Nature Hotels

Deep in Namibia's NamibRand Nature Reserve, where the desert stretches for 200,000 hectares beneath mountains that look like they've been carved from stone, there's a place where the night sky puts on such a show that you'll wonder why you ever bothered with city lights. Kwessi Dunes is that place …

There's a certain magic to staying somewhere without electricity or running water, somewhere a five-minute hike takes you to views of the Colorado River and Lake Powell, and where the night sky is so unmarred by light pollution that the stars seem to multiply the longer you stare at them. …

Fancy spending the night dangling off a cliff face in Argentine Patagonia? OVO Patagonia has opened four transparent capsules bolted to a rock wall, offering what might be the most vertigo-inducing accommodation experience on the planet. This isn't glamping – it's something altogether more unhinged. The concept is simple, if …

Many Glacier Hotel sits on the shores of Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park's northeastern corner, a five-story structure with brown wood siding and Swiss chalet flourishes that has been welcoming visitors since 1915. When a forest fire roared down the mountain in 1936, employees fought flaming debris with fire …

Suspended 170 meters above Norway's Lysefjord, The Bolder lodges look like they might drift away at any moment. This is architecture that refuses to play it safe – six cabins scattered across 170 hectares of wilderness, each one appearing to hover over one of the country's most dramatic fjords. The …

At the edge of the world, where ancient cedars meet crashing Pacific waves, sits a hotel that makes no apologies for its dramatic setting. The Wickaninnish Inn perches on a rocky headland at Chesterman Beach, five kilometers from the surfing town of Tofino on Vancouver Island's wild west coast. This …

If you've ever wanted to feel like you're floating above the ocean while still having solid ground beneath your feet, Chile's Maralto Cabins might be exactly what you're looking for. These twin wooden structures cling to a steep hillside on the country's wild Pacific coast, offering an unfiltered connection to …

When Barry Sternlicht's 1 Hotels brand finally opened its flagship property on Kauai in early 2023, it marked more than just another luxury resort debut. After decades of family vacations to this stretch of Hawaii's North Shore, the hospitality mogul had transformed what he saw as a property disconnected from …

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 …

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 …

Deep in the Mayan jungle near Solferino, Mexico, there's an accommodation that breaks every rule about hotel architecture. Instead of concrete and steel, you'll find yourself sleeping inside a superadobe dome - a structure built from earth-filled polypropylene bags that looks like something between an ancient temple and a spacecraft …

Sleeping in a treehouse as an adult turns out to be less about nostalgia and more about architectural wonder. At Onera Fredericksburg, this whimsical concept gets a sophisticated makeover, with luxury accommodations that feel more like sculptural art pieces than nostalgic backyard hideouts. The property has recently tripled its collection …

Deep in Limpopo's Soutpansberg Mountains, where ancient baobabs tower over valleys and the nearest paved road feels like a distant memory, an unlikely safari story is unfolding. Few & Far Luvhondo isn't your typical Big Five experience - there are no lions prowling the savanna or elephants trumpeting at dawn. …

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 …

Fifteen minutes from Rovaniemi's compact center, where the last traffic lights fade into wilderness, sits Apukka Resort - a collection of glass-roofed cabins scattered along the shores of Lake Olkkajärvi like fallen stars. This isn't your typical hotel experience. Here, you'll fall asleep watching the northern lights dance overhead, wake …

In the high Sonoran Desert of Arizona, where saguaro cacti stand like ancient sentinels and the Bradshaw Mountains paint purple shadows across endless sky, there's a place that makes good on the promise of the American West without the usual tourist-trap nonsense. Rancho de los Caballeros, sprawling across 20,000 acres …

Deep in the Canadian Arctic, where Hudson Bay meets the boreal forest, lies a place that feels like stepping into another dimension. Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge isn't your typical wilderness getaway - it's a remote outpost where the boundary between civilization and the wild becomes beautifully, sometimes terrifyingly, thin. Located …

In the middle of Utah's red rock country, where the landscape looks like Mars had a particularly good day, sits Ofland Escalante - a place that makes you wonder why anyone ever thought camping had to involve sleeping on the ground and eating beans from a can. This isn't your …

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 …

The gravel road seems to go on forever, winding through dense forest for what feels like an eternity before you begin to wonder if your satnav has led you astray. But that's rather the point at Patagonia Camp – this isn't the sort of place you stumble upon by accident. …