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Five heavenly hotels to inspire a future holiday
LE JARDIN DES DOUARS, ESSAOUIRA, MOROCCO
Known as Morocco’s windy city, Essaouira boasts year-round sun and a laid-back vibe, making it an easy option for last-minute escapes. Our favourite spot is Le Jardin des Douars, a family-friendly oasis about 20 minutes from the city centre. Though the property was built in the last few decades, the architecture was inspired by traditional kasbahs in the Atlas Mountains, which gives it a lived-in feel. There are two pools, restaurants and a traditional Moroccan spa. The loveliest feature has to be the luxuriant gardens, which wrap around the estate, providing a home to chirping birds and the occasional fruit-seeking tortoise.
■ Rooms from £111
■ jardindesdouars.com
LEFAY RESORT & SPA, LAKE GARDA, ITALY
Carved into the crook of a mountainside high above the pristine waters of Lake Garda, this new Italian well-being resort has views comprising billowing clouds more than earth and water. Infinity pools lap softly into the horizon and lush, tiered lawns sit like a minimalist’s version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
If it all sounds rather ethereal, that’s because it was conceived to be so, and the masterful design has scooped up a host of awards. This is a genuine retreat hotel in which treatments are informed by classic Chinese medicine and the modernity of bioscience and technological therapies. In the mammoth spa, you’ll find all the usual facilities, alongside a salt lake, indoor and outdoor heated pools and even an energy garden for therapeutic pause.
■ Rooms from £230
■ lefayresorts.com
THE AUDO, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
It only opened around a year ago, but The Audo is already Copenhagen’s best-kept design secret – which is quite something in the spiritual home of Scandinavian style. The multidisciplinary space, based in a former fisheries trading post, is the new headquarters for Danish interiors studio Menu.
The converted building includes a boutique hotel, cafe-restaurant, concept store and co-working zone, all devised to show off the brand’s most impressive decorating credentials. Bedrooms are sleek, minimal, loft-style spaces that occupy the top floor and provide peaceful sanctuary, but the real wow-factor is in the public rooms. Littered with design classics and choice Menu wares, they are a lesson in how to do Scandi style with artful flair.
■ Rooms from £320
■ theaudo.com
LA BOBADILLA, GRANADA, SPAIN
If you’re looking for somewhere that you won’t need to leave; a self-contained hideaway that’ll keep your youngest and eldest kids content, you can’t go far wrong with La Bobadilla. One of Spain’s most impressive resorts, the Andalusian estate is surrounded by tree-covered, mountain-backed countryside that’s ripe for hiking, running and cycling. Tucked out of the way, so as not to spoil those spectacular views, are playgrounds, sports courts and a children’s pool for noisier, splashier guests. Despite all the action on hand, there are more than a few opportunities for a peaceful moment or two. If you find one – a babysitting service will help with that – try dinner at La Finca, the hotel’s gastronomic offering, which serves delicacies such as Malagan goat and white truffle soup.
■ Rooms from £150
■ barcelo.com
SIX SENSES, BHUTAN
The happiest – and hardest to visit – country on Earth, landlocked Bhutan abounds with dramatic geography, historical architecture and rich, traditional culture. The latest opening in the famously development-cautious kingdom is a series of contemporary Six Senses lodges scattered across the nation, from the capital Thimphu to the remote Gangtey Valley. The Six Senses concept consists of custom expeditions that visit some or all of its five unique lodges. Whether it’s guided meditation with Buddhist monks or hiking the Paro Valley to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery, the tailored journeys promise a momentous and moving experience.
■ Rooms from £825
■ sixsenses.com