California calls out to us all. Even before Americans decided westward expansion was their divine right, this broad swath of land at the edge of the continent has pulled people toward it, drawn there by its natural beauty and abundant resources. As the state developed, its appeal only grew, and the intermingling of its varied topography — the meetings of civilization and wilderness, of city and beach, of desert and oasis — became perhaps its most noteworthy feature. It’s no surprise, then, that California’s hotels reflect this variety of landscape and the lifestyles that have emerged from it ..read more

You needn’t have ever stayed in a ski hotel to understand why they tend toward interiors that are cozy, warm, and intimate. Wrapped in wood with soft, sensual furnishings and dimmed lighting, they’re like a womb welcoming you back in from the cold white snow and blinding sunshine. After a long day out on the slopes, your eyes and body need a rest, even if your après-ski plans don’t involve much rest at all. In our search for ski hotels that most fully embody these traits, we haven’t found a region that tops the French Alps. The hotels here have borrowed stylistic elements from all over Europe ..read more

When we describe a hotel as being interesting, we mean it as the ultimate compliment. People tend to use the word ironically or with a raised eyebrow. Not us. All we can ask from a hotel, other than having good service, is that it’s interesting — that it catches and continually holds your attention. The most interesting hotels of the Nordic countries are exactly what you’d hope they’d be. They are monumental meetings of inside and out, influenced by the types of design the region is famous for — whether that’s Scandinavia’s iconic modernism, or the warm rustic coziness you’d expect from a plac ..read more

The ION Adventure Hotel is a pure Icelandic destination in every sense. If you’re looking for an encapsulation of all that makes this country special, look no further. If you’re looking for a club sandwich, look elsewhere. The land around Iceland’s Mount Hengill is active. At the meeting place of two continental plates, trails sprawl over the constantly shifting landscape, speckled with natural hot springs. Hikers dip into the volcanically heated water that bubbles up from below. So, too, do two geothermal power plants that ring its slopes, sucking at the earth and heating most of the towns ar ..read more

Tierra Patagonia is a dinosaur — a prehistoric, skeletal body washed ashore on Chile’s Lake Sarmiento. That’s how the hotel’s architect perceives it, at least. And just like the dinosaurs, she’d prefer it also disappeared. On the edge of Torres del Paine National Park, there lies a stunning building. But its architect, Cazu Zegers, almost believes there should be no building at all. That the scenery is so awesome, nothing should come between the person and the place. The building is Tierra Patagonia. The place is Chilean Patagonia, one of the most extraordinary on earth. Beautiful as it is, th ..read more

There’s a whole range of ranch hotels out there. From those with real, live cattle drives to those with little need for more than a prairie and some single-story structures. And that’s exactly how the people want it. We once did a story about lodge hotels that essentially asked, “what even is a lodge?” A lodge can be so many things, really. And to a certain extent, so can a ranch. It all depends on your expectations. You might expect a ranch hotel to have a working cattle farm, or you might expect it to just look like it has one — a lasso here, some rawhide there. You might want your ranch hot ..read more

Many moons ago, a volcanic eruption ripped Santorini apart. The caldera it left behind filled with Aegean blue. Thought to be an inspiration for the legend of Atlantis, the majestic island is iconic, and Perivolas is perhaps its most iconic hotel. The caves that make up Perivolas Lifestyle Houses are 300 years old. They’re the former homes of the farmers and fishermen that lived and worked in Santorini long before it became one of the world’s most desirable destinations. Unlike the cave accommodations of Cappadocia, where much of the character comes from exposed rock walls, here it’s a white s ..read more

If you had a treehouse as a kid, you know how special it was — how great it felt to have a place of your own, perched high up and away from the colorless concerns of real life. It was your little world to build and customize and manipulate and modify. It’s a wonder you survived. Listen, we’ll be honest with you. Most of these hotels aren’t treehouses in the traditional sense. They weren’t designed by a nine-year-old, and all their support doesn’t come from tree branches and two-by-fours. They also don’t have a janky trapdoor. No, at these treehouses you can pretty much stand wherever you want ..read more

There’s a boutique wave washing ashore on the African hotel scene. High-design hotels are bubbling up throughout the continent in destinations both traditional and trending. We can’t show them all, but we can show the ones with water views. This story comes dangerously close to committing the second biggest sin in travel writing: treating a vast collection of cultures and countries as some sort of single entity that can be neatly summarized. Africa is an enormous continent, and any trends or awakenings we might speak of are obviously not spread equally across its complex, contrasting landscape ..read more

Spain is the #3 wine producer in the world, right behind Italy and France, miles ahead of everyone else. While that made it a top contender for this list, it was the bold mix of design styles at the country’s vineyard hotels that truly sealed the deal. In some places, you can’t walk fifteen feet without tripping over another vineyard hotel. France and Italy, for example, are filthy with wineries linked to lodging, and otherwise overflowing with hotels surrounded by viticulture, even if they don’t produce bottles of their own. Argentina, Australia, Austria — just a few more countries that have ..read more