Editors' choiceCappadocia, Turkey
Museum Hotel
A museum hotel on the slope of Uçhisar: cave rooms among antiquities and a pool over which hot-air balloons rise at sunrise.
Villas with pools
Romantic hotels
For two, for anniversaries and special occasions.
Editors' choice
Editors' choiceIreland
Ashford Castle
A castle from 1228 on the shore of Lough Corrib, rebuilt in the Victorian era. Once owned by the Guinness family, now a hotel.
Castles & palaces
Editors' choiceIstanbul, Turkey
Çırağan Palace Kempinski
The Ottoman palace of Sultan Abdülaziz (1863–1867) on the European shore of the Bosphorus, now a Kempinski hotel.
Castles & palaces
Editors' choiceAmalfi Coast, Italy
Villa Cimbrone
A historic villa in Ravello above the Amalfi Coast, now a hotel. Home of the famous Terrace of Infinity.
Historic mansions
Editors' choiceVenice, Italy
The Danieli, Venezia
The 14th-century Gothic Palazzo Dandolo by St Mark's Square — a hotel since 1824.
Historic mansions
North Malé, Maldives
Kurumba Maldives
The first resort in the Maldives, on Vihamanaafushi island, 10 minutes by boat from Malé airport.
Villas with pools
Transylvania, Romania
Conacul Törzburg
A small manor hotel in Bran with views of Bran Castle (“Dracula's Castle”) from the rooms. An affordable option.
Castles & palaces
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Melville Castle
A three-storey Gothic castle-mansion near Dalkeith outside Edinburgh, by the River North Esk. Now a hotel.
Castles & palaces
Paris, France
Shangri-La Paris
The former mansion of Prince Roland Bonaparte (1896), across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. A hotel since 2010, with “Palace” status.
Historic mansions
New York, USA
The Plaza
The legendary 1907 “château” hotel on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park.
Historic mansions
Normandy, France
Château de Boucéel
An 18th-century château in Normandy near Mont-Saint-Michel: guest rooms in a historic house with a 16th-century chapel.
Castles & palaces
Banff, Canada
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
The Canadian Pacific Railway's “château” hotel on the shore of turquoise Lake Louise in Banff National Park.
Castles & palaces
Cappadocia, Turkey
Sacred House
An adults-only boutique hotel in an old Greek mansion in Ürgüp: themed rooms and the underground “Inferno” spa.
Historic mansions
Biarritz, France
Hôtel du Palais Biarritz
Empress Eugénie's summer residence (1854) on the Atlantic shore in Biarritz. A hotel since 1893, with “Palace” status.
Historic mansions
Around Paris, France
Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay
A hotel in a former 12th-century Cistercian abbey in the Rambouillet forest, 40 km from Paris. The ruins of a Gothic church stand right in the park.
Castles & palaces
Sintra, Portugal
Palácio de Seteais
A neoclassical palace of 1783–1787 in Sintra — part of a UNESCO cultural landscape, now a hotel.
Historic mansions
Bali, Indonesia
AYANA Resort Bali
A resort on the Jimbaran cliffs with Rock Bar — a bar on the rocks 14 metres above the Indian Ocean.
Villas with pools
French Riviera, France
Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc
An 1870 villa on Cap d'Antibes, a hotel since 1889. A pool carved into the rocks and the Eden Roc pavilion above the sea.
Villas with pools
Paris, France
Hôtel de Crillon
An 18th-century palace on Place de la Concorde by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. A hotel since 1909, today a Rosewood.
Historic mansions
Venice, Italy
The Gritti Palace
The Gothic palazzo of Doge Andrea Gritti on the Grand Canal, opposite Santa Maria della Salute. A hotel since 1895.
Historic mansions
Lake Como, Italy
Villa d'Este
A 16th-century Renaissance residence on Lake Como, a hotel since 1873: a 10-hectare park and the famous floating pool.
Historic mansions
Lake Como, Italy
Grand Hotel Tremezzo
A 1910 Art Nouveau hotel on the western shore of Lake Como — with a pool right above the water and a view of Bellagio.
Rooms with a view