Independents

Outside the groups, one at a time.

Small houses, small brands, and a few private ones. Some are run by the family that owns them, some by a handful of people with a single idea, and several appear on no booking portal. What they share is that no chain stands behind them.

The programmes on this site cover the large groups, and they are worth having: the rate is the same and the stay comes with more in it. This page is the other half of the work. A house with eleven rooms on an island, run by two brothers, with a kitchen that answers to their mother. A camp of Airstreams in the Saudi desert, built by a small company that runs four or five places in the world and nothing else. A private house that takes guests for part of the year. They resemble each other in scale and in care, and in very little else.

Most of them keep no agency agreement and pay no commission, so this page earns me little and often nothing at all. They are here because leaving them out would turn the site into a catalogue of the hotels everyone else lists. I go, I stay, I write the five notes, and when you want one of them I write to the owner myself.

From the houses

Some of them, and where they are.

A turquoise open jeep lettered Hotel Wailea, with striped seats and a fringed canvas canopy, parked in front of a shingled building — Maui, Hawaii

Striped yellow towels over a timber bench beside tall plants against a white wall — Palma, Spain

Loungers and a palm thatch shade on white sand, with ochre and yellow cottages on the wooded hill above — Long Island, Bahamas

A bed with an arched pale headboard against a panelled dark green wall — Rome, Italy

Scrambled eggs with ham, pastries and orange juice laid on a breakfast table — Cascais, Portugal

A white courtyard of built-in seating and low stools, open to the sea — Antiparos, Greece

A palm garden and long dark pools below a ridge of bare Hajar mountains running down to the sea at dusk — Muscat, Oman

Woven lanterns strung between two palms over a terrace of wicker chairs, turquoise parasols on the sand beyond — Turks and Caicos

A long table on a veranda under a lattice ceiling, the day's things left on it — Cat Island, Bahamas

A pale room with a patterned headboard, a timber ceiling fan and built-in shelving — Mallorca, Spain

A bed piled with cushions under a rough beamed ceiling, tall windows onto a green garden — Florence, Italy

A white terrace with a parasol and an outdoor kitchen, the garden and the sea beyond — Naxos, Greece

A weathered brass plaque reading The Landing on a white rendered wall, beside a white colonnade under palm fronds — Harbour Island, Bahamas

A small round table and two leather armchairs in a deep window, looking out over a ribbed roof to the skyline — Doha, Qatar

A sitting room opening through a glass door to a balcony and the sea — Syros, Greece

White peaked tents behind a date palm at a desert camp, with a long ridge of dunes rising behind them — Wahiba Sands, Oman

An olive tree in a stone trough in a pink walled courtyard with pale timber armchairs — Venice, Italy

A roof terrace at night under strings of bulbs, with low timber seating and red metal chairs and the lit towers of Manhattan behind — New York

A bed with white linen against a tall headboard panel painted with pale grasses, a reading light on each side and a dark timber nightstand — Chicago, Illinois

A balcony with woven chairs and a small table looking over the opera house and the rooftops at dusk — Madrid, Spain

A sunbed standing in a private pool under a timber pergola — Mykonos, Greece

A pink velvet sofa under a pink fireplace hood — Veneto countryside, Italy

A woman in a long dress playing a grand piano in a tall lobby bar, under a timber slatted ceiling and a cloud-shaped light, with the bar running along the back wall — Brasilia, Brazil

An infinity pool against the sea, with mountains behind it — Crete, Greece

A breakfast buffet with a steel bowl of fresh oysters on ice, smoked salmon on two tiers beside it and a whole pineapple on a stand behind — Cape Town, South Africa

A tall arched hall with a chandelier and a patterned tiled floor running through to a courtyard — Mallorca, Spain

A bed with a red velvet headboard piped in white and white pillows stacked against it, beside a domed brass lamp on a black table with a small notebook under it — Cesena, Italy

A concrete path running between high white walls towards a timber door, with cacti, a fig tree and a long narrow water channel beside it under a deep blue sky — Antiparos, Greece

A four poster bed draped in white mosquito netting in a timber villa under a thatched roof — Maldives

A low seating area with dark armchairs on a roof terrace at dusk, looking across the flat roofs of the medina to the Koutoubia minaret — Kasbah, Marrakech, Morocco

A bed under a dark beamed ceiling on a floor of green and white terrazzo — Palma, Spain

A cluster of polished chrome blobs mounted on the ceiling of a lobby, with a lit doorway through to a room of red chairs beyond — Ferrara, Italy

A tall lobby under a fluted arch, low sofas on a patterned rug — Brussels, Belgium

A bedroom with a tall black framed mirror doubling the bed, a pendant lamp hanging on a long flex, pale panelled wardrobes and a glazed partition through to the shower — Costa Brava, Spain

A bar under a white coffered ceiling with a red carpet and dark leather chairs — Rome, Italy

A lounge hung with white paper globes of different sizes under dark timber beams, with low armchairs on a patterned carpet and the city through the windows — Fort Worth, Texas

A lounge with surfboards slung from the white boarded ceiling, long green banquettes and rattan armchairs — Oahu, Hawaii

A bed in a white room under an old beamed ceiling with a rounded glass partition beside it — Naples, Italy

The sea seen from a shaded balcony over a clipped hedge, palms and white parasols on the sand — Turks and Caicos

Two low chairs facing a fireplace under a white beamed ceiling, a mirror above the mantel — Mallorca, Spain

A laid table and a low sofa under a canvas parasol on a terrace, the glass towers of the city behind — Tel Aviv, Israel

A black buttoned sofa below a large landscape painting, on a patterned rug under a moulded ceiling — Turin, Italy

Low chairs set on the sand of a desert camp under the rock formations — AlUla, Saudi Arabia

A bed against gold leaf wallpaper, ceramic discs hung on the wall beside it — Syros, Greece

Trestle tables in a row under arched windows — Veneto countryside, Italy

Loungers and parasols on white sand along a bay, towers on the far shore — Dubai, United Arab Emirates

A pool seen from above through the branches of a garden, blue parasols along one side — Cuernavaca, Mexico

A lounge walled and ceilinged in cane, lit at dusk — Antiparos, Greece

A lobby seen between glass panels printed with red damask, under tiers of clear bubble glass chandeliers — Muscat, Oman

A bar and dining room under a deep green painted ceiling, with director chairs at timber tables — Alentejo coast, Portugal

Garden stairs lit at night between two stone urns — Florence, Italy

A row of striped beach cabins standing on grass — Athens, Greece

A long timber table and pale chairs under a beamed ceiling with the hills through the window — Mallorca, Spain

A writing desk with a lamp, a letter rack and room keys on a green blotter — Venice, Italy

A pool tiled in a green geometric pattern, teak decking around it — Puebla, Mexico

An oak-slatted screen with a tall arch cut through it, a red moulded stool and a white chair on a green and white checkerboard terrazzo floor — New York

A white courtyard under a canvas awning, with a pale blue louvred door and bougainvillea in the foreground — Naxos, Greece

Two log armchairs on a timber veranda looking along a turquoise bay to the far point — Long Island, Bahamas

The shaded porch of a tent with a cushioned bench, two dark bean bags, a terracotta jar beside the door and dunes beyond — Wahiba Sands, Oman

A corner table and leather chairs beside a tall rosewood screen, under a chandelier of striped orange glass globes — Doha, Qatar

A white village at dusk above a terrace with a long plunge pool — Santorini, Greece

A hand holding a small illustrated card over a brown and white checkerboard floor — Rome, Italy

A dark stone lounge with buttoned yellow sofas and a lit screen showing a red cliff and the sea — Vigo, Spain

A pale sofa with a row of round cushions at the foot of a bed on a bare timber floor — Cascais, Portugal

Dozens of woven lanterns lit among the palms over a lounge at night — Turks and Caicos

Two palms strung with lights in front of a stone farmhouse at night — Mallorca, Spain

A bed with white linen and a timber headboard under a large print of arcs and circles, with a reading lamp on each side and a round mirror by the desk — Patras, Greece

A pool above the sea at dusk, seen through the trees — Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Two canvas beach cabanas open to the sand and the sea — Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

A stone opening framing a bay and the low houses above it — Antiparos, Greece

A rooftop pool with the water lit turquoise, looking across a glass rail to wooded hills and scattered houses under a clear sky — Los Angeles, California

A walk-in shower tiled in a green and white abstract pattern behind glass — Palma, Spain

A gauze curtain drawn back at the edge of a terrace with a chair and a low table, looking over a pool and across a bay to a crescent of beach under a green headland — Epirus, Greece

Twin beds and a sofa in a panelled room, towers filling the window — Singapore

An attic sitting room under a sloped white ceiling with plants and a red patterned rug — Bilbao, Spain

An open kitchen with a timber island, red stools and teal shelving stacked with glassware — Veneto countryside, Italy

A pale blue beach house with a fretted roof on the dune, a thatch parasol on the sand in front of it — Harbour Island, Bahamas

A long curved white sofa in a double height lobby behind a slatted black screen hung with ferns — Mallorca, Spain

Two bamboo loungers on a terrace, the town climbing the hill across the water — Syros, Greece

An unmade bed with a carved dark headboard against gold and green damask, a small lamp lit beside it — Venice, Italy

Two blue leather armchairs on chrome frames either side of a small round table, against a wall of pale timber panelling, under one pendant lamp — Brasilia, Brazil

A single striped lounger on white sand framed by the thatch eave of a villa — Maldives

White parasols standing in a row, reflected in the still water of an infinity pool — Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

A pool seen from above in a courtyard between brick and glass towers, with striped parasols and loungers along one side — Fort Worth, Texas

A marble column under a dark coffered ceiling, with a chandelier and white sofas beyond — Rome, Italy

A bed in a room lined entirely in pale timber, looking out through a deep window to the lit towers of the city at night — New York

White pyjamas laid out on a made bed beneath a large black calligraphic mark on the wall — Osaka, Japan

A pale green salon with two pink velvet sofas on a red and green patterned tile floor — Mallorca, Spain

A sitting room in pale greys with a botanical mural along one wall and a low black table — Naples, Italy

A bed under a mosquito net in a timber cabin, a striped rug on the floor — Cat Island, Bahamas

A bathroom with a black framed glass shower screen, a round backlit mirror above a white basin on a timber trestle, baskets of towels beneath it, and a floor of blue, black and white tiles laid as tumbling cubes — Costa Brava, Spain

A pool with white loungers and a grey parasol at the far end of a lawn, with woven iron garden sofas in the foreground and cypresses and a plane tree around it — Florence, Italy

Daybeds and a low table on a terrace above a bay with boats at anchor — Antiparos, Greece

A long dark reflecting table set with glass hurricane lamps, palms and the sunset doubled in its surface — Turks and Caicos

A narrow passage framed by heavy curtains, with a row of pierced metal lanterns hanging down it above a carved timber door — Kasbah, Marrakech, Morocco

A bed against a red padded wall with a brass framed door and a small framed print — Turin, Italy

A long outdoor lounge under a cane ceiling, opening to the sea — Naxos, Greece

An open wrought-iron gate under a white arch, with a brick terrace, a round pool and timber loungers beyond, and green hills behind — Cape Town, South Africa

A stone terrace with a green cushioned daybed beside a pool, fields and hills beyond — Mallorca, Spain

A great arched leaded window over a dark oval table and a marble terrazzo floor — Venice, Italy

Two tall cane cocoon daybeds with cushions standing under palms and an old spreading tree, with a timber table and chairs beside them — Crete, Greece

A fenced camp of white tents seen from the top of a dune at dusk, the sand running down towards it — Wahiba Sands, Oman

A bar and restaurant under a slatted timber ceiling, with cane chairs and a stone stool — Madrid, Spain

A shower room tiled in teal with a stone basin and a timber stool — Rome, Italy

Two parasols seen from underneath against a hard blue sky, a palm crown at the edge of the frame — Maui, Hawaii

Loungers and parasols in a white walled courtyard on a pebbled terrazzo floor — Palma, Spain

An arcaded wing of arched balconies beside angular pools set with palms, the mountains and the sea behind — Muscat, Oman

A long terrace of a dark modern building with metal tables, overlooking open fields — Veneto countryside, Italy

Ochre steps climbing a white wall against a deep blue sky — Koufonissi, Greece

A fluted awning over a terrace of pale sofas looking across open countryside — Mallorca, Spain

A terrace restaurant under a canopy of overlapping pale scallops, with deep slatted armchairs, potted trees and a terrazzo floor — Doha, Qatar

White wicker armchairs on a shaded timber veranda with louvred shutters and palms beyond the rail — Harbour Island, Bahamas

A narrow pool under a woven canopy, with loungers along the wall — Antiparos, Greece

A black staircase in a pale lobby, flowers on brass tables at its foot — Wellington, New Zealand

A tan leather banquette and pale timber chairs at a laid table against a whitewashed brick wall, with a framed drawing above and a tall plant beside — New York

A beach club lounge with a long banquette, a turquoise floor cushion and two round black tables on a dark timber deck, open through white louvres to a turquoise sea and a red headland, a frieze of small words running along the wall — Athens Riviera, Greece

A dining room with white clothed tables and navy velvet chairs under two black many-armed chandeliers, a parquet floor, tall shuttered windows and framed artworks on the walls — Cesena, Italy

A small white ceramic tagine held in one hand with the lid lifted and a date inside it, against a wall of green, white and ochre star-patterned zellige — Marrakech, Morocco

A tiled roof and white parasols above a pool in a palm garden — Cuernavaca, Mexico

A glass-gabled pavilion behind a long pool with white parasols and loungers, framed by palms bending in the wind, with a planted bed in the foreground — Turks and Caicos

Amber Murano glass globes hanging in a row over a dark lounge with blue alcoves beyond — Venice, Italy

A passage under heavy timber beams opening through to further rooms, with a drawing on the wall — Mallorca, Spain

A terrace above the water with a daybed, a woven pouf and a cactus in the corner — Syros, Greece

A bed under a dark beamed ceiling with a grey padded headboard panel and a lamp with an orange shade on each side, two white moulded chairs and an orange table in the foreground — Ferrara, Italy

Looking out over a dense palm canopy and two thatched roofs to a white beach, a turquoise lagoon and a long row of overwater villas on a jetty, with open ocean and a far island behind — Maldives

Yellow, white, blue, green and red parasols over tables on a timber deck above the turquoise shallows — Long Island, Bahamas

Skeins of wool dyed deep blue hanging to dry on poles above a narrow lane of the medina, with pink rendered walls, red skeins at the right and a man riding a motorbike away down the cobbles — Medina, Marrakech, Morocco

A bar lit by a brass chandelier of glass globes, with arched shelves of bottles behind it — Rome, Italy

A hotel lobby under a large mirrored ceiling disc hung with scattered bulbs, with mid-century timber chairs on a dark green rug and shelves of books along the back wall — Fort Worth, Texas

A beach club dining room under white globe pendants, with timber floors and pale chairs open to the sand — Tel Aviv, Israel

A long timber table laid for breakfast beside a tall arch, with a jam crostata on a glass stand, a plate of biscuits, a steel thermos and a basket of persimmons, autumn woods outside — Veneto countryside, Italy

A bed and a long bench in a plain room, a tall window onto the plain beyond — Brasilia, Brazil

A clawfoot bath against white brick tiling in a dark green room with plants at the window — Mallorca, Spain

A single deckchair on an empty beach under a palm frond — Cat Island, Bahamas

A black staircase rising beside a lit stone arch, a church tower beyond it — Puebla, Mexico

A lit Airstream standing open onto the sand in the desert at night — AlUla, Saudi Arabia

A bathroom with a timber console basin on a red and white patterned tiled floor — Florence, Italy

A vaulted stone lounge with leather chairs and low tables on a green painted floor — Palma, Spain

A bed with a padded headboard and a row of round cushions in white, ochre and rust — Cascais, Portugal

A curved white wall along a stone path, two palms against the last light — Antiparos, Greece

A rendered farmhouse with brick window surrounds and a green glazed tile roof, a slatted pergola shading the first floor terrace, with bougainvillea, pampas grass, yuccas and prickly pear in the gravel below — Costa Brava, Spain

A corridor of yellow doors with pixelated figures laid into the terrazzo floor — Stockholm, Sweden

A long room seen through an arch in an oak screen, with the checkerboard floor running away to a lit bar, leather and timber chairs and planted pots along the way — New York

A lobby with sculptural wall lights, low chairs and a patterned carpet — Venice, Italy

Two timber armchairs lit on a terrace at night with the full moon over the sea beyond the garden — Mallorca, Spain

A timber boardwalk with rope rails running straight out of the dune grass onto the beach and the turquoise shallows — Turks and Caicos

A bed against a wall painted with umbrella pines and cypresses — Rome, Italy

A white house under deep timber pergolas, junipers in front of it — Naxos, Greece

A caned sleigh sofa and a tall pedimented bookcase in a white boarded room on a dark timber floor — Harbour Island, Bahamas

A pale sideboard and two low armchairs against a burgundy wall, with a shaded lamp and an abstract painting above — Doha, Qatar

A bed under dark beams, reached by three wide stone steps — Mykonos, Greece

Two crystal chandeliers hanging at night over a courtyard planted thick with greenery, with arched galleries on two levels around it — Kasbah, Marrakech, Morocco

A brick arcade opening onto a lawn, with citrus trees in pots — Veneto countryside, Italy

A salon in pale green with arched windows, velvet chairs and palms — Syros, Greece

The crest of a sand dune curving away at sundown, ripples across the face and more dunes to the horizon — Wahiba Sands, Oman

A long lobby with red velvet armchairs and a glass chandelier on a marble floor — Naples, Italy

A restaurant table of live edge timber set with chopsticks on a terrace above an infinity pool, palms and the sea beyond — Oahu, Hawaii

A sitting room with a built-in fireplace, stacked logs and low tables on a terracotta floor — Mallorca, Spain

A tall dracaena in a steel pot on a glass counter, reflected in the polished floor of a salon — Turin, Italy

A white pool and terrace seen from under the dark canopy of a tree, with ribbed white stools along the edge and the hills behind — Crete, Greece

A sitting area behind a drawn white curtain with a cluster of red and yellow glass globe pendants above two lounge chairs and a round table, with plants in the corner — Miami Beach, Florida

A bed set low in a tall room under exposed rafters — Viterbo, Italy

A pergola of white battens over a plunge pool, herringbone paving below — Antiparos, Greece

Pale armchairs and a round table in a hotel lounge against a printed wall and a blue curtain — Madrid, Spain

A bed in a pale room under a woven amber globe lamp, with a lit alcove behind it — Venice, Italy

Breakfast on a round table above the caldera — Santorini, Greece

A small courtyard pool seen through agapanthus, with shuttered windows above — Palma, Spain

A lobby of grey marble and backlit coffering with pale blue armchairs on a red carpet — Rome, Italy

A round mirrored niche in a timber wall, the bed and the city beyond it — Brussels, Belgium

A long pool at dusk with a row of white loungers and a gabled glass fronted pavilion behind it — Turks and Caicos

A pool below a scalloped canopy, loungers and parasols along the far side — Mallorca, Spain

A corridor on a black and white diamond floor, photographs down one wall — Patras, Greece

A corner bedroom with a timber platform bed under a striped cover, a paper pendant above and two tall windows onto the city — New York

A white leather armchair with a sheepskin on the seat, in front of floor-to-ceiling glass looking out to green farmland and a long mountain ridge — Cape Town, South Africa

A sitting area in a suite with a yellow swivel armchair, a dark sofa under a woven hanging of pale diamonds, a brass floor lamp and a striped rug — Fort Worth, Texas

A yellow timber room with a kitchen counter and red stools, green painted floor — Cat Island, Bahamas

A bed with striped cushions between two small lamps under a framed landscape — Veneto countryside, Italy

A bed in red and white under a wall of framed pictures on pink toile paper — Gothenburg, Sweden

Striped loungers and pink parasols along a rooftop pool under a scalloped awning — Singapore

A bed against a concrete wall under a wire pendant lamp, with a green curtain beside it — Bilbao, Spain

A white sail canopy strung between poles over two loungers on the sand, with overwater villas across the lagoon — Maldives

A pale boarded room with a red armchair, a timber dresser and a beamed ceiling — Florence, Italy

A long salon under a cane and timber coffered ceiling, with a pale rug and a stone sculpture — Mallorca, Spain

A sand cove between two rock headlands seen from above, parasols in a line and the Hajar mountains behind the town — Muscat, Oman

A hotel lounge with blue velvet tub chairs round black marble tables, a long tan banquette along one wall and a lit bar across the far end — Chicago, Illinois

Two painted armchairs on a hexagonal tiled roof terrace over the rooftops of the city — Venice, Italy

A long table under a bamboo pergola against a dry stone wall — Antiparos, Greece

Two loungers dressed in red and purple towels under a lilac parasol, pale blue cottages on the dune above — Harbour Island, Bahamas

A curved timber staircase under coloured ovals set into the ceiling — Seoul, South Korea

A staircase of white and dark green marble seen from above, running down to a tall many-paned arched window with a cypress and green hills beyond, black and brass sconces on the walls — Cesena, Italy

A round timber table and chrome-framed chairs in a suite below a deep coffered concrete ceiling, the city beyond the curtains — Doha, Qatar

A long room with a patterned perforated screen down one side, a dark leather sofa and a slatted bench on a polished floor, open through full-height glass to a lawn — Brasilia, Brazil

A pool in a lawn under tall palms, green hills rising behind — Rarotonga, Cook Islands

A marble lobby with a bronze bust on a column, green armchairs and an urn of autumn flowers — Rome, Italy

A terrace under a cane roof with wicker chairs, looking out to the water — Naxos, Greece

A long pool running towards the sea between palms, with loungers and a timber cabana along one side — Turks and Caicos

A wrought iron gate hung with pots of pink flowers, steps climbing into the house beyond — Cuernavaca, Mexico

A long pool lit at dusk on a timber deck, the lit house and palms reflected in it — Mallorca, Spain

An espresso martini and a glass of water on a glass table on a roof terrace — Syros, Greece

A door of fluted glass in a curved oak frame standing open onto a room of shelved glassware, with a rubber plant in the foreground and terrazzo underfoot — New York

A full length mirror beside two moulded chairs and a floor lamp on a pale timber floor — Veneto countryside, Italy

A dark library corner of stone and timber shelves, two cane armchairs under the lamps — Puebla, Mexico

A green glazed lamp pierced with leaf shapes and lit from inside, on a dark table in front of striped cushioned chairs at night — Wahiba Sands, Oman

A table football beside a red arc lamp, a vintage bicycle and a striped carpet — Ferrara, Italy

A lounge with a black and white striped sofa against walls written over in chalk — Cascais, Portugal

A dark green sofa under exposed beams with sheer curtains over a tall window — Palma, Spain

A long pool beside a house of dry stone, a white parasol at the far end — Antiparos, Greece

A hotel lounge with a long timber table and low sofas on a black and white triangle patterned floor — Osaka, Japan

A room in silver damask with a Murano chandelier, a gilt bed and a green velvet sofa — Venice, Italy

A timber rocking chair in blue and white stripes on a round rug under a woven globe lamp — Mallorca, Spain

A small fishing boat at anchor on flat turquoise water off an empty white beach — Long Island, Bahamas

Three rendered towers with pointed caps standing above a line of terracotta urns planted with palms, against a pale dusk sky — Kasbah, Marrakech, Morocco

Breakfast laid on a table above the bay — Crete, Greece

A timber table football on a parquet floor beside a dark armchair, a garden through the window — Rome, Italy

A single parasol on an empty white beach above turquoise water — Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

A bed in a pale room with the balcony doors open onto the street — Madrid, Spain

A timber bar with a chandelier above, cane chairs and red velvet curtains — Turin, Italy

A row of timber daybeds with lilac cushions under fringed parasols on a roof at sunset — Tel Aviv, Israel

A bed with white linen against a full wall of fluted pale timber, with reading lamps either side and a striped carpet running under it to a curtained window — Fort Worth, Texas

A wooden daybed with red cushions under a lattice pergola, the sea beyond the palms — Cat Island, Bahamas

A hall on a black and white chequered marble floor with a red carpeted staircase and globe lamps — Naples, Italy

A courtyard with two clipped olive trees above a long hedge, large spheres painted in black and white brushstrokes and rattan chairs on pale paving, a narrow water channel in the foreground — Costa Brava, Spain

A timber boardwalk running down through sea grape to a pale blue beach house and the water beyond — Harbour Island, Bahamas

A converted barn sitting room with white slipcovered armchairs on a jute rug under a dark beamed roof, full-height windows down both walls onto a lawn and yellowing trees — Veneto countryside, Italy

A lounge under a tented ceiling, with kilims on the floor — AlUla, Saudi Arabia

A pool with white parasols and loungers above a bay, palms along the edge and the town across the water — Muscat, Oman

A long pool on a lawn at dusk with palms and a deep blue sky above — Mallorca, Spain

A long pool lit blue at dusk between colonnaded wings, under strings of festoon lights — Doha, Qatar

A lounge with a long wall of books, low pale sofas and a dark table in the foreground set with small candles and a sprig of greenery — New York

A path between two white four storey wings, palms and the last of the sunset in the gap between them — Turks and Caicos

Red metal stools at a rooftop counter at dusk, a lit planter of grasses and a sail awning overhead — Venice, Italy

An unmade bed against an olive green wall with two small busts on a shelf — Syros, Greece

A row of timber loungers under white sail canopies on an empty beach — Maldives

A brass clock face on walnut beside a wall of green and brass key boxes — Rome, Italy

The names stay off this page. They come with the inspection, or by email.

Written up

Livadia, Antiparos, Greece

The Rooster

Sixteen stone cottages up a valley above Livadia Bay, reached by a dirt road with one sign on it. The only house on this site I have been back to four summers.

Adelboden, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

The Brecon

A Welsh family's house in Adelboden, adults only, where the champagne is yours to pour and no room has a television.

Ashar Valley, AlUla, Saudi Arabia

Habitas AlUla

A camp of tented villas on the floor of a sandstone canyon in the north west of Saudi Arabia, where the rock does most of the work and the house has the sense to let it.

Melides, Alentejo, Portugal

Vermelho

Christian Louboutin's house in an Alentejo village, thirteen rooms and no two of them alike, where the red in the name is a promise the building keeps.

Ask about one

Tell me where you want to be.

The island, the month, who is travelling. I come back with the house I would choose and the room inside it, and I write to the owner myself. In English, Italian or Spanish.

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Or the other way

The groups, with the benefits attached.

Where a stay falls inside one of the preferred-partner programmes, the rate is the hotel's own and breakfast, a credit and an upgrade come with it.

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