The world’s most beautiful hotels, according to Time Out editors

💎  Verdict: Best heritage hotel

Guarded by Irish wolfhound statues and a top-hatted gatekeeper, Ashford Castle has been putting on a show since 1228. It's passed through aristocrats, the Guinness family and Oscar Wilde's guest list over the centuries, and today it's a labyrinth of corridors, Donegal crystal chandeliers and a spa pool ringed with seashell chandeliers. Staff will walk you to your room on arrival, and you'll definitely need to memorise the way back. Bedrooms go all-in on colour, several with views straight over Lough Corrib from the bed. Come autumn, it earns the fairytale reputation, as mist rises off the water and the surrounding woodland turns gold.

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💎  Verdict: Best for show-stopping scenery

Set against the vast skies and volcanic landscapes of Nagano’s Miyota region, Hiramatsu Karuizawa Miyota is a design-conscious retreat that blends almost imperceptibly into its surroundings. Long corridors, natural materials, generous glazing and private onsens ensure the surrounding landscape remains the star, while every detail, from prehistoric pottery fragments to impeccable interiors, reflects an uncompromising commitment to Japanese hospitality. It's a place of serenity, where mist rolls across the valleys beyond your terrace and the outside world quietly falls away. Beautiful inside and out, it feels a bit like a blissful dream that you’ll remember long after leaving.

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💎  Verdict: Most beautiful gardens and grounds

Few hotels are more synonymous with luxury than the Four Seasons, and the chain’s Florence outpost is arguably the most decadent of the lot. It’s housed inside a fifteenth-century Renaissance palazzo, which is surrounded by 11 acres of gorgeously manicured, secluded gardens, including an intimate outdoor pool lined by retro red-and-white striped cabanas. Inside, stately guest rooms are made ever so spacious by towering ceilings (amplified all the more by a shedload of mirrors) and decorated magnificently with frescoed ceilings, heavy velvet curtains and antique-style furniture. You will feel like literal royalty sleeping here.

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💎  Verdict: Best for avant-garde art and design

Stark, charcoal decor, a warehouse-like exterior and ceilings affixed with neon signs is perhaps not quite what you’d expect from a hotel surrounded by the rolling hills of a Victoria vineyard, but that’s why it’s so fantastic. The Jackalope is a boutique stay, housing just 45 rooms, but each one has somehow combined sharp shapes, blackened walls and wacky furniture to curate a bizarre but alluring and strangely cavernous atmosphere. Its bold contrast to the verdant, swaying vines which stretch over the hills ahead is what makes this hotel so ridiculously cool, best embodied in the appropriately named ‘Lair Suite’.

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💎 Verdict: Best for all-out, maximalist interiors

If we could name anywhere on this list as the champion of whimsy-maxxing, it would undoubtedly be the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Sitting amongst the upper echelons of New York’s most glamorous places to stay, it’s paired high-end service and quality furnishings with an appearance so fabulously camp that the hotel is practically winking at you. The decor teeters on the boundary of maximalism, with plenty of playful textures and jewel tones sprinkled over the surfaces and on the walls, but somehow retains the cosy air of a (lavish) countryside cottage. En suites gleam with shiny tiles and statement wallpaper, the headboards are obviously upholstered, and Café Carmellini is a glowing on-site restaurant where the plates of food are just as pretty as the setting.

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💎 Verdict: Best for whimsical architecture 

Signature salmon-coloured buildings and Moorish-style architecture make this Tenerife sanctuary one of the most recognisable properties in the Ritz-Carlton portfolio. This place is whimsical in its beauty, with bridges looping over a koi-filled central lake, pink staircases twisting out of buildings and gangly palm trees shooting high into the sky. Wander the grounds and find courtyards of sunset-coloured croton plants, eucalyptus trees, thousands of subtropical plants and hidden walkways. Then there’s the location itself: the resort occupies prime real estate on the southwestern edge of Tenerife, accessed via a zig-zag drive through banana trees, with nothing before you but the ocean and the cloud-shrouded island of La Gomera on the horizon.

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💎  Verdict: Best for wild beauty

Beauty isn’t always about pretty colours and dainty shapes – sometimes it comes in the form of harsh, bold, futuristic designs, and few places do harsh, bold and futuristic than Iceland’s ION Adventure. The hotel, which protrudes confidently from the moss-laden hillside of Mount Hengill in a valley called Nesjavellir, is a strikingly brutalist contrast to its craggy surroundings. Designed to emit minimal light so as not to detract from the ones that really matter – the good old Aurora Borealis, a likely sight at this remote destination – it’s an impressive and eye-catching space from which to marvel at this glorious part of the planet.

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💎 Verdict: Best for earthy, boho beauty

Terracotta-coloured mud and straw have been used to construct the two-storey main building of this hotel, with bedrooms dotted around two serene courtyards that fill up with the chatter of birds at sunset, and more found in outbuildings alongside the individual villas. There is so much carved wood, dark metal and tiling that it’d be safe to assume ‘Berber chic’ featured somewhere on the design brief, but where this place shines brightest is its gardens. Angular aloes and cacti are softened by pops of colour from the pink trumpet vibes and blue plumbago, and the leaves flutter gorgeously in the famous Essaouira wind. Amidst arid land as far as the eye can see, it’s a true botanical oasis. 

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💎 Verdict: Most beautiful pool

The Phoenicia is not only a Maltese landmark, but a ridiculously chic place to stay. There’s a plethora of showstopping attributes, from the grandiose art deco revolving door and red carpet at the entrance to the limestone fortifications that shroud the edges of its seven-acre gardens. The best part? That’d be the Bastion infinity pool, a space made up of clean contemporary lines with impressive Manoel Island views, a pleasing contrast to the cragginess of the surrounding sixteenth-century walls.

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💎  Verdict: Best all-round show-stopper

Mount Nelson – aka The Pink Lady – is the grand dame of Cape Town, a timeless space that’s one of the city’s most iconic buildings and most sought-after luxury stays. So legendary is its pastel pink facade that ‘Mount Nelson Pink’ has become an official shade. Long after trends come and go, the Mount Nelson continues to embody an old-world allure that feels uniquely its own. Wrapped in beautifully landscaped gardens beneath Table Mountain, its classically styled rooms balance timeless design with contemporary comfort. Celebrated new restaurant Amura, by Michelin-star chef Angel Leon, raises the bar in culinary experiences and is drop-dead gorgeous too.

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💎  Verdict: Best for coastal beauty

The Ungasan Clifftop Resort sits right at the southernmost tip of Bali and seamlessly demonstrates how to let the splendour of a landscape do the talking. Bungalow-style villas are sprinkled over the precipice which towers above the Bukit Peninsula, and each one is cleanly decorated with white linens and light floors and walls which amplify the daylight, with plenty of windows so you’re pretty much always granted a view of the ocean. The lush grounds are punctuated by numerous infinity pools, bringing you closer to the wide, twinkling open water, and are decorated with prim lawns, frangipani trees and tumbling bougainvillea.

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💎  Verdict: Best for eco-cool

Serenity is a concept you’re unlikely to associate with central London, but that’s precisely the aura that’s been meticulously crafted at 1 Hotel Mayfair. The swish eco-hotel franchise is a champion of elegantly folding sustainable design into its properties, and this one, which opened in 2023, is a prime example. An enormous dome of dripping moss looms over the entrance, which feels more like a natural spa than a hotel lobby, and there are plants in virtually every direction — 1,300 of them, to be exact. Natural textures made from recycled materials feature throughout, and the rooms, suites and stunning lantern-illuminated restaurant are a lesson on how to do earth tones that feel warm and authentic.

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💎 Verdict: Most beautiful city-centre hotel

Place de Vosges is the grandest of Paris’s many squares, and Le Pavillon de La Reine is its most sophisticated and secluded residence. From the exterior, the hotel presents as a proper Parisian gem, with an ivy-clad facade, classic cast iron railings and a bounty of timeless charm making it feel more like the set of an old French movie. But while the lobby and restaurant feature all the coffered ceilings and Versailles-worthy gilded details you might expect, the rooms promise refreshing variety. Some of the beds sit in stripped-back spaces with minimal fuss and cottage-like beams, while others have been confidently furnished with purple velvet, black lampshades, and noisy contrasting patterns. No wonder then that its beauty has drawn the likes of Kate Winslet and Tilda Swinton to its doors.

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💎 Verdict: Best for old-school opulence

Staying at Gleneagles, it would be hard to ignore how proudly the Scottish dame stands against the heather-draped Ochil Hills. This 1924 chateau-style building sits in 850 acres of Perthshire countryside, so it feels like you can wander for miles and get completely lost in nature. Originally dubbed the ‘Glorious Playground’ by its high-society founders in the twenties, the hotel still carries that Gatsby-esque glamour, but updates it without the stiff upper lip. They mix grand chandeliers and oak panelling with cosy open fires and velvet armchairs you can sink into. Upstairs, the bedrooms feel a bit like a stylish friend's country manor, filled with custom-made furniture and giant beds. Downstairs, the beauty is in the details, where you can track down botanical cocktails in the rosy-pink American Bar, or hide away in the cedar-panelled outdoor sauna.

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💎  Verdict: The most OTT 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and while The Madonna Inn might not be as elegant as some of the other hotels on this list, it’s certainly the most outrageous. Built in the 1950s, this ultra-camp pink palace is home to 110 themed rooms – some with glitter walls, others with zebra carpets, and a chosen few with bathrooms carved from rock. Most spectacular of all is the Gold Rush Steak House, their majestically whimsical restaurant, with pink leather booths, swirling floral carpets and the hotel’s trademark glass goblets on every table. A fabulously extra kind of a place, and arguably America’s most iconic motel.

Sitting atop a misty mountain, this intimate adults-only sanctuary blends effortlessly into the beautiful landscapes of the Adelaide Hills. Each of the 14 luxury suites frames panoramic views of the Piccadilly Valley – whether you’re soaking in the freestanding bathtub, relaxing in the sunken lounge by the stone fireplace or gazing through the moon window at night. With private artesian hot pools, an infinity pool overlooking the valley and 32 signature inclusions, Sequoia Lodge delivers big on wow factor across both design and experience. Pro tip: Stay during autumn (March to May) to watch the surrounding canopy burst into fiery shades of gold, amber and crimson.

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Not too long ago, Ran Baas the Palace was a snake-infested, endangered royal residence. Today, it stands as one of India’s most extraordinary heritage hotels. On its own, it’s a cultural treasure trove: take private dining space and art gallery Rang Mahal, with its mirrored Belgian glass ceilings, gilded arches and delicately crafted frescoes. The Princess Suite, too, is adorned from floor to ceiling with over 200 hand-painted murals in the style of Mughal miniatures. But what gives this place the edge over other palace hotels in India is the playful harmony between heritage preservation and contemporary, sometimes avant-garde design. The bar’s charcoal-black Rajput arches and tassled pink chandeliers, for example, or the staircase hall’s hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper and handblown statement light fixtures from Klove. Or the Mediterranean-style pool courtyard, which boasts one of the palace’s most arresting views: the fortress’s weathered, garlic-shaped dome peering out over blush-pink walls spilling with bougainvillea.

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Venture outside the walls of this breezy sequestered palm grove and you’ll see only rippling sand dunes between you and the southern horizon, but that’s what makes staying at this hotel so magical. The stylish main building and 50 accompanying villas mimic the shapes of the desert, and the hotel itself is a sweeping oasis from the blistering heat with a gleaming pool and knockout spa. Pretty touches nod to local communities, like the textural brickwork, which is borrowed from a design native to the local town of Tozeur, and statement paintings by Tunisian artists. Regardless, you’d be forgiven for feeling like you’re at the edge of the world when staying here.

Located in the heart of Trancoso's historic square, this charming bohemian hotel is made up of individual houses, each with unique and colourful design and decoration. All feature one-of-a-kind pieces, local materials and the preservation of the village's historic architecture, with indoor-outdoor design to immerse guests in the beachy, tropical setting of Bahia. It is full of authenticity, offering guests an experience that reflects the true essence of Trancoso.

Judging by the splendour and mystique of its grandest hotel, it’s baffling that more people aren’t aware of Sicily’s lesser-known art nouveau era. Villa Igiea is the shining crown jewel of how this architectural period manifested on the island, originally intended as a sanatorium for patients with tuberculosis but deemed too beautiful for the purpose. Instead, the building was restored and functioned as a hotel and summer residence for the Florios, Palermo’s most influential family, and now features uniquely designed rooms, unmatched Mediterranean views, and quintessential detailing like porticoes, shuttered French doors and immaculate lawns. In fact, the title of ‘villa’ doesn’t quite do this place justice – it’s more like an oceanfront castle.

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The historic Jamaica Inn has views has stunning as the hotel itself. The site of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller’s honeymoon, as well as a favourite of local ex-pats Noel Coward and Ian Fleming, it’s a deeply chilled-out kind of place, with a horseshoe of blue and white 1950s-built rooms around a palm tree-lined bay. It’s the kind of place that dishes up fresh mango and papaya for breakfast, and has turtle releases in the afternoons. All in all, an utter vibe.

Piero Lissoni is a serial creator of spectacular hotels. Budapest’s Dorothea, Rovinj’s Grand Park and Shanghai’s Middle House are all exquisite examples of the Italian architect’s work – but his finest achievement is surely Amsterdam’s Conservatorium. Built as a vast, elegant bank in the late 1890s and used as a conservatoire in the 1980s (hence the name), the building was transformed by Lissoni in the 2000s. He added a grand structure of glass and steel, creating an enormous internal courtyard that pours light onto polished red bricks. The glorious space acts as reception, breakfast spot and chillout spot all in one, but it’s just one of several gorgeous features at the Conservatorium. Handsomely cavernous corridors, stately multi-level windows, a cute interior ‘street’ of shops and bars, suites with great arcing wooden beams… as tasteful a fusion of old and new as you’ll find anywhere.

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Porto’s first five-star hotel is far from stuffy – it’s a glorious masterclass in playful opulence. Decor is mismatched yet harmonic, a feast of styles, colours and textures that infuse the place with character, from the iconic stained-glass staircase and floral-themed atrium to the retro wood-panelled lift with its crocodile-print seat. Rooms and suites offer a breather from all that maximalism, sticking faithfully to a certain theme and colour palette, but still full of fun textures, art and little surprises; some feature tapestries themed around Portugal’s Age of Discovery; others are bedecked in green and terracotta. Recent renovations have introduced eclectic contemporary art to the hotel’s common areas alongside the smirking regal portraits of the hotel’s wealthy owners in the lobby. There’s just so much to look at here – it’s not the place for you if uniform and minimal is your idea of beauty.

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Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa is bush luxury dialled all the way up. Its modern, beautifully considered spaces open onto sweeping wilderness views of the Big Five Welgevonden Game Reserve. The showstopper, however, is an underground tunnel leading to a water-level hide, bringing guests remarkably close to visiting wildlife. The beauty of this stay extends far beyond the building, with thoughtful service, elephants beside the pool, and a setting that feels cinematic.

Despite being situated in the middle of Tokyo’s stultifying financial district, Hoshinoya's otherworldly interior will have you forgetting about mundane reality in no time. This futuristic take on the traditional ryokan transforms a 17-storey skyscraper into a self-contained sanctuary of tatami, softly lit corridors, communal tea rooms and one of the city’s most extraordinary rooftop onsens. Every detail, from the ancient wooden entrance to the elegantly restrained rooms and silent subterranean restaurant, reinforces the blissed-out, almost religious ambience. The building's exterior, covered in a sort of black chainmail, is itself a head turner. But it's the world within that will leave you weak at the knees.

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This Costa Rican eco-lodge retreat sits among rainforest canopies, overlooking Golfito Bay and the mirror-like water of Golfo Dulce, one of Earth’s four tropical fjords. Its six private villas are immersed in rainforest wildlife, with squirrel monkeys swinging from tree to tree and coatis scurrying among the rainforest floor, all while you enjoy your morning coffee. A show-stopping infinity pool overlooks the bay; the perfect vantage point for spotting yellow-throated toucans soaring overhead. It is, simply put, the hotel of dreams.

Old school stunner The Beverly Hills Hotel is the definition of a class act. Since the 1940s its turrets have glowed an intoxicating shade of pink and the iconic banana print wallpaper that lines its corridors is nothing less than pure glamour. The roll-call of former guests is full of the chicest Hollywood stars (Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Frank Sinatra), and the Polo Lounge remains one of the most fabulous restaurants in LA. For true sophistication, book yourself into one of the hotel’s private bungalows, set among gorgeously landscaped gardens.

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The boundary between indoors and outdoors is a wonderfully blurred line at this remote and intricately designed lodge in Peru’s verdant San Martín region. Bosque Guardian Lodge lies in Cordillera Escalera, a luscious, mountainous conservation area known for its abundant biodiversity. Its 12 cabins are settled cosily at the end of a winding path, which is enveloped by luminously green rainforest, with critters, frogs and birds chattering away in gorgeous consonance. The rooms consist of tall bamboo ceilings which arch over a grand, plush bed and pleasingly draped mosquito nets, and thanks to windows with panes of nets instead of glass, the jungle is in touching distance.

The interior style at this luxe San Diego hotel is far bolder than most of us would dare ever commit to in our own homes, but that’s the beauty of it. Layered patterns of loud florals, pronounced animal prints with stripes and even gingham thrown in make for daring decor, where you feel more like a guest of an eccentric tycoon than your run-of-the-mill five-star hotel. The busyness continues with tiger print crapaud chairs, tasselled banquets and glitzy chandeliers in the Lobby Lounge, but is most majestically displayed with the grand, sunbed-lined Swim Club. Palm trees loiter above the showy, striped awnings, scalloped parasols and chequered poolside terrace. Who needs quiet luxury, eh?

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Designed by Sordo Madaleno to merge with the landscape, Park Hyatt Cabo del Sol offers luxury suites with private pools and ocean views in Los Cabos. It’s a pleasure to walk around, with tiered infinity pools, an exclusive beach club for seasonal whale watching and seven thoughtfully spaced buildings. Rooms feature high ceilings and natural finishes, with plenty of light wood and stone. A world-class spa, personalized service, canyon ATV tours, nearby golf, and a specialty coffee shop complete this serene retreat where time moves slowly by the Sea of Cortez.

Set amid Franschhoek’s vineyards, orchards and mountains, La Residence is a gloriously opulent escape with beauty woven into every detail. Liz Biden’s unmistakable design brings together bold colour, antiques, art and sumptuous textures, while each individually styled suite tells its own story. Beyond the theatrical interiors, expansive balconies frame painterly Winelands views, gardens invite slow wandering and a Victorian teahouse overlooks the pond. Add serene pools and immaculate service, and this is Franschhoek at its most utterly transportive and indulgent.

Step into Gatsby’s universe at this 1920s art deco-inspired Marriott Bonvoy's Tribute Portfolio hotel. Designed collaboratively by Canadian talent Architex Group, Provencher Roy and Atelier Zébulon Perron, the hotel features magnificent curved staircases, jaw-dropping chandeliers and luxurious honey-and-rose motifs – a nod to its namesake – woven throughout. Think velvet, gold and honey-hued wood accents, illuminated hidden coves with layers of accented lighting, hallways that evoke flower-filled fields and even rooftop beehives. The guestrooms feature works by Montreal artist Roxy Peroxyde, while original pieces by set designer Juliette Sarrazin and other local artists appear throughout the hotel. While the hotel’s overall design inspiration is art deco, the golden mood shifts to tropical at Muze Lounge & Terrasse, the hotel’s secret rooftop bar that feels like a luxury Miami escape.

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Vila Oyá embodies the essence of the Brazilian coast. Calm, exclusive and delicate, there are only four accommodations, all beautiful, with spacious areas, impeccable decor and plenty of natural light. Everything is decorated in light tones, with lots of wood and baby blue windows and doors; like a particularly fancy fisherman's house. Surrounding the houses is a lush tropical garden, with chairs scattered across the lawn, and to top it off, your soundtrack is the ocean waves, just a few meters away. Bahian influence is everywhere, from the ceramics from Maragogipinho, a Bahian district known for its pottery, to the 100 percent locally sourced food, including cocoa honey (a delicacy found only in southern Bahia) to tuna, oysters and other shellfish from the region.