Hotels can offer any number of amenities, ranging from the mundane to the luxurious---irons to bathrobes, hair dryers to Egyptian cotton sheets, clock radios to 63-inch plasma-screen televisions. But sometimes what really makes a hotel stand out is the view. Whether you prefer to stare out at the sea, at ancient ruins or at a city skyline, a stunning view can make your hotel stay special.
The Five Star Alliance, an online luxury travel service, credits the Hotel Caruso Belvedere with possessing one of the best views in the world. Set in a renovated 11th century palace, the hotel is located on Italy's Amalfi coast. The Hotel Caruso is nestled into a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the guest rooms, common areas, spa, bars and restaurants all feature panoramic ocean and coastal views. Perhaps the most spectacular view is from the hotel's Infinity pool, set at the highest point of the property; the pool water, ocean, horizon and mountains appear to merge at the water's edge.
Hotel Caruso Belvedere
Piazza San Giovanni del Toro 2
84010 Ravello, SA
Italy
011-39-089-858-80
hotelcaruso.com
Located at an altitude of 7,710 feet, the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge Hotel is next to the world-famous 15th century Incan ruins at Machu Picchu, Peru. Travel + Leisure magazine's list of the world's best high-altitude hotels notes that the "remote mountaintop ruins feel amazingly accessible when you're staying next door." Mountain-view rooms and suites look out over the ruins, the jungle and the Urubamba River. Dine in elegance or have a cocktail at the Tampu restaurant, featuring dining rooms with views of the mountains through floor-to-ceiling windows, or fill up on the lunch buffet at the lodge's Tinkuy restaurant, offering open-air terrace dining.
Macchu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge Hotel
Machu Picchu
Cuzco
Perú
011-51-84-984-816-956
machupicchu.orient-express.com
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York offers spectacular views even from the bathrooms, according to an ABC News article. The hotel is perched 250 feet above street level on 20 floors of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. All 248 rooms and suites offer views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline or the Hudson River; some suites offer panoramic views of all three. The Mandarin's spa features a 75-foot, indoor lap pool surrounded by windows. Drink and dine at Asiate or the Lobby Lounge; both have windows with city and park views.
Mandarin Oriental New York
80 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10023
212-805 8800
mandarinoriental.com
The Lands End Resort in Homer, Alaska, is set at the very tip of the Homer Spit, a narrow, 4.5-mile-long strip of land that juts out into Kachemak Bay. Ringed by mountains and glaciers, the bay is home to orca whales, salmon, seals, otters and a variety of seabirds. Lands End Resort offers views of the bay and mountains from almost every room; some rooms also offer private decks. Dine on fresh seafood at the Charthouse Restaurant, with large windows overlooking the bay and an open-air deck. Relax with a spa treatment with a view of the sea from your window.
Lands End Resort
4786 Homer Spit Rd.
Homer, AK 99603
800-478-0400
lands-end-resort.com
