The winter sun hotlist

Art House, Syria

The tranquil and rather special Art House offers a lively programme of exhibitions and concerts. It also boasts elegant and super-comfortable rooms as well as delicious Damascene cuisine that you won't find elsewhere in the city (unless you're invited to someone's home). Plus a rooftop swimming pool, indoor pool and spa. Sigh!

A standard room costs from £157 per room per night based on two people sharing, and includes breakfast, wifi, use of the health club, cigar bar and screening room, plus (for i-escape customers) a free upgrade subject to availability and a gift of an Art book. www.i-escape.com/arthouse.php

Mansouriya Palace, Syria

If you've done Damascus, try Aleppo for size - another ancient, Unesco-listed city with exotic cuisine and bustling souks. In the heart of the old town is Mansouriya Palace, a splendid palace with nine sumptuous themed suites, tucked away in an atmospheric quarter. The16th-century Ottoman Arabic palace fans out around a splendid courtyard, sprinkled with lanterns, stone-potted flowers and a tranquil plunge pool. Overlooked by an alfresco liwan (summer room) with colossal ceilings, it's a delightfully breezy space that feels several degrees cooler than the rest of the city.

A suite costs £237 per room per night based on two people sharing, and includes breakfast. i-escape customers will receive free slippers to take home. www.i-escape.com/mansouriyapalace.php

Bamurru Plains, Australia

For hotter climes that also deliver on the true 'miles away' escape, two boltholes in Australia have made it onto this winter's hot list, making a cute pairing in the Northern Territory. Bamurru Plains gifts sun and adventure seekers with eco-friendly bungalows infused with African-safari style on a remote property in the tropical Top End, near Kakadu: think barefoot luxury on a buffalo station.

It's like the best of African safari lodges transported into the outback, with crocs instead of zebras and water buffalo replacing hippos. Accessible after a 5-seater plane ride to a remote air strip and a bumpy 20 minute Land Cruiser ride, but it is worth it.

Full board from £1081 per lodge per night (and from £1366 including flights from Darwin) based on all meals, beverages from a select open bar and scheduled activities (4WD drive, river trips, airboat trips, daily guiding) for two people. www.i-escape.com/bamurruplains.php

Days At Sea, South Africa

A little African sun is always a solid choice, and mixing it up with a stay in the lesser explored 'Hibiscus Coast' of the Natal region makes it a little bit different.

Days At Sea is an art hotel in the truest sense, just 140km south of Durban, this doubles as a showspace for contemporary sculpture, projected photographs and paintings by the likes of Christo, Eva Ohlow, Christopher Lorenz and owner Guido Schoeldgen's jazzy photographic works.

The hotel centres around a slickly crafted open-plan restaurant, overlooking the rolling breakers of the Indian Ocean, where you dine on gourmet cuisine to the strains of Pavarotti whilst watching monkeys swing amongst the palms and dolphins cut through the waves. Coastal couples' hideaways don't come much better than this.

A junior suite costs from £173 per room per night based on two people sharing, including breakfast and an i-escape customer bottle of South African sparkling wine www.i-escape.com/daysatsea.php

The Hotelito, Mexico

The Hotelito in Tandos Santos, Baja California, is indeed a little gem of a property as its name suggests. Relaxed seclusion and a warm welcome await guests arriving at this colourful, architect-designed boutique B&B, a showcase for Mexican Modernism.

Renowned British designer Jenny Armit has created a haven of harmony and tranquillity in this intimate inn. There are four colour-themed cottages each with blissful beds, hammocks and a shaded outdoor terrace with loungers.

The deserted beach of La Cachora is nearby and there are yoga and Pilates classes, horse-riding on the beach and the fabulous surfing (and whale-watching) which put Todos Santos on the map.

A cottage costs from £58 per room per night based on two people sharing, including breakfast, WiFi, beach towels and boogie boards. www.i-escape.com/thehotelito.php

Cabanas La Luna, Mexico

Cabanas La Luna, on the beach near Tulum, offers a castaway dream of a Yucatan winter adventure, with its handful of eco cabanas on a pristine beach, together with friendly service and fab food. Despite this area being Mexico's busy beach destination, the off-the-beaten-track La Luna is blissfully quiet; a perfect place to indulge your desert island fantasy.

The smallest cabanas are ideal for a romantic holiday; the bigger ones would suit a family. If you want something plusher there are two spacious suites (one with a Jacuzzi) or a four-bedroom cabana with a private pool.

A Robinson Crusoe cabana costs from £65 per unit per night based on two people sharing includes continental breakfast, taxes and a bottle of wine for i-escape customers. A 5% discount is available on stays of 7 nights or more. www.i-escape.com/cabanaslaluna.php

The Farm, India

The Farm is one of the newest and funkiest kids on the Indian block, an art hotel near Jaipur. A 25-minute drive from Jaipur, this was bought with government compensation for an ancestral family palace drowned by a dam. Its young married owners are both passionate about art with works by different artists displayed throughout (and an area for guests to get arty too).

Four rag-rolled, art-appointed rooms, a beautiful pool, a huge playroom on the ground level (with billiard table, widescreen TV and shelves of games, art books and DVDs, all canopied by a bubble-wrap ceiling), makes this heaven for cultured 20- to 40-somethings looking to relax, learn and create.

An executive room costs from £103 per room per night based on two people sharing, full board and with bike use. I-escape customers receive a custom-designed gift ranging from a martini evening to an Indian spices hamper. www.i-escape.com/thefarm.php

Number Thirty, Morocco

Number Thirty in Essaouira is a brand new 'rent your very own house' addition to the Moroccan i-escape family. An original townhouse with bright, quirky furnishings (sleeps two to six, self-catering), as first impressions go, this one's a bit bizarre.

Bar the pink door, things look standard from the outside, a whitewashed townhouse, with star-shaped windows and keyhole doorways. But enter via the kitchen and you're dazzled by flowered chairs, an array of hot-pink implements and a fuchsia fridge. Upstairs, three double bedrooms and a salon are sprinkled with antique toys and colourful trinkets; and at the top, a roof terrace is lined with retro cushions to lounge on. It's quirky and it's cool. Brighton meets Morocco in Essaouira and the beach is a five minute walk.

The whole house costs from £86 per night for accommodation only based on four people sharing, i-escape extra of welcome basket of teas, coffees and fruits; soaps and homemade lavender bags on beds. www.i-escape.com/numberthirty.php