Stays
Hotels worth crossing a continent for. Editorial picks of new openings, reopenings and quiet legends - room by room, rather than amenity by amenity.
The British Country House, Reinvented: From Wiltshire and the Cotswolds to London
The British country-house hotel was once a fixed idea: a rambling manor at the end of a gravel drive, log fires, dogs on flagstones and a dining room built around whatever the garden and the estate could provide. That idea never quite went away, but it has been quietly reinvented. A new generation of houses has kept the comfort and the calm while sharpening the food, the gardens and the spa, and its spirit has travelled, reworked, into restored townhouses and landmark buildings in the middle of London.
Istanbul and the Aegean: Turkey's Two Rhythms
Turkey keeps two kinds of time, and the distance between them is the whole story. In Istanbul, the days arrive in layers: empires stacked on empires, the call to prayer drifting over ferry horns, a skyline rewritten for sixteen centuries and still, somehow, unfinished. Then the country exhales. South and west, along the Turquoise Coast, the tempo drops to the pace of the sea, all pine-scented coves, unhurried lunches and light that softens rather than dazzles. This is a journey from one rhythm to the other, from the layered energy of the city to the sun-warmed calm of the Aegean shore.
Provence or the Côte d'Azur? Inland Calm or the Riviera in 2026
Two names, one corner of southern France, and almost opposite moods. Provence and the Côte d'Azur share a sky and a quality of light, yet they ask for entirely different holidays. One is inland and unhurried, all lavender rows, stone villages and long lunches under plane trees. The other runs along the coast at a brighter pitch, where Saint-Tropez keeps its harbour full and its evenings glamorous. The question is rarely which is better. It is which one fits the trip already imagined.
Where to Stay in Mexico Beyond Tulum: The Riviera Maya, Mérida and the Pacific Coast
Tulum is the gateway, not the destination. Mexico's most rewarding stays sit far beyond it, threaded along the Riviera Maya, tucked behind the façades of colonial Mérida and perched above the wild Pacific. Tulum draws travellers in with its design energy and Caribbean light, yet the country rewards anyone willing to travel a little further, into quieter jungle, older cities and slower coastlines.
The Masserie of Puglia: Where to Stay in Italy's Heel
Puglia is a region of walls. Field walls, town walls, the thick blind walls of the farms that raised it. To sleep inside a masseria is to sleep inside one of those old fortresses of oil and wheat, now turned quietly toward pleasure.
Bali's Best Boutique Stays 2026: Seven Small Hotels That Understand the Island
Bali is not one place but a dozen, and the island reveals itself differently depending on where a traveler chooses to sleep. The small hotel, the one with more staff than rooms, is still the surest way to meet it honestly.
Quiet Balearics: The Mallorca and Menorca Hotels Travellers Miss
Ibiza takes the headlines and the helicopters. Mallorca and Menorca, the larger and the smaller of the other two main Balearic Islands, have quietly become the best Spanish-island summer of 2026. Four boutique hotels across both islands, with the geography that makes them work and the practical notes on when to go.
The Coast Beyond Amalfi: Where to Stay When You Want the Mediterranean Without the Crowds
Four boutique hotels along the Amalfi and Sorrentine coasts. None of them is on the most-photographed corner of Positano. All of them are designed for travellers who have done the Costiera once and want the version of it that exists between the cruise stops.
Greece Beyond Santorini: Where to Stay Across the Aegean and the Ionian, 2026
Santorini is not the problem. The problem is that for many travellers, Greece begins and ends there. This is a list of seven boutique hotels on six other islands, Crete, Mykonos, Tinos, Milos, Serifos and Kefalonia, for the summer in which you stop looking at the caldera and start looking everywhere else.
Luxury Riads in Marrakech: The Most Beautiful Places to Stay in Morocco
A close look at four of the most beautiful luxury riads in Marrakech and the High Atlas: Olinto, The Mellah Hotel, Pure House Marrakech, and Riad Botanica.
Switzerland & Austria: 7 Hotels Worth the Journey
From Geneva's cobblestones to the Styrian Alps, a collection of addresses that reward the curious traveller
The Mediterranean Edit: Best Hotels 2026
From Crete's eco-luxury tented pavilions to Positano's rooftop infinity pools. Ten exceptional hotels across Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and Portugal for summer 2026. Expert picks from the Top World Hotel collection.
East of Everything: Five Indonesian Hideaways Beyond the Crowds
From Sidemen's rice terraces to Lombok's untouched shores, discover five boutique hotels that reveal Indonesia's quieter, more soulful side. A guide to the Bali and Lombok that most travelers never see.
Brazil by Design: From Rio's Beachfront to Bahia's Rainforest
Philippe Starck's Bossa Nova homage, a fashion mogul's beachfront vision, and a rainforest retreat where turtles nest at dawn. Brazil beyond the postcard.
Four Hotels to Find Yourself in India and Sri Lanka
From a 14th-century Rajasthan fort to Sri Lanka's mountaintop wellness retreats. Four hotels where design, heritage and Ayurveda converge for genuine transformation.
Rooms with a View: The Most Beautiful Horizons of 2026
Discover the most breathtaking hotel views around the world in 2026. From Tokyo to Cape Town, explore horizons where design meets emotion.
The Summer Edit 2026: Where to Stay Next Season
Discover the Mediterranean’s most beautiful stays for summer 2026. From Crete to Positano, explore hotels where design, light, and emotion meet.
Roman Elegance Rediscovered
Discover the best boutique hotels in Rome, from Monti to Piazza del Popolo, where history meets design and timeless elegance defines every stay.
The Best Hotels in Portugal: Five Escapes for Every Kind of Traveller
Discover five of Portugal’s most inspiring boutique hotels from vineyard retreats to coastal hideaways redefining contemporary luxury.
Where to Stay Now: The Most Inspiring Boutique Hotels of 2026
Discover the new generation of boutique hotels redefining luxury in 2026, where design, emotion and authenticity create unforgettable stays.
Best Boutique Riads and Villas in Marrakech 2026
Discover the best boutique riads and villas in Marrakech for 2026, from serene medina retreats to stylish hideaways and private estates for a truly authentic stay.
Best Boutique Hotels in Santorini for 2026: Our Curated Selection
Discover the best boutique hotels in Santorini for 2026, curated stays with caldera views, design suites, romantic escapes, and hidden gems across the island.
Boutique Hotels in Andalusia: An Edit of Seville, Granada and the Inland Country
Andalusia keeps its finest interiors behind plain doors. A blank facade on a narrow lane opens onto a cool tiled patio, an orange tree, a fountain and a stillness that the street outside never hints at. The region built its idea of luxury around that surprise, around shade and water and privacy in the heat, and its best small hotels are the ones that understood the trick and simply restored it. This edit gathers five of them across the south, from two palaces in Seville to a pair of cathedral-side stays in Granada and one whitewashed estate in the hills between, each a different way of stepping off a Spanish street into somewhere quiet.