When the Jewish financier Sir Victor Sassoon built his Art Deco masterpiece in Shanghai in 1929, he wanted to create "the most beautiful hotel east of Suez, and the most modern".

Some parts of England are still quintessentially English and the medieval town of Lavenham in the Suffolk countryside is just so.

Small streets replete with stunning 15th and 16th century buildings are laced with quaint tapestry boutiques, farm shops with restaurants and cosy tea rooms where nothing is rushed.

The bijoux La Reserve group opened this property in in the South of France in 2008. The hotel's USP - apart from space and relentless luxury - is a serious spa, the only one in France to offer treatments using the fabulous but punishingly expensive Crème de la Mer products.

The hotel has been designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte to exploit its spectacular location in a secluded bay.

The rooms of the Hotel Pulitzer fit together like a cryptic jigsaw – you wonder how it works but it's a beautiful sight. It is made up of 25 restored 17th and 18th century canal houses, knocked together but their distinct character preserved and most keeping their original wooden beams or split levels.

When we embarked on my son's pilgrimage to Alton Towers, we took friends' advice and avoided the hotels at the theme park.

We broke our journey a 45-minute drive away at the Priest House in the village of Castle Donnington.

The four-star Handpicked Hotel is a pretty stopover, set at the end of a country lane along a serene stretch of the Trent. Taking tea on the terrace or watching the blue dragonfly nibble the bushes on a riverbank proved ideal respite after a hard day's rollercoasting.

In the same handsome crescent that houses the Western Marble Arch Synagogue, a gorgeous boutique hotel has arisen.

Part of the Pride of Britain consortium, it opened less than a year ago with 82 rooms built within a run of seven listed Georgian buildings and a pair of mews houses. Original features have been retained, but a contemporary vibe prevails in the public areas.

Once a somewhat prosaic structure in a great location, a multi-million, refurbishment has transformed the Runnymede into a dazzling building.

Now significantly more up-scale, the hotel has also been "opened out" by clever use of glass walls and floor-to-ceiling windows, plus new riverside terraces adjoining each of its restaurants.

What owners Daniel and Stuart Levy – owners of Runnymede's sister hotel, The Grove – have not refurbished they have refreshed.

Holidaymakers going on a Kenyan safari land at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta Airport then catch a connecting flight from the domestic Wilson airport the next morning.

The city's new five star hotel, Sankara provides an agreeable stopover in the developing Westlands region and offers mod cons in contemporary architecture with clean lines and a touch of minimalism.

Many places claim to be child-friendly but this self-styled 'Luxury Family Hotel' just outside the village of Abberley, near Birmingham, is geared up for families. Everything you don't want to carry such as sterlisers and bottles can be borrowed and there is a crèche packed with toys and books. The staff instantly put my two-year-old at ease as did the resident dog, George, and the sleepy hotel cat, Tickle.

The hotel opened in 2007 and manages to combine old imperial grandeur with the mod cons of new Russia.

Built on the site of the former Intourist Hotel, (where foreigners stayed during Soviet times) on the renowned Tverskaya Street, it has a superb location; within walking distance of Red Square, the Bolshoi Theatre and the trendy shops – handy, as taxis are incredibly expensive.

The property, managed by the American Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, has 334 guest rooms, enriched with dark red cherry wood and marble.