ARIZONA
Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North
BRITSH COLUMBIA
CALIFORNIA
Calistoga Ranch, an Auberge Resort
Montage Laguna Beach
COLORADO
The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
HAWAII
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
MONTANA
SOUTH CAROLINA
The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort
UTAH
Amangiri
VERMONT
WYOMING
Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North
Scottsdale, Arizona
The rugged Sonora Desert frames this family-friendly resort that features 210 adobe-style suites and casitas, three restaurants, three swimming pools, a full-service spa, and plenty of outdoor activities. Golfers enjoy privileges at the nearby Troon North Golf Club’s two world-class courses. ($280–$6,000) www.fourseasons.com
Clayoquot Wilderness Resort
Tofino, British Columbia
Ride horses through old-growth forests, fish for king salmon in Clayoquot Sound, or kayak in Warren Bay before retiring to one of 20 luxury tents outfitted with antique dressers and hand-woven rugs. Vancouver Island’s most exclusive wilderness experience. (Three-night packages from $4,270 per person) www.wildretreat.com
Four Seasons Resort Whistler
Whistler, British Columbia
The most prestigious address at North America’s largest ski resort, with 273 chalet-style rooms, an in-house ski concierge, and hot springs–style whirlpools. Golfers enjoy access to private Jack Nicklaus– and Arnold Palmer–designed courses. ($220–$4,100) www.fourseasons.com
Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort
Port McNeill, British Columbia
Accessible only by air or water, this nine-cabin heli-fly-fishing lodge offers access to 50,000 square miles of terrain that includes 50 rivers and streams. The lodge’s location, on the edge of the Great Bear Rainforest, also affords opportunities for bear watching, rock climbing, and kayaking. (From $1,395 per person; heli-adventures from $2,400 per person) www.nimmobay.com
Calistoga Ranch, an Auberge Resort
Calistoga, California
Designed to resemble a vintner’s estate, this 157-acre retreat boasts an organic restaurant, a spa with mineral soaking pools, and its own wine label. Nature takes a starring role in the 50 cottages, with outdoor living areas and floor-to-ceiling windows. ($720–$4,550) www.calistogaranch.com
The Grand Del Mar
San Diego, California
A sprawling estate with 249 rooms and a Tom Fazio–designed golf course in the hills of North County. Chef William Bradley, of the resort’s Addison restaurant, was named Robb Report’s 2014 New Culinary Master. ($395–$6,000) www.thegranddelmar.com
Meadowood
St. Helena, California
A classic wine-country resort with 85 accommodations, including five cozy clapboard cottages, set amid 250 forested acres. In addition to the fare at chef Christopher Kostow’s Michelin three-star restaurant, guests enjoy a nine-hole golf course, championship croquet lawns, seven tennis courts, two swimming pools, and a spa. ($600–$3,800) www.meadowood.com
Montage Laguna Beach
Laguna Beach, California
This 248-room California Craftsman–style resort sits above four sandy beaches dotted with tide pools. Its direct access to the shoreline, as well as exceptional amenities that include the Studio restaurant and Spa Montage, help set the 11-year-old resort apart along a ritzy stretch of Southern California coast. ($595–$6,500) www.montagelagunabeach.com
Post Ranch Inn
Big Sur, California
Perched atop a steep cliff high above the Pacific Ocean, this Northern California retreat features 40 earthen studios, ocean-view suites, and tree-house accommodations. The nine-course tasting menu at the Sierra Mar restaurant is a must. ($675–$2,485) www.postranchinn.com
The Little Nell
Aspen, Colorado
Within steps of the Silver Queen gondola, Aspen Mountain’s only ski-in/ski-out resort caters equally to downhill enthusiasts and those who simply prefer the après-ski scene. The 92-room property’s Element 47 restaurant offers one of the best dining experiences to be had at high elevation. ($390–$7,010) www.thelittlenell.com
The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch
Beaver Creek, Colorado
A recent renovation brings a sophisticated new style to this grand Rocky Mountain resort’s public spaces and 180 rooms. After a day of skiing, enjoy craft cocktails and cigars at the indoor/outdoor lounge and seasonal cuisine at Colorado’s only Wolfgang Puck–helmed restaurant. ($340–$1,800) www.ritzcarlton.com
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
Naples, Florida
Long a favorite for family vacations, couples’ retreats, and high-society functions, this South Florida resort is better than ever after a 2013 renovation that saw the redesign of all 450 rooms. Footpaths lead from adult and family pool areas to a spectacular white-sand beach. ($400–$5,900) www.ritzcarlton.com
The Cloister at Sea Island
Sea Island, Georgia
Originally designed in 1928 by the Palm Beach architect Addison Mizner, this 175-room Spanish Revival resort offers seven restaurants and a 65,000-square-foot spa, as well as access to Sea Island’s three championship golf courses and five miles of private beach. ($395–$3,005) www.seaisland.com
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka‘upulehu
Big Island, Hawaii
An expansive and secluded resort with a Jack Nicklaus–designed golf course, seven pools, an open-air spa, and 243 bungalow-style rooms that blend with the surrounding sand and volcanic rock. One of the world’s top tropical escapes for families. ($545–$15,045) www.fourseasons.com
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
Maui, Hawaii
This 380-room resort is favored by Hollywood A-listers for its setting on an unmatched strip of the famed Wailea Beach, its Wolfgang Puck restaurant, and its large spa with outdoor hale treatment rooms. Reserve a private cabana at the adults-only Serenity Pool. ($530–$16,500) www.fourseasons.com
St. Regis Princeville Resort
Kauai, Hawaii
Set on Kauai’s fabled North Shore, this 251-room beach-and-golf resort completed an extensive renovation in 2009. Rooms and public areas look out over Hanalei Bay, where guests can try stand-up paddleboarding and surfing. ($1,200–$7,550) www.stregis.com
The Ranch at Rock Creek
Philipsburg, Montana
The United States’ premier dude ranch accommodates as many as 95 guests in luxury tents, private homes, and the nine-room Granite Lodge. By day, guests go horseback riding and fly-fishing on 6,000-plus private acres; at night, they unwind in the Silver Dollar Saloon. (From $850 per person, all inclusive) www.theranchatrockcreek.com
The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort
Bluffton, South Carolina
A 20,000-acre former plantation on the banks of the May River with just 50 cottages and 30 private residences. A $100 million expansion led by Montage will almost quadruple its size; visit now, while the resort is still accessible to only a relative few. ($395–$2,500) montagehotels.com
Amangiri
Canyon Point, Utah
Adrian Zecha’s penchant for creating extraordinary resorts in out-of-the-way places is unrivaled. Amangiri—an off-the-grid hideaway nestled in the canyons of a 600-acre private reserve in Utah—might be the Amanresorts founder’s most impressive achievement to date. Opened in 2009 after more than a decade of construction, the 34-suite desert retreat is bound completely by nature, its clay-colored walls and serene swimming pools blending unobtrusively with the surrounding sandstone formations. Stone-and-concrete accommodations forgo elaborate decoration so as not to detract from the dramatic views, which are enjoyed through floor-to-ceiling glass doors and from cozy outdoor terraces with fireplaces. Following a climb on one of Amangiri’s via ferrata courses or a hike to nearby Ulrike’s Cave, guests can unwind in the 25,000-square-foot spa (where a flotation pool is filled with imported Dead Sea salts) and dine alfresco on the restaurant’s terrace amid towering plateaus and sprawling scrubland. ($1,100–$8,000) www.amanresorts.com —Jimmy Im
Montage Deer Valley
Park City, Utah
A refined mountain lodge set on the slopes of Deer Valley Resort, with ski-in/ski-out access to three high-speed chairlifts. The 154 rooms and 66 suites afford Wasatch and Uinta mountain views and are accompanied by four restaurants, a bowling alley, and Utah’s largest spa. ($250–$10,000) www.montagedeervalley.com
Twin Farms
Barnard, Vermont
“Winter is not a season,” Sinclair Lewis once said. “It’s an occupation.” New England winters can indeed seem an endless chore, but at Twin Farms—a country retreat set on the Nobel Prize–winning author’s former Vermont estate—even the most extreme weather can be a welcome reprieve. Spanning 300 acres of ponds (sometimes frozen), forests (often leafless), and meadows (occasionally blanketed with snow), the resort offers activities ranging from fishing and canoeing in the summer to skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. Twenty rooms, suites, and cottages are adorned with a combination of American folk art and antique furnishings, while original works by Jasper Johns, Milton Avery, and other luminaries decorate the 18th-century Main House. Guests gather at the house nightly for cocktails followed by a multicourse dinner showcasing such farm-fresh cuisine as juniper-berry duck breast with roasted-pumpkin risotto. A pub, a Japanese furo, and a small spa prove equally comforting—regardless of the conditions outside. ($1,450–$3,750, all inclusive) www.twinfarms.com —Jackie Caradonio
Amangani
Jackson, Wyoming
Amanresorts’ first U.S. property is situated atop East Gros Ventre Butte and features 40 suites with rustic decor and panoramic views of the Grand Tetons. Guests can ski at Jackson Hole during winter months and fly-fish and bird-watch in the Snake River Valley in summer. ($875–$8,000) www.amanresorts.com
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