Kanha National Park, North & Central India, India

Banjaar Tola is glamping as you’ve never experienced it. Trust Taj Group to come up with the concept of air-conditioned, butler-serviced “tents” made of pressed bamboo panels, erected along a remote river bank in the sun-baked heart of central India. The result, however, is a triumph of imagination over geography. Each of the “tents” has its own wood-floored verandah with bleached directors’ chairs and proper village-style charpoi beds, where you can beat the heat of mid-afternoon watching kingfishers flash past and monkeys crash through the branches overhead.

The interiors are unbelievably luxurious: deep mattresses on round platforms; proper bathtubs; textiles in shades of saffron, forest greens and cinnamon... Both the food and service are exceptional, and the location is a dream.