In September 1969, a young, Polish-born architect called Daniel Lipszyc was struggling a van, loaded with water pipes and cement, around the hairpin turns of a dirt track that wound up the forested mountainsides of Northern Ibiza. There were no other buildings in sight, and Ibiza was relatively isolated. Although the hippy culture that was to give rise to frenzied tourism had just begun to take root, the island still only received a once-weekly ferry from mainland Spain.
The pipes they were laying and the bricks they were hauling are for Lipszyc's pet project - the construction of the Hotel Hacienda. The story was not unusual of the late Sixties. Franco had begun to age, and the narrow classicism that defined his taste was beginning to be surmounted by a new wave of interesting buildings, not least Ricardo Boffill's 'La Muralla Roja' (the location for the upcoming story 'Around the Block' in House & Garden's October 2015 issue). Shortly after Franco's demise, a new wave of planning laws came in, creating areas of protected landscapes in the north of Ibiza.
This was perfect timing for the Hotel Hacienda, the restrictions coming in to place just as the hotel was completed, but before any others had managed to spring up. To visitors now, the most striking thing about the hotel, in this madly crowded and frenetic island, is its illusion of perfect isolation. Peering out from its terraces and pools, one admires the absolute lack of any other building from view.

The hotel has kept its late Sixties, bohemian feel perfectly intact. In fact, as luxury hotels go, it could be accused of being rough - slightly dated light fittings and not the fluffiest of spa towels. If slickness in such details is your priority, then perhaps don't bother. But the hotel doesn't need this kind of slickness. Built down the mountainside, it sprawls from terrace to terrace, making each room feel private, and letting the resident get pleasantly lost, rather than being arranged, like a termite mound, around a lobby or pool. A cool courtyard, decoratively tiled, is dominated by an impressive and ancient fig tree, and beautifully pickable grapes, brambles, olives and figs dangle within reach of almost every room or terrace. A kitchen garden grows onions, vegetables and edible flowers for the kitchen, and the staff serve with quietude and grace. If you are inspecting the gaps between the tiles - which do exist - then you are perhaps missing the point.

The trump card of this hotel is the group of cascade pools that face on to that brilliant coastal mountain. There are seven or so pools, staggered so that mini waterfalls toss down from one to the other between the rocks. They are filled with seawater, and each offers a different form of bubble or jet, intended to massage different parts of the body. Apart from the lovely head-pummelling received from a sort of tropical shower, I couldn't honestly tell which bit of my body I was supposed to be jetting, but it really doesn't matter when you are sitting in a tranquil saltwater pool, overlooking the best view on the island.

Jabal Akhdar Mountains, Oman

Alila Jabal Akhdar hotel sits on a cliff in the Al Hajar mountains

Some landscapes are so majestic, their spaces so seemingly infinite and their silence so impenetrable, they require a few days before your senses can fully take them in. The Jabal Akhdar mountain area in the Sultanate of Oman-where the Alila hotel group has just opened its first Middle Eastern property-is just such a place.lt will fill your senses to overflowing. And it would be foolish to see it in a hurry.
Jabal Akhdar means 'green mountain'; although it is mostly high, rocky, arid desert terrain here, it is punctuated by pockets of intense fertility. Consequently, after passing miles of heat, dust, dramatic steep gorges and vast silent canyons, you will come upon a cool, green valley bursting with pomegranate, apricot, walnut and peach trees, and carpeted with pale pink roses.
The Alii a Jabal Akhdar sits on a flat cliff-top 2,000 metres high, staring down upon a vast gorge that disappears into the AI Hajar mountains. The light and colours of this landscape change by the hour: in the morning, you'll drink coffee on your villa terrace in a pale honeycomb glow, with an eagle circling overhead; and, at sunset, the hard, rocky lines of the moun-tains are softened by a milky, pink and lavender light, while the depths of the gorge disappear into an unfathomable blackness. There is no sound. But the silence here is more than just an absence of noise, it has a fullness and completeness that is profoundly calming - should you need to, you can augment that effect with treatments and massages at the spa, staffed by Alila's best masseurs from its hotels in Bali, or a lazy swim in the infinity pool.

*The mountain village of Birkat al-Mawz is nearby*

The hotel is built from a local dark grey stone and African wood, and its stand-alone villas and suites follow the simple, low-rise, rectangular shape of traditional Omani architecture. The look is just the right side of austere, in tones of cream, brown and ox blood, with Omani pottery, juniper driftwood and delicate stencilling decorating the walls. The planting in the grounds is kept deliberately spare and includes only native desert plants. This Alila aims to be invisible: it wants to disappear into the wilderness. Indeed it is so well camouflaged, it is hard to spot from another point in the valley.
Tourism is in its infancy in this part of Oman, so getting in a four-wheel drive to visit villages where crafts are practised never feels like a packaged or cliched experience. The village of AI Aqur; which is famous for its production of rose oil and rose water; is deeply traditional. The city of Nizwa, the cityscape of which is a sea of date palms rather than skyscrapers, has a seventeenth-century fort and a small souk. Near the hotel you can walk, taking in stupendous, vertigo-inducing scenery. Alila also plans to introduce challenging overnight hikes, cycling tours and luxury camping.
Jabal Akhdar stays in your system, like a calming narcotic, long after you have left. lt is about as far away from the frenetic urban bling of the Gulf, epitomised by Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as it is possible to get. Those buildings may get taller and more extraordinary by the year; but they're nothing compared with nature at its most spectacular. Take your time and drink it in.

Suján Rajmahal Palace

We arrive in Jaipur on an impossibly hot afternoon in mid-June. After negotiating the chaos of the roads in a way that only a local can, our driver finally takes a turning away from the hectic streets. The mood changes instantly as we pass slowly through tranquil and beautifully manicured grounds that wind gently up to the shaded white steps of the Suján Rajmahal Palace. It is like a wonderful spell has been cast.

A tall waiter in a crisp white turban greets us in the cool and darkly opulent Durbar Hall with much-needed ice-cold glasses of nimbu pani - Indian lemonade served with a little sugar and salt to rehydrate. The atmosphere in this wonderful reception room is old-world, but beautifully contemporary and comfortable with it. It's a tantalising glimpse of what's to come.

This white marble pleasure palace was built in the 18th century by the Maharaja Sawai for his wife, the Princess of Udaipur and has since served as both accommodation for British officers in the nineteenth century and later as a royal guesthouse. To oversee its new incarnation as a luxury hotel for the renowned group Suján, the current royal family tasked their friend, the decorator Adil Ahmad to transform the space and create a 'home from home' for its guests.

Each of the 14 suites is unique (there are 16 more due to open later this year, along with two boutiques). Our room, the Kennedy suite, was Jackie's favourite, although in a royal guesthouse accustomed to hosting dignitaries, every room has a starry name to accompany it. The decoration is flamboyant in parts - the fabulous '51 Shades of Pink' restaurant looks set to stage a Bollywood musical - and more restrained in others - our room is beautifully serene. Adil's inspiration comes from traditional Indian decoration and has been applied with great consideration for the royal history and architecture of the palace. Stepping out through the tall white doors of our room for dinner onto the 300-year old marble staircase, with the sound of a monsoon pouring down and echoes of Ella Fitzgerald drifting up felt like starring in a wonderful old film. A sensory overload of the best kind.