occasional bat – they like it in there.

But if you’re at ease with low door frames, uneven staircases and the odd visit from winged creatures of the night, there is a strong chance you’ll be completely smitten with the place.

This 16th-century castle – set in rural Argyll in one of Scotland’s most historically fascinating areas – is extraordinary.

It’s Game of Thrones hipster chic. An imposing, dramatic, thick-walled fortress – but with mod cons, delightful luxury boutique touches, a splash of cool (this is a castle where guests can spin vinyl), and laid-back, welcoming, bonhomie-infused owners – Stef Burgon and husband Simon Hunt – who you’ll be chatting to like old friends within minutes. 

Visit www.kilmartincastle.com.

Raffles London at The OWO

This vast, dazzling 120-room property, which opened as a Raffles hotel in September 2023, is stuffed to the gills with thrilling history, the service is faultless and, as my video footage shows, guests are ensconced in grandeur and exquisite luxury, in a post-card perfect location – opposite Horse Guards Parade and the official entrance to Buckingham Palace.

The trapezium-shaped building was constructed in Edwardian Baroque style and opened in 1906 as the War Office, eventually becoming the place where MI5 and MI6 were conceived and, while it didn’t serve as their headquarters, it was a day-to-day workplace for spies, including James Bond author Ian Fleming, a liaison with the Secret Intelligence Services during WWII .

It was also where the chief of the imperial general staff, Alan Brooke, helped Sir Winston Churchill mastermind the Allied victory over Hitler.

Today, Instagram-baiting allure awaits around every corner.

For example, visit the pool, which occupies a space within the extra three basement levels Raffles dug, and you’ll probably end up spending as much time taking pictures of it as you will swimming. 

Visit www.raffles.com/london.

The Dorchester – London

The Dorchester hotel in London is beloved by Hollywood A-listers, who must step inside and wonder if they really have left their make-believe worlds behind.

For this peachy Park Lane property – whose past guests include Elizabeth Taylor, David Bowie, Peter Sellers and Brigitte Bardot – is a veritable hospitality fantasyland. So utterly luxurious it feels unreal, like a set for a movie about the planet’s poshest hotel.

Opulence drips from every nook, cranny, corner and crevice. Eclectic furniture and art dazzle the eyeballs. Staff glide around treating every lister – A, B, C, D and downwards to Z – as if they are a visiting dignitary. No one can move further than a few feet without posing for selfies.

The AA dispatched an inspector to the Mayfair hotel this year and they were as spellbound as all the other guests, declaring the hotel ‘the best in London‘ for 2024.

Visit www.dorchestercollection.com/london/the-dorchester.

The Peninsula London

The Peninsula London is located next to one of Britain’s busiest roundabouts at Hyde Park Corner – which on paper doesn’t sound like a great location.

But actually, the 1 Grosvenor Place address means the hotel can offer guests jaw-dropping views of the London skyline, and even the Buckingham Palace gardens.

And the roundabout – with its herds of buses, black cabs and posh cars – helps to create an energy around the property that’s somehow quite thrilling.

Inside, it’s wonderfully luxurious and serene, the traffic noise virtually non-existent thanks to glass seemingly thick enough to withstand reentry to the Earth’s atmosphere.

The service? Faultless. The food? Exceptional. The rooms? Beautiful. The amenities? Stunning, including a five-star cinema and a breathtaking 25m pool. 

Visit www.peninsula.com/en/london/5-star-luxury-hotel-belgravia.

The Little Cottage – Elterwater, the Lake District

One of the best things about the gloomier, colder months of the year, you’ll agree, is walking past a cosy house at night and catching a glimpse inside through open curtains – the spirits lifting as you imagine what it might be like to live there.

The Little Cottage in the minuscule village of Elterwater in the Lake District is a prime candidate for such winter-window lusting.

Peek through the living room window to behold a hygge wonderland – a luxurious L-shaped sofa, a wood-burning stove, a basket of logs, an armchair, a wooden beam and the plumpest of cushions strewn hither and thither.

Book in for a stay and you’ll discover that slate-smothered Little Cottage delivers on the promise – it’s enchantingly cosy when you’re inside, too.

Visit www.oliverstravels.com/britain-ireland/lake-district/the-little-cottage. Note – listed elsewhere as Little Nut Cottage.

Titanic hotel – Liverpool

It’s on the site of a filming location for Captain America: The First Avenger – and it’s a marvel of a place to stay.

Titanic Hotel Liverpool won the Large Hotel of the Year gong at 2023’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. And I can confirm that it was a worthy recipient, with the location’s Captain America cameo adding an extra dollop of allure.

In the 2011 blockbuster, the scene where a freshly bulked-up Steve Rogers chases a Hydra agent driving a yellow taxi was filmed on Regent Road next to the historical Grade II listed North Warehouse of Stanley Dock that houses the hotel.

The chase sequence continues within the iconic Stanley Dock complex, with the Hydra agent – plot spoiler – attempting to get away in a sinister little black submarine.

Stanley Dock has also been used for gritty scenes in Peaky Blinders and 2009’s Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr.

These days the Victorian North Warehouse looks almost unrecognisable from its screen appearances thanks to a £36million regeneration project that has put Titanic Hotel Liverpool centre stage on the site since it opened in 2014.

The DNA of the building has been beautifully preserved outside and inside, with the 153-room four-star hotel seducing with lashings of exposed brickwork, steel columns, alluring black-and-grey hues and bedrooms that the VisitEngland judges say are ‘spacious’ but that I’m keen to point out can be gargantuan.

Visit www.titanichotelliverpool.com.

Gilpin Hotel – the Lake District

This property – set in 100 acres four miles east of the lake Windermere shoreline and part of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux portfolio – is very special indeed.

And the countryside here is a fairy-tale fantasy world akin to, well, take your pick from any number of fables – Middle-earth, Wind in the Willows, Narnia. Possibly Avatar. Yoda’s refuge planet of Dagobah at a stretch. Dramatic crags, lost lanes, magical moss-covered woods and chocolate box hamlets abound.

The hotel has two sites – Gilpin Lake House and Gilpin Hotel, which boasts a Michelin-starred restaurant called Source, helmed by Fat Duck alumnus Ollie Bridgwater, and a more casual restaurant, Gilpin Spice, which has two AA rosettes.

It’s a hotel that does the English hospitality industry proud, with next-level staff, luxurious rooms and excellent food offerings.

Visit www.relaischateaux.com/gb/hotel/gilpin-hotel-lake-house. 

The Parkgate Hotel – Cardiff

This property, named best hotel in Wales in the 2024 AA Hospitality Awards, is officially a four-star hotel – but it feels five-star.

My room was on the fourth floor – a Deluxe Junior Suite comprising two separate double rooms (Nos 426 and 427) with a connecting lobby.

Any hotel room worth its salt should be a magnet, pulling you back in whenever you try to leave.

Test passed. I could have moved in.

Visit www.theparkgatehotel.wales. 

Cley Windmill – Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk

A stay at Cley Windmill in the chocolate-box village of Cley-next-the-Sea is like being in a living Constable painting.

The former flour mill, built іn the early 19th century, stands five storeys high on the edge of the village, next to the River Glaven and positioned sentry-like over a mini wilderness, a fascinating marshy interface between the land and North Sea that’s laced with ponds and home to dozens of bird species, including marsh harriers, barn owls, curlew, pied avocet and pink-footed geese.

The windmill has 10 rooms, including one mid-way up the tower, the ‘Stone Room’, that singer James Blunt used to stay in when his family owned the property. Above this is the Wheel Room, which guests must sign a waiver to stay in because access is via a very steep ladder.

I stayed in the River Room on the ground floor, which has direct access to a lawn and a walkway that cuts into a forest of reeds.

Aside from a temperamental ensuite shower that dribbled water, it was lovely accommodation. And the windmill as a whole, with its charming staff, rustic beamed interiors and excellent breakfasts, made for a wonderful base for exploring the surrounds.

Visit cleywindmill.co.uk.

EUROPE

Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle – France

I felt like a royal at Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle the moment I stepped across the threshold.

Not least because it’s in the Palace of Versailles grounds – and the building that houses it used to be a functioning part of the palace, built in 1681 by former resident King Louis XIV’s favourite architect, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and used from Louis XV to Louis XVI’s reign as the equivalent of today’s Ministry of Finance, playing host to the European cultural elite.

Then there’s the hotel’s impeccably authentic furniture and décor, the pitch-perfect service from devoted staff, the sumptuous bedrooms, the outrageously opulent pool and the incredible Michelin-starred dining experience – The Feast – by superstar chef Alain Ducasse, which took me back to the time of Louis XIV’s reign, with dishes inspired by meals he ate and wonderful theatrics by staff in flowery period outfits.

Visit airelles.com/en/destination/chateau-de-versailles-hotel.

Les Airelles – Courchevel 1850, France

I have quite an imagination – yet I’d struggle to dream up an Alpine hotel any more wonderful than Les Airelles.

It’s officially one of the best hotels in France, awarded a ‘palace’ rating by the Ministry of Tourism for ‘enhancing the image of the country’ – and I discovered that this is no meaningless accolade.

Its location alone is the stuff of skiers’ fantasies, nestled among trees next to a tiny winding run – Jardin Alpin – in Courchevel 1850.

By all accounts, it’s one of the most prestigious plots of land anywhere in Europe.

This is the resort, after all, where billionaires and princes and princesses come to play in the snow – the Prince and Princess of Wales have holidayed here – and Les Airelles is in one of the best spots.

The building is a picturesque grand chalet inspired by Bavarian baroque architecture with 37 exquisite rooms and 14 suites. The stuff of fairytales from the outside and inside. 

Visit airelles.com/en/destination/courchevel-hotel. 

Cheval Blanc Courchevel – Courchevel 1850 ski resort, France

Cheval Blanc Courchevel is a hotel world you will not want to leave.

From the location to the rooms, and from the service to the spa and the restaurants (including a three-Michelin-starred eatery), Cheval Blanc Courchevel comes within a whisker of perfection, every time.

My room – one of 36 – was a corner suite with two balconies, one offering stupendous views through woods to the peaks beyond, and the other down the road past multiple luxurious hotels and Rolls-Royce SUVs.

During my January 2023 visit, there were winter-wonderland levels of snow, so the vistas were extra-magical.

It’s not cheap, but you get what you pay for – and with this hotel, that’s practically a religious experience.

Visit www.chevalblanc.com/fr/maison/courchevel. 

Chalet Blackcomb – Val d’Isere, France

There should be a word for it.

That feeling you have in the mornings on a ski holiday when you’re desperate to hit the slopes, but are being held back by the cosiness of your accommodation (the Germans probably have it covered).

The luxurious snugness of Consensio Chalets’ five-bedroom Chalet Blackcomb in the world-class French resort of Val d’Isere is like a tractor beam.

My room was a heavenly cocoon, with a divine king-sized bed, beautifully soft pillows, mini banquette, ensuite with a walk-in rain shower augmented by classy black fittings and views of dramatic peaks.

Escape this, and there’s the lure of the 3,659-sq-ft property’s breathtaking living areas to overcome.

Visit www.consensiochalets.co.uk/property/chalet-blackcomb.  

Severin*s, The Alpine Retreat – Lech, Austria

Severin*s is, more or less, perfect.

It ranks as not just one of the best places I’ve stayed in a ski resort, but as one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in anywhere.

The needle on the hotel-quality-o-meter was given an initial jolt by our knock-out bedroom – a ‘senior suite’.

Personally, I’d have renamed it. Heavenly snug lair of luxury suite, perhaps. Rustic Alpine cosiness is blended masterfully with sleek modernity.

The indoor pool, meanwhile, is stylish enough for a Vogue cover shoot. And the restaurant serves exquisite food.

Visit www.severins-lech.at. 

Lido Beach hotel – Hyeres, Provence, France

The very definition of a hidden gem.

Lido Beach hotel is officially a three-star, but a five-star experience, with beachcomber-chic bedrooms and a restaurant (serving delicious food and an epic bottomless brunch) that isn’t just on the beach – it’s part of the beach, with sand for a floor.

Top travel tip – Hyeres has its own airport, served by seasonal summer easyJet flights, and the hotel is a mere 25-minute walk from the terminal.

Visit lido-beach.com. 

La Bastide, Gordes, Luberon region – Provence, France

I challenge anyone to stay at the impossibly splendid La Bastide hotel and spa in the impossibly beautiful village of Gordes in Provence’s Luberon region and not throw superlatives around like confetti when describing it.

The aesthetic of the hotel – housed in a stunning 16th-century white-stone building – is Renaissance chic and the look, overseen by interior designer Christophe Tollemer during a 33million-euro renovation in 2014, even extends to functional elements.

Nothing is hum-drum.

And period furniture and artefacts sourced from prestigious antique dealers have been liberally dispersed throughout – and over 2,000 paintings line the walls.

This is a seriously sumptuous and refined retreat in one of the most picturesque locations in France.

Visit airelles.com/en/destination/gordes-hotel. 

The Peninsula Paris

Anyone wanting to be a success in the hospitality business would do well to spend a night here, or even just have lunch or a coffee, and take notes.

Or if really pushed for time – just walk into the lobby, because that alone will take your breath away.

If there were Oscars for hotel lobbies, this would be in the running.

My room continued the wow-this-is-just-utterly-splendid theme and the staff were impeccably courteous. 

An absolute gem. 

Visit www.peninsula.com/en/paris/5-star-luxury-hotel-16th-arrondissement.

Cheval Blanc Paris

What happens when you fine-tune hospitality to the nth degree? Cheval Blanc Paris is one example. A hotel that is more or less impossible to over-hype.

Before it opened it was heralded as having ‘all the magic ingredients to make it [2021’s] most exciting hotel opening’.

Whoever rustled up that phrase was bang on the money. 

This extraordinary property delivers on every level, from the breathtaking views and incredible location by the river Seine to the impeccable service, from the superb dining options to the sensational bedrooms and from the spoil-me-rotten Dior Spa that features the largest indoor hotel swimming pool in Europe to the way luxury oozes from every inch of the interior.

Visit www.chevalblanc.com.

Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris

This 244-room hotel in Paris proudly boasts of its location ‘in the heart of the city’s Golden Triangle designer shopping district’, with the Champs-Elysées, Avenue Marceau and Avenue Montaigne bordering the property and the Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde and Eiffel Tower just moments away.

It’s a worthwhile brag – but I’d argue the hotel, with its trio of one, two and three-Michelin-starred restaurants, gorgeous pool and magnificent public spaces, is an attraction in itself.

Ever wondered how good a hotel can get? Step this way.

Visit www.fourseasons.com/paris.

Hotel Lutetia – Paris

This hotel oozes class throughout, it’s a wonder-world of refinement – and, for bonus points, has a fascinating history.

The name is a nod to the Roman city of Lutetia, Paris’s predecessor, which was centred near the hotel’s location in the chic Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighbourhood.

One of the star attractions of this area is Le Bon Marché – the first modern department store.

It was originally a novelty shop called Au Bon Marché, which opened in 1838, but it was transformed by Aristide Boucicaut and his wife, Marguerite, in 1852 into a store that would change how Parisians – and then the world – shopped.

The innovations included fixed prices, reduced margins, home delivery, exchange of articles, mail-order sales, white goods, sales, private concerts and a library corner.

In 1907, the board of Le Bon Marché turned its attention to hoteliery and decided to open a luxury hotel directly across from its famous store.

After all, it reasoned, it would be perfect for lodging customers and suppliers.

Hotel Lutetia was born. And it went on to become just as legendary as its department store sibling. 

Visit www.hotellutetia.com.

Four Seasons Lisbon

Think next level. Then one up from that.

And that’s where Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon sits in the world of hospitality.

In Lisbon, it sits a few levels up physically from the city centre, on a hillside overlooking the Parque Eduardo VII.

From the outside, with your eyes screwed up, it could be a block of flats, but this modernist structure, built in 1959 as a property ‘to make Portugal proud’ by dictator António de Oliveira Salazar (and run by Four Seasons since 1997), is actually smothered with more than 40,000 square metres of marble.

Stepping through the glass doors held open by the immaculately polite squadron of doormen is to enter a hotel fantasyland.

I stayed in a fifth-floor junior suite, which was sumptuous beyond estimation, and ate at the hotel’s one-Michelin-star restaurant, Cura, which was highly impressive, mesmerising even. 

Four Seasons – it’s still making Portugal proud. 

Visit www.fourseasons.com/lisbon.  

Castello di Potentino – Tuscany, Italy

This 11th-century castle, on the side of dormant volcano Monte Amiata, is a monument rammed with treasures in every room and corridor that’s warm, welcoming and cosily careworn, too.

My room, the ‘green room’, was spooky and romantic in equal measure, with a gloriously antique metal-framed bed with two black oval headrests – very Adams Family – timbered ceiling and a view across the glorious Tuscan wilderness.

The bathroom, meanwhile, was magnificent, with a standalone claw-foot bath with rain shower the jewel in the en-suite crown. Its position in the room means I could see out across the aforementioned wilderness while freshening up.

Breakfasts at Potentino are self-service and consumed in yet another beautifully rustic room. To one side is a gigantic fireplace and in the middle a big wooden communal table around which croissants and fresh fruit are munched and pots of tea and coffee slurped. 

Visit book.potentino.com.

USA

The Moorings Village – Islamorada, Florida Keys

The Moorings Village resort is in the Florida Keys, the island chain that stretches to America’s most southern point.

And it occupies an 18-acre beachside plot on one of the Keys’ prettiest islands – Islamorada (eye-luh-murr-ah-da) – about a third of the way down. 

And it’s simply stunning, comprising 17 self-catered cottages, an incredible outdoor pool and a private white-sand beach.

Its website describes it as an ‘oasis… tropical, tranquil and untouched’. Sounds good, right?

That’s underselling it. And I’m sure the cast and crew of Netflix series Bloodline, which was filmed on location there, would agree.

Visit www.themooringsvillage.com.

The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel – New York

The lobby sets the tone at The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel – and the tone is unabashed Art Deco sophistication. Here, I was bewitched by the black marble floor and chic mustard-yellow furniture.

My fifth-floor quarters offered nothing much in the way of views, but plenty to beguile the eyeballs on the inside.

The 800-square-foot suite comprised a bedroom, ensuite and living room that could all be individually closed off, giving the space an apartment feel.

And what an apartment – an exercise in timeless Art Deco elegance.

Visit www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/the-carlyle-new-york. 

Baccarat Hotel – New York

The 114-room Baccarat Hotel has a noble design aesthetic reminiscent of 18th-century France and is officially part of the legendary French Baccarat crystal brand so, naturellement, it’s dripping with exquisite crystal features.

There are 17 custom Baccarat chandeliers in the property, with a 64-arm chandelier the piece de resistance in the salon, and 100 custom-designed works of art. In the platinum-and-Champagne-hued salon, eye-catching pieces adorn towering shelves that reach towards the 35ft-high ceiling, while on the parquet floor below are a multitude of plush upholstered chairs and banquettes. 

My chambers? A Grand Classic King on the eighth floor, which revealed itself to be a most distinguished sanctuary. 

Visit www.baccarathotels.com.

Aman New York

The Aman New York hotel has a gigantic spa covering 2,300 square metres across three storeys – and features a sensational 20-metre swimming pool. With firepits.

The ultimate spot in Manhattan for alleviating stress? It turns out the entire hotel is the ultimate Big Apple stress-buster. 

A temple of tranquillity for generation zen with whisper-quiet rooms as hushed as a recording studio.

Visit www.aman.com/hotels/aman-new-york. 

JAPAN 

Hoshinoya Kyoto

It’s not hard to see why Hollywood actress Jessica Alba fell in love with Kyoto’s Hoshinoya hotel.

Tucked away among trees overlooking a gentle river, it’s a truly wonderful retreat in a bucolic setting.

Ms Alba told Vanity Fair it was a ‘magical place’ and I was similarly bewitched, with my check-in taking ages because I had to drag my jaw around the floor as I was shown around.

It’s a place of stunning, zen-like luxury. 

Visit www.hoshinoresorts.com/en/resortsandhotels/hoshinoya/kyoto.

The Peninsula Tokyo

Stepping into the lobby here is like stepping into a movie. It has a permanent air of muted excitement.

A huge statement chandelier formed from dozens of dangling light bulbs hangs over deep red décor and dining areas to the sides at which business folk, jet-setters and rich tourists chat away as they sip green tea, cocktails and Champagne.

Staff hurry from table to table with a practised ease, ensuring that no one waits longer than mere seconds to be served.

At the back is an elegant curved sculpture itching to be the backdrop to a James Bond film.

It’s a great place to people watch.

And the rooms? Wonderful, with lots of thoughtful extras – nail dryers, for instance. 

If you book, don’t forget to have a dip in the magnificent pool, where traditional Japanese music is wafted under the water.

Visit www.peninsula.com/tokyo. 

Palace Hotel, Tokyo

The Palace Hotel.

It doesn’t look like a palace from the outside, but rest assured that this sweeping piece of 23-storey real estate in the Marunouchi business district of Tokyo offers sumptuous lodgings and dining of the highest order that the scion of the imperial family would probably love to sample.

My 11th-floor room had a spacious balcony with views across the edge of the Imperial Gardens and Palace to the skyscrapers beyond.

It was magical.

And I thoroughly enjoyed the authentic Japanese dining experience at Wadakura restaurant.

Visit en.palacehoteltokyo.com. 

KENYA

Mara Plains

Mara Plains takes glamping into uncharted territory with luxuriousness and service I didn’t know could exist in tents. 

It nestles in thick wooded vegetation on a bend in the Ntiakitiak River in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy and is camping fit for royalty.

For starters, there are floorboards, made from varnished railway sleepers. Then there are the thick wooden dining tables, Chesterfield sofas and wildlife paintings.

It’s magnificent.

Our bedroom was similarly spectacular, one of only seven bedroom tents – exclusivity is the word – and featured furniture and fittings worthy of a bona fide five-star hotel.

Visit www.relaischateaux.com/gb/hotel/great-plains-mara.

Segera Retreat – Laikipia Plateau

A definite contender for ‘best place I’ve ever stayed’. And you’ve seen how hot the competition is.

I felt like I’d stepped into an enchanted land.

Segera Retreat is a verdant Kenyan oasis of luxury with 10 extraordinary individual villas and guest houses dotted around exotic botanical gardens linked by meandering pathways that also lead guests to a beautiful outdoor pool. 

Our quarters? A thatched family garden villa, with two floors, four double bedrooms and four separate ensuites. 

Visit www.segera.com. I travelled there with www.roarafrica.com.

Angama Amboseli

Angama Amboseli is positioned in Kimana Sanctuary, a lush 5,700-acre haven near Amboseli National Park that offers guests the chance to witness exotic wildlife mere moments from their super-king-sized beds.

The joy of Angama Amboseli, though, is that the animals are right on the doorstep, free to roam in and around the buildings – there are no fences separating the property from the fever-tree-dotted conservancy.

At night, when big cats hunt, Maasai guards with shotguns escort guests to their suites, where they can seal themselves off from the animals outside and enjoy the creature comforts on the inside.

The suites – which number just 10 – are jaw-dropping, with bold design cues taken from the monochromatic and industrial 60s and 70s. And the animal neighbours have contributed to the architecture, too, with the suites, along with the other buildings in the retreat, made from a mixture of concrete, stone… and elephant dung.

Visit angama.com/stay/angama-amboseli. I travelled there with www.roarafrica.com.