Discover the world’s finest hotels, selected for elegance, service, and soul

The Bürgenstock sits on a ridge with the lake directly below and the Alps opposite, reached by a funicular from the water. The resort spans four hotels and a 10,000-square-metre spa whose infinity pool appears to end at the cliff edge. The Hammetschwand lift — the highest exterior lift in Europe — runs from the cliff path to a viewpoint above the treeline.

Cheval Blanc Paris

Paris, France

Cheval Blanc occupies the Art Deco half of the Samaritaine on the Seine, and its seventy-two rooms and suites almost all look at the river. Plénitude holds three Michelin stars; the Dior Spa runs the length of a floor and ends at a 30-metre pool lit like a private cinema. The Pont Neuf is a minute away, the Louvre five.

Four Seasons Resort Marrakech

Marrakech, Morocco

Forty acres of walled garden on the edge of the Hivernage, with the Atlas mountains visible beyond the palms in winter. Two pools — one adults-only and shaded by olive trees — and a hammam that follows the traditional three-room sequence. The medina and Jemaa el-Fnaa are a ten-minute drive, and the hotel arranges a guide who can navigate the souks properly.

The Oriental has been on this bend of the river since 1876, and the Authors' Wing still holds the suites named for Conrad, Maugham and Coward. Afternoon tea in the Author's Lounge is an institution. The spa sits across the water in a teak house reached by the hotel's own ferry, which runs continuously and takes four minutes.