Four luxury hotels to start the New Year
Planning your holidays for 2009? We've picked out four luxury hotels, all rated highly by travel writers, which should suit almost any type of trip.
The Gleneagles Hotel, UK
Best for a sporting weekend
This Scottish legend (above) has 232 rooms; top-floor suites have a more contemporary feel than other rooms after refurbishment in 2007. But forget the rooms – it's the facilites that give the hotel its X-factor, says Condé Naste Traveller. It has three 18-hole golf courses, a nine-hole "Wee Course", a new spa, beauty salon, two pools and tennis courts. Or you can get lost in the maze, or visit the hotel's schools for lessons in shooting, falconry, horse-riding or off-road driving.
• Doubles from £385 a night. Call 01764-662231, or see www.gleneagles.com.
Four Seasons Hotel, Milan
Best for a European city break
At £515 a night for room only, this former convent is an expensive place to rest your head – but it's worth it, reckons The Sunday Times Travel magazine. "It's a world-class beauty – a one-off stand-out, even within the high-end Four Seasons portfolio", as "timelessly stylish as Sophia Loren". The rooms are luxurious and comfortable with thick carpets, Roman-style friezes and heated bathroom floors. The Il Teatro restaurant serves an "exquisite risotto", which entices Milan's who's who, from fashion insiders to politicians. It's well worth a visit for the chocolate room alone, which offers "every kind of chocolate pud".
• Call 00 39 027 7088, or see www.fourseasons.com.
Southern Ocean Lodge, Australia
Best for long-haul nature lovers
Tatler's hotel of the year combines "the world's most knockout landscapes" with beautiful architecture. The 21 rooms feature sunken sitting areas and underfloor heating, while the "fastidious" staff will always "go the extra mile" for you. "There is little point travelling across the world without staying here." The location, Kangaroo Island, is "Australia's answer to the Galapagos", with one-third a dedicated national park. In summer it teems with kangaroos, wallabies and koalas. If you can drag yourself to the beach at dawn, you can watch sea-lions sliding around on the sand. Activities include hiking, surfing and fishing – and a chef will turn whatever you catch into a tasty lunch.
• Doubles from £740 full-board, minimum two-night stay. Call 00 61 2 9571 6677, or visit www.southernoceanlodge.com.au.
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa, UAE
Best for honeymooners
This is the most exclusive hotel in the United Arab Emirates – only guests at its 40 villas may enter the grounds. It also has sound 'green' credentials, funding and maintaining the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, which has successfully reintroduced the Arabian oryx to the wild. Indeed, "one of Al Maha's many charms is watching oryx and gazelles mosey up to the villas to laze by the pool", says Matthew Lee in The Daily Telegraph's Ultratravel.
You can eat at the "excellent" Al Diwaan restaurant, a Bedouin-style camp in a quiet corner of the reserve, or on your private veranda. A 3:1 staff-to-guest ratio ensures great service, and while "many Dubai hotels are let down by visibly disgruntled staff, Al Maha's are cheery and enthusiastic". With each villa having its own private infinity pool, it's great for couples, says Lee. "Nowhere in the Gulf is better suited to marriage proposals, honeymoons and anniversaries."
• Rooms from $1,680 a night full board, including activities during high season (November-April). Call 00 971 4 303 4222, or visit www.al-maha.com.
