Il Pellicano
Once a private villa belonging to an American heiress, Il Pellicano first became a hotel in the mid-’60s, with Slim Aarons returning again and again over the course of the next decade to capture society figures lounging on its rocky Tuscan beach. If a dip in its saltwater pool (or a visit to its equally breathtaking sister hotels, Mezzatorre and La Postia Vecchia) is off the cards for the time being, order a token of la dolce vita via the brand’s newly launched website, Issimo, featuring all manner of exquisitely made Italian goods.
The money shot: Climbing out of the Med, Bond girl-style, using the hotel dock’s staircase.
Amangiri
Every supermodel worth her Instagram following has road-tripped to Amangiriin the Utah desert this year. Set amongst more than 500 acres of wild mesa-filled landscape on the Colorado Plateau, this is a hotel designed for privacy – one of many reasons it’s become a favourite retreat for the young LA crowd. As of July, the hotel now offers a glamping experience at its even-more-remote site, Camp Sarika, too – quite possibly the best place in the continental USA to indulge in a bit of star-gazing.
The money shot: Draped against the concrete walls of the hotel’s private suites – the desert brush visible in the background.
Colombe D’Or
Tucked away in the hills above Nice, the charmingly rustic Colombe D’Orboasts one of the most spectacular art collections in the world. Founded by a local farmer in the ’20s as a three-room inn, the hotel became a refuge for creatives following the Second World War – with many artists trading paintings and sketches for room and board. Today, it remains filled with masterpieces by the likes of Chagall, Léger, Braque, Matisse, and Picasso, all of whom were frequent visitors in the ’50s.
The money shot: Taking a dip beneath the Calder mobile suspended above the pool.
Le Sirenuse
Le Sirenuse began life as an aristocratic Neapolitan family’s summer home on the Amalfi Coast, before four siblings converted it into an intimate hotel with the most glorious vistas of Positano imaginable in 1951. One of their first guests? John Steinbeck, who described it as a “first class hotel, spotless and cool, with grape arbores over its outside dining rooms”. “Every room has its little balcony and looks out over the blue sea to the islands of the sirens from which those ladies sang so sweetly,” he wrote. Seventy years later, and it remains every bit as charming.
The money shot: Dining on the balcony of the on-site restaurant La Sponda, lit at night by hundreds of candles, with the many pastel facades of Positano below.
Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc
The grande dame of the French Riviera celebrates its 150th anniversary this year – 15 decades of playing host to everyone from John F Kennedy to Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles to the Duchess of Windsor. In the ’30s, F Scott Fitzgerald immortalised the “large, proud rose-coloured hotel” in Tender is the Night, using it as the inspiration for Hôtel des Étrangers and its “bright tan prayer rug of a beach”. Even more legendary than the main building, Villa Soleil? The art-deco Eden-Roc Pavilion set directly on the beach.
The money shot: Gazing out at the 22 acres of lush, fragrant gardens from one of the suite’s vast curved balconies.
Hotel Esencia
Originally the home of an Italian duchess, this exclusive bolthole on the Mayan Riviera is backed by wild Yucatán jungle and gives out onto the pristine Xpu-Ha beach, where sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs each year. Since launching as a hotel in 2005, Hotel Esencia also played host to the bulk of the fashion industry – with many drawn back again and again by the tranquillity and seclusion of the hibiscus-filled estate just a short drive from the ruins of Tulum.
Borgo Egnazia
Borgo Egnazia feels less like a hotel, more like a village – fitting since architect Pino Brescia designed it to recall a traditional Puglian borgo. Built entirely from cream and gold tufa limestone, the sprawling property includes lavender-scented masserias; a vast “town” square for holding celebrations (frequently lit up at night by a bonfire); and sun-drenched rooftops from which you can glimpse the Adriatic in the distance. No surprise, then, that it’s a favourite of the Beckhams.
The money shot: Standing under one of the bougainvillea-covered Arabian-style arches.
