Jebel Akhdar, Oman

Recently featured in the BBC 2 series ‘Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby’, the Anantara is one of Asia’s most desirable properties and, quite simply, a place of superlatives – a mountain hideaway for the élite of the Gulf States, and anyone who wishes to experience the region’s most fabulous scenery in the most luxurious way possible. Its 82 rooms and 33 ultra-chic villas are strung out along the rim of spectacular canyon at an altitude of 6,500ft, around half an hour by car from Nizwa, and enjoy jaw-dropping views. You get the same prime vistas from the cliff-edge infinity pool, where bathing is segregated. Smaller, private pools (where mixed swims are permitted) are attached to the villas. Dine at Diana’s Point, where the Prince and Princess of Wales admired the panorama when this was just a plot of rough rock and scrub, enjoy an authentic wood-fired Sicilian pizza by the pool or Moroccan tapas in the lounge bar. And aspiring yogis shouldn’t miss the sunrise yoga sessions.  Hikes and biking trips to local villages, abseiling, archery and landscape painting are also on offer, plus there’s a sublime spa on site.