Room with a View
Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California, US, for €744 a night (sleeps two), or…
FOUR SEASONS GRESHAM PALACE, Budapest, for €290 a night (double room).

Budapest is frequently named as a jewel in the crown of Europe, and a night at the sumptuous Four Seasons will leave you in little doubt of the city’s majesty. Perched on the banks of the Danube, the Gresham overlooks the old city, and is the kind of hotel that would draw paparazzi like flies to a rib-roast if it was in London. The Post Inn, meanwhile, has jaw-dropping views of the Pacific, and is well worth a trip the next time you’re in the US and have money literally falling out of your pockets.
TEL: +1 831 667 2200, WWW.POSTRANCHINN.COM
; TEL: +36 1268 6000, WWW.FOURSEASONS.COM/BUDAPEST

The Beach Holiday
Seven nights at the Royal Palm Hotel, Mauritius, for €5,390 (Junior Suite), or…
Seven nights at the HÔTEL DU PALAIS, Biarritz, for €3,115 (double room).

OK, so no one’s really going to convince you that the beaches of Europe can compete with the ones in the Caribbean or the Indian Ocean, but all along the Atlantic coast of southern France are delightful, quiet beaches that will take your breath away. The grande dame of the Aquitaine region is Biarritz, which is equal parts brash and classy, and never more old school than at the distinctly upper-crust Hôtel du Palais, a Biarritz institution for more than 100 years. That place in Mauritius really is something else, but at the price of a new car for a week’s stay, it should be.
TEL: +230 209 8300, WWW.ROYALPALM-HOTEL.COM;
TEL: +33 (0)55 941 6400, WWW.HOTEL-DU-PALAIS.COM

The Millionaire’s Playground
Three nights at the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, for €2,464 (Deluxe King Suite), or…
Three nights at PORT PALACE HOTEL, Monaco, for €795 (double room).

The Burj Al Arab is the kind of place God would knock up for Cliff Richard when he goes to heaven, and is perhaps the only hotel in the world with its own reception desk on every floor. But you don’t have to be a prince to mingle with people who smell nice, as the Port Palace is a luxury boutique hotel slap-bang in the middle of Monaco, and right next to the casino. So close to the sea it’s practically in it, this is just the spot to relax in an Hermesdesigned room and soak up the sounds of gently bobbing yachts.
TEL: +971 4301 7777, WWW.BURJ-AL-ARAB.COM;
TEL: +377 9797 9000, WWW.PORTPALACE.COM

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