Where: On Wilshire Boulevard in sunny Santa Monica, California, a short stroll from the beach. 

The credentials: Renowned American designer Kelly Wearstler has been stamping her maximalist signature style on the Proper Hotels group since 2017. The 267-room Santa Monica outpost saw the tastemaker recalibrate a 1920s heritage building into a welcoming seaside hideaway, all wheat and flax shades, gentle curves, organic fabrics and tonal furnishings. Every surface, from the warm timber of the Surya Spa to the sage green velvet sofas at the rooftop restaurant, Calabra, is invitingly tactile.

Look out for: The Grotto, an intimate library and gallery space anchored by a vintage Tobia Scarpa Soriana lounge that begs guests to curl up with a tome. 

Where: Amid the tangle of Marrakech’s medina, directly opposite the colourful Bahia Palace.

The credentials: A collective effort of more than 40 local artisans, this intimate five-room, light-filled riad embodies modern Moroccan living. A women’s collective from Meknes made geometric-patterned stained glass, while local ceramicists hand-painted tiles and carpenters carved timber doors; the terrazzo is hand-poured, the zellige tiles hand-chiselled, the wrought-iron door handles custom-made. Rosemary’s owner Laurence Leenaert, the Belgian designer behind lifestyle brand LRNCE, created pieces including cedarwood sideboards and curved sandstone planters. Peachy and burnt-orange tones dominate the colour palette, highlighted by sage-green potted palms and vines, anchored by a 40-year-old jacaranda tree in the internal courtyard.

Look out: for Anything that takes your fancy – pottery, vintage armchairs and the property’s linens and scented candles are all available to purchase.

Where: At Pattaya, right on Na Jomtien Beach, two hours’ drive south of Bangkok.

The credentials: In a striking, angular contrast to the gentle waters of the Gulf of Thailand, this 35-villa resort is a modern take on beachside luxury. Designed by Thai-American architect Vasu Virajsilp, the smooth granite surfaces of each standalone one or two-bedroom pod – inclusive of a pool facing the ocean – pays respect to the region’s stone carvers. Details such as scooped stone baths and softly sculpted vases all add to the sense that these cave-like villas are at one with the surrounding landscape.

Look out for: Vintage-style black and white wet-plate prints depicting food, flora and wildlife by celebrated Bangkok photographer Chardchakaj Waikawee.

Where: The bucolic patchwork hills of the West Country.

The credentials: Former Elle Decoration South Africa editor Karen Roos knows a thing or two about turning country estates into extraordinary stays; she’s responsible for the sumptuous Babylonstoren in the Cape Winelands region of her homeland. This English project is even more ambitious: on 325 hectares, it includes a hotel, restaurants, cafés, a garden museum, a bakery and cidery. Roos guided the aesthetic direction, working with several British design firms – including architect Simon Morray-Jones, who revived the main house, and Invisible Studios, who created a rammed earth yoga space. Inside, English country house hallmarks such as panelled walls and galleries of quaint portraiture sit alongside leading-edge lighting and furniture by Moroso, Moooi and Tom Dixon.

Look out: for Details you might ordinarily miss: At Roos’ request, French architect Patrice Taravella mixed the gravel in one part of the garden to match that found in Paris’s Luxembourg Gardens.

Where: On West 28th Street in Lower Manhattan, a few short blocks from the Empire State Building.

The credentials: Interior designer Martin Brudnizki is a master at marrying the classical with the contemporary. In concert with the more than 100 architects and creative consultants who make up his eponymous design studio, Brudnizki melds unexpected palettes with historical winks, as seen in the interiors he has produced for Hotel Le Grand Mazarin in Paris and The Dorchester in London. At the Fifth Avenue Hotel, one of New York’s buzziest new openings, the team has spun a kaleidoscope of period flourishes, bold colours and maximalist patterns to create eye-popping yet sophisticated interiors thrumming with eccentric charm. Think Chinese pagoda lamps, Rococo screens, Murano glass chandeliers, tiger-striped rugs and velvet chaise couches in surprising hues such as buttercup yellow, dusky pink and oceanic teal.

Look out for: Fifth Avenue Hotel’s three signature penthouse suites, which not only offer spacious living areas decked out in beautiful furniture and chic white marble-clad bathrooms, but also large outdoor terraces with panoramic views of the New York skyline – a rarity for a Big Apple hotel.

Where: On the Rue de Picardie, a quiet street in the heart of the fashionable Le Marais neighbourhood in Paris. 

The credentials: Legendary French architect, interior designer and landscaper Jacques Garcia, whose credits feature more than 70 hotels including Hotel Costes in Paris, The Mamounia in Marrakech and The Banyan Tree in Doha, was an obvious choice to design a property that epitomises the indulgence of La Belle Époque. This small 23-key boutique stay, which welcomed its first guests in early 2023, is a portal to the Parisian high society of the late 19th century, inspired by the life and works of novelist and Marais local Marcel Proust. To realise a design concept based on the private salons that would have been familiar to the hotel’s titular muse, Garcia devoted three painstaking years to the Maison's renovation and led a comprehensive search for antique furniture and fabrics that could summon romanticism and drama in every space of the property. 

Look out for: The ground floor, which is home to three public salons. There’s the intimate lounge, where an ornate 19th-century fireplace frames the mirror-backed bar and crystal chandeliers hang above onyx tables. The library, inspired by the Salon du Soleil at Palais Garnier, conjures a sense of mystic wonder with its midnight-blue velvet curtains and the gilded sunburst emblazoned across the domed ceiling. And the winter garden is a tranquil space featuring fringed pendant lights, Pierre Frey fabrics and Cordoba leather-lined walls, reached through a carved doorway adorned with Proust’s favourite flowers.

Where: In the former 1912-constructed Department of Education building on Loftus Street, just a stone’s throw from Circular Quay.

The credentials: It took seven years of planning and a $300-million renovation for Bar Studio and Make Architects to transform one of Sydney’s grandest early 20th-century sandstone municipal buildings into a temple of quiet luxury. With 192 guest rooms, a wellness centre and spa, a 20-metre indoor swimming pool, a serene atrium and courtyard complete with gently wafting kinetic sculptures and three high-end hospitality venues, the first Australian property from Capella Hotels and Resorts has quickly asserted itself as one of the country’s most stylish stays. The hotel’s interiors are underpinned by natural materials and a neutral base palette, nodding to the building’s bureaucratic heritage while inscribing its future as an elegant sanctuary amidst the bustle of the city.

Look out for: The lofty central courtyard, which connects all ground floor spaces to the garden area at Farrer Place, is a subtle ode to architect George McRae’s original vision for the Department of Education building. While it appeared on his early sketches, it was excluded from the final drafts, so Make Architects reinstated it in their renovation plans, making McRae’s original ambitions for a bright and spacious courtyard a reality.

Combine Italy’s famously opulent capital with jewellery brand Bulgari and of course the result is an homage to elegant excess. Think deep marble baths, an emerald-hued spa designed to look like a Roman bathhouse and rich linens stamped with Bulgari’s signature red monogram.

There’s a Barbie Dreamhouse aura around boutique hotel Semiramis Athens, located in Athens’s hip Kifissia neighbourhood, famous for its upscale shopping. The force behind all this bubblegum pink, neon plexiglass and the pastel-splashed pool is Egyptian industrial designer Karim Rashid, known affectionately as the Prince of Plastic. 

It’s difficult to carve a tranquil space between the buzz of Tokyo’s Shibuya and Harajuku districts but somehow Trunk Hotel Yogogi Park, Tokyo pulls it off. The quiet 20 rooms and five suites dreamed up by Keiji Ashizawa Design and Copenhagen-based architecture firm Norm combine soft textures, Scandi-minimalist timber surfaces and a tranquil park outlook.

Richly pigmented colours drawn straight from nature – sage greens, sapphire blues and peach – form the palette inside 17th century stately home Cowley Manor, about two-and-a-half hours from London. Originally the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, it has now been reimagined by designer Dorothée Meilichzon, who is also responsible for Hotel Regina in Biarritz and the Gran Hotel Montesol in Ibiza.

The world’s first Christian Louboutin hotel in the otherwise sleepy seaside Portuguese village of Melides blends local artisanal details, such as classic blue and white Alentejo tiles, with the designer’s own Parisian flair. Its 13 individually decorated rooms are sumptuously maximalist, filled with bespoke woodwork and frescos.

One of the Coppola family’s collection of art-splashed stays, the Palazzo Margherita, in a small town in southern Italy famous for its quiet beaches, has been lovingly restored and redesigned by Francis Ford Coppola and French designer Jacques Grange. Various members of the family styled different rooms; director Sofia was responsible for suite four with its Moroccan-style bathroom and private terrace.

Originally built in the late 19th century, this charming boutique hotel in Oslo combines a mishmash of design references that somehow work: there’s nods to the Italian Renaissance, classic Greek and more pared-back Germanic styles. The central Lily Pad Lounge is a riot: lipstick red chandeliers and a daybed stacked with colour-clashing cushions. Each guest has their own host to make sure every stay is memorable.

London-based Swedish designer Beata Heuman brings Scandinavian minimalism combined with eccentric British prettiness to this 40-room Paris hotel that’s footsteps from the Champs-Élysées. Charming touches such as old-school Bakelite phones bring a sense of retro comfort.

Designer and co-owner Jay Jeffers has filled this 19th century mansion in Sonoma County, California, with elegant artworks and antiques. Despite its classical base the design doesn’t take itself too seriously; look closely and you’ll find several tongue-in-cheek touches such as works by photographer Beth Moon featuring striking heritage-breed chickens.

No place in Australia does bohemian nostalgia quite like Byron Bay and the laidback ’70s chic of Sun Ranch boutique hotel, about 15 minutes out of town, slides effortlessly into the local vibe. Founded by Jamie Blakey, the force behind millennial-cool fashion label One Teaspoon, the property’s energy is California ranch with a whisper of sun-drenched Ibiza.

In the middle of Le Marais, Le Grand Mazarin feels as quintessentially French as a café au lait and croissant, where old-world tapestries meet sculptural modern fittings and objets d’art. The 50 rooms and 11 suites are unabashedly colourful, with nods to a classic Parisian salon. 

This converted convent in New Orleans plays perfectly into the local theme. Each room has its own colour palette and a name that nods to its more buttoned-up past, such as The Rector's Repose and the Mother Superior – the latter features a riotous royal blue canopy bed.

Following a full redesign after a flood in 2020, this nine-suite safari lodge blends more beautifully into its surroundings than ever before, with gentle curves that follow the bend of the lake that sits at its doorstep (which is home to a pod of hippos). 

Boasting 164 rooms designed by award-winning Spanish artist and interior designer Jaime Hayon, this art-filled, luxury hotel opened in February 2023 as part of the sweeping redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station site that stood disused in the heart of London for decades. Almost every wall is adorned with some form of artwork and there’s even a dedicated gallery space, the Studio, which regularly hosts exhibitions of up-and-coming talents as well as a rolling calendar of workshops and events.

Surrounded by shady pool pavilions and tranquil courtyards, the seven traditional courtyard houses at El Fenn are decorated in the vibrant jewel tones and earthy textures that are synonymous with Marrakech. But this is just part of the reason this decadent stay is a must-visit for design devotees. The hotel is also home to an impressive contemporary art collection, curated by co-owner Vanessa Branson.

The history of this former Soviet-era print factory in the heart of Tbilisi is a vital ingredient in Stamba Hotel’s signature juxtaposition of industrial and luxury design. Rough concrete pillars and beams criss-cross the expansive lobby as printing machinery interlaced with creeping plants hang overhead. A glass-bottomed swimming pool acts as a skylight, allowing ripples of light to dance and shimmer throughout the impressive entrance. The hotel's spacious guest rooms are notable for their high ceilings and walls hung with contemporary artworks by Georgian artists.

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