Sans Souci occupies a building with its own minor history — once a restaurant where Johann Strauss premiered the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, later rebuilt for the 1873 World Exhibition, now a boutique hotel directly across from the MuseumsQuartier. The 71 rooms and suites, designed by studio YOO, are hung with an unusually serious private art collection, and the whole property carries two Michelin Keys and 97 Falstaff points — credentials that matter less than the fact that Vienna's most significant museums are a two-minute walk from the front door.

The city rewards exactly the kind of looking this hotel is built for. The Leopold Museum and mumok sit across the square; the Ring Boulevard's imperial architecture is a short stroll east; the State Opera and the Belvedere are both within easy reach for an evening built around music or Klimt. Back at the hotel, the Sans Souci Spa holds Vienna's longest indoor hotel pool at twenty metres, lit beneath hanging chandeliers, and Veranda Brasserie & Bar runs a seasonal Austrian menu built on organic, regional ingredients.

Set on the banks of the Siem Reap River, La Résidence d'Angkor was built in traditional Khmer style — timber construction, vaulted roofs, jewel-toned silk furnishings — and positioned close enough to the temple complex that Angkor Wat is a short drive rather than a planned expedition. The 59 rooms and suites open onto private terraces facing either the river, the pool, or the tropical gardens that wrap the property, and the overall effect is closer to a sanctuary than a hotel.

Angkor itself is the obvious centrepiece — the temple complex spans hundreds of structures across several centuries, and most visitors give it at least two full days, ideally with an early start to beat both heat and crowds. Back at the hotel, the Kong Kea Spa was recognised by Condé Nast Traveler and remains one of Siem Reap's most respected wellness addresses, with Khmer herbal treatments alongside more conventional therapies. Circle restaurant serves Khmer and international dishes in a setting that opens onto the garden; Ember handles the poolside grill in the evenings.

Quinta Real Oaxaca occupies the former Convent of Santa Catalina de Siena, built beginning in 1576 and home to cloistered Dominican nuns for nearly three centuries before the building passed through service as a prison, a police precinct, and a school on its way to becoming a hotel. Original frescoes survive on several walls, restored under the guidance of Mexico's national institute of anthropology and history, and the chapel — once a movie theatre, briefly — now anchors the property's events space.

Oaxaca itself is one of Mexico's most concentrated culinary and craft cities, and the hotel sits close enough to the Zócalo, the Museum of Cultures, and the Santo Domingo complex that most of the centre is walkable. El Refectorio serves Oaxacan and international dishes inside the old monastic dining hall, while Las Bugambilias handles cocktails and a serious mezcal list in a courtyard setting. The hotel's concierge team has a particular knack for arranging access to things not easily found alone — a Guelaguetza dinner with live music, tickets to local lucha libre, studio visits with the textile and pottery makers the region is known for.