Picture this: you're sipping a cocktail surrounded by whitewashed walls and blue-domed architecture, but instead of the Aegean Sea stretching before you, it's the Indonesian waters where Komodo dragons patrol their ancient territory. The Loccal Collection Hotel in Labuan Bajo has committed fully to this geographical identity crisis, and somehow, …
In a city where colorful row houses cling to steep hills and the Atlantic crashes against rocky shores, St. John's has found its groove with the JAG Hotel. This isn't your typical boutique property – it's what happens when a music-obsessed hotelier decides to turn his passion into a 169-room …
Some places make you work for them. Kennicott Glacier Lodge is one of those places – eight hours from Anchorage, with the final 60 miles on gravel roads that rental car companies won't let you drive on. But those willing to make the journey find themselves at the center of …
On a tiny island in Lake Huron, where the clip-clop of horse hooves replaces the rumble of engines and fudge shops line cobblestone streets like something from a Dickens novel, sits one of America's most gloriously anachronistic hotels. The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island isn't just a place to rest …
On a scrap of windswept rock in the Swedish archipelago, where the Baltic meets the North Sea, stands what might be the world's most improbable hotel. Pater Noster sits on Hamneskär island, five nautical miles from anywhere you'd recognize as civilization, crowned by a 32-meter lighthouse that has been guiding …
Few hotel check-ins require climbing 126 granite steps to reach your bedroom. By the time you've huffed and puffed your way to the top of the Kerbel Lighthouse in Brittany, you've earned the right to collapse onto that bed and stare out at what might be the most spectacular view …
The first thing you notice isn't the geodesic domes dotting the hillside like something from a sci-fi film, or even the sweeping views across the Waitaki Valley that stretch endlessly toward jagged mountain peaks. It's the silence. The kind of profound quiet that makes city dwellers suddenly aware of their …
Walking into HOTEL TAVINOS Kyoto feels like stepping through the pages of a manga. The walls explode with illustrations of sumo wrestlers, traditional bathhouses, and moon-viewing scenes - all rendered in the bold, playful style that has made Japanese comics a global phenomenon. This isn't your typical business hotel. Since …
Walk through Rome's historic center, past centuries-old churches and crumbling ruins, and you'll eventually find yourself confronted by an unusual sight: a pair of doormen who look more like nightclub bouncers than hotel staff. Welcome to Romeo Roma, where getting through the front door requires more than just wandering in …
Twenty-five miles outside Fairbanks, where cell service becomes spotty and the only light pollution comes from the occasional passing truck, sits one of Alaska's most unusual accommodations. Borealis Basecamp isn't your typical wilderness lodge - it's a collection of fiberglass igloos and converted shipping containers scattered across a ridgeline, all …
In the small Norwegian town of Voss, where extreme sports enthusiasts come to chase waterfalls and adrenaline rushes, a new kind of accommodation has emerged that's as much about the architecture as it is the adventure. Elva Hotel, which opened in June 2023, sits along the shore of Lake Lundar …
The stone walls are thick enough to have withstood demolition attempts in the 1930s, and the barred windows remain resolutely in place. But these days, the only thing being executed at Bodmin Jail is an ambitious vision to transform one of Britain's most forbidding historical sites into a luxury hotel …
The first clue that Lost Lindenberg isn't your typical Balinese retreat comes at the entrance - a playful art installation by German artist Tobias Rehberger that deliberately contrasts with the serene world beyond. Step through the hidden door, and suddenly you're Alice tumbling down a very zen rabbit hole. What …
On a rocky precipice above the Aegean, where the island of Crete drops dramatically into sapphire waters, sits a hotel that takes its name quite literally. Acro Suites – from the Greek 'akros' meaning 'on the edge' – perches precariously on the clifftops of Mononaftis Bay, and sisters Danae and …
In the tiny wine country town of Los Alamos, population barely 2,000, sits a hotel so wonderfully eccentric it makes the Madonna Inn look restrained. From the outside, the Victorian Mansion looks like any other stately 19th-century home. Step inside, and you'll find yourself tumbling down a rabbit hole of …
Most people fantasize about escaping to a simpler life, but Lea and Gadi Nahimov actually did it. Tucked away in the Negev Desert near Sde Boker, their working goat farm has become a refuge where the biggest decision of your day might be which artisanal cheese to try next, and …
On the precipice of nowhere, where ancient stone meets endless blue, sits a hotel born from one man's obsession with a ruined windmill and a love affair with isolation. Folegandros – try saying it without stumbling over the syllables – remains mercifully untouched by the cruise ship hordes that descend …
The conch shell sounds at dusk, echoing across the ancient stone walls of Ozu Castle. Smoke rises from matchlock guns as armored samurai fire a welcoming salute. This isn't a theme park attraction or historical reenactment - it's your check-in experience at the world's only castle hotel where you can …
Most hotels promise a good night's sleep and maybe continental breakfast. The Don Q Inn in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, promises you can spend that night in a space capsule, an igloo, or a medieval dungeon. Want to spend the night in a Viking ship? Done. Prefer a prehistoric cave? They've got …
The rooster starts his shift at dawn, which is either charming or infuriating depending on your relationship with early mornings. At Beach Plum Farm, tucked away on 62 acres of West Cape May farmland, this feathered alarm clock is just part of the deal - along with actual pigs in …