It’s an addiction: I just love to travel. Whether it’s backpacking, splurging on a rural poolside retreat, or chilling in a hip Airbnb in some obscure town, there’s something about being on the road with fresh new sights and sounds and a myriad of cool restaurants to hunt out and indulge in. I’ve been lucky enough to visit 58 countries in six continents and have stayed in over 200 places, be it hot-as-hell 26-bed dorms in Malaysia, open-air camping on top of sand dunes in the heart of India’s Thar Desert, luxurious five-star hotels designed by top interior creatives, or cute Airbnbs across the globe.
But it’s artistically designed hotels that are my weakness, and that feeling when I’m left alone in the room for the first time feels me with pure joy. It’s the shadows and sunbeams streaming through polished glass, tightly tucked bedsheets without a single crease, fresh flowers in Art Deco vases, local art punctuating walls, and the heady scents—it's paradise. And while I’m yet to visit the real-life White Lotus hotel and haven’t visited many of the countries so well known for their impressive lodgings, and wow-factor bedrooms —the Maldives, Ecuador (case in point: Mashpi Lodge), Japan et al—the following list is a tight curation of hotels I consider the absolute best in the world right now. Disclaimer: I’m not a fan of all-inclusive resorts, chain hotels, and huge behemoths, so my recommendations for the most part sit in the boutique/arty realm (with one incredible exception), but that certainly doesn’t mean they’re not polished to sheer perfection.
