Top ten romantic retreats

Juliet Kinsman, editor of Mr & Mrs Smith, signposts you to some extra-special stopovers around the world


If you're splashing out on a romantic escape, you want it to be welcoming enough to have a home-from-home air, but the quality of your surroundings and the services overall needs to be better than what you experience in your everyday life - otherwise why bother? There are some extraordinary hotels that fit this bill perfectly, but to unearth the most romantic ones, you need to know where to look



SallyportSallyport Berwick-upon-Tweed
Style Luxurious lodgings for less.
Setting England's northernmost town.
Rooms Five suites.
Rates £90-£140, inclusive of VAT.
This pretty boutique bed and breakfast in the Northumbrian border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed is two 17th-century houses joined together, and offers a handful of individually designed rooms. The top-of-the-range Tiffany suite is the most romantic and boasts a massive flatscreen TV alongside a vast fireplace that dates back to when this grade-II listed property was built - perfect to curl up in front of with your lover. Its treats such as home-made shortbread and chocolate truffles in your room that make you want to stay holed up here forever.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: Sallyport

LaLa Suite Rio de Janeiro
Style Modernism outside, maximalism inside.
Setting Brazilian Beverly Hills.
Rooms Seven.
Rates €300-380.
Rio is one of the most special landscapes on earth, where lush mountains plunge into the tropical sea. Located in the upmarket neighbourhood of Joatinga, this brand-new stylish stay is the perfect spot from which to soak up such spectacular surroundings. La Suite ticks all the boutique hotel design boxes, such as contrasting brightly coloured boudoirs and even a black-crystal Baccarat chandelier in the glass-fronted sitting room - the only one in Brazil - but it's the stunning ocean view that's most likely to win your heart.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: La Suite

Ca'sCa's Xorc Mallorca
Style Neo rustico.
Setting Bougainvillea-bountiful Baleares.
Rooms 12.
Rates €180-300, including breakfast and VAT.
This well-kept secret perched precariously on a hillside, plays host to spectacular views over a mountain range and out to sea. Where the terrace ends, follow the 100-year-old olive trees down to the infinity pool that almost gives the illusion you're swimming off the cliff edge and into the valley below. The finca dates back to the 18th century, and the rooms at Ca's Xorc are classic Mediterranean in style; accents such as a wrought-iron and crystal chandelier add character to the traditional whitewashed interior.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: Ca's Xorc

CaravanseraiCaravanserai Marrakech
Style Effortlessly chic rustic resort.
Setting The fringes of Palmeraie.
Rooms Five rooms, 12 suites (two with own pools).
Rates €130-420, including breakfast.
A 15-minute drive from the ancient medina in a rubbly mud village in Marrakech's green suburb, the Palmeraie, is this pink-hued paradise. The focal point is its beautiful swimming pool, open to the sky, and forming a courtyard between dining salon, bedrooms and terraces and secret gardens. The marble-hard tadelakt plaster lends itself perfectly to a sprawling layout, which incorporates open fireplaces, cushion-festooned terraces, enormous baths and an impressive hammam (tiny indoor spa).
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: Caravanserai

JardinsJardins Secrets Provence
Style Opulent classic.
Setting Roman Nimes.
Rooms Four (with more planned).
Rates €190-260, excluding breakfast.
Boutique-hotel lovers everywhere should salute the French couple behind this pink-hued 17th-century city villa. Rich, lush, colourful grounds full of olive trees, giant palms and bougainvillea is the first feast for the senses. The attention to detail gives a clue to the owner's own professional backgrounds: he is an interiors and food photographer; she is a stylist. Together they have created what we suspect is their dream come true. The rooms are large, luxurious and decorated with impeccably chic French taste.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: Jardins Secrets

LesLes Cascades Cape Town
Style Colonial comfort.
Setting Panoramic perch over Bantry Bay.
Rooms Ten. In the main lodge: one luxury suite; three superiors; two deluxe. In the villa: one junior suite; three villa rooms.
Rates R1,450-2,650, including breakfast and all taxes.
This Indonesian-accented multi-levelled cliffside retreat is set into a cliffside in the exclusive neighbourhood of Bantry Bay. The suites are rich with luxurious dark wood and leather furniture, wool carpets and African and Eastern art and artefacts carefully placed to complete the picture of stealth style. Three pools, cushion-filled relaxation areas (indoors and out), and a terrace where you can dine alfresco much of the year mean you need never prise your eyes from that view.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: Les Cascades

PerivolasPerivolas Santorini
Style All-white Gaudi-contoured caves.
Setting Overlooking the caldera.
Rooms 19, all with sea view.
Rates €368-1,400.
Perched high on the cliffs of this super-romantic Greek island, the heart-stopping views over the Aegean Sea alone are the stuff that spontaneous marriage proposals are made of (ha!). The all-white bedrooms are carved out of the cliff, and are utterly sensual. Thankfully, there's also the lure of sunshine and irresistible beaches, or the best temptation of all - an eyeful of the sunset from the comfort of your own private hilltop jacuzzi.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: Perivolas

TowerTower Lodge Hunter Valley
Style Global grandeur.
Setting Australia's acclaimed vineyards.
Rooms 12, including two suites.
Rates AUS$580-690.
Tower Lodge is a retreat just over two hours from the Sydney in Hunter Valley, one of Australia's finest wine-growing region. While 'purpose-built' and 'country manor house' don't usually go together, here the hotel at the Tower Lodge winery has masterfully combined European antiques and furnishings with a hacienda-style layout and a colonnaded courtyard. The perfect place to play Lord and Lady of the manor - especially as this is strictly adults-only terrain.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: Tower Lodge

VillaVilla Bordoni Tuscany
Style Restaurateurs' Italian retreat.
Setting Green groves of Greve in Chianti.
Rooms Ten, including five suites.
Rates €170-395, including breakfast.
Half-an-hour from Florence, this Italian gourmet getaway is set amid the rolling Tuscan countryside and flanked by olive groves and vineyards. Formerly a crumbling ten-roomed villa it has been transformed by a Scottish restaurateur couple into a honeymoon-fit hideaway. The attention to detail is visible in everything from the highest-spec bathrooms, to the poolside sunloungers which are big enough for two. A feature most definitely not just for show is the impressive open cast-iron kitchen - diners at Bordoni will be happy that it's customary in this land for meals to be a four-course affair - especially with so much delicious local wine to wash it down with.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: Villa Bordoni

WestWest Stoke House West Sussex
Style Boutique bed and breakfast.
Setting Glorious Goodwood.
Rooms Six.
Rates £130-150, including breakfast.
The reason West Stoke is so relaxed and romantic because although the service is top notch, it's still a real home and as far removed from a five-star design hotel as can be. This Georgian mansion has been transformed into a stylish boutique bed and breakfast enlisting all the right furnishings - rolltop baths, leather bucket chairs, crisp white linen - while retaining its original features. The laid-back atmosphere co-exists happily with an indulgent fine-dining restaurant, and West Stoke is as suited to special-occasion celebrations as it is to last-minute bids for R&R.
For more information, or to book a stay at this hotel, go to: West Stoke House

For more information or to book any of these hotels, and to find the right retreat for your own personal fantasy, go to www.mrandmrssmith.com