Hotel Hotel Azucar, Monte Gordo, México (Monte Gordo, Mexico)

Member of designhotels. The founders of the ultrahip Mexican hotels CondesaDF and Habita have now created Hotel Azucar, named for the sugar cane grown in the Gulf state of Veracruz, where their latest hideaway is located. The sweet brainchild of hotelier Carlos Couturier, the resort focuses on effortless elegance and a fusion with nature. Step in and step back in time to a place of breathtaking natural beauty as you saunter through the 20 low-lying whitewashed palapas, (bungalows) each topped with a thatched roof and having a private, intimate terrace overlooking the stunning Gulf of Mexico. Just one look at the blues of sky and sea, and guests are overcome by an atmosphere that is airy, breezy and easy. Shaped by curved walls, the spare white-on-white interiors are simple to the extreme, but possess a kind of authentic style that both hearkens to the past and fulfils the modern traveller's style demands. ''I see my hotel as an ecological, organic project. It is a design hotel yet it is somehow anti-design. I wanted to recuperate a lifestyle gone by - that of my grandparents - and give guests the pleasures of simple things,'' says Couturier, mentioning that the chairs found in each bungalow are reproductions of those his grandparents - who came to Veracruz from France in the 1930s to grow vanilla - had in their ranch. Public spaces are largely open-air, like the relaxing biblioteca (library) where guests can lounge in wicker chairs or on pink pillows under jug lamps hanging from an open thatched ceiling, or an outdoor spa that features a yoga space and a wide array of holistic spa services. Visitors can take a dip in a funky pool whose deck is bedecked with sunbleached pink beanbags, and after exploring the nearby archaeological ruins 30 minutes to the north or the charming fishing village of San Rafael, they can dine on catch-of-the-day seafood at almost cartoon-like colourless furniture in the hotel's sugar-white restaurant.