Dubai—a city famous for resorts that are very tall, very large, and occasionally shaped like ships at sea—has a peaceful new refuge. Opened in the fall, One&Only The Palm is a low-rise, low-bling sanctuary of pools, gardens, and beaches, located a mile from Dubai on one of the Palm Jumeirah …

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Nizam Mehboob Ali Khan presided over the southern Indian city of Hyderabad from his hilltop Falaknuma Palace. The beauty of the marble building faded along with the Nizam dynasty after India gained independence from Great Britain in 1947. But last November, after a …

Opened in november, the St. Regis Bahia Beach sets a new high-water mark for Puerto Rican resorts. The 483-acre property, which is about 40 minutes by car from Old San Juan, encompasses two miles of private sandy beachfront; a golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.; a 10,000-square-foot, marble-swathed …

Le Royal Monceau in Paris has been a rendezvous for artists and writers since the hotel opened in 1928. Even its recent reinvention started as a kind of performance-art piece: In 2008, the property hosted an all-night "demolition party" where the few hundred guests were handed Champagne and sledgehammers and …

London’s Soho House Group has brought its city-club concept to South Beach. Soho Beach House, Miami, a private members’ club and hotel, opened in October just north of South Beach in a discreet Art Deco landmark that formerly housed the Sovereign Hotel. The property, which also includes a new 16-story …

The Shangri-La China World Summit Wing’s rooms and suites occupy the top 18 floors of Beijing’s new 81-story China World Tower, stretching some 1,000 feet above the city’s central business district. To ensure privacy within its lower-level public spaces, the high-tech hotel, which opened in August, offers such features as …

Pera Palace Hotel served for decades as the glamorous final stop for Orient Express passengers following their three-day journey from Paris to Istanbul. The train stopped serving Istanbul in 1977, and the hotel gradually lost its luster, eventually closing in 2006. But last September, the 116-year-old Pera Palace reopened after …

During the scorching summer months in Forte dei Marmi, children play in the fountain on the Piazza Garibaldi, where sprawling sidewalk cafés serve Prosecco and gelato in glasses that perspire in the heat. Bicycles sit idle along quiet tree-lined streets, and modest low-rise villas stand behind manicured walls of shrubbery. …

In celebration of its centennial anniversary, Switzerland’s Grand Hotel Park Gstaad reopened its doors December 17 after a nine-month renovation. The iconic chalet’s 94 rooms and suites have been modernized while remaining true to its historic location, integrating local pine, oak, and stonework into its decor. The lobby now features …

Nguyen Thanh Trung raises his finger in the air to test the wind. "It’s gusty," says Trung, sport coordinator at the Princess d’Annam Resort & Spa in Vietnam, "but we’ll be OK."
Trung and I are standing on the shore of the secluded Ke Ga Bay, in southern Vietnam, on …