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When you’re staying at this historic property, it’s worth waking up early to watch the sun rise and turn the sky pink against the San Jacinto Mountains. Romance suffuses this upscale three-acre resort of low-slung bungalows, designed in 1952 and later refreshed by acclaimed designer Steve Hermann. The light-drenched Fireplace Junior Suite Bungalow—once Marilyn Monroe’s room of choice—is a favorite for couples, with its private outdoor shower and wood-burning copper fireplace, plus Frette robes and L’Horizon-branded eye masks. The property’s restaurant, SO•PA, is equally alluring, thanks to a linear fire pit and fountain outdoors and sparkling modern metallic chandeliers inside. While the menu of New American fare is inspired—try the honey mussels paired with an Infinity Paloma cocktail—the chef will also create, with advance notice and upon request, a personalized tasting menu riffing off the day’s best produce and in keeping with any dietary restrictions. Pro tip: The deep-tissue rubdown at the indoor-outdoor spa is unparalleled, but pampering doesn’t need an occasion here—hit the poolside sun beds early for complimentary back and foot massages.

Built in the 1920s by a Croatian businessman, Palacio Astoreca underwent two years of refurbishment and restoration before opening its doors as a boutique hotel in 2012. The work was carried out to a meticulous degree, maintaining the original parquet floors, and adding splashes of color with art deco furniture and modern art, including one piece by Switzerland’s Frédéric Clot. The stucco-and-brick mansion rises up from the streets of Chile’s port city, Valparaíso, like a piece of red-and-white confectionary.

A statement staircase winds up to the 23 rooms, some of which have stand-alone bathtubs. And the basement level is home to a small spa with an open-air, wood-fueled hot tub set alongside a living wall. The reception level and entrance hall open out onto a terrace where lunch, tea, and cocktails are served, allowing guests prime views over the hilly city and Pacific Ocean. There are quiet corners for those seeking a solitary moment, including a library and a piano bar, which comes to life in the evenings with live music.

The outside of the Sky Hotel is very deceiving. It looks like any other lodge in Aspen and then when you go inside it is quite the opposite. As you walk into the lobby there are high-backed chairs that are white in front and red with white writing on the back. The carpet is a chaotic pattern of circles and bright color dots—it all seems like something out of Alice in Wonderland. This modern, hip motif is transferred to all the guest rooms.

Guarded by the Hammering Man sculpture outside, this superb museum collection romps from native tribal art to African masks to carvings from Oceania. Highlights include the 16th-century wood-paneled Italian Room and The Studio, a portrait of the Seattle home of Jacob Lawrence, arguably the most acclaimed African American painter of the 20th century. Check the calendar for world-class temporary exhibits, not to mention lectures, performances, film screenings, and evening SAM Remix dance parties. If you need some air, head for the waterfront Olympic Sculpture Park to catch a glimpse of art in the wild. Free to visit, this green space offers stunning views of Puget Sound and the ferries trundling across it.

The all-suite historic Carillon Miami Beach sits along private white sands forming its own luxury haven. An anchor for the North Beach neighborhood, the hotel is the perfect base for exploring the endless attractions and events that surround it. Boasting South Florida’s largest spa combined with one of the most comprehensive wellness programs on the East Coast of the U.S, the resort also offers an extensive array of recreational activities allowing you to create the ideal vacation stay.

Personal Concierges can arrange it all for you, whether it’s a night out on the town, a spa treatment, or dinner in the hotel’s new THYME restaurant. You don’t have to be a VIP, as every guest is given the same superior service from the moment you check into one of the 150 one- or two-bedroom suites. On-site active offerings include more than 40 complimentary indoor and outdoor fitness and movement classes each day, a two-story indoor rock wall, and four swimming pools—including an adults-only rooftop pool.

Health and wellness options feature nutritional counseling, acupuncture, diagnostic testing, and functional medicine. Pampering time in the magnificent 70,000-square-foot integrated spa and wellness space can get you indulging in European-inspired Thermal experiences, as well as such treatments as massages, facials, sound therapy, and even the chance to enjoy your therapies side-by-side with your traveling companion.

Executive Chef Fritz Zwahlen delights with four dining venues featuring fresh, local produce. The latest restaurant, THYME, pairs American fare with views of the water. Carillon Bar & Lounge, The Cabana, and the Juice Bar are more choices for meals and drinks.

The centerpiece of Turks and Caicos is Grace Bay, on the island of Providenciales (known locally as Provo), where the miles-long sugar-sand shore routinely tops “best beach” lists for the Caribbean and the world. The inland area along this stretch of northern shoreline is where you’ll find most of Provo’s hotels, shopping, and restaurants. Grace Bay is part of the Princess Alexandra National Park. It has calm waters and a sandy seafloor with no rocks or corals to step on, making Grace Bay the perfect place for swimming, splashing along the shoreline, parasailing, and stand-up paddleboarding.

The thermal hot springs in Rincón de La Vieja at Rio Negro (Black River) may not be as well known as those in the Arenal area, but we had the pools and surrounding forest to ourselves. From where we stayed at the Hacienda Guachipelin Rincón de La Vieja, the springs were accessible by horseback or vehicle, followed by a short hike and crossing a rather dubious hanging bridge. The pools are heated by the Rincón de La Vieja Volcano, so you definitely want to test the steaming water. There are seven pools to sample of different shapes, sizes and temperatures. The first pool was too hot to plunge more than our toes into. And the pool that was “just right” was the last one, which happened to be ideally situated next to the churning river. After two days of horseback riding, hiking, canyon ziplining and rappelling, it was great to unwind at this private oasis. If a rainforest/volcano adventure beckons you, I recommend staying at Hacienda Guachipelin Rincón de La Vieja and getting an adventure pass from Adventure Tours--both are at Rincón de La Vieja National Park.

With the smallest room a sprawling 400 square feet, and suites and public spaces filled with original 18th- and 19th-century art and antiques, the George V, flagship of the Four Seasons chain, lives up to its billing as a palace, an official tourism category introduced in 2010 requiring establishments to “embody French standards of excellence and contribute to enhancing the image of France throughout the world.” Set in a 1928 art deco building, the Four Seasons Hotel George V boasts a regular clientele of bona fide royals, including Saudi princes who rent entire floors for six weeks at a stretch. The staff includes a team of flower designers led by an art director who worked on Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. There’s also a dedicated concierge for children ordering up pint-sized bathrobes and private pastry-making lessons in the Michelin-starred kitchen.

Among the three Cayman Islands, Brac is the most topographically endowed, thanks to its distinguishing feature: the Bluff, a limestone cliff rising along the length of the island and topping out at about 140 feet at the eastern end. Between that and the island’s densely forested interior, the local hiking options have a lot to offer—one of the best cases in point being the Lighthouse Footpath, a trail that runs two and a half miles (one way) along the bluff’s edge and that serves up endless sea views and likely encounters with the absurdly adorable brown boobies and soaring frigate birds. Try to go in the morning or late afternoon, and of course, take along plenty of water: You’re looking at a two-hour outing to the most beautiful of boonies.

Seclusion and tranquility are the new forms of luxury in a world that is so accessible and plugged in. Aqua Wellness Resort successfully marries contemporary luxury accommodations with serene surroundings, providing a memorable and rejuvenating experience for travelers. Accessible by a two-and-a-half-hour drive or 40-minute helicopter ride from Nicaragua’s international airport in Managua, Aqua offers peace and privacy so that you can enjoy the beautifully wild landscape of Nicaragua’s Pacific “Emerald Coast.” 24 Tree Houses accommodating 50 luxurious villas and suites dot Aqua’s forested hillside, which overlooks a private, white sandy beach.

This playful picnic and wine shop is quintessentially Ojai. Set in an old Spanish house, Tipple & Ramble sells indoor/outdoor decor, vintage and new barware, retro games, coolers, and small-batch specialty food items. Stock up on artisanal s’mores kits for your next campout; cocktail mixers and trays for entertaining; or cheese knives and handmade cutting boards for a stylish picnic. Then step onto the patio, which feels like entering a neighbor’s bohemian backyard, a lush landscape of palms, cacti, and hammocks. On Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 7 p.m., the patio becomes a wine bar. Try a cheese and charcuterie board or hummus and seasonal vegetables, paired with wine, beer, or Mexican Coke from the bar, which is built into a vintage trailer. Pro tip: The patio faces east, the essential direction to enjoy Ojai’s Pink Moment—the famous sunset that turns everything a glowing pink. Plan to arrive early enough to get a glass of rosé and snag the table in the front of the yard for the best end-of-day view.

One of the few hotels on picture-perfect Grace Bay Beach that can work for both honeymooners and families, Seven Stars sits on 22 acres of lush grounds at the edge of Princess Alexandria National Park and has studio to four-bedroom plantation style suites available. All feel very private. Besides wraparound terraces with awesome ocean views, the rooms here all feature full kitchens, making it easy to cook your own lunch or make snacks for the kids. That said, the house restaurant, aptly named Seven, is very good, so plan on dining here at least a few times. The spa is also excellent - perfect for honeymooners - and there is a dedicated activities concierge that will arrange all sorts of water sports and even a kids’ camp.

Owned by the world-renowned art collector Dakis Joannou and smartly decorated by quirky Brazilian designers the Campana brothers, the New Hotel is the city’s coolest upscale design-centric property, with 79 rooms (including seven suites) and an intimate restaurant. Although centrally located, just a five-minute walk to Syntagma Square, it’s tucked back in a modernist building on a side street so it feels hidden and discreet. The interiors are both playful and smart; the Campanas created much of it with items recycled from the previous hotel. Imagine puzzlelike walls and chairs constructed of layered, repurposed wood intermingled with sculptural chairs of their own design. In the rooms, they had fun riffing on Greek cultural objects, like the Karagiozis, a shadow puppet, and multiple versions of the glass “evil eyes” used to protect against ill omen. Bottom line: stylish contemporary design, excellent location, and friendly service.

There’s more to the Botanical Gardens in Denver than just the pretty face of its landscaped grounds and beautiful flowers. It’s also a world-class research center with a mission to connect people with plants (especially the plants endemic to the Rocky Mountains) and to encourage understanding of the ecosystems in which they thrive. The 23-acre location on York Street has a variety of gardens (many based on typically western climates like mountains and plains), popular exhibits, and a shop; it additionally hosts a summer concert series and nighttime events. The institution’s second main location, at Chatfield Farms on the southwest edge of greater Denver, focuses on native flora and agriculture; there’s a working farm on its 700 acres. Both spots offer extensive educational opportunities as well as incredible events like York Street’s Blossoms of Light holiday show.

Mandarin Oriental’s first Caribbean resort has all the amenities you’d expect from the luxury brand—with the price tag to match. Nestled within lush greenery overlooking the white sands of Godahl Beach, the 26 suites and villas, which sit on the grounds of a 1,200-acre estate on the island of Canouan, are elegantly appointed with modern furnishings, marble baths, and rosy accents befitting the hotel’s name. Here, though, it’s all about the public spaces, including a Jim Fazio–designed golf course overlooking sparkling blue waters, a hilltop spa specializing in island-themed treatments, and four elegant restaurants serving every kind of cuisine, from pan-Asian to Italian. At Turtles, a cocktail lounge straight out of the Hamptons, opt for the Pepper Bliss, made with rum, bell pepper syrup, and pineapple juice.