The location of Tainaron Blue Retreat is pretty idyllic: perfectly positioned at the southernmost point of the Greek mainland, undiscovered by crowds, boasting spectacular sea views to match any Aegean island. Housed in a centuries-old tower that was designed to keep intruders out, the fully restored guesthouse now welcomes visitors from around the globe, but not too many — there are just 3 suites, one at the base of the tower, another in its upper section, and a third in the adjoining tower.

Its name might not be its most unusual feature. The original Gold Diggers was a bikini bar, above which was a small residential hotel, and behind it was a rehearsal space where all manner of L.A. rock royalty is rumored to have practiced. Today, not only is it a richly textured and eclectic boutique hotel — one perfectly in tune with the tastes of the Los Angeles creative class — but it’s also a recording studio and a cocktail bar complete with a stage for live performances.

The Caves is a collection of twelve private cottages atop a cliff, overlooking the ocean, with plenty of jumping-off points to impress one’s companions. The sea looks better from higher up, and here it becomes your own private pool. Below, in the cliffside, natural volcanic caves and grottos can be explored whilst swimming, or set up for private candlelight dinners. The cottages themselves are after the style of a tropical hut, with thatched roofs and construction of wood and stone.

The magnificent Lake Titicaca, considered by Incas to be the sacred birthplace of human civilization, is one of the largest, deepest, and highest bodies of water on the globe. Backpackers have long made the pilgrimage to it; this, by contrast, is a high-end luxury boutique hotel that brings a whole new audience to these shores. The simple structure, standing solitary on the grassy edge of the lake, is a forward-looking, eco-friendly hotel, with 18 plush suites decorated in earthy hues.

Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort is hardly a typical ski resort. Here, at the foot of Mt. Timpanogos, conservation is paramount, and you’ll find the development has been as sensitive as possible. It’s part eco-lodge, part artists’ community, which is ethically correct and also quite aesthetically satisfying; the lofts and suites are understated, with a certain hand-crafted quality; the freestanding cottages are immersed in the landscape, surrounded by picture-perfect Rocky Mountain pine forest.

Matera is famous for houses carved into the volcanic hillsides, some dating back to Paleolithic times. An ordinary hotelier might have built a traditional inn somewhere in town, to offer some proximity to the village’s famous sights. Not Daniele Kihlgren, whose “distributed hotel” concept — the albergo diffuso — is one of total immersion. At Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita the hotel rooms, spread throughout the town, occupy the caves themselves — needless to say the décor is untraditional.

You don’t go all the way to Zanzibar for pan-global modernism — you go there for its utterly unique blend of Swahili and Arab cultures, and for the riotously eclectic architecture and design that’s created by this collision of traditions. You go for Emerson Spice. Once an aristocratic home, it comprises three landmark buildings set on a picturesque pedestrian-only street in the Kasbah, and is divided into a mere 11 rooms, each one lavishly decorated with a lifetime’s worth of antiques.

Aethos Monterosa is a hotel whose mission is to place as few obstacles as possible between you and the adventure you’ve come to the Alps to experience. That’s why there’s a rock-climbing wall in the lobby, and, in winter, an ice-climbing wall on the exterior of the hotel. Clearly, this is not your grandfather’s Alpine lodge — its contemporary architecture and its modern construction, in concrete, wood, and weathered metal, see to that.

Originally intended as a private estate, this parcel of land in the Indian Himalayas would have been quite simply too stunning not to share. Sri Lankan architects Pradeep Kodikara and Jineshi Samaraweera have built something absolutely extraordinary. “Tropical modernism” looks different at the top of a mountain. Here vast floor-to-ceiling windows frame unforgettable views, and materials like stone walls and raw concrete beams are warmed by bamboo cladding and hardwood floors and ceilings.