We keep watch over a short list of hotels that are reason enough to travel: a former convent inside the Alhambra, a ryokan you reach by boat in Kyoto, a glass suite above a river in the Kruger. Each one has its own profile, with the rooms and tables, what's worth doing nearby, the journey door to door and the small practical things to sort out before you leave.
Every hotel profile you open earns a stamp here. The logbook lives only in this browser, on this device.
We commissioned an illustration of every hotel's surroundings rather than reuse brochure photos. Tap any card to open it full size.
Every region gets a long guide of its own. Expect notes on weather and when to go, how to move between the hotels, a route we would actually follow, local habits, dishes to order, day trips, and all the hotel profiles in one place.
Rosewood Hong Kong, Capella Bangkok, Passalacqua, Marina Bay Sands and Bellagio. Two of them house casinos, and we explain what that means for a stay in straightforward, factual terms.
Within easy reach for many of our readers: Seville, Granada, Madrid, Marbella, San Sebastián, Mallorca, the Costa Brava and Portugal's Douro Valley.
12 hotels · 6 countriesGrand addresses in Paris, London, Vienna and Rome, plus Provence, Bordeaux vineyards, the Amalfi Coast, two Alpine resorts, Scotland and Santorini.
6 hotels · 5 countriesTwo very different sides of Japan, a domed hotel on Udaipur's Lake Pichola, a temple view in Java, colonial Singapore and a barefoot Maldives island.
3 hotels · 3 countriesA canyon-edge retreat in Oman, Dubai's tower on the sea and a candlelit lodge in Jordan's Dana reserve.
6 hotels · 5 countriesFrom an island off Newfoundland to the Utah desert and the Big Sur coast, then south to Iguaçu, Machu Picchu and Torres del Paine.
4 hotels · 3 countriesMarrakech gardens, a pink classic in Cape Town, the Kruger bush and the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater.
3 hotels · 3 countriesTents facing Uluṟu, a fishing lodge on New Zealand's Waikato River and a private atoll near Tahiti.
A fortnight in Japan, Rome down to the Amalfi Coast, Cape Town on to the Kruger, and a loop through Arabia.
8 citiesWeekend plans for Paris, London, Rome, Tokyo, Kyoto, Singapore, Marrakech and Cape Town.
6 articlesPlanning a first safari, picking the right ryokan, traveling with kids, and getting over jet lag faster.
11 themesSpas, honeymoons, family trips, wildlife, mountains, islands, food, lighter footprints and a few more.
4 more toolsHow many nights you need, weather side by side, a route builder and a currency converter.
Once a monthA short email on what is in season, what we added and what we learned.
Size and star ratings had nothing to do with it. We looked for a strong sense of place, buildings with a story and staff who know their corner of the world. Type a name, a country or something you love, and open any profile.
Five small groups we put together for the trips readers ask us about most. Tap a name to jump to that hotel.
Tell us three things and we suggest a hotel. Line up any two against each other, measure the distance from your airport, plan around jet lag, add up a budget or build a packing list.
Type in the prices you've actually been quoted. We don't hold any hotel rates, so the sum is only as good as the figures you add.
Choose a month. We sort the hotels into three groups: those at their peak, those still well worth the trip, and those in their off-season.
| Hotel | Airport | J F M A M J J A S O N D | The reason |
|---|
We like hotels that make you slow down before the door. A wooden boat on the Oi River in Kyoto. The ferry out to Fogo Island. The climb through the Alhambra woods to the parador in Granada.
Before you pay a deposit, ask exactly how the final stretch works. How a hotel handles that tells you plenty about the days that follow.
In Granada you sleep in a 15th-century convent, inside the walls of the Alhambra. In the Douro, an old manor house looks down on terraced vines. At Amangiri, the concrete takes on the color of the rock around it.
Study the room plans before you choose. Where the landscape is the point, a better view matters more than a bigger room.
A bartender who can tell you which tapas bar in the next street is worth the wait. A guide in the Kruger who spots a leopard's tracks before breakfast. Local knowledge is what turns a nice room into a trip you remember.
Email the hotel a week ahead and say what you enjoy. The good ones will have ideas waiting.
Ten multiple-choice questions, from Seville to the Kruger. Our hotel profiles hold every answer.
A good hotel is a window, not a wall. You should leave knowing the place better than when you arrived.The Pharos editors
Check each one off when it's done. We don't see your list; it is kept in this browser.
We wanted hotels you would cross a border for. That usually means a building rooted in its landscape or city, a kitchen with its own point of view, and years of steady service rather than a single good season. We also wanted a spread: Spain and Portugal, the region closest to many of our readers, then every other region, mixing cities and wild places, the very old and the fairly new.
The smaller the hotel, the earlier. Places with only a few dozen rooms, like Hoshinoya Kyoto, Fogo Island Inn or Singita Lebombo, can fill six months to a year ahead for their best weeks. In big cities you can often wait longer, unless your dates clash with a major festival, a trade fair or Christmas and New Year.
Going straight to the hotel puts you in touch with the people who will handle your requests. A specialist advisor earns their fee on complicated trips: several stops, light aircraft, seaplanes or safari transfers. Whichever you choose, read the cancellation rules twice.
In cities, expect breakfast at most. Further from town the rules change, and safari camps and remote island or mountain lodges often fold meals and guided activities into one rate. Ask for the inclusions in writing before you pay.
Treat room counts, opening years and journey times as a guide. Hotels renovate, add wings and change their routes, so confirm anything important with the hotel itself.
Some destinations need planning weeks in advance. If you're heading to the Kruger, see a travel clinic early and ask about malaria tablets. On tropical islands, pack a strong reef-safe sunscreen. Advice varies with your nationality and changes over time, so check your government's official travel-health pages.
Put the right numbers in your phone before you travel. Across Europe, and in a good number of other countries, 112 connects from any mobile.
| Country | Hotels | Police | Ambulance | Fire | Any service |
|---|
Each issue covers the hotels coming into their best season, anything new we've added, and a few practical lessons from the road. Nobody pays to appear in it.