The World's Most Extravagant Hotels: Show-Stopping Stays That Will Make Your Holiday

Part hotel, part aquarium, Atlantis The Palm opened in 2008 and features over 65,000 marine animals in lagoons and displays including The Lost Chambers Aquarium, a maze of underwater corridors and passageways. There is also a 17 hectare waterpark with a 1.4 mile-long river ride, plus an Underwater Suite featuring floor-to-ceiling windows that look into a lagoon filled with various types of fish, lobsters and sharks. [Photo: Atlantis The Palm]

With its private terraces overlooking the capital, the Four Seasons Hotel George V embodies palatial comfort and pure Parisian elegance. Rooms and suites are decorated in traditional style à la Louis XV, with patterned prints, lashings of marble and views over the city. There are also vast dressing rooms - ready for your Parisian shopping spree. [Photo: Instagram/fsparis]

How about your very own Champagne butler available around the clock as you unwind in some of the finest accommodation in Mauritius? Shangri-La’s Le Touessrok Resort & Spa has teamed up with Dom Pérignon to create an indulgent island experience - so you can quaff up to five bottles of fizz daily by the private pool, on the resort’s private island or on a luxury yacht. [Photo: Instagram/shangrilamauritius]

A bar that pops up from the ground and a piano that plays itself…there’s extravagance on tap at Jagged Edge, a new luxury lodge in Queenstown. Hanging from a cliff, the dart-shaped glass and steel prism is open plan and offers outstanding views of the snow-capped Remarkables rising from Lake Wakatipu. A concierge team will ensure your stay is flawless - from chartering jets to organising bespoke spa treatments, celebrity chefs and ski instructors. [Photo: Luxe Houses]

Tuck into your slap-up meal where few other people would - high up in the trees. Tucked away on the secluded Thai island of Koh Kut, Soneva Kiri offers Treepod Dining, where you dine on gourmet delights delivered by a waiter via zip-line. Work it off with daily activities such as tailor-made yoga and fitness programmes. [Photo: Health and Fitness Travel]

The Quinta Real Zacatecas is a luxury hotel that can genuinely claim to be unique. It is built around the lovingly restored, 19th century San Pedro bullfighting ring and matches its imposing architecture and brick arches. The last bull run here was in 1975, but the hotel pays tribute to its past - the restaurant is situated in what was once the stands and overlooks the old arena, while the spacious bar is located where the bullpens used to be. [Photo: Instagram/trippotravel]

Fancy staying where the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Alfred Hitchcock have, with a diamond-encrusted cocktail in hand? Badrutt’s Palace in St Moritz has garnered a loyal celebrity following since opening in 1896. Today guests can start their journey with a private jet transfer, before being welcomed into the Beau Rivage Suite, with its relaxing sauna and marble bathtub and panoramic views of the glistening Lake St Moritz. Want more? Sample the Palace’s most decadent cocktail - which contains a 1.2 Graff diamond. [Photo: Badrutt’s Palace]

Living on the edge takes a new meaning at the new Timber Cove Resort, which is perched on a bluff high above the Sonoma coast. The 46 guest rooms include eight suites and all share the same contemporary feel, and feature natural elements such as redwood and stone furnishings. The property is set on 25 acres of isolated coastline, an hour’s drive north of Bodega Bay, where Alfred Hitchcock filmed Birds. [Photo: Emily Nathan]

Burj Al Arab bills itself as the world’s most luxurious hotel - and it has a staff-to-suite ration of 8:1 to back this claim up. Famous for its striking sail shape design, it also has gold-plated iPads in every room, 17 types of pillow and has hosted the likes of Claudia Schiffer and Kendall Jenner. Perched on the 25th floor, the hotel’s two-bedroom Royal Suite includes two bathrooms, a private cinema, your own elevator and - bizarrely - a rotating bed. [Photo: Instagram/burjalarab]

A hotel that has to be rebuilt every year sounds pretty extravagant to us. The world’s first Icehotel opened in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, back in 1990. Every November, 5,000 tonnes of ice harvested from the frozen Torne river is merged with snow (creating “snice”) to remake the hotel. New themed suites are designed every year. The latest include a White Cathedral and Lapland Waves, in which the bed appears to float on an ocean of waves of ice. As well as the 55 rooms, there’s a chapel, bar and gallery, all made of ice. [Photo: Instagram/kylegdecker]

The St Regis Hotel offers a touch of sophisticated Parisian chic in the heart of midtown Manhattan. The hotel recreates the glamour of a bygone era, with antique furnishings, large windows overlooking 5th Avenue and crystal chandeliers. There are three designer suites - Tiffany, Bentley and Dior, which is inspired by the Dior ateliers in Paris. [Photo: Instagram/stregishotels]

Gold leaf, domes and a lot of marble are the staple at Emirates Palace, which sits in vast grounds with its own private beach and harbour. The landmark Abu Dhabi hotel attracts tourists as well as guests - all eager to experience its opulent style. There’s a Michelin-starred Hakkasan restaurant on site, and rooms come with huge beds, marble bathrooms and a selection of pillows and satin sheets. [Photo: Instagram/emiratespalace]

If you want real privacy, you can’t get much better than checking into a Victorian-era fort. Surrounded by sea, No Man’s Fort was built between 1867 and 1880 to protect Portsmouth from an attack from Napoleon III. Now it has been transformed into a luxury hotel, complete with 22 bedrooms, a lighthouse penthouse suite, nightclub, hot tub and laser quest arena. [Photo: Instagram/manoftheworld]

The so-called “doughnut hotel” features 27 floors above water and two below filled with luxury trimmings such as a lobby paved with White Jade from Afghanistan and Tiger’s Eye Stone from Brazil. The magnet-shaped building is set in the Taihu Lake in between Nanjing and Shanghai - and its villas have private pools and hot tubs. [Photo: Instagram/luka_3ll]

Set deep within Canyon Point, close to the border with Arizona, the Amangiri is a sleek sandstone hideaway that blends into its dramatic surroundings and has a cutting edge spa. Guests are treated to complimentary yoga and hiking sessions, and can recharge in the 25,000 square-foot Aman Spa. Rooms have sweeping desert views from the bath tub or king-size bed, while private terraces feature a fireplace. [Photo: Instagram/traveltomax]