1. Le Palais Hotel, Czech Republic
On an elegant Prague street in the residential area of Vinohrady, this lavish private palace was built in 1841. Some 48 years later it was recreated in fabulous Belle Epoque style, which was painstakingly restored when the building opened as a 72-room boutique hotel in 2002. Much of the fine interiorwas devised by the Bohemian artist Ludek Marold, who was given rooms on the top floor of the palace shortly before his death in 1898. His work can be particularly admired in the firstfloor corridor, as well as rooms 108, 110, 112 and the Marold Suite.
Le Palais Hotel, U Zvonarky 1, Prague 2, Czech Republic (00 420 234 634 111; www.palaishotel.cz). Doubles from €180 (£129),including drinks from the minibar.
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2. Gangtey Palace, Bhutan
This wonderful complex of traditional whitewashed buildings with intricately painted eaves was commissioned in the early 20th century by the uncle of the first king of Bhutan. Twelve years ago, it was transformed into a 19-bedroom hotel by the current aristocratic owners, who have retained most of its original features, including a beautifully frescoed prayer room. The barlounge commands sweeping views across a beautiful valley to Paro Dzong, one of the country’s splendid fortified monasteries.
Gantey Palace, Paro, Bhutan (00 975 8 271 301; www.gangteypalace.net).
Double rooms start at Nu 1,500 (£19) including breakfast. Excluded are government tourist fees, however – visitors are required to pay US$95/£47.50 per person per day as independent travellers; or US$200/£100 per person per day for group travel, which also covers accommodation, guide and transport in Bhutan.
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3. Hotel Imperial, Austria
Glittering salons, crystal chandeliers and much marble are just some of the hallmarks of this sumptuous building created for the Prince of Württemberg in 1863. It became a hotel 10 years later and today is maintained as a spectacular example of 19th-century romantic Vienna. Richard Wagner even stayed here in the mid- 1870s. The 138 bedrooms vary in size and grandeur (heads of state, rock stars and other celebs tend to stay on the opulent first floor), while facilities include a piano bar and a gourmet restaurant. Service, in the meantime, is immaculate: butlers bring ironed newspapers with your morning tea.
Hotel Imperial, Kärntner Ring 16, Vienna 1015, Austria (00 43 1 501100; www.starwoodhotels.com).
Doubles start at €292 (£209), room only.
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4. Umaid Bhawan Palace, India
The Maharajah of Jodhpur still lives in a wing of this magnificent Art Deco palace, commissioned by his grandfather in 1928. Nowrun by the Taj Group, the rest of the elegant building, with its majestic gilded cupola, is a luxurious 64- bedroom hotel, with enormous marble bathrooms, a spa, outdoor and indoor pools, tennis courts, and even a marble squash court in 26-acre grounds where peacocks roam. Some of the Maharajah’s retainers still work here as turbanned hotel staff, adding to the exotic yet immensely genial atmosphere.
Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India (00 800 4588 1825; www.tajhotels.com).
Doubles from Rs16,500 (£208), room only.
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5. Pestana Palace Hotel Portugal
Anational monument, this palace in Lisbon was built at the beginning of the 19th century for Jose Constantino Dias, Marquis de Valle Flor. Portraits of his children’s still decorate the walls of some of the public rooms, which also retain ceilings and frescoes painted by Carlos Reis. There are 196 bedrooms in all, a few located in the main building but most set in two sensitively constructed new wings. Facilities include two swimming pools, sauna and Jacuzzi, and immaculately kept grounds. The hotel is in the historic Santa Amaro quarter near the city centre.
Pestana Palace Hotel, Rua Jau 54, Lisbon, Portugal (00 351 21 361 56 00; www.hotelpestanapalace.com).
Doubles from €205 (£146).
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22 December 2007, Chosen by Henry Palmer
