Top ten romantic retreats

Tower 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

Villa 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

West 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