Riyad Al Moussika
Dunton Hot Springs
Hotel Palazzo Manfredi
Gastwerk Hotel Hamburg
Sextantio Le Grotte Della Civita
La Purificadora
Metropole Hotel Venice
Terranea Resort
Torre di Moravola
Hôtel La Perouse
December, 2013
Spend enough time hotel-hopping and before long you’ll have slept in all kinds of places: airports and train stations, convents and royal palaces, run-down motels brought back to life…. At a certain point the novelty starts to wear off. But sleeping on the site of an ancient gladiatorial training ground or a gas-plant-turned-architectural-marvel — that’s the sort of thing that buys some legitimate bragging rights.
1.
Riyad Al Moussika
Marrakech — What does it mean to luxuriate in the former palace of one of Moroccan history’s genuine villains, the infamous pasha El Glaoui? It’s an unnerving privilege to be sure, though the serene opulence of the courtyard mansion — not to mention some serious creature comforts — goes a long way toward easing the mood.
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2.
Dunton Hot Springs
Dolores, Colorado — Set on a vast tract of wild Colorado countryside, this long-abandoned prospectors’ camp was converted shack by rough-hewn shack into one of the most luxurious small hotels in the American Southwest. You’ll find a fine little spa in the former Pony Express stop, and a restaurant in the ghost town’s old saloon.
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3.
Hotel Palazzo Manfredi
Rome — In Rome, hotels in centuries-old villas are — well, not exactly a dime a dozen, but common enough to be a genre of their own. A 16th-century villa built on the ruins of an ancient training academy for gladiators, however, with front-row views of the Colosseum, is clearly in another class entirely.
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4.
Gastwerk Hotel
Hamburg — We’ve got a soft spot for the hard lines and dramatic open spaces of former industrial buildings, and this one-time gas plant is a textbook example of the form. With its mix of exposed brick, soaring light-filled interiors and classic high-design furniture, it has quickly become a design junkie favorite.
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5.
Sextantio Le Grotte Della Civita
Matera, Italy — The dwellings carved into the hillsides of Matera date back to Paleolithic times, but never has sleeping in a cave been so luxurious. At Sextantio, the Stone Age surroundings are offset by the finest furnishings — so while the bathroom is a bare rock cavern, the bathtub is the best that money can buy.
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6.
La Purificadora
Puebla, Mexico — Sleeping in an out-of-commission water processing plant in a little city on the road to Oaxaca may not sound like the most promising proposition. Put the place in the hands of the modernist architect Ricardo Legorreta, however, and it’s a different story. La Purificadora is an architectural marvel.
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7.
Metropole Hotel Venice
Venice — One has to think its past life as an orphanage alone makes the Metropole unique among the world’s hotels; throw in the fact that it’s also a former church where one Antonio Vivaldi gave music lessons, not to mention a Second World War military hospital, and it’s clear that this singular hotel has history to spare.
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8.
Terranea Resort
Los Angeles — Terranea Resort has come a long way since its days as an aquatic amusement park called Marineland. The dolphin shows and shark tanks are gone, but spectacular views of Catalina Island and the Pacific remain, while a golf course, some well-placed pools and a fine spa provide plenty of grown-up entertainment.
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9.
Torre di Moravola
Montone, Italy — Torre di Moravola is a thousand-year-old Umbrian hilltop watchtower converted into a seven-room boutique hotel — a formula that’s as deeply appealing as it is difficult to reproduce. It’s also the labor of love of an architect and his designer-wife, so it’s more than some drafty museum piece.
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10.
Hôtel La Pérouse
Nice — Apparently on the Côte d’Azur even the prisons feel like something out of a winter workday fantasy — or at least a former prison like La Pérouse does. Cut into a hillside overlooking the Baie des Anges, it’s a world of citrus gardens, breezy balconies and stunning coastal views. In short, a perfect escape.
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