Twenty of the world's most stylish hotels are on the Smith Hotel Awards shortlist for Best Dressed Hotel 2016. These are just a few that caught our attention, and if you want to vote for your favourite, you could bag yourself a £1000 voucher.
Reviewed by Richard MacKichan
Drift House, Port Fairy, Australia
What do you expect from a coastal B&B in a historic whaling town in south-western Australia? Nautical charm, white and blue, and chintz by the bucket-load, probably. Not a four-suite trendsetter that marries a chocolate-box Victorian bluestone residence to a sleek, perforated-metal-skinned new extension, where suites are styled with urban murals and kicks of colour, walls are clad in timber, doors are clad in carpet and mantelpieces hang from ceilings.
Drift House, Port Fairy Victoria, Australia, Doubles from £232, B&B
San Giorgio, Mykonos
Hammocks, hippie prints and rough-hewn wood… if you're thirsty for a lesson in Aegean-island style, set a course for San Giorgio. The bleached-white, stoney architecture goes without saying – this is Mykonos, after all – but the owners have added wicker accents, whitewashed pebble floors, thick home-spun rugs, hand-beaten metal bowls, mosaic-tiled paths and inviting beds draped in gauzy mosquito nets. Don't forget to hang out – literally – in the chic pod chairs.
San Giorgio, Mykonos, Greece. Doubles from £224, B&B
Palihouse, Santa Monica
This near-the-beach 1920s manor has fruity prints so juicy-looking, you could feasibly find yourself licking cushions and chair covers. The lobby is dark and decadent, with conker-coloured Chesterfields and a hefty wooden table for 10; rooms are cheery and bright, with vibrant tiles, vintage pieces and works by a clutch of talented local artists and photographers.
Palihouse Santa Monica, 1001 3rd St, Santa Monica, California. Doubles from £258, room only
Ett Hem, Stockholm
'Hem' means home in Swedish; sadly you won't be able to move into this one for good. Owner Jeanette Mix scoured Europe for the design staples and vintage finds that have transformed this luxurious Arts and Crafts residence. All 12 of the individually decorated rooms are delightful, with tactile sheepskins, carefully picked artworks and hard-to-leave marble-and-brass bathrooms. The Suite's our favourite, though, thanks to its parquet floors, crystal chandelier, marble bath tub and ceramic-tiled stove from the Fifties.
Ett Helm, Sköldungagatan 2, 114 27 Stockholm, Sweden. Doubles from £349,B&B
Hotel Providence, Paris
This Parisian pad has the kind of interiors that are liable to get you in trouble - in a good way. Printed-velvet House of Hackney wallpaper adorns walls; the Madeleine Castaing carpets are fitted with personal cocktail bars for after-hours affairs. Vintage objets d'art, Seventies-style statement pieces and bonkers wallpaper (all lovingly scavenged from Parisian flea markets by Pierre's wife Elodie Moussié and design-savvy friend Sophie Richard) are right up our boulevard.
Hotel Providence, 90 Rue René Boulanger, 75010 Paris. Doubles from £138, room only
Vote here for Best Smith Hotel 2016 #SmithAwards
