Hotel Home, Argentina

Situated in the hip district of Palermo Viejo in the party destination of Buenos Aires, the smartly dressed Hotel Home was built in 2005 after British couple Tom Rixton and Patricia O'Shea noticed a distinct lack of stylish hotels while planning their wedding in the city. O'Shea said: "We wanted out friends and their friends to visit this fantastic neighbourhood and city. So we created Home."

Financed by record producer Flood and Crowded House bass player Nick Seymour, Home has become a destination spot in its own right, due to the owners' low-key attitude and quirky design sense that mixes vintage Scandinavian furniture with whimsical Parisian wallpaper.

The highlights are the shallow pool flanked by tropical plants and the private rooftop terrace dotted with tons of flowers and lemon trees that feed the bar's ever-popular Argentinian cocktails.

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Hotel Home, Honduras 5860, Buenos Aires, Argentina + 54 11 4778 1008

Hotel Puerta America, Madrid, Spain

Hotel Puerta America has been described as a "massive design achievement, one that casts a long shadow on hoteliers and designers all around the world." The 342-room hotel commissioned a different architect or interior designer of internationl standing to create every floor so that each would realise the unique vision of the designer - from the elevator banks down to the blankets and bathrobes.

Highlights include the futuristic, Jetsons-style design of the first floor: sleek, stylish and playfully sophisticated. The eighth floor, designed by Scottish architect, Kathryn Findlay and lighting designer, Jason Bruges, hosts optical fibre panels on the wall which trace guests' movements and construct new images with every additional movement.

Each floor opens up into a whole new world making the hotel a destination site itself where guests can even change floors each night or take a guided tour giving it more a sense of an art museum than a typical hotel.

Hotel Puerta America, Avenida de America, 41, 28002 Madrid, Spain + 34 917 445 400

Bay of Fires Lodge, Tasmania, Australia

Guests looking for the ultimate Robinson Crusoe experience can't go wrong with Tasmania's Bay of Fires. Deep in the woods of Mount William National Park, the hotel is surrounded by steep cliffs, glacial valleys and rain forests which offer a diversity of habitats.

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