The Resort: Modeled after the villages of northern Thailand’s Lanna kingdom (13th–18th centuries), Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi is a 60-acre compound of tropical gardens, working rice paddies, colonial-style suites, and carved-teak structures with pagoda roofs. Activities at the 123-room resort, which is located 10 minutes from Chiang Mai’s city center, …

The Resort: A 90-minute drive northwest from Los Angeles, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa offers solace for city slickers amid 220 acres of oak trees, golf course greens, and herb gardens. The resort’s 308 rooms and suites are housed within a few Spanish Colonial–style buildings scattered throughout the property’s rolling …

On October 19, the Four Seasons opened a location in the heart of Denver’s art and business district. The hotel has 239 rooms and suites as well as 102 private residential units that are decorated in warm, earthy colors and accents intended to highlight Colorado’s natural beauty. Dining selections include …

The Resort: In the 1960s, Norwegian businessman Torolf Smedvig built a series of A-frame chalets on his 1,800-acre Caribbean isle and opened the property as Peter Island Resort. Smedvig’s exclusive retreat—located across the Sir Francis Drake Channel from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands—has been updated and expanded over the …

The Resort: Guests of Soneva Gili quickly adapt to the "no news, no shoes" policy at this private-island retreat in the Maldives. Butlers attend to their barefoot and blissfully unplugged charges by unpacking for them on arrival and offering cold towels, drinks, and other treats throughout their stay. Most of …

As we hovered over Paradise Peak—a 9,800-foot summit 25 miles west of Sun Valley, Idaho—my guide, Lel Tone, assured me that I would have no problem skiing the waist-deep powder below us. I have skied black-diamond-rated mountains throughout the world, but I rode chairlifts to the tops of all those …

The Resort: Pezula Private Estate may be off South Africa’s standard tourist path, but this sprawling resort and residential community generously rewards those who make the detour. The 2,500-acre property—located on the rugged Indian Ocean coast, 300 miles east of Cape Town—is a sportsman’s paradise, with an 18-hole golf course …

The Resort: The grande dame of Italy’s Lake Como waterfront, Villa d’Este opened in 1873 as a retreat for Milanese aristocrats. The 152-room resort’s centuries-old structures and gardens set a stately backdrop for languid walks along the lake and lunches of risotto on the main restaurant’s terrace. Each of the …

The Resort: The blue of the Indian Ocean appears even brighter against the volcanic stone walls of Bulgari Resort, a strikingly contemporary 59-villa property set along 492-foot-high cliffs on southern Bali’s Bukit Peninsula. An open-air spa clings to the precipice, as does a pool area where guests take in the …

The Resort: Twin Farms’ ostensibly endless list of activities (skiing, tobogganing, ice skating, snowshoeing, swimming, fishing, canoeing, hiking) has prompted many a guest to describe the 300-acre Vermont resort as camp for grown-ups. But the parallel ends at Twin Farms’ outdoor experiences, which give way to such sophisticated pleasures as …