Bottega Veneta Suite, Park Hyatt, Chicago
The third of Bottega Veneta's forays into hotel design is all about detail and quality - all luxury and no gimmicks. From the extraordinary panoramic view of Lake Michigan to the linen pillows that use the label's trademark intrecciato weaving technique, everything has been carefully compiled to please the connoisseur, without being flashy. The furniture is from BV's collection for Poltrona Frau, with soft cashmere throws and sinuous, hand-carved Murano glass vases to relieve the clean, minimalist lines. The colours, those lovely putty and ash shades for which Bottega Veneta is known, allow that view to do the talking.
From Dh16,529per night, www.parkchicago.hyatt.com
Hotel Missoni, Kuwait
If you think the Missoni zigzag stripes only work on the Italian brand's famous fine knits, then you haven't been to Kuwait's Missoni Hotel. The colourful patterns line the swimming pool, envelope the beds, encircle vases and embellish tableware. They'd probably project them on to the surface of the Arabian Gulf if they thought they could get away with it.
Self-indulgence is encouraged, with a chocolate-themed cafe and, of course, a fabulous spa run by Six Senses.
Against a backdrop of shimmery golds and neutrals, it all makes for an oasis of quintessentially Italian lightheartedness in the desert city, with an Italian restaurant, Cucina, to boot.
Rooms from Dh941 per night, www.hotelmissoni.com
Maison Moschino, Milan
The beautiful, serene neoclassical facade of this former railway station, built in 1840, hides an interior of fantastical lunacy befitting one fashion's most eccentric labels. Just like those demure little dresses adorned with cartoonish details, the Maison Moschino is full of elegant design twisted into dark fairy-tale settings, from a four-poster bed apparently made from forest trees to a ceiling hung with clouds and a bedspread of densely packed red rose petals.
With lamps made of dresses or shoes and a surrealist menu at the restaurant, you can clear your bewildered mind in the tranquillity of the all-organic Art Spa.
Rooms from Dh1,062 per night, www.maisonmoschino.com
The Schiaparelli Suite, The May Fair Hotel, London
In the London fashion set's favourite hotel, just behind Piccadilly, is one of the city's most famous suites- and not just for sleeping in. The opulent rooms in pink-and-gold (a lot more stylish than it sounds) are used for filming, launches and parties, as well as a resting place for the rich and glamorous. This tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli, one of the 20th century's greatest designers (and a label soon to be revived by Tod's Diego Della Valle) is a flamboyant mix of her favourite fuchsia and red silks, exaggerated baroque gilded woodwork and the Eastern details that often inspired her.
From around Dh18,300 per night, www.themayfairsuites.com/Schiaparelli
Bulgari Resort, Bali
Perched on a cliff top overlooking the Indian Ocean, each of the 59 villas here has exquisite sea views, a garden and a plunge pool. With a newly opened hotel in London and another in Milan, you might expect urban glamour, but this place is pure Balinese luxury: hand-carved volcanic-stone walls, Javanese mahogany accents, locally woven silks and antique furniture. The waters, protected by a coral reef, are frequented by dolphins and accessible only by the resort's funicular. And, of course, among those Balinese souvenirs is a Bulgari shop packed with its own accessories, jewellery and watches.
Rooms from Dh2,022 per night, www.bulgarihotels.com
