Country

“People don’t think of it, but the English countryside is lovely in winter,” says superagent Valerie Wilson, referring to the Dorchester Collection’s Coworth Park (from $700; 44-13/448-76600; coworthpark.com), which sits on 240 acres of parkland 45 minutes beyond London. The hotel splits its 70 rooms between a Georgian manor house and several converted stables and cottages, and it offers three restaurants from Michelin-starred John Campbell. In France, Normandy’s Château de L’Isle-Marie (pictured; from $190; 33-2/3321-3725; islemarie.com) remains open this winter for the first time, with the quiet holiday season an ideal time to explore the D-Day sites. The five-bedroom 17th-century castle is filled with gilt furniture covered in Rubelli silks and has large claw-foot tubs; there’s also a three-bedroom manor next door.

In Stellenbosch, South Africa, outside Cape Town, there’s the five-month-old Delaire Graff Lodges and Spa (from $1,255; 27-21/885-8160; delaire.co.za), owned by the founder of Graff Diamonds. Atop one of the highest points of the Cape’s vineyards, the hotel’s ten David Collins–designed villas join an 18-month-old winery and restaurant. Hotel Casa Atacama (from $290; 56-55/551-360; casaatacama.com), meanwhile, opened last year in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, in the middle of the desert and surrounded by Andean summits. Each of its 25 rooms has a courtyard garden and a terrace, and the restaurant, La Romeria, manages to make the most of local desert ingredients.

Stateside, in northern California, the classic Carmel Valley Ranch ( from $300; 831-625-9500; carmelvalleyranch.com) just completed a yearlong renovation. Its 500 acres feature a Pete Dye golf course and extensive hiking trails, with views of the Santa Lucia Mountains’ foothills. And in Texas, the epically scaled JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa (from $230; 210-276-2500; jwsanantonio.com) opened in January on 600 acres, with 1,000 rooms, a 36-hole PGA golf course, a 26,000-square-foot spa and a massive outdoor pool area.

Member of Fine Hotels, Resorts & Spas.