Poland Hotels Booking

In general we’re deeply mistrustful of pronouncements that one or another destination is the “new Bali,” for instance, or the “next Phuket.” We will, however, go so far as to say that Koh Samui, on the Gulf side of Thailand, shares many of Phuket’s natural gifts, but is in terms of development some years behind — and yes, that’s a recommendation, not a criticism.

It’s here that you’ll find the Sila Evason Hideaway, hidden away indeed at the end of a raised promontory looking out into the Gulf, its 66 villas strewn across 20 acres of lush indigenous growth. The split-level villas are classic island accommodations in every way, decked out in rich local hardwoods, with open-plan bathrooms, outdoor showers, and in most units, infinity-edge pools with unimpeded views out to sea (and no sense at all that you’re sharing the view with the neighbors).

With an army of staffers at your service, the Sila Evason experience is already one of over-the-top luxury. But it’s only half the story. The other half is the spa, offering an encyclopedic array of indulgent treatments, either in open-air pavilions with views of the Gulf, or better yet, en suite — many of the villas come with outdoor salas dedicated to that very purpose. It’s an immersive experience, and the “hideaway” tag is quite apt; fortunate, then, that Koh Samui is so easy to reach, with regular flights from Bangkok, Phuket and Singapore.

How to get there:

Six Senses Hideaway Samui is (6 km) approximately a 10 minute drive from Samui International Airport. Samui Airport is a 45 minute flight from Bangkok. Please contact customerservice@tablethotels.com to arrange airport transfers.

There’s usually little that’s positive to be said for America’s car culture — sprawl, pollution, and suburban alienation all are routinely laid at its doorstep. But lately one of the car culture’s byproducts — the roadside motor court inn — has begun a sort of renaissance, these one-time symbols of cheap convenience transforming themselves (with generous amounts of renovation) into something like boutique motels: places like the Hotel San Jose in Austin, or the Thunderbird in Marfa.

In this same vein is Dallas’s Belmont Hotel, a vintage 1946 motor inn (already a bit more architecturally distinguished than most) that’s been cleaned up and turned into what may be the hippest hotel in town, with creative, contemporary interiors and a hillside location that makes for a killer poolside view of the downtown Dallas skyline.

Standard motel rooms as well as suites and bungalows are available, and the top-of-the-line Terrace Suite comes with a hot tub on a private patio facing the city. Colors are contemporary, furnishings are comfortable and modern, and the amenities are perfectly up to date — wireless internet is available throughout, and the bathrooms come stocked with Lather toiletries. The bar seems almost too swanky to be true, and draws a crowd of in-the-know Dallas hipsters, and you’re five minutes (by car — some things never change) from the bars and restaurants of North Oak Cliff or downtown Dallas.

We’re not sure exactly where the zero part comes in actually. But there is something charmingly minimal about the Zerohotel Valparaiso, a hotel that knows when to stop trying and just get out of the way. After all, they don’t call this place Paradise Valley for nothing; a cozy and comfortable nine-room guest house with views of the harbor and the colorful, hilly city is a winning proposition, and needn’t resort to boutique-hotel design theatrics.

It’s a restored 19th-century house high on a hillside above the port, and above all it’s the views and the location that make the place. Rooms are crisp and contemporary but hardly feel designed — they come with basics like reading lamps, flat-screen televisions, and up-to-date bathrooms, but nothing in the way of flash.

Breakfast is served in the Winter Garden against the backdrop of a panoramic view, and there are no fewer than four outdoor terraces from which to soak up the scenery, one with an outdoor Jacuzzi. There’s a light food service, for the times when you don’t feel like getting out to see the town, and local guides for when you do — which comes in handy in a town as unique as Valparaiso.

How to get there:

ZeroHotel is approximately a 1 3/4 hour drive from Santiago de Chile Airport.

Our new Tablet Spy program offers the chance to get early looks at the most promising new hotels. If you’re willing to take the risks associated with staying in a hotel that’s not officially open yet — unfinished spaces, noisy construction, inexperienced service — then you’ll be rewarded with deep pre-opening discounts, and the chance to help decide whether the finished hotel will earn a place on Tablet Hotels.

Another year, another impressive entry from the Habita group, Mexico’s high-design boutique-hotel juggernaut. This one, the Distrito Capital, makes its home in the city’s Santa Fe quarter, a district of high-rise buildings and high-ticket retail — so it’s no surprise that this hotel should be one of Habita’s sleekest and most stylish, with interiors by the Parisian designer Joseph Dirand.

The design makes liberal use of sober charcoals and dignified dark woods, livened by the occasional graphic touch: a safety-orange lounge chair here, a vintage advertising sign there. Rooms are certainly comfortable enough but fall well on the sensible side of lavish, furnished with arresting vintage pieces, with luxuries concentrated where they’re most effective — Acqua di Parma bath products, for example.

In a sense that’s the Habita philosophy in a nutshell. Why waste your guests’ money on heated towel bars when you could provide something unique and memorable? To this end the Distrito Capital features the sort of poolside lounge you typically only see in a much larger hotel, and a private cinema for film screenings, rather than the typical hotel conference room. And if you want to splash out in big style, there’s always the presidential suite, which combines Habita hipness with the charming excess of a private gym.

Likely Kolkata’s toniest hotel, the Taj Bengal is something of a throwback to the age of hotel architecture that’s so focused on achieving a dramatic interior atrium that the exterior begins to break a few laws of proportion. To its credit, the gardening staff ameliorates the hotel’s girth with a blanket of vines hanging from the balconies, which help the whole assemblage to merge fairly seamlessly in with its surroundings, the posh, verdant Alipore district. Now containing the Victoria Memorial, the zoo, racetrack and botanical gardens, Alipore has historically been where out-of-towners want to base themselves, particularly back in the days when nearby Belvedere House served as Palace for the Viceroy of India. Now the Belvedere houses India’s National Library and the surrounding district arguably serves as the cultural heart of Kolkata.

The Taj Bengal takes these ideas of culture, grandeur and retreat and runs with them, predictably accommodating an ongoing parade of heads of state, and packing itself with Bengali artworks.

The opulent Taj houses no fewer than eight restaurants, with cuisines from all continents represented. Solidly eschewing trendiness, standard rooms are subtly decked out with traditional Indian décor while larger suites are a bit more contemporary. Also in proper form, plentiful conference facilities, corporate-friendly suites and board rooms ensure that the Taj Bengal functions as a first class choice for international business. But while the hotel’s all-under-one-roof version of luxury is indeed impressive, the city outside the compound will likely beckon; for this, the Taj will serve as an informative threshold for what lies beyond the garden wall, the obscenely colorful, acutely rough-edged and economically emergent Kolkata that supports the reputation as the Cultural Capitol of India. From this external vantage point, the Taj Bengal with its sturdy exterior and leafy skin is for the world traveler a perfect post to return to and recharge.

Japan’s rural ryokan present a bit of a challenge in classification; while they’re new and uncharted territory for most foreigners, to the Japanese they’re as traditional as it gets. But the Arcana, on the Izu peninsula two hours outside of Tokyo, is one we can all agree on: while in concept it’s still a classic, peaceful country inn, in execution it’s something quite unique.

Not just for the style, which is a blend of East and West, one part traditional ryokan and one part international boutique hotel. But as alluring as the interiors may be — and thanks to Graf, the Osaka-based furniture designers, they certainly are that — the main attraction is the widescreen view of the forest, just outside the massive windows. The same view is on offer from the 32-seat French restaurant, where diners all face outward, like a theatre audience. And you can get closer than that: instead of a central onsen bath, there’s a spring-fed hot tub on every balcony.

Arcana Izu, like its more traditional ryokan cousins, has mostly served as an escape for locals and expats seeking a quick (yet complete) escape from Tokyo. There’s no rule, though, that says that has to be the case — if you’re coming from overseas, you can bookend it with stops in the capital, or just get yourself to Izu with all due haste.

Barcelona, already one of Europe’s hottest destinations, has in recent years consolidated its position as a worldwide culinary capital. It’s no longer just about tapas bars that stay open long after other countries have gone to bed, it’s about cutting-edge culinary experimentation as well, pushing high-end dining beyond its traditional limits. And so we see hotels like the Àbac Restaurant Hotel, hotels that quite literally put the restaurant first.

And why not, when you’ve got a chef like Xavier Pellicier, presiding over a kitchen that’s been recognized with not just one but two Michelin stars. He’s moved his operation from another hotel in central Barcelona to his own digs here in the hilltop residential neighborhood of Tibidibo, a good fifteen minutes outside the city center. A restaurant of this quality doesn’t depend on walk-up business, and the slight remove contributes to the hotel’s atmosphere of privacy and exclusivity.

As for the rooms and suites, there are just fifteen of them, outfitted in a smart contemporary style, a century-old building modernized with a few touches of real luxury: high-end beds and bath fixtures, Bang & Olufsen televisions and sound systems, and remote-control infrastructure. Most fifteen-room hotels stop there, but the Àbac adds a full-service spa, complete with a thermal pool and a separate cold-water pool.

Thanks to the influx of Austrian, German, and Swiss settlers to Argentinian Patagonia at the turn of the century, the lake region’s architecture tends toward chalet-style lodges and wooden cottages. Certain areas of Bariloche, complete with tourist-friendly German shepherd puppies and decorative gables, feel so campy that you’re almost expecting to hear a yodeler off in the distance. The Aldebaran Hotel, by contrast, is refreshingly modern and understated. While the design stays true to the mountain lodge spirit with traditional wood beams and fireplaces, the hotel isn’t channeling The Sound of Music — the style is classic and uncluttered.

The ten-room boutique is located on a cliff overlooking the crystal-blue lake of Nahuel Huapi, a solid 20-minute drive from the city of Bariloche. The relatively remote setting, not to mention the designer’s use of natural building materials like smooth gray stone and locally produced timber, lend the Aldebaran a pleasingly down-to-earth atmosphere. Inviting public spaces include the lodge’s main sitting room, featuring intimate white-cushioned nooks and huge picture windows facing the lake, and the hotel spa with its innovative inside/outside swimming pool that makes a paddle under the stars possible regardless of the lake’s temperature. Guest rooms are outfitted with cozy fabrics in neutral tones and brightly colored woven tapestries. Awash with natural light, each room contains a daybed or a plush armchair and a private lakeview terrace or balcony. The amply sized bathrooms, done up in earth-colored tile, are just as appealing.

The hotel’s Sirius restaurant, occupying a seductively lit, stone-inlaid space, prepares organic regional cuisine — think homemade bread, grass-fed beef, and a bottle of Malbec — that encourages guests to dine onsite. The Aldebaran’s location is a trade-off, after all — the city’s attractions aren’t exactly within walking distance, but hikers, rafters, and kayakers will find the hotel’s proximity to unspoiled lakes and mountains an unqualified asset.

This is another one to file under the heading of “only in Barcelona.” That metal skin, those modern interiors, the mini-tower construction, looking down on the rooftops of the historic Barrio Chino — it’s a perfect fit with the raucous blend of old and new for which the Catalan capital is so well known. The Barcelo Raval belongs to a chain, but not the kind of chain you have to be afraid of — and if they’re all this stylish, then we’ll be on the lookout for what they’re planning next.

You’re close to Las Ramblas, but the walk takes you through a still-improving neighborhood — so it’s perhaps not the place for the absolutely classic Barcelona pedestrian experience. But you won’t mind a bit once you’re installed in one of the rooms, where the wide-open floor plan and the funky minimal furnishings are just accessories to the main event: the views of the city itself, seen through full-length windows and the metal screen of the building’s skin.

A roof terrace and a swanky lobby bar are by no means unique in this town, but the rooftop here is perhaps better-placed than most, and the tapas lounge, with its adjacent terrace, is a sight to see, a minimal/baroque hybrid that you’ll remember long after you’ve left.

Suzhou may be best known for its thousand-year heritage, and the innumerable gardens, temples and bridges. But that’s the postcard Suzhou — the Shangri-La Hotel is aimed at a different audience entirely, an audience of savvy international business travelers, in town not for the picturesque gardens or pagodas but for the explosively growing economy.

The very modern roads and buildings in this part of town may come as some surprise, and the Shangri-La is as contemporary as they come, occupying the top half of a 51-story skyscraper. But as contemporary as the exterior may be, there’s more than a hint of classic atmosphere inside the 390 rooms and suites — these massive spaces are decorated in calming earth tones, with plenty of dark lacquered woodwork. Far East kitsch is kept to a minimum, though you’re certainly not about to forget you’re in China.

A hotel of this size, in this segment of the market, is sure to come with every conceivable luxury, and the Shangri-La doesn’t disappoint. Multiple restaurants serve multiple cuisines, from fine dining on down to merely upscale, and the hotel’s nightclub serves as a live music venue, complete with dance floor. There’s a day spa, and a fitness center that’s the equal of any big-city athletic club, complete with full-size indoor pool, tennis courts, and even a putting green — Shangri-La indeed.

Most of us hear the word “Miami” and our minds automatically fill in the word “Beach.” But Miami’s Mandarin Oriental proves there’s more to this town than the South Beach scene.

The setting is unique, overlooking Biscayne Bay from Brickell Key, the tiny island just off the shore of downtown Miami, across the bridge from the banking and financial district of Brickell Avenue. The atmosphere is faultless modern luxury of the sort Mandarin Oriental does best. And best of all, at least for the sort of guest who would choose to stay here, you’re miles from Collins Avenue and the heaving crowds of Miami Beach.

Guest rooms are stunning, contemporary in style with a hint of the Far East mixed with the obligatory Art Deco. No luxury is spared: all rooms are spacious, with high speed internet, Bose wave radios and extravagant marble bathrooms with separate tub and shower. Most have balconies with spectacular views of the city’s waterfront, Biscayne Bay, or the Atlantic.

The rooms are restful enough, and the manicured private beach is orders of magnitude more sedate than South Beach’s more public atmosphere. For more intense relaxation, there’s the Mandarin’s world-class 15,000-square-foot spa, offering beauty treatments and Thai massage with views of the bay through floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as a fitness center offering yoga, pilates and T’ai Chi.

It’s not all peace and quiet, though — however exclusive the Mandarin may be, it’s anything but isolated. The Azul restaurant and the M Bar are local hotspots, and the hotel hosts a private party on the beach that tempts discerning locals away from South Beach for something a little bit different.

Stylish boutique hotels are still pretty thin on the ground in Tallinn, which is understandable — it seems to take years for the Soviet gloom to properly recede from a place, and only once that’s happened can it properly count itself among Eastern Europe’s most desirable destinations. In this case, however, it’s been just about long enough; and proof, should you need it, comes in the form of the Telegraaf Hotel.

It’s located in the city’s picturesque old town, and occupies a 19th-century building that used to be Tallinn’s telegraph center, back when there were such things. There’s a modern addition as well (which houses the Executive Doubles and the Junior Suites, if you’re keeping track) but it’s not the tragedy of taste that these things can often be — the main difference is in the area of carpeting versus hardwood floors.

Compared to its Western counterparts the Telegraaf is still a bit old-fashioned. Such bachelor-pad accoutrements as iPod docking stereos and plasma-screen home theatres are nowhere to be found. But what it lacks in sparkling newness, it makes up for in classic touches, including a fine Russian restaurant and a spa complex, complete with Finnish sauna and indoor pool.

What India lacks in cutting-edge boutique hotels it more than makes up for in classic old-world luxury hotels. And really, what else would you expect from a hotel called the Imperial? This place is generally regarded as New Delhi’s most elegant grand hotel, and it’s certainly got the pedigree; it was built in the Thirties by an associate of Sir Edward Lutyens, the man responsible for so much of the city’s classical architecture.

More than just a city hotel, it’s almost an urban resort, complete with an outdoor swimming pool, a spa, and a wealth of dining and drinking options. Despite the central location the Imperial’s garden is a tranquil little oasis. The rooms, all generous in size, range in style from old-world and very English to a rather contemporary take on Art Deco, and the amenities can’t be faulted: fine Porthault linens, bath products from Fragonard, and indulgent marble bathrooms. But as impressive as the rooms and suites may be, it’s the public spaces that go out of their way to impress. The veranda, the dining rooms, the absolutely classic 1911 Bar — these are the places that earned the Imperial its reputation, and these are the spaces you’ll remember long after you’ve gone.

Tasmania’s known for unspoiled nature, but the port city of Hobart is Australia’s second-oldest. And it’s this old industrial history that the Henry Jones Art Hotel trades on; the property consists of a series of historic row houses and an old jam factory that have been restored to house a cool contemporary hotel and art space displaying hundred of sculptures, paintings, and installations by Tasmanian artists.

Elements of the original structure, like the exposed brick, vaulted timber ceilings, and old-fashioned staircases, remain intact, and some of the refurbished factory equipment now serves as interior decoration. Walls have been knocked down, while others have been painted with vibrant reds and yellows or replaced with massive glass panes, opening up an airy vertical space for the public gallery. True connoisseurs may want to splurge on the Art Installation Suite, a mini-museum in itself with spacious living quarters large enough for hosting a dinner party and a balcony overlooking the sparkling glass atrium.

Rooms and suites are unusually large, in bright colors and a range of textures, from leather to soft linen. They’ve got innovative lighting, ultra-modern all-glass bathrooms, original art, and views over the atrium or harbor; individually designed suites feature extras like sandstone walls, elliptical double baths, waterfront terraces, and overflowing spa baths. Al fresco dining is available at the romantic Atrium restaurant, while gourmet contemporary Australian cuisine is served in the more casual Henry’s Harbourside; the hip IXL Long Bar is perfect for a nightcap, against the backdrop of a wall of old tin cans, once used for tinning Henry Jones’s jam.

How to get there:

The Henry Jones Art Hotel is approximately a 20 - 30 minute drive from Hobart Airport.

Sydney has its share of world-class hotels, at the top end of the business/luxury market — but there aren’t many that are more high-profile than the Shangri-La. Not only figuratively, given the location in the Rocks, a stone’s throw from the opera house and Circular Quay, but literally as well — take the elevator on up to the 36th-floor bar and restaurant and you’re just about at eye level with the topmost point of the Harbour Bridge.

With the Asian Shangri-La brand behind it you can rest assured that service is a priority, along with smart contemporary Eastern-inspired interiors. Triple-glazed windows keep out the city noise (as does the sheer altitude) and the comforts are quite up to snuff — including generously sized work desks and spacious marble baths, with separate tubs and showers. The main strength, however is the view, which on the hotel’s front side takes in the entirety of Sydney harbour.

There’s an indoor pool as well as a fully equipped spa, complete with fitness center and personal trainers. The top-floor bar and restaurant may get all the press but there’s also a fairly authentic Australian-style pub down at street level — nothing says summer in Sydney quite like a pint of ale in the sunshine on the outdoor terrace.

Deep in the heart of northern Laos, along the banks of the Mekong, is the old royal capital of Luang Prabang, one of the better places in Southeast Asia if you’re looking to get away from the crowds and the bright lights of the established tourist destinations. And roughly two kilometers outside of town is La Résidence Phou Vao, a French colonial classic with sweeping views of the forested mountains surrounding this photogenic town.

It’s been updated since its previous life as the Pansea hotel, but not updated too much — despite a fresh coat of paint and a certain paring down of the décor, plenty of the original colonial charm of the place shines through. With just thirty-four rooms and suites it’s intimate by nature, an effect intensified by the lush green of the gardens and the twists and turns of the historic property.

Each room features a private terrace or balcony, complete with day beds and views of the gardens or the mountains, as well as luxurious oversized terrazzo baths. As for facilities there’s not much more than a pool, a spa, and a cocktail lounge and restaurant serving upscale Laotian and European fare — which, actually, might be all you need for this kind of elegant escape.

It would be difficult to overstate how much Dallas needed a hotel like this one. Not just a stylish, modern hotel, but one with its own unique design personality, and some bona fide Dallas history thrown in for good measure. The Joule Hotel makes its home in a 1927-vintage Gothic bank building, but it’s no retro exercise — that much is clear at a distance, from the moment you see the cantilevered rooftop infinity pool, hanging precariously out from the front of the building about six or seven floors up.

The interior architect is Adam D. Tihany, a man who’s no stranger to hotel and restaurant design. So this is no half-hearted attempt at jazzy interiors, but a stylish and contemporary boutique hotel, absolutely the equal of anything you’d see on either coast.

By now some of us who have been around the block a few times are wondering about the nuts and bolts, as it’s maddeningly difficult for a hotel to look good and run well too. Fortunately it’s nothing to worry about here — this is no fly-by-night boutique operation but a Starwood Luxury Collection hotel. Thus the rooms are state-of-the-art, not just eye-catching but plush as well, and when it comes to service there are no surprises — which is exactly as it should be.

It’s not the first place you’d look for a hotel like this. Which, one imagines, is pretty much the point of the place. Inis Meáin is just a speck of a place, a tiny island in Galway Bay on the Atlantic side of Ireland, home to just 200 people. But two of those 200 are your hosts, a chef and his hotelier wife, who, with the help of one of Ireland’s leading architects, are responsible for the Inis Meáin Restaurant & Suites.

The island’s topography is unique, crisscrossed with low limestone walls, and the hotel building blends in with the house style, constructed as it is from these same local limestone rocks. That’s the hotel’s philosophy in a nutshell, and it carries over into the restaurant, where just about everything is local, from shellfish caught by island fishermen to potatoes and vegetables grown on-site.

A big hotel could easily double the island’s population. So this is not a big hotel. Three suites seems about right for Inis Meáin’s size, and each one is soothingly spare, almost religiously so — clean lines, simple spaces, and huge framed views of the island and the bay. This is the kind of pared-down modern luxury that would be inspiring enough in the city — in such a unique setting as Inis Meáin, it’s downright unforgettable.

The Sofitel chain is one we’ve generally got a lot of time for; they do many of the things we want from a chain (service, professionalism, above all consistency) and very few of the things we don’t (bland décor, dull atmosphere, that deflating feeling when consistency turns into sameness). And in sleepy, serious Luxembourg City, the Sofitel stands out.

Here, right across the street from the European Court of Justice, you could be forgiven for expecting something a little more safe — say what you will about international lawyers, but they’re not necessarily the most raucous crowd. So full marks for style to the Sofitel Luxembourg Europe, whose interiors, conservative by Sofitel standards, are nevertheless a cut above the sort of beige-on-beige business hotel you might expect to find in its place.

As such it’s pretty much the top hotel in Luxembourg’s Kirchberg plateau, and all manner of international business gets done in its restaurants, from Italian to tapas to the regionally-themed Le Stübli, and its Havana Lounge cigar bar. If it’s lacking anything, it’s in the pampering department; no pool, no spa, no fitness center — this is no urban resort, but a business hotel through and through.

For anyone despairing of the big noise of the St. Tropez scene, there’s hope, in the form of Villa Marie. It’s the latest project from Jocelyne and Jean-Louis Sibuet, the team behind La Bastide de Marie and Les Fermes de Marie, and like its sisters, the Villa Marie is a winning combination: a stellar location, a peaceful, classic atmosphere, and elegant, photo-friendly interiors, the Sibuet trademark.

The location is not quite St. Tropez, but it’s this very not-quiteness that makes it so perfect. Villa Marie makes its home just over the hill in sleepy Ramatuelle, ten minutes’ drive from St. Tropez proper, and from Pampelonne Bay’s famous beaches — close enough to get a taste of the action if you want it, but far enough for a little honest rest and relaxation.

Of course, many more hotels like this one, and Ramatuelle would be the next big thing. Of Villa Marie’s immaculate interiors little needs be said that doesn’t come across in the pictures — add to that a full-service spa, an excellent Mediterranean restaurant, a striking Celadon swimming pool carved from the hillside’s rock, and generally pervasive atmosphere of effortless laid-back cool, and it’s hard to see why anyone bothers dressing up for St. Tropez at all.