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At least half of what we said about the Evason Hideaway next door is also true of the Evason Hua Hin & Six Senses Spa. After all, they share a lot: ownership, obviously, as well as a common aesthetic and a similar service philosophy, as well as (even more obviously) a location in Hua Hin, a resort destination that’s, to put it politely, a little closer to its peak than somewhere like Phuket.

It’s the bigger of the pair, with 145 guest rooms spread among several low-lying buildings. The basic rooms are compact, but still come with daybeds and private balconies; studio rooms have spacious outdoor terraces complete with canopy and mosquito net, and the beachfront studios — well, they’re on the beachfront. And if it’s Hideaway-style luxury you’re after, book one of the stand-alone pool villas, each a self-contained residence with a semi-outdoor shower, floating tub, and (of course) private pool.

The Evason’s restaurants are simply called The Restaurant and The Other Restaurant, which is how you’d think of them anyway, so they’ve saved you the trouble of forgetting something more flowery. The Six Senses Spa is obviously one of the keys to the Evason experience, and there’s no shortage of athletic facilities either, from pools to diving to sailing and windsurfing and no fewer than eight lighted tennis courts. It’s just big enough to feel bustling and full of possibilities, yet small and exclusive enough that it never stops feeling special — and if special isn’t special enough, there’s always the Hideaway.

Those of us with an aversion to big hotels might be put off by the hulking silhouette of the Taj Krishna. But in India’s big cities, Hyderabad included, it’s probably wise to adjust your sense of scale a bit. Sure, the Taj is not exactly small, certainly not a boutique, and the only thing exclusive about it is the price — but that sort of thing is beside the point here. This is by a mile Hyderabad’s most upscale luxury hotel, with the star-studded guest register to prove it.

The lobby is an opulent but somehow still warm and human-sized space, lined with stone columns and eclectic antiques — genuinely impressive, and rather unique. The rooms are equally luxurious but thankfully slightly more sedate — it would be a stretch to call them contemporary but they’re definitely on the tasteful side, for a classic grand hotel.

And for the uninitiated the Indian luxury-hotel experience has to be seen to be believed. Service is top-flight, and you’ll lack for nothing in the way of diversions: not just clay-court tennis but every racquet sport under the sun. Lounge by the pool in the afternoon and spend the evening surrounded by Hyderabad’s beautiful people in the Taj’s restaurants, nightclubs and discotheque.

It’s a medieval Irish castle relocated to the heart of Dublin and re-imagined for the boom years. The Fitzwilliam is Terence Conran’s big Irish hotel design statement, and it’s not a quiet one. This hundred-odd-room palace lords over the west side of St. Stephen’s Green, complete with park views from the terrace, a Michelin-starred restaurant and a second casual-chic Conran-designed eatery — and it’s about as central as it gets, around the corner from the shops on Grafton Street and walking distance from more nightlife than any one person can handle.

Sir Terence’s ultra-clean modern style is in evidence all over this place, so much so that the frilly script F above the bed feels almost garish, surrounded as it is by expanses of cream and grey. Anyone who can get luxury-hotel guests to move forward out of the Belle Epoque and into something more contemporary deserves a knighthood in our book — here the Fitzwilliam’s clientele of Irish celebs and Celtic-tiger entrepreneurs sleep in stylish minimalist peace.

Views, naturally, get better as you go up, and the penthouse, designed by the very hip London interiors firm Project Orange, is the ultimate in bachelor-pad excess, with a grand piano and massive egg-shaped tub to go with its privileged position overlooking the Green.

If you haven’t been to Portugal in a while you might be surprised at the explosion of new contemporary design that’s taken place there. Suddenly this classic, conservative town is full of striking avant-garde architecture and interiors. And that goes for the hotels as well — among the best of the new breed is the Fontana Park Hotel, right off Saldanha Square, in a rapidly improving district in the city’s north.

It’s a historical building, with interiors remade in a minimalist, monochromatic style, by the leading Portuguese architect Francisco Aires Mateus and the interior designer Nini Andrade Silva. It’s crisp but not cold, sleek but not alienating, proof that in capable hands the classic design hotel concept still has some mileage left in it.

Bedrooms are more modern-chic than traditionally luxurious, though they do come with standards like flat-screen televisions and platform beds, and the large windows admit plenty of sunlight. With over a hundred rooms there’s space for plenty of paying guests, while the restaurants (the Portuguese-Mediterranean Saladanha Mar and the Japanese-themed Bonsai) make the Fontana Park’s inventive design available to short-term visitors as well. Not to be missed: the courtyard garden, a city-center shelter complete with bamboo trees and gurgling waterfall.

Right on the Avenida Da Liberdade, the Sofitel Lisboa isn’t exactly off the beaten path — but don’t hold that against it. We tend to shy away from the big luxury chains, in most cases, because while they typically offer methodical and attentive service (a big plus, obviously) there’s usually little to distinguish the hotels themselves. Better to be surprised a little, rough edges and all, than to be faultlessly served but left bored.

When it comes to the Sofitel Lisboa, though, there’s no need to compromise. In a hotel like this there’s no question you’ll get everything you want, when you want it; and as a bonus you’ll get it in a hotel that’s well-designed, tastefully contemporary, the sort of place that’s attractive enough that you’d forgive the occasional lapse in hospitality, if one should occur. Which it most likely won’t.

The rooms are on the large side, furnished with the kind of supremely comfortable beds that it seems only the big luxury chains can afford. Bathrooms are similarly indulgent, with modern fittings and separate tubs and showers. And the place is dead quiet, surprising given its absolutely central location, on the busy Avenida — rare is this mix of prime location and worry-free luxury, and thus it’s a real rival to Lisbon’s smaller boutiques.

It’s named for the classic Grosvenor House in London, but the Dubai version, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a massive tower complex in the rapidly growing West Marina district — a hotel turning up in Dubai without a 44-story skyscraper would probably feel a bit underdressed. And this one is certainly eye-catching, a bit Art Deco–inspired, its balconies lit up at night with neon.

Most of the rooms face out to sea, and overlook two of Dubai’s most notable sights, the Burj Al Arab and the continent-shaped World development. The interiors are a bit less ostentatious, which is nice, tending more toward the contemporary and the subtly Arabian than the lavish and the theatrical. Of course no luxury is left unturned — even the standard rooms come with butler service and all the gadgets, and you don’t even want to read about the penthouse suite that spans the entire 45th floor.

It’s not strictly a resort, more a high-end business hotel, but leisure guests would find it hard to complain — there’s a spa, a couple of pools, and the beach is a short shuttle ride away (in the hotel’s name the word Marina is a bit more accurate than the word Beach). There are several restaurants, more than one of them overseen by Michelin-starred chefs, and the bars and lounges include a franchise of the Paris-based Buddha Bar as well as a 44th-floor champagne bar with an understandably impressive view.

Here’s a hotel that forces you to dispense with a couple of easy generalizations. The first is the idea that the big chains guarantee a dull experience — not a bad rule of thumb but one with many, many exceptions. And the second is the idea that in Japan, Tokyo is the center of all that’s modern and forward-thinking while Kyoto remains frozen in the feudal past. Again, true enough, to a point — but as the Hyatt Regency Kyoto proves, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

It’s obviously pretty far from the image, conjured by the name, of the standard Western luxury hotel. And while it’s quite recognizably Japanese, it’s an exceedingly contemporary update of the traditional style — the design, by the superstar Japanese firm Super Potato, expresses its clean modern lines in old-school bamboo, shoji screens and tatami floors.

Surprising, yet nowhere near alienating, and intimately connected with its place in the world — in a nutshell that’s what hotel design should be. What’s best is that underneath it all it’s got no problem living up to the high standards of the Hyatt group’s international luxury offerings. Rooms are spacious and comfortable, the restaurants are first-class, and the spa and fitness center are state-of-the-art.

The legendary Amangani is not just Jackson Hole’s most exclusive resort, but its most impressive as well. This is the only outpost of the Singapore-based Aman chain in the Americas — and should Wyoming seem an odd choice for a brand mostly known for Bali-style luxury spas, one look at the hotel itself will convince you of its absolute rightness.

Amangani’s location is extraordinary: set at seven thousand feet above sea level, it’s carved into the hillside at Gros Ventre Butte, overlooking the meadowed valley of Jackson Hole with a view of Teton Pass and the Snake River Range in the distance. It’s an imposing structure, hewn from rough Oklahoma sandstone with accents of glass and Pacific redwood — a sort of Eastern minimalist take on a rustic Western theme, and unlike anything in Wyoming if not all of the Rockies.

There’s an understated glamor to the interiors, which tread a middle path between luxury-hotel opulence and international boutique minimalism — constant is the insistence on fine craftsmanship and materials, and the distinct Asian influence is pervasive yet never kitschy.

It’s hard to imagine suites more comfortable or luxurious than these. Each includes a fireplace, king-sized platform bed, and a private balcony with a commanding view of the valley below. Bathrooms are impossibly spacious, with slate walls, redwood floors, separate showers, and deep soaking tubs with mountain views.

The Grill serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a 65-seat redwood-paneled dining room. The cuisine is Western with organic leanings, serving steaks and seafood with regional produce. A zinc-top bar and a lounge with vast two-story windows overlooking the Tetons offer venues for drinks and socializing.

And no Aman resort would be complete without a world-class spa. This one, perhaps unsurprisingly, emphasizes physical fitness over decadent pampering, though the latter is certainly available. Outside a hundred-foot swimming pool and whirlpool is heated to a winter temperature of 80℉, and offers warmth and comfort alongside views of Wyoming’s snow-capped peaks — possibly the perfect image to convey the contrast that makes Amangani so unusual.

How to get there:

Amangani is located about 10-15 minutes from Jackson Hole Airport. Please contact customerservice@tablethotels.com to arrange airport transfers.