On a hill next to the Clos Apalta vineyards and winery, the Lapostolle Residence consists of four opulent casitas that are so private you can sunbathe nude on your terrace while gazing at the nearby vines and valley. The residence’s dining room serves gourmet meals paired with Lapostolle’s acclaimed Clos …

Some 450 miles east of Château Cheval Blanc, the Saint-Émilion producer of one of France’s most celebrated wines, is Bernard Arnault’s other Cheval Blanc. Arnault, chairman of LVMH and France’s richest citizen, opened the latter property—a 34-room ski-in/ski-out chalet—in 2006 as his mountaintop palace, a winter retreat in his favorite …

For tropical vacations, Sir Richard Branson escapes to his private Necker Island in the Caribbean. But when he hears the call of the mountains, the founder of the Virgin conglomerate heads to Verbier, Switzerland. Broad and accessible off-piste terrain, a sociable community of English-speaking expats, and a central European location …

Capella Telluride, which opened in February as Capella Hotels and Resorts’ first property in the United States, does things a little differently—as you discover shortly after checking in. The reception desk sits in an attractive, light-filled lobby with stone floors, high beamed ceilings, and a tiered glass-plate chandelier that hovers …

Swine flu, drug wars, and a down economy have discouraged many would-be visitors to Mexico—especially those in search of a wellness experience. But few settings could be more therapeutic than the courtyard relaxation area at Las Ventanas al Paraíso’s spa, where the resonance of crystal bowls rises above the sound …

At Fiji’s Laucala Island resort, the rest of the world can seem, well, unnecessary. After all, you have just about everything you need to lead the good life: shelter (in the form of 25 ocean-view villas), sustenance (from one of five restaurants, which use produce grown on the island), good …

King Wenceslas II of Bohemia founded Prague’s St. Thomas Monastery in 1285, and the structure, which was rebuilt in the 1700s after numerous fires, still serves as the home of an order of Augustinian monks. Today, however, the holy men share their sanctum with followers of London hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, …

The new La Réserve Ramatuelle resort offers a six-day antiaging program that promotes a youthful glow and a sense of well-being—traits one could ascribe to the property itself. Opened in May, the French Riviera resort centers on a renovated 1970s building perched on a hilltop above the Mediterranean Sea in …

What do you do when your 19th-century Heidelberg villa is too big for your family? You make it even bigger and turn it into the German university town’s first luxury boutique hotel. Owner Peter Huetter and his brother-in-law, Italian architect and interior designer Michele Bonan, spent five years expanding and …

The restored British Colonial buildings that mark the entrance to Capella Singapore shield an even greater architectural treasure. After passing through the 18th-century structures, which house the resort’s lobby and library, you step onto a grassy terrace offering views of a curvaceous edifice that sinks into the hillside below. Designed …