Imagine, if you can, people living in caves dug into the side of a ravine 7,000 years ago. That was how hotel Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita began its existence. The sassi are ancient cave dwellings that, until the late 1980s, were inhabited by the poor of Matera, a village in Italy’s south. With the rise in tourism, some have been transformed, including Le Grotte Della Civita, which is now a unique 18-room boutique hotel.
The whole town is UNESCO World Heritage listed, so each of the caves housing a suite has been carefully conserved and retains its original shape and materials. The interior design is minimal and true to the formation’s origins, the candlelit restaurant is set in a former church and even the spa is housed within rough-hewn walls.
Tucked away in its own bay at the base of striking cliffs, Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi caters to beach-bliss hedonists and adventurers alike.
Wake in a plush room or pool villa overlooking the ocean on the west coast of Thailand and ponder the big questions of the day: should you flop and drop on the beach with a cocktail? Or meet wildlife thriving under the sea, clamber up Krabi’s famous limestone formations, or explore the Monkey Trail?
When you’re done paddle boarding the coast and hiking into tropical parkland, unwind with a signature massage using products made with locally grown herbs. Next, satisfy your palate with a seafood barbecue before slipping into your private plunge pool for a dip under a canopy of stars.
Embrace your inner noble on the banks of Amsterdam’s ancient canals. The Mayer Manor, built from the remains of a fifteenth-century convent, is now a three-storey Art Deco mansion with a spellbinding one-bedroom apartment spanning the top two levels.
Throw open the fairytale oak doors to a city haven furnished in moody tones and earthy textures. If you can bring yourself to leave the opulent setting, explore the nearby shops, galleries and cafes. Return for an evening soak in the oversized copper bath in your bedroom while the fireplace crackles and light from elegant candelabras flickers across your skin. Once you’re squeaky clean, climb the wooden staircase onto your rooftop, or trail the haunting melody from a distant piano playing in the private club downstairs.
Opened in 2007, the Bowery Hotel was a leader in the revitalisation of the once-gritty Bowery neighbourhood. Hoteliers Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode, also responsible for the Maritime and Jane hotels in Manhattan, bought and redesigned the 14-storey property, creating spaces imbued with retro, Art Deco-inspired glamour. There’s a warm and welcoming lobby, complete with hand-picked antique furnishings and cosy fireplace, and an outdoor patio.
The 135 bright guestrooms are like cool apartments, with floor-to-ceiling windows (some even have glimpses of the Empire State Building), Turkish oushak rugs, marble tubs and C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries amenities in the bathrooms. Grab a board game from the collection inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums and escape to the wood-panelled lobby bar for a break from the New York crowds, or try chef Chris D’Amico’s rustic Italian fare at Gemma, the in-house restaurant.
If you live and breathe art you will do both happily at the XVA Hotel in Dubai, an understated boutique property in a city usually associated with excess.
This triple threat – it’s a hotel, vegetarian cafe and one of the best contemporary art galleries in the city – is located in the Al Fahidi historical neighbourhood, with its Persian architecture and snaking alleyways. The 13 guest rooms, arranged around shady courtyards where guests relax sipping mint lemonade, were once part of a home that was painstakingly restored over a four-year period by owner Mona Hauser.
Every rainforest-enclosed villa at this luxurious, wellness-focussed Thai retreat has its own pool. That, in itself, isn’t groundbreaking, but consider the designs, with the infinity dippers seemingly suspended in midair, and it becomes clear Keemala is a game changer.
The 38 suites come in four different styles, including Bird’s Nest (pictured) and Tree Pool villas. The whole resort overlooks the Andaman Sea and is close to both Kamala and Patong beaches. There’s a holistic spa and plenty of activities on offer, as well as four dining destinations and a terrace on which to sip sunset cocktails.
You don’t have to crash into the ocean à la Tom Hanks’s Chuck Noland to wash up on a deserted island. Docastaway sends travellers seeking the survival experience to deserted islands around the world.
Get a taste of isolation at the Private Lake in the Philippines. Be prepared to shed creature comforts though, because there’s no mobile signal, hot showers or electricity. The perks, however, are plentiful. When you’re not canoeing through pristine water, snorkelling among coral or fishing for your dinner, kick back in the spacious open-air cabana that juts out over the shallows.
Plus, you’ll have the entire island to yourself. Well, almost. Your 24-hour guide will hang out at the lake’s entrance with a walkie-talkie in case you realise the Survivor shtick isn’t for you. BYO Wilson.
When the first Ace opened in Seattle in 1999, it changed the way people thought about hotels. You could do boutique in a way that was neighbourly, working with local creatives to establish, not just rooms, but environments.
That extends to the London iteration, launched in 2013, where the apartment-style rooms have classic Ace touches, like maps and sketches by local artists, turntables and records, vintage furniture, custom Revo radios and even guitars.
Located in the historic Shoreditch neighbourhood; you’ll find galleries, theatres, restaurants, bars, fashion, and home of the Brick Lane market; bustling with vendors, bric a brac, food and street artists from around the world.
Back at the hotel after a day of exploring, there’s a cafe and gallery in the lobby space, and a ‘celestial’ subterranean bar with live music and DJs every night.
Introducing the Crazy Rider Xtreme, hailing from the next gen of zip-lines. Located in Ourimbah State Forest at TreeTops Adventure Park, a one-hour drive from Sydney, this ride combines the thrills of a roller-coaster with the flying sensation of a zip-line. Creating the structure wasn’t an easy feat – 2000 hours were spent on development and the ride took a staggering 5000 hours to build – but, by gosh, it was worth it.
At one-kilometre long, the Crazy Rider Xtreme is among the longest zip-lines in the world and during your five-minute ride you’ll zigzag your way through the trees, conquering 40 twists and turns and three 360-degree loops. If that isn’t enough, they’ve also thrown in a 540-degree whorl. Not sure your stomach is up to the extremity of Xtreme? Try the Crazy Rider Pioneer, a six-storey-high, 90-second ride with 10 twists along the way.
It may be one of the most uninhabitable places on the planet. Following the publication of John Henry Marsh’s 1944 book on the shipwreck of the Dunedin Star, it’s been called the Skeleton Coast, but the Bushmen of Namibia refer to this part of the world as the land God made in anger.
Moody, isolated and strangely beautiful, the 500-kilometre-long Skeleton Coast National Park stretches along the Atlantic Coast from Kunene River in the north to the Ugab River in the south, showcasing plains, mountains and shifting dunes.
Explore this remote coast on a nine-day 4WD excursion with Karibu Safaris. Departing Windhoek, you’ll walk to hidden waterfalls, go wild camping on beaches, visit wrecks and old mines, and keep eyes peeled for desert elephants, herds of oryx and springboks, brown hyenas, black rhinos, fur seals and rare desert lions.
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