Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's hotel story is written in two hands. One belongs to Geoffrey Bawa, whose tropical modernism, open colonnades, reflecting pools and walls that let the monsoon in, still sets the tone for the best houses on the south coast and around Bentota. The other is the planter's bungalow: four or five rooms, a fireplace, a butler and a view over tea in the hills above Hatton and Ella. Between them sit small surf lodges near Weligama, tented camps on the edge of Yala and a growing number of villas with private pools between Galle and Tangalle.

The island runs two seasons at once. The south and west are at their best from December to March; the east coast around Trincomalee and Passikudah takes over from May to September. Regulars do not fly and flop. They take a driver, string four or five houses together and treat the coast as a reward at the end.