CASA HOYOS IN SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE,

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PHOTOGRAPHS: FERNANDO FARFAN; DIEGO PADILLA THE EDITORS’ OUR FAVOURITE NEWSECRET LIST 2020 LIST WINTER-SUN HOTELSWINTER-SUN COMPILED BY KERR FIONA 16/10/2020 18:55 16/10/2020 89 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd 90 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd monkey-patterned kimonos;woven bath mats from H18 Foundation; townships. Donating unneededitems to Overstrand Hospice’s charity has anoutdoor shower andviews of Lion’s Head mountain. Therest brick. Thepineapplemotif–asymbol of hospitality –iseverywhere, brunch andMojoMarket for sushi,ThaiandMexican). Theeclectic, from window panesto teaspoons. Eachbedroom isdifferent, some mixed withFrida Kahlo cushions;dark-blue velvet curtains contrast bar theBobDylan kitchen where breakfast isprepared andadiningroom overlooking art-strewn styleisvery CapeTown. Leopard-print headboards are this was once hometo actor Paddy Canavan whoseparties inthe On aquietstreet inCapeTown’s busy SeaPoint neighbourhood, hotel –whichopenedlastyear –ismore chilled,astroll from the with teal orrose walls, setagainstglossy white tilesandexposed social responsibility meanslate-check-out fees goto non-profit backside andKrisjan Rossouw’s dreamy portraits. Anelement of the plungepool.Owners Lesley andRupert Sykes, wholive next Atlantic-side promenade, cafés andrestaurants (tryJarryds for shop isalsoencouraged. Given that everything here isfor sale– door, filledthehotel withthingsthey love: Woodstock Laundry snug, others larger withbalconies; the biggest,Three oh One, Project Playground, whichrunsprogrammes for children inthe of theshared, open-plan interior includesacosy livingarea, a 1960s drew Hollywood stars. Thesedays, thenine-bedroom need the extra suitcase space. Mervyn Gers crockery; Victoria Verbaan’s drawing of apeachy THE SCOOP CAPE TOWN,CAPE SOUTHAFRICA PINEAPPLE HOUSE Cassandra ROOMS FROM ABOUT £80 print inthelivingroom –you may well BOOK IT pineapplehouse.co.za 16/10/2020 18:56 16/10/2020

PHOTOGRAPHS: GREG COX; ELKE FROTSCHLER; BENJAMIN HOSKING PHOTOGRAPHS: GREG COX; ELKE FROTSCHLER; BENJAMIN HOSKING 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd 91 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd offshore andthethundering,98ft Les Waterfall to explore further on top of eachotherintwos, abedroom andlivingroom opening Bali. Brunsdon’s aestheticmight looklike brutalism, sharp-edged influencer-favourite floating breakfasts served to swimmers tothe smooth, theotherhasbeencast withlengthsof bamboo,soits here longenoughand fishingboats from Tejakula villagewillpull Ubud’s timezone-skipping techpreneurs, thisisacorner of old circular, white-grid-tiled bathroom illuminated by askylight in hot-pink modulardaybeds besidethemainbeachsidepool.Lie striking hotel isa‘reward says for theintrepid’, Nic Brunsdon, the Perth-based architect whodesignedit.Far from Canggu’s of the14villastowards theseainfront andthejunglebehind inland. Butmostly,thisisaplace for guests to steal away and supper. Thearea is known for itscommunity-driven marine- candi bentar ridges are seenintextural negative relief. Rooms are stacked Backed by thickjungleontheisland’s quietnorth coast, this but thehighconcrete walls –whichblinker views from each the centre. There are othermodishtouches, too, from the up for you to chooseyour own just-landedmahi-mahi for protection initiative, andthere’s snorkelling to tryoutjust out at eitherend–oneof whichhasasmallpool–with – are actuallyinspired by traditional temple gateways (or chia-bowl-scoffing, concept-store-hopping crowds and THE SCOOP enjoy theirprize inpeace. ). Andwhileonesideof theconcrete ispolished BALI, INDONESIA THE TIING ROOMS FROM ABOUT £65 BOOK IT luwakresort.com lagoon of Manialtepec to anevening produced innearby Teotitlán delValle. Favero laid outthegardens eventually bought aplotof landto openMonte Uzulu, setbetween At-te andlighting designerPaola Jose from creative studioSombra, in mind,usinglocal materials suchas country: baskets and straw lamps made in Michoacán; tables from from tables country: baskets andstraw lampsmadeinMichoacán; as anediblelandscape –fullof melons,papayas and chilli peppers daylight shadedby buzz lately. Andassurfers congregate nearitsepicentre inPuerto who ensured thehotel’s 11bedrooms have acontinual stream of room showcases collaborations from Favero’s interiors collective room showcases collaborationscollective from Favero’sinteriors – to be rustled up intoclassic Temporadathe at dishes Oaxacan Escondido, in-the-know locals are headingsouthto theformer take part in,from paddleboarding through the bioluminescent the Sierra Madre delSur mountains andthesea.He partnered This state’s wildandruggedPacific shoreline has felt agrowing alternative hangoutaway from thecrowds, onitsown sublime restaurant. Andthere are allsorts of well-rooted activitiesto Alan Favero hasbeenholidaying here for nearly20years, and with sensitive architecture specialistMarianaRuiz of thefirm and clay and lime to give walls arosewood-tonegive finish,each to lime and clay and Taller Lu’um, whichpartners withartisan groups around the Zapotec sweat-lodge ritual.Thisisanelemental retreat –an the Sierra Norte dePuebla mountains; cotton bedspreads fishing village of SanAgustinillo.Mexican creative director THE SCOOP stretch of coast. MONTE UZULU OAXACA, MEXICO huizache ROOMS FROM ABOUT £130 trees. Styled withthenatural scenery BOOK IT temazcal monteuzulu.com macuil wood for bedframes ceremony, anancient 16/10/2020 18:56 16/10/2020 91 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd 92 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd 16/10/2020 19:22 16/10/2020

/ LES CACTUS PALM SPRINGS, USA

THE SCOOP ROOMS FROM ABOUT £145

Palm-lined boulevards and mid-century-modern landmarks have long drawn sunseekers to the kitsch desert oasis of Palm Springs. While hotels with hard-partying pool scenes get the most attention, Les Cactus has a more make-yourself-at-home milieu in the peaceful but central Warm Sands neighbourhood. The Thirties motor lodge was converted into a bohemian hideaway in flamingo pink and jade green by hotelier Matthew Kurtz and the team behind city favourites such as the ranch-retro Sparrows Lodge and art-filled Holiday House. Canned cocktails are handed out in the airy lobby, where there are also art books and other curios for browsing and an acoustic guitar for late-night jamming (the place was named after French rocker Jacques Dutronc’s poppy 1967 hit, which Kurtz and his wife listened to on repeat while planning their wedding). Bedrooms loop around the mist-cooled pool and offshoot courtyards are dotted with umbrella-shaded tables, low-slung hammocks and a fire-pit. There’s no restaurant or bar, but staff can whip up bags of snacks, chilled drinks and takeaway breakfast baskets stuffed with fresh croissants from the nearby French patisserie. The design retains original touches from the hotel’s previous incarnations – brick fireplaces and bright,

RYAN MANNING/MONOCLE PROJECT; ZACH SORENSEN ZACH PROJECT; MANNING/MONOCLE RYAN glazed-tile showers – and adds updated, curvaceous wicker furniture, brass lights and hits of colour. Wardrobes are small, but that’s probably because this was once a nudist retreat. After all, the most interesting stays, just like the most interesting people, have stories to tell. BOOK IT PHOTOGRAPHS: lescactusps.com

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THE SCOOP ROOMS FROM ABOUT £60

This is one of those places the owners have put their heart and soul into – right down to the own-line ceramics and handcrafted soaps – creating a personal stay that’s almost a distillation of themselves. Jessica Fernando and Renato Soto were part of the original crew who set the ley lines to Hiriketiya – then a sleepy village on a horseshoe bay with a perfect point break, now a quietly rising hotspot – when they opened cool rental Soto House in 2017 after moving here from Zürich. Now their projects have evolved to include Mond: a clubhouse, café, artists’ residence and four-bedroom hotel overlooking the Indian Ocean between Nilwella and the long sweep of Dikwella beach. True to Fernando’s Swiss-Sri Lankan roots, the architecture blends Le Corbusier concrete curves with Geoffrey Bawa jungle modernism; instead of windows, each room has floor-to-ceiling teak shutters that can be angled to catch the breeze. By day, the courtyard café acts as a local hub, dishing up pains au chocolat, kitchari bowls, juices and coffee (hands down the best in town) to a jumble of surfers, yoga teachers, sculptors and healers – a chilled-out scene that circulates between here and the rooftop bar. There are also meditation sessions and women’s circles, shakti dancing and movement workshops, underscoring a soulful, spiritual vibe attuned to the ebb and flow of the tides and the cycles of the moon (the English translation of the German ‘mond’). BOOK IT sotohouse.lk

FINCA VICTORIA VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO

THE SCOOP ROOMS FROM ABOUT £110

This tiny isle seven miles off the coast of Puerto Rico was ravaged when Hurricane Maria tore through it in 2017. The guesthouse where Finca Victoria now stands, at the top of a hill at the heart of the island, was one of those flattened. In its place, however, Sylvia de Marco, the Puerto Rican designer behind San Juan’s much-loved Dreamcatcher Hotel, has created this very special hideout and Ayurvedic retreat that’s attracting a fresh bohemian crowd. Set on two-and-a-half acres of land, planted with medicinal and vegetable gardens, towering palms and flowering frangipani and hibiscus trees, the 11 bedrooms are surrounded by greenery and include wooden, Bauhaus-inspired two-storey treehouses and a glass-sided Invisible House. Although the property only opened last year, its interiors layer stories: works by local artisans and contemporary artists; finds from de Marco’s travels and furniture belonging to family members. At the hotel’s centre is a breezy communal space where chef Jordan Dossantos whips up vegan breakfasts using produce from the grounds after morning yoga classes on the open-air deck (available to everyone, whether you’re part of the panchakarma detox programme or not). There’s also a turquoise-tiled swimming pool and plenty of handwoven hammocks, plus a lounge that doubles as a boutique selling body oils and fragrant soaps made in the region. All part of a sustainable tourism scene that is coming back stronger. BOOK IT lafinca.com

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PHOTOGRAPHS: SYLVIA DE MARCO; RASMUS NORLANDER; RYAN WIJAYARATNE the coastal countryside where Igrew up,’says Pham. Eachbedroom milk andindigoblue,isfilledwithantique and locally carved considered take. ‘They are areminder ‘They of theclay-built take. housesin considered vegan-centric café Gieo.Past atranquil koi pond,thestairwells than aminute’s walk away, andthere are bicycles to borrow for 10-bedroom spot, conceived itasacelebration of Vietnamese exploring Hoi An’s merchant-house- andtea-shop-packed old creativity andmeditation, withlarge desksandstacks of books a of Hoi An’s hecticshorefront isDechiu, anunassuming oasis. hill tribes that serve as lampshades. Pham’s favourites are the the are favourites hill tribesthat serve Pham’s aslampshades. town. Thisisathoughtful, soothing place from whichto tap walls throughout, which,like mostthingsat Dechiu, have a beside daybeds dressed invintage textiles. Thesandisless TheO Pham,theHanoian owner andarchitect behindthis serene andearthy shared space andflavourful vegetarian/ craft. Thestyledipsitstoe into tropical brutalism butwith wabi-sabi furniture, handmade linens andlinens furniture,handmade baskets made by northern has itsown subtlecolour scheme,from honeyed ochre to Architect’s andZen rooms, butallare designedto inspire are linedwitharotating selectionof regional art. There’s Among thebungalows, beachclubsand seafood shacks surprising warmth. Reclaimed-wood doors openonto a THE SCOOP into Vietnamese culture. element at play withdistressed cement floors and DECHIU HOTELDECHIU HOI AN, VIETNAM HOI AN, ROOMS FROM ABOUT £65 BOOK IT dechiuhotel.com 16/10/2020 19:37 16/10/2020 CASA HOYOS SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, MEXICO

THE SCOOP ROOMS FROM ABOUT £115

Arguably Mexico’s loveliest town, San Miguel de Allende has long attracted American artists and other expats to its pastel-pretty cobblestones, but it has become more genteel since Jack Kerouac and other beatniks hung out here in the 1960s. Recently, however, a handful of interesting hotel openings have brought much-needed fresh energy to the historic centre. The latest is Casa Hoyos, a 16-bedroom escape drawing a design-savvy crew. The 17th-century mansion has remained in the hands of the Hoyos family for four generations, at various points a currency exchange and grain store. Now it’s been transformed by -based architecture firm A-G Studio into an ode to mid-century modern. In the lobby are throne-like armchairs by Comité de Proyectos and huanacaxtle-wood structures that resemble the plumed serpent Quetzalcóatl, one of the most important deities in the Mesoamerican pantheon. Set over two floors, each bedroom showcases works by the country’s most prolific creatives, from handwoven, geometric tapestries by Melissa Avila to mirrored ceramic pots by Paloma Layseca. Kicking the cool factor up a notch is Bekeb, a rooftop bar with views of the swimming pool and Sierra Madre mountains beyond, helmed by mixologist Fabiola Padilla, an alumna of Enrique Olvera’s Cosme in New

York. Padilla crafts cocktails with lesser-known Mexican spirits, ERIK ZAVALA PADILLA; DIEGO FERNANDO FARFAN; such as the sugarcane-based pox and the earthy, agave-derived sotol, and homegrown herbs including minty yerba buena and lemony cedrón. An eye-catching update of San Miguel’s artistic heritage. BOOK IT casahoyos.mx PHOTOGRAPHS:

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12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd 97 16/10/2020 18:57 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd 98 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd here –there are concrete-topped kitchenettes ineachapartment, on classic-bike restoration, yoga andagave-growing for adifferent andCartagena,’ says Mejías.With nofloors orsolid falling for thisspotinthehistoric centre, whichthey sensedwas in thelivingarea) andaddingcomplementary distressed touches. 90 potsfor thecacti garden, andeachof theseven lofts displays contemporary Caribbeandishes–there isaroster of workshops Husband-and-wife team José Luis MejíasandMeyling Wetto, craftspeople to weave bespoke rattan-and-steel chairs andcast on aRoman-bath feel, shadingthepoolasparrots call from the The courtyard andarchway were once part of ahospital builtin who previously designed smart holiday apartments inMadrid, arrived inSanto Domingo lookingfor theirnext project. They show thelayers of time,while others are replastered inlime), with theduosensitively preserving (somepeeled-backwalls repurposing (mahogany roof beamsform animpressive table Mejías’s large-format photographs. Whileno food isserved 1503, believed to bethefirst intheAmericas, andnow take spent months onthehunt for theright building,eventually or guestscan head to nearby plant-filled Buche Perico for walls, it was renovatedit from theground upoverwalls, two years, avocado tree above. Throughout there’s adeepthread of creativity: duringtherevamp, thecouple drafted inlocal THE SCOOP slowly evolving –‘Like thetransformation we’dslowly seen in kind of nourishment. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DOMINICAN FIXIE LOFTS ROOMS FROM ABOUT £105 BOOK IT fixielofts.com 16/10/2020 18:57 16/10/2020

PHOTOGRAPHS: JOSE LUIS MEJIAS; SEAN MICHEL; CHRIS SCHALKX S; EL; 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd 99 12-20WINTERSUNUNDER150_3476266.indd momentum over thepastfew years –thoughit’s beenspared the including hand-painted signage,mismatched antiques andmany low-key guesthousesandyoga shalasare quietlytucked alongits Sham, after AbodeBombay, abreezy boltholeinMumbai’s artsy textiles come from artisans innorthern India; andapartnership gives backto thecommunity. Anidealfit for thisslow-life slice snaking backstreets. AmongthemisAbodeAhangama,taking Along thecountry’s sand-skirted southcoast, 30minutes east often outnumberguestsaround thepool.Like itsIndian sibling, There are four bedrooms, breakfasts of fresh-fruit shakes and room, andabeautifully manicured garden where wildmonkeys frangipanis. It’s thesecond project by Indian hotelier Abedin trees orbig-brand retreats hidingbehindhighwalls. Instead, collaborated withcarpenters andmetalsmiths from thearea tourist-boomtown hallmarksof risinghotels peekingabove of thebuilding’s originalFifties fixtures and terrazzo floors. egg hoppers eaten at acommunal diningtable intheliving with alocal animalcharityisjustoneof theways thehotel to create furniture from reclaimed wood; colourful, organic Colaba district.Thisoutpostticksthesamequirky boxes, of Galle,Ahangamaisasoulfulsurfspotthat hasgained over awhitewashed Art Deco villaflanked by palmsand the property operates withado-good ethos:theteam THE SCOOP ABODE AHANGAMA of SriLanka. BOOK IT ROOMS FROM ABOUT £55 SRI LANKA abodeboutiquehotels.com scalloped parasols. It willsoon become even more of ahangout when away, butmostpeople gravitate to thehotel’s palm-fringed courtyard starred in too. Thestylingisthework of Honolulu-based studioTheVanguard Polynesian Tiki mugs,porcelain loose’ ‘hang shirts andfloral the Hawaiian surfscene, thedesignhere skirts around thePacific, screen, andcrooner Don Ho sungto packed crowds inpalm-print tacos at theend of thestreet. It’s theperfect taster of Hawaii, old statehood, itwas where American tourists flocked to soak up the with its swimming pool surrounded by cream sunbeds and coral- and with itsswimming poolsurrounded by creamsunbeds HeyDay poolbarand restaurant. For now, there are brews from Theory, alsoresponsible for thefunky goodlooksof thenearby mixing Japanese Aloha spirit.Surfing was carving outaplace inpopculture, Elvis in Waikiki, Honolulu, at theturnof that decade, anditsrecent In the1960sHawaii was ridinghigh.Having recently acquired makeover refers backto thisheyday, withanodto the1970s, the team behind hit joint Fête in Honolulu’s Chinatown opens the team behind hitjointopens Fête inHonolulu’sChinatown mid-century-modern furniture. Thebeachisonlytwo blocks Surfjack Hotel. Unlike that space, which takes itscuesfrom local Kona Coffee Purveyors inthelobby andsurf-and-turf CONTRIBUTORS WHITE SANDS HOTEL THE SCOOP Blue Hawaii Eric Rosen, Chris SchalkxandMichaela Trimble and new. HONOLULU, HAWAII leis . White Sands opened at the heart of the action, action, . White Sandsopenedatthe the heart of shoji , propelling Oahu and Kauai islands onto the big , propellingbig Oahu andKauai islandsonto the ROOMS FROM ABOUT £60 -screen-inspired headboards withceramic BOOK IT Katie Lockhart, Heather Richardson, whitesandshotel.com shaka hooks and warm, hooksandwarm, 16/10/2020 18:58 16/10/2020