Four destinations designed for dreaming

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Noble Jaipur’s fresh new face

For about as long as the Indomaniacs have been waxing rhapsodic about Jaipur, Rawal Yadavendra Singh has been at the helm of Samode Hotels. His family’s three historic residences-turned-atmospheric hotels are the most sought-after rooms around the Pink City. Samode Haveli, in one of the oldest parts of Jaipur, was built for Singh’s ancestors at the end of the 18th century. While the big brands (Taj, Oberoi, most recently Raffles) and independent hoteliers (Villa Palladio, The Johri) alike have entered the market here with varying degrees of splash, Samode Haveli’s appeal has endured for a wide swath of tastemakers.

3It’s a genuine haven in the old town, with birds, fountains, bougainvillea and huge mature trees in the gardens, and the echoes of footfall and long shadows among its hanging balconies. Many of the staff have been there for decades. It needed no real changing – heaven forbid; its story is written in its murals, inlaid doors, the family’s sheesham and silver services. Which is why its recent refurbishment hits the perfect note; refreshed textiles and a few surfaces shined up or re-laid across the 50 rooms (30 are suites, and not one of them is the same shape or design as another).

Trails, trains and a cosy bungalow in Sri Lanka’s tea country

In Sri Lanka’s central highlands tea country, the landscapes – lush, hilly, cool and misty in the mornings and evenings – extend as far as the eye can see. Its plantations are some of the only places left in the country where tea is still handpicked. Uga Halloowella, which opened in January, sees one such plantation remade as a six-suite boutique hotel, whose rooms are available to book exclusively or as a buyout. The 19th-century bungalow sits at nearly 1,450m on more than 250 acres of tea terraces and rainforest overlooking Castlereagh Reservoir.

The elegant decor features canopied mahogany beds, claw-footed tubs and spinning fans. But it’s the great outdoors that will claim most of the attention, in particular the Pekoe Trail that winds through the surrounding forest to neighbouring plantations and leopard-conservation projects. Kandy’s exquisite botanical gardens and Hindu temples are a two-hour drive (or, if you’re feeling adventurous, take the four-hour train to Ella from Hatton station, famously one of the most scenic train routes in the world).

Cliffside eyries on Mexico’s Pacific Coast

Oaxaca is synonymous with Mexican beach escapes, offering surf, nature and hospitality in abundance. The new six-suite, one-villa La Valise Mazunte spreads out along a vertical stretch of Pacific coastline south of Puerto Escondido. Two factors mark it out as special: its situation inside the private 30-hectare Reserva el Torón, with access to a private beach; and the buildings themselves, designed by Alberto Kalach and Ignacio Urquiza, two of Mexico’s preeminent contemporary architects (Kalach was a pioneer of sustainable vernacular architecture in Puerto Escondido’s early days).

Though the built surroundings are very pleasing – soft linen bedding, stone walls and semi-open bathrooms – the landscape, with its wide horizon, does most of the talking. All the suites are spacious and sleek; the Chicatana Suite’s layout is extra-large, more a one-bedroom flat. But the star is Villa Pentagonos, its spectacular layout described in its name: one vast, angular, semi-open bedroom in timber, concrete and stone, cantilevered out over the land’s edge, with a plunge pool and multiple terraces.

The OG in NZ

New Zealand wrote the book on adventure lodges, and the mother of them all is Huka, located on the banks of the North Island’s Waikato River. Opened as a fishing camp in the 1920s, Huka has some of the finest angling in a country that already boasts many of the world’s best spots. Over the years it has evolved, with cottages, amenities and mod cons layered in. In the 1980s its ambitious new owner, Dutch investor Alex van Heeren, brought in a then relatively unknown local designer called Virginia Fisher, who created a series of gorgeously rustic interiors that became a benchmark for the industry. On many visits to New Zealand, I’ve stayed at a dozen places in Huka’s comp set; few begin to compare design-wise.

Hence it was a good call on the part of its current owners, Baillie Lodges, to invite Fisher back to steer a year-long renovation. This month, 101 years after its founding, Huka Lodge opened its doors to reveal a full refit of its 20 suites and two private cottages. The River Room, its main hangout, has a double fireplace and new floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river; likewise in the extended restaurant that is now split across two storeys. Many refreshed versions of original elements – slate floors, thick beams and timber-clad walls – are still present; but colours are bolder, and the outdoor spaces have been expanded. The Alex van Heeren Cottage and the Alan Pye Cottage (favoured by the late Queen Elizabeth II, who visited Huka four times) turn up the luxe notch across multiple bedrooms, huge sitting rooms and patios.