Uncover part 3 of the world's 60 best luxury and boutique hotels, this section is all about the long haul, Asia, South America, Thailand, Australia, and Indonesia. From lodges and boutique hotels to larger luxury hotels and island hideaways, these hotels are famous for their service, design, food, spas and much more.

So come along with us on this exciting journey, whether you're looking for ideas for your next holiday or want to enjoy the luxury of some of the most amazing hotels on earth. Visit Lulu's Luxury Lifestyle and Travel for even more insider information and carefully chosen content on all things relating to hotels, lifestyle brands and travel.

The 60 Greatest Hotels of All Time

Mashpi Lodge

Mashpi, Ecuador

When this sleek, glass-walled rainforest resort opened in 2012, it revolutionised the travel industry in South America. In the depths of the Andean cloud forest, Alfredo Ribadeneira's "protective cocoon" is wild, adventurous, and stunning. It would be impressive in a contemporary city. Mashpi Lodge is located at the end of an unpaved road, high on a cliff, and is just 70 miles from Quito. It has beautiful seclusion. You don't notice it until you get there because it is deftly hidden within the canopy. The natural colours and grey tiled floors inside don't take away from the view that visitors are there to see: the lush vegetation that wraps around the hotel's enormous transparent tempered glass walls. The 24 rooms continue the minimalist aesthetic and feature bamboo and glass furnishings along with plush rugs and chairs. Three Luxury suites have Philippe Starck bathtubs and are larger. Pre-breakfast birding is the perfect way to start the day before visiting the butterfly refuge, observation tower, aerial canopy ride, and jungle trails. The Chocó-Darien region's biodiversity is stunning; after adventures are finished and species are checked off, a whirlpool tub, beverage, and fusion food from Ecuador are waiting. With two people sharing, double rooms start at US $1,340 (£1031), which includes activities, meals, guiding, and shared return transportation from the major hotels in Quito.

Rates start from £865 per night

Iniala Beach House

Natai Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Two years after its debut on the shores of Natai Beach, to the north of Phuket, this elegant, stylish hotel has made a name for itself as one of the region's most in-demand accommodations. Not just because of its fantastical design, which includes beds that drop from the ceiling and seem to hover above the floor, turquoise starfish-shaped sofas, and Swarovski crystal-incrusted pool tables, but also because of the exquisite dining options designed by Eneko Atxa, the youngest Spanish chef to receive three Michelin stars. Iniala provides the level of anonymity that Saudi princesses, Russian oligarchs, Californian tech giants, and the Hollywood elite want. It's perfect for an exclusive buy-out because there are only three three-bedroom villas, a penthouse suite, and a children's hotel attached, all of which are fronted by plenty of private sand. The four-villa miniature hotel is not a gold-plated cage. Activities range from yachting around the ancient sea stacks that dot the waters of the glass-green Andaman Sea to Muay Thai boxing courses with world-class coaches and otherworldly spa treatments in mother-of-pearl-clad cocoons.

Rates start from £493 per night

Taj Mahal Palace

Mumbai, India

Indian billionaire Jamsetji Tata intended for this magnificent example of Indian Gothic architecture to be the finest hotel in India, a place of glitz and impeccable service that was accessible to everybody. It was and is as well. Even though it frequently hosts A-list celebrities, its loyal staff treats everyone with the same sincere warmth and courtesy. The best accommodations can be found in the ancient Palace Wing, where a beautiful cantilevered staircase ascends five storeys to the dome. Butlers arrive quickly and seldom linger in anticipation of a tip. The greatest guided tours (my suggestion: Mumbai by Dawn) and seats at the art deco Regal for the newest Bollywood movie are all available through the concierges. There is no greater refuge than the Sea Lounge for Mumbai street cuisine (especially bhelpuri), cucumber sandwiches for tea, or a chilled glass of Indian wine as the sun sets over the Arabian Sea when the city and its traffic get too much.

Rates start from £142 per night

Nihi Sumba

Sumba, Indonesia

Sumba, an island with ancient settlements, tribal customs, and Nihiwatu on a forested edge of a long, golden beach, is located one hour's flight east of Bali. Originally a surf destination, it reopened in 2014 under James McBride, a former executive at The Carlyle in New York, and quickly gained notoriety for its understated luxury and eco-friendly philosophy. Its villas, the largest of which has its own pavilions, kitchen, and library, feature private infinity pools, bales set in gardens with frangipani and banana trees, and distinctive Sumbanese pointed thatched roofs. Butlers who look after the villas are happy to educate visitors about their animist culture, like the significance of the island's spear-throwing festival or the symbols woven into the indigenous ikat textile. Amongst the activities are riding horses into the surf, paddling a paddleboard down a river, diving, and surfing one of the most well-known left-hand breaks in the world. It's a spot where you can entirely lose yourself somewhere between the salty air and lost-world customs.

Rates start from £1,041 per night

Oberoi Vanyavilas

Rajasthan, India

Just outside of Ranthambhore National Park, where tigers sunbathe on former Raj ruins beneath a colossal 1,000-year-old fort, is The Oberoi's jungle outpost. It's not a jungle camp, despite the canvas used for the bedrooms. Instead, it is the most opulent location in India from which to observe animals while being looked after by some of the most gracious hoteliers in the nation. After a safari, orange-flower-scented face towels are offered, and rosewater iced tea is served with fringed colonial-style pool umbrellas. Beturbaned personnel in jewel-coloured kurtas are on hand when needed (invisible when not) to serve Indian feasts in candlelit courtyards. Naturalists give lectures and lead private safaris into the most picturesque parts of the park in hopes of spotting tigers, spotted chital deer, and a variety of other wildlife. And because the rooms are so luxurious, it would be a sin not to take some time to relax on the ornate four-posters, have a bath surrounded by rose petals, or enjoy a cup of tea on a silver tray while watching kingfishers dive into ponds that are covered in waterlilies.

Rates start from £480 per night

Southern Ocean Lodge

Kangaroo Island, South Australia, Australia

This Kangaroo Island getaway, perched above Hanson Bay, provides a front-row view of the South Ocean in all its natural splendour. Waves pound its sugar-white sands since there is no land mass between this location and Antarctica to moderate the swell; this fact was not lost on the designers of this low-rise, carefully designed luxury resort. The 21 modern suites, each named after a shipwreck, have views that are just as stunning as the views from the lobby, which is covered in limestone and features a wraparound screen of floor-to-ceiling glass. The cantilevered structure draws your attention to the wild environment and features bathrooms with glass walls and sunken couches. The luxurious 1,290-square-foot Osprey Pavilion is the best choice, with a hand-crafted free-standing bath providing a view that is unmatched. There may be few finer places to be shipwrecked when you factor in the wildlife of Australia's equivalent of the Galapagos, fresh native produce (foraged samphire, free-range lamb), courteous service, and a good wine list.

Rates start from £663 per night

Alto Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama, Atacama, Chili

An adobe-walled wilderness lodge amidst the world's highest and driest desert, the Atacama, offers cool interiors, warm service, and fine dining. The gardens were created around the idea of an Andean Park by Veronica Poblete, a botanist and former instructor at Stanford University in the United States. The end result is a tranquil oasis with hand-carved

rock beds, modern geoglyphs, indigenous vegetation, and centuries-old ceramics. A tranquil spa with outdoor tubs that are heated by water from deep beneath is one of the amenities. Facilities include a relaxing spa with heated outdoor tubs heated by water pumped up from the earth. The grounds also feature a llama inclosure, sun loungers, and six plunge pools that are scattered around them. The Atacama is one of the greatest locations on the planet for astronomy, and the hotel owns an observatory on a neighbouring hill. You can count on outstanding gourmet cuisine that uses regional ingredients like guanaco, socaire potatoes, native quinoa, or chanar berries.

Rates start from £494 per night

The Upper House

Hong Kong

In the name is the hint. This has to do with entering an environment that is more akin to a luxurious home than a motel. At the Stone Curtain, an entrance wall created by Thomas Heatherwick, the city's chatter comes to an end. In the distance, two flickering lanterns (excellent feng shui) light the way for visitors as they ascend via an escalator and lift, passing strewn artworks with sinuous curves and alluring textures. The 38th floor is when the rooms, which are incredibly large and sky-filled, start. At this altitude, the mountains are reach-out-and-touch and, depending on the space, Hong Kong's harbour is a sparkling distant necklace. Forget the standard amenities like a check-in desk, a pool or spa, or even a large gym; instead, the iPod Touch is used to deliver guest information. However, in other areas, amenity packs are overflowing with REN skincare goods, a secret lawn, a library with a flickering fireplace, and a comforting sense of urban refuge may be found. A solitary, ideal restaurant called Café Grey Deluxe is located on the 49th floor; it’s a jewel perched in the clouds.

Rates start from £600 per night

Alila Villas Uluwatu

Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia

It's nearly hard for visitors who arrive here for the first time to resist pulling out their iPhones and trying to capture the stunning modernist architecture and Indian Ocean vistas of the hotel. The Alila Uluwatu resort is perched on a cliff on Bali's tranquil Bukit Peninsula and is composed entirely of straight lines, brilliant whites, iridescent blues, and black lava rocks. Depending on demands for quiet, discreet, or luxurious service, butlers can either bestow attention or flit around like genies, leaving chocolates on the table or geranium face masks by the bathtub. Villas are beautiful and relaxing places with private pools. Yoga classes in the morning are energising, as are laps in the 164-foot infinity pool that hangs over the cliff. Warm coconut oil massages at the spa place clients in a state that is somewhere between sleep and ecstasy. The fact that this is the first hotel in Bali to obtain the highest level of certification for environmentally sustainable design adds to the positive feeling.

Rates start from £639 per night

Amansara

Siem Reap, Cambodia

The original Amansara was a French modernist mansion built in the 1960s at the request of King Sihanouk as a summer getaway for his high-profile visitors. After restoring the structure in 2002, the Aman company added 12 new rooms with terrazzo floors, wooden fixtures, sandstone reliefs, and private courtyard plunge pools, as well as a spa and lap pool. Sally Baughen and her employees now manage this beautifully restored architectural treasure with sparkling efficiency, offering the ideal haven from the busy streets of Siem Reap's central business district. What's more, the hotel is right outside the Khmer Empire's jungle-covered ruins and Angkor Wat, a Unesco World Heritage Site. To experience the rich legacy just outside the simple doors of the hotel, guests are given access to their own tuk-tuk and driver. After a day of seeing temples, the friendly hotel staff welcomes guests back with afternoon tea served in the swanky 1960s dining room to the sounds of traditional Khmer music. A wonderful blend of 10th-century culture and mid-century architecture.

Rates start from £1,309 per night

COMO Uma Punakha

Bhutan

Discovering this hotel's layers is similar to learning about Bhutan. The ochre walls of Uma, punctuated by massive double doors, are reminiscent of the nation's dzongs, or fortifications, albeit they are softened by bougainvillaea, poinsettias, and camellias. Views of heavily forested hills with terraced rice farms descending to the trickling Mo Chu river below unfold as you pass through doorways and courtyards, through cheerful employees dressed in traditional Bhutanese attire. The floor-to-ceiling windows and low-slung cream furnishings keep the focus on the vistas throughout the eight-bedroom, two-villa home. The straightforward, genuine look is completed by traditional Bhutanese artwork, hand-knotted rugs from Nepal, and Indian cotton bed linens. Although the menu at the little restaurant is international and includes local specialities, gnocchi, cassoulet, and wagyu beef burgers, the food is made using organic ingredients that can be found nearby. The best part is that the hotel can also be used exclusively.

Rates start from £375 per night

Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan

The Mandarin Oriental offers slick architecture combined with cutting-edge technology and an astounding degree of intelligent service, but what truly sets this hotel apart is the sensation of being in an airborne cocoon of peace. Tokyo's business and commercial hub, is located on the top floors of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower and features 179 rooms and suites with breathtaking views from floor-to-ceiling windows. The upscale Mandarin Bar is a local favourite amongst the dozen pubs and eateries, while foodies can't decide between the Cantonese cuisine at Sense and the Tapas Molecular Bar, where pipettes and syringes are used in place of utensils. Nothing but glass separates a swimmer from the view of a snow-capped Mount Fuji bathed in the red glow of sunset in the serene 37th-floor spa and its pool.

Rates start from £614 per night

Qualia

Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia

Chris Beckingham, an architect, was given the task of "drawing the outside in" when he created Qualia, a 60-pavilion resort perched on Hamilton Island's northernmost tip. This means portraying the magnificent natural abundance of the island while "outside" is the tip of the Great Barrier Reef, which is home to the biggest coral-reef ecosystem in the world and is classified as a World Heritage Site. The buildings, which were handcrafted from wood and stone, fit into the surrounding environment as naturally as a koala cuddled up in a gum tree. The Coral Sea is visible from every one of the immaculately decorated pavilions, and some have their own private plunge pools. There are two restaurants serving fine Australian cuisine, a cocktail bar, two pools, a private beach, a library, and a spa with a variety of treatments. Because this is a self-contained haven with relaxation at its core, guests are given their own golf buggies to get around the meticulously maintained grounds. Slow mornings could be spent lounging on warm, downy beds or wandering along the shoreline beside the sparkling water.

Rates start from £878 per night

The world’s best luxury and boutique hotels: The 60 Greatest Hotels of All Time (part 3) Long Haul