Stays · slept in, not just seen

Where we have stayed

Rooms slept in, not brochures read. Seven properties we have checked into, unpacked in and photographed ourselves, with what each one is best for, what to know before you go, and the room to ask for where we know it.

Properties: 7
Countries: 7
Photographs: Ours

Every photograph on this page was taken by us, on the stay described beside it.

How to read this page

One honest paragraph each, written after checking out

This is not a list of every good hotel in the world. It is a short list of the ones we can describe from the inside.

Only places we slept

If we have not stayed there, it is not on this page. Places we know by reputation, or by a colleague's report, go into a proposal with that said plainly.

The room, not just the hotel

Where we know which room makes the difference, we name it. A ground floor terrace or a corner cabin can change a stay more than the brand on the door.

No prices, on purpose

Rates move with the season and the room. Check dates and we come back with real numbers, and any Virtuoso benefits the property offers.

The phinisi Emperor Harmoni at anchor on calm blue water between two small islands — The Emperor Harmoni at anchor, Raja Ampat.

Two reef-ringed islets in deep blue water, from the drone — Reef-ringed islets, Raja Ampat.

A manta ray gliding above a diver over the reef — A manta ray over a diver, Raja Ampat.

01 / 07

Emperor Harmoni

Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia · Ten days aboard

A custom-built forty-two metre phinisi with a crew of twenty-one, which is the number that makes the week feel effortless. The boat moves at night, so you wake at the next site rather than spending the day getting to it. Best for divers, and for couples where one dives and one does not: the top deck and a drone are a trip of their own. Know that Sorong is a long way from anywhere, so build a buffer night at each end. Take the ten days over the seven.

Best for: Divers, and mixed diver and non-diver couples
Ask for: A top deck corner cabin. Lower and midship if the crossings worry you.

Plan this trip →Read the field report →The Indonesia guide →

A glass-walled suite with its own infinity pool at sunset, coffee hills beyond — A suite and its pool at sunset, Bio Habitat, Quindío.

A lit plunge pool and umbrella on a suite deck at night, town lights in the valley below — The pool deck after dark, Bio Habitat.

A stone Buddha reflected in still pool water beside a glass wall — Reflections by the pool, Bio Habitat.

02 / 07

Bio Habitat Hotel

Coffee country, Quindío, Colombia

Built into the slope with glass walls and an infinity pool, and arranged around one idea: the view is the reason you came. Sunset is the event, with the pool holding the whole sky and the coffee rows going dark underneath. It is best for slowing down, with the Cocora Valley and Filandia close enough for easy days out. Our honest advice is to do less than you planned. Be on the property for sunset on your first night and do not schedule anything over it.

Best for: Sitting still, sunsets, a base for the Cocora Valley
Ask for: A suite with the balcony facing the plantation

Check dates →The Colombia guide →

A domed pavilion and pool spilling toward the Red Sea under a clear evening sky — The pools and the Red Sea, The Oberoi, Sahl Hasheesh.

A private terrace seen through white arches, loungers and a glass table in the shade — A terrace through the arches, The Oberoi.

Welcome drinks on a table in the open-air lobby, arches and lanterns behind — Arrival in the open-air lobby, The Oberoi.

03 / 07

The Oberoi Beach Resort, Sahl Hasheesh

Red Sea coast, Egypt

An all-suite resort on a long white beach, and the calmest arrival we have had in Egypt. The service is what it gets right first. There are several pools, including a quiet adults-only one, and the water is clear enough to snorkel straight off the beach. Best for a Red Sea week with one serious day out: Luxor is about three hours by road for Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut. It is a long day and the one we would not skip.

Best for: Snorkelling, a quiet beach week, Luxor as a day trip
Ask for: A ground floor terrace. The beach is a short walk.

Check dates →From the journal →

A canvas suite tent and its patio beneath red cliffs and desert scrub — A Star Seeker camp below the cliffs, Open Sky, near Zion.

A wide bedroom inside a canvas tent, wood floor, pendant light and glass doors to the desert — Inside the tent, Open Sky.

A covered patio with a hanging chair and armchairs looking out over a desert canyon — The patio and its hanging chair, Open Sky.

A freestanding black bathtub and vanity by tall curtained windows inside the tent — The bathroom, Open Sky.

04 / 07

Open Sky

On the boundary of Zion National Park, Utah · Three nights

Boutique camping on the edge of the park, and the best argument we have stayed in for the idea that a tent can be a serious hotel. A proper bed, a wood floor, an outdoor shower with nothing overhead but sky, a gas fire pit and a telescope in every camp. The camps are spaced so you feel alone without being isolated. Best for hikers who want a real bed after a day on Zion trails. Three nights was right, and it still ended too soon.

Best for: Zion hiking days, dark-sky nights
We stayed in: The Star Seeker camp, with the telescope in the tent

Check dates →From the journal →

Formal gardens and lawns below the villa, seen from a terrace above — The gardens from above, Villa San Michele, Fiesole.

A wrought iron table and chairs on a hedged terrace looking out over the valley toward Florence — A terrace looking over the valley to Florence.

Terraced clipped hedges and planting running down the hillside below the villa — The terraced hillside gardens, Villa San Michele.

A guest room with a striped bedspread, wooden doors and antique furniture — A guest room, Villa San Michele.

05 / 07

Belmond Villa San Michele

Fiesole, in the hills above Florence, Italy

A former monastery with a facade attributed to Michelangelo and fifteen acres of garden. You are above Florence rather than in it, which turns the city into something you visit rather than something you are stuck inside. The gardens are the reason to book, and the pool looks down over the city. Best for Florence in high season, when coming back to quiet is worth more than walking distance. The rooms differ genuinely from one to the next, and some carry original frescoes.

Best for: Florence in high season, slow garden afternoons
Ask about: The rooms individually. Some have original frescoes.

Check dates →From the journal →

The terraces of Machu Picchu below the green peak of Huayna Picchu, cloud on the ridges — The citadel and Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu.

Water running down a stone wall into the garden pool, loungers and an umbrella beyond — The garden pool, Belmond Sanctuary Lodge.

A hummingbird with rufous wings hovering among green leaves — A hummingbird in the lodge gardens.

06 / 07

Belmond Sanctuary Lodge

Inside the archaeological park, Machu Picchu, Peru

The only hotel inside the Machu Picchu archaeological park, and that single fact rearranges the day: everybody else arrives by bus, and you are already there. The lodge runs a sunrise tour with a guide and breakfast after, and seeing the citadel in first light is not a marginal difference. The gardens are worth an hour for the hummingbirds and orchids. It is small, with no comparable alternative, so book it early, and book Wayna Picchu well ahead too. If the budget has to go somewhere on this trip, put it here.

Best for: Machu Picchu at sunrise, without the bus queue
Book first: The lodge and the sunrise tour, then Wayna Picchu

Check dates →The Peru guide →

Turquoise water of Emerald Lake below a pale limestone peak, framed by spruce — Emerald Lake from the shore, Yoho National Park.

A timber lodge building with orange umbrellas on its terrace beside the turquoise water of Emerald Lake, a rocky peak behind — The lodge from the lakeshore path, Emerald Lake.

07 / 07

Emerald Lake Lodge

On the lakeshore, Yoho National Park, British Columbia

A lodge directly on the shore, one valley over from the part of the Rockies everybody has already been to. Fireplaces and comfortable furniture rather than anything designed, which is right for where it is. The Kicking Horse Dining Room does seasonal local cooking, and on a warm evening the Timberwolf patio, with wood-fired pizza and the lake in front of it, is the better table. Best as a Rockies base: stay here and drive to Lake Louise rather than the reverse. Winter is the season people forget.

Best for: A quieter base for Yoho, Banff and Lake Louise
When: Late September, midweek, two nights. Or winter, for the snowshoe trails.

Check dates →From the journal →

Also on our list

More rooms we have slept in, write-ups to come

We photographed these on our own trips and will add them here once each has a proper write-up. Ask us about any of them in the meantime.

A pool edged with blue daybeds and white umbrellas under palms — Riviera Maya, Mexico.

An infinity pool on a terrace looking over green hills and the sea — Near Komodo, Indonesia.

A pier walkway leading out to a lit pavilion over the water at sunset, hills on the horizon — Malaysia.

Want a room like one of these?

Tell us where you are going, and we will tell you where we would sleep

No fee on hotel stays. Check dates for a single property, or plan a whole journey around the rooms that matter. We reply within one business day.

Check dates Plan a trip