The owner-run, boutique El Palacio de San Benito isn’t a run-of-the-mill hotel. Step back in time at this charming, museum-like, Home and Garden style abode. Book a room for a night or more or rent the whole property entirely for your own use.
About an hour from Seville city through gorgeous natural park scenery in a small white-washed town, this is an escape into peace and quiet. It is a luxurious homely hotel where you may well find the owner at home.
Skillfully and beautifully added to, renovated and decorated it’s very difficult to know where the original church and palace ends and where the addition begins. I had no idea it wasn’t all original. Using all reclaimed materials, beautiful old tiles and furnished with gorgeous antiques, you’ll think you’re in the traditional open-air patio or stepping through the hefty original doors of a centuries-old coaching inn.
I was in my element and loved the floral four-poster bed, matching lounging area and my own perfect tiny patio. The communal sitting areas full of squishy cushion-piled sofas, coffee tables stacked with magazines and surrounded by traditonal dark furniture, I could have stayed forever.
Then comes the rather quirkily decorated library and the dining room with hand-painted walls. It’s like a National Trust property in that you feel you should only look and not touch or as a child visiting an old aunt’s hauntingly lovely but old-fashioned home.
There in no restaurant but meals can be booked, the gorgeous tiny bar is for residents only and private functions are catered for. This is an escape from prying eyes, a touch of lost charm and if you wish you can have it all to yourself.
My favourite spot as an outdoor and plant lover was the plant-filled patio with its tinkling fountain and so many lovely details and individual sitting spots.
El Palacio de San Benito comfortable, charming and classic just my style.
From US$85 per night
– A real huge old wardrobe with proper removeable coat hangers
– Filling in my breakfast order
– No parking (but quiet street parking is close by)
Rachel Webb
Review Team
Step back in time to the heady days of the 1920s, when well-to-do and adventurous Westerners set out for the Orient in search of exotic decadence. This unique 20-roomed boutique property is filled throughout with period pieces – in guest rooms and public areas you will find gramophones, old fashioned telephones, books, and musical instruments, such as the saxophone adorning the wall of our villa room.
All rooms are comfortably furnished with just the right level of ‘distressed’ furnishings to fit the vintage theme but with all the comforts you would expect of the top rated hotel in Pai: TV, DVD player, free wifi, tea/coffee making facilities, small mini bar and beautiful bathrooms. The villa rooms open on to a private garden and have outdoor seating but the highlight is the stone Jacuzzi bath tub for two where you can open the aged shutters and, through the huge picture window, feel as though you are bathing in the garden itself.
Upstairs mountain view rooms afford the best views with stunning vistas of the lush hills around the city and the giant white Buddha that overlooks the valley.
Amenities include two pools, one beautiful freeform stone pool and an infinity pool looking out towards the hills. There is also a riverside pavilion, in a quiet spot away from the main hotel buildings. It’s an ideal spot for yoga, meditation or quiet contemplation as you sit on a bean bag and gaze at the fast-flowing, muddy waters of the River Pai.
The hotel is a few hundred metres from the centre of Pai and offers an on-demand shuttle service from various points around town. You will, however, want to eat in at least once, for lunch or an evening meal, to sample the Silhouette restaurant’s fine menu. To the sounds of soft jazz playing in the library area, you can feast on good quality tapas or Mediterranean fare, accompanied by a bottle or two from the carefully curated wine collection.
From US$83 including breakfast
– First-rate service; when I was taken ill staff twice re-booked my bus ticket, provided medication from on-site supplies and fetched other medicines from the pharmacy at my request
– A hotel tour of the surrounding area with guide Mannam was excellent
– The open-air restaurant/library area is a wonderful place to relax amidst the general peace and calm of the hotel
– While the hotel is to be commended for using 100% natural toiletries, they weren’t effective and I’d bring my own if I stayed again
– Minimal and basic in-room tea and coffee supplies
Reverie Siam 
is a member of Secret Retreats, a community of like-minded owners of small independent boutique hotels, boats and restaurants peppered around Asia
Steve and Candice
Review Team
Marriott’s SpringHill Suites properties are going through a revitalisation. The already spacious rooms are being updated with chic furnishings from West Elm and the services and extras on offer make you feel more like you’re staying at a boutique property than at a chain.
My stay at their downtown Chicago location, just a couple blocks from Millennium Mile and the river lined with stunning architecture, marked a launch event for SpringHill Suites. The brand has been funding arts programs at low-income schools in the U.S. and Canada for several years. SpringHill has just launched the Art of Local program which will bring artists and their works into hotels throughout the U.S. and Canada too.
The offerings will differ from hotel to hotel, providing a boutique and local flavour to guests. At the kickoff party, we were treated to an eclectic mix of artists. Guests at SpringHill’s NYC properties may see and hear indie pop band MisterWives, who headlined the launch event. Austin and NYC guests might see the art of Jessie Bearden who creates portraits and text art using the colour and texture of everyday foods like fruits and sugar. The Food Artists Group, in SpringHill’s Virginia hotels, also creates edible art, pictured above. Miami guests may see artisan cigar roller Fernando Morales, and guests from several cities might come across screen printers Hit + Run, who make wearable art and tote bags, for example featuring designs specific to the cities they’re in.
Rooms at SpringHill Suites are spacious and, thanks to an ingenious convertible couch from West Elm, can sleep kids (or spouses who toss and turn) very comfortably. Breakfasts, included in rates, offer something for every taste, including a make-your-own waffle bar.
In Chicago, the rooms are decorated with gorgeous photos of the city’s iconic architecture, and the view out my window was of yet another gorgeous building. On the top floor there’s an exercise room, small pool and hot tub, all with floor to ceiling views out onto the city. Suite extras include guest laundry facilities, 24-7 coffee in the lobby, Paul Mitchell amenities, and sweets like Chuppa Chupps lollipops.
From US$225, inclusive of breakfast and wifi
– SpringHill Suites' Art of Local program supports local artists and helps fund schools’ art programs
– Very friendly and helpful staff
– Fantastic location
– The lobby is on the second floor; a quick elevator ride takes you to Reception
Johanna Read
Contributing Editor
Few hotels can lay claim to a history as intriguing as that of 137 Pillars House. It’s bound up with intrepid British adventurers of the 19th century who set off for the East with dreams of adventure and riches and with Anna, English teacher to the children of the King of Siam.
The lovingly restored 19th century house which gives the hotel its name sits in the middle of the property, and is home to the bar, a fine dining European restaurant and the grand piano whose strains can be heard drifting through the warm air of an evening. The hotel’s Thai restaurant is housed in a stunning dining room with food which lives up to its surroundings.
Attention to detail throughout the hotel is faultless with staff being friendly, helpful, and discrete.
Soon after arrival, a butler will come to the suite with the pillow menu and a choice of toiletries; there are two different scents available. There are four categories of suite, starting from the entry level 70 square metre Rajah Brooke suites which contain a supremely comfortable king four poster bed and amenities including cable TV, a DVD player with USB and iPod docking station, a coffee machine and fine teas. Soft drinks and beer from the mini bar are free and there is plentiful bottled drinking water.
The bathroom has a colonial-era feel, with vintage floor tiles and fixed, white slated blind; it includes double washbasins, roomy wardrobe space, separate toilet, Victorian freestanding bath tub for two, and indoor and outdoor showers.
Larger suites include separate living rooms and the top-of-the-range suites include a private pool. All suites have large balconies with day beds, ideal for relaxing after a day spent discovering Chiang Mai’s delights.
After a stay here you’ll easily understand why this multi-award-winning hotel is the top rated boutique hotel in the city.
From US$400 including breakfast
– Very comfortable beds, exquisite linens and pillow menu all but guarantee a good night’s sleep
– Large balconies with day bed and rocking chairs, perfect for relaxing
– Beautiful pool bounded by a 15m high wall of ivy
– There’s really no fault that I could find
Steve and Candice
Review Team