Chikmagalur, South India, India

Minimalist modern architecture is notoriously hard to blend with a natural setting, but the architects of the Serai at Chikmagalur have triumphed. Set on a working coffee plantation, the property boasts seamless floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking an uncluttered vista of trees and distant hills. Water flows from an infinity pool through a central axis. Natural materials predominate. Each of the villas have their own private, stone-lined plunge pools. Meals can be enjoyed in a beautifully designed dining room, or outdoors on a terrace lit with lanterns strung from an old banyan tree.