If you’ve grappled with seating charts and agonised over the difference between white and ivory, you deserve to relish in the best part of wedding planning: the honeymoon. Let us help you move on to more important questions, such as overwater bungalow or jungle hideaway? Italian palazzo or Parisian manoir? Or both? Whether you want to spend your first days of wedded bliss in a remote paradise or you prefer a glitzy city getaway, one thing’s for sure: you should stay in a mind-blowing hotel room. Here, we’ve gathered the top honeymoon suites around the globe, from the Cotswolds to Colorado to Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Iconic Santorini
The Iconic Suite at Iconic Santorini, Greece
With its cobalt waters and dreamy whitewashed architecture, you might think Santorini couldn’t get any more romantic. However, you’ll want to hold that thought until you’ve seen Iconic Santorini’s Iconic Suite. Carved into an ancient cave, this extravagant abode has a private terrace with pergola seating overlooking the Aegean Sea, a rain shower and an indoor grotto pool (yes, it has jets – did you have to ask?).
Palazzo Avino
The Orizzonte Suite at Palazzo Avino, Amalfi Coast, Italy
You probably didn’t register for 18th-century antiques for your own home, so enjoy them while you can in this palatial palazzo room. Spend as much time as possible ogling the ornate decor by dining on the suite’s private balcony (it also has sea views, if you can tear your peepers away from the precious furnishings). Afterward, enjoy a digestif in front of the room’s white marble fireplace. Just be sure to save at least one dinner for the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Rossellinis.
Hapuku Lodge & Tree Houses
An Upper Branch Tree House at Hapuku Lodge & Tree Houses, Kaikoura, New Zealand
For the adventurous couple looking to get away from it all (and if you’re honeymooning in New Zealand, chances are that’s you), the charming Upper Branch Tree House is ideal. Perched ten metres above a manuka grove, you’ll live out all those childhood fantasies of tree house living, with a private forest-top deck, custom wood bed and cosy fireplace. Plus, there’s a couples spa bath, so you can live out all those adult fantasies, too.
Kasbah Tamadot
A Berber Tent at Kasbah Tamadot, Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Rolling mountains? Check. Spa hammam treatments? Check. Winding gardens and pristine courtyard? Double check. Live like a king (and queen) in one of Kasbah Tamadot’s Berber Tents, nestled in Morocco’s picturesque Atlas Mountains. Spend the day dipping into your private plunge pool, nosh on five-star African cuisine, or imbibe at the hotel restaurant’s fireside bar.
Dunton Hot Springs
The Well House Cabin at Dunton Hot Springs, Dolores, Colorado
Maybe you and your betrothed want something a little more rustic (assuming ‘rustic’ means a bespoke climbing wall, locally sourced gourmet food and mountains as far as the eye can see). The luxe cabins of Colorado’s Dunton Hot Springs offer all that and more. Book the Well House Cabin – built around a private hot spring – to see what western dreams are made of.
Gaia Riverlodge
A Waterfall View Suite at Gaia Riverlodge, Belize
Hidden in Belize’s lush rainforest (don’t be surprised if you hear a jaguar or two), Gaia Riverlodge has the perfect marriage of resort amenities and adventurous spirit. After a day of biking, hiking and diving into swimming holes, a two-story Waterfall View Suite is the perfect retreat for couples who want to relax in a king-size bed and fall asleep to the sound of rushing water.
Blakes Hotel
The Prague Suite at Blakes Hotel, London, UK
If you want your honeymoon to feel like a true getaway, book the Blakes’ stunning Prague Suite. Hidden under the (secret) first floor, the Prague is draped in the most sumptuous velvets and silks, and outfitted with a four-poster bed. A moody grey colour scheme, accented with stone and mirrors, evokes the kind of need-to-wear-sunglasses indoor glamour you deserve.
One&Only Reethi Rah
A Water Villa with Pool at One&Only Reethi Rah, Maldives
The thing about staying in your dream overwater villa is this: it opens you up to a whole slew of previously unforeseen problems. Should you eat breakfast on the chaise lounge with ocean views or on the daybed with ocean views? Is it better to nap in the hammock or in those Egyptian cotton sheets? And how many votive candles should you light around your private infinity pool at sunset? More Maldives more (glorious) problems.
Ponta dos Ganchos
The Especial Esmeralda Bungalow at Ponta dos Ganchos, Santa Catarina, Brazil
It’s all about privacy at Ponta dos Ganchos, which sits on a secluded peninsula on the shores of Brazil’s Emerald Coast. There are only 25 bungalows total at the hotel, and the Especial Esmeralda is the most exclusive of them all. The suite is a sprawling 298sq m, with a bathroom (pictured above) so large, it has daybeds so you can rest between walking from the ocean-facing soaking tub to the rainfall shower. There’s also a private pool, in-room sauna with sea views, and personal gym.
Post Ranch Inn
Ocean House at Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California
As comedian and TV writer Jessi Klein puts it, Post Ranch Inn is ‘a hotel set on the cliffs of Northern California that has won every Most Luxurious, Most Ridiculous, Most Over the Top award from Travel & Condé Whatever magazine so many times in a row that now they’re just showboating.’ Do the most for your honeymoon by staying in this legendary hotel’s Ocean House, which is built into Big Sur’s rocky coastline and has ocean views from the bedroom, bath and terrace.
Dormy House
The Hot Tub Courtyard Suite at Dormy House, Cotswolds, UK
Hot tubbin’ and honeymooning go together like fondant and cake. For some rural rest and relaxation, head to this country suite, which has its own outdoor whirlpool. Inside, there’s a separate lounge, a king-size bed and loads of the Scandinavian design that has earned Dormy House rave reviews. Beyond what the tub’s jets can offer, check out the hotel’s spa for the Turkish Delight treatment for two. It includes hot steam therapy, body buffing and a 60-minute massage.
La Réserve Hotel and Spa Paris
The Suite Imperial at La Réserve Hotel and Spa Paris, Paris, France
If you were on a scavenger hunt for opulent decor elements, you could cross off pretty much everything on the list in this one hotel room: black lacquer, gold filigree work, elaborate inlays, damascene silk brocade wall hangings, Carrara marble, herringbone-patterned parquet wooden flooring – the Suite Imperial has them all. Its also got a fifth-floor private balcony with views of the Eiffel Tower, the glass roof of the Grand Palais and the steeple of Notre-Dame.
Featured image is a Water Villa with Pool at One&Only Reethi Rah in the Maldives
