Hotels with great views: readers' tips
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/jun/09/hotels-with-best-views Version 0 of 1. Winning tip: Kandalama Hotel, Sri Lanka This hotel was designed by Geoffrey Bawa to blend into the landscape – where lush jungle meets plains – which it does. I have stayed several times and think the best views are of the reservoir and surrounding area from the restaurant at lunchtime – you can sometimes glimpse elephants wandering past. +94 66 5555 000, heritancehotels.com/kandalama. Doubles from £146 B&BWritenow Hotel Des Alpes, Lucerne, Switzerland I sat on my balcony, camera at the ready and beer in hand, watching the changing light of a summer's evening. Below, the wooden Chapel bridge crosses the Reuss river at the mouth of the lake and its octagonal water tower, along with the impressive Jesuit Church, frame Mount Pilatus, aka Dragon Mountain, which creeps in and out of clouds.+41 41 417 20 60, desalpes-luzern.ch. Doubles from £175 B&Bmattparry Hotel Adamar, Istanbul, Turkey One of the best places to enjoy Istanbul's magical skyline is from the hotel's rooftop terrace. A stone's throw from the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia, there's a panoramic view, great food and a romantic atmosphere. At night, the Bosphorus bridge twinkles, the commercial district's modern skyscrapers sparkle, and the mosques and minarets glow with golden light. +90 212 511 19 37, adamarhotel.com. Doubles from £77 B&Btroutiemcfish Tašbaši Belediye hotel, Divrigi, Turkey The small remote town of Divrigi is at the end of the road – quite literally – which may be why its sublime 12th-century Great Mosque complex is Turkey's least-visited Unesco world heritage site. The municipal Tašbaši Belediye is the only hotel but its clean, simple rooms offer a stunning view of the surrounding mountains and the railway line that snakes through them. Get there on the daily Dogu Ekspresi train service.+90 346 418 18 25. Room only from £6madfortravel Lido Palace Hotel, Baveno, Italy We had the most stunning hotel view we've ever had across Lake Maggiore and the Borromean Islands. In the rain it was amazing – even better in the sun. We're not the only Brits who have enjoyed a stay in this hotel: Winston Churchill spent his honeymoon here in the room next to the one we had.+39 0323 92 44 44, lidopalace.com. Doubles from around £250 gdeanouk Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea, Amman, Jordan It's eerily quiet at the lowest point on earth (420m below sea level) and pretty motionless, too, apart from the flies. The view from the hotel is pretty impressive during the day, but expect a lot of tourists. However, in the evening, wander down and look across the Dead Sea to see the lights of Jericho and possibly Bethlehem. There might even be a star to follow...+962 5 356 11 11, moevenpick-hotels.com. Doubles from £99 B&Bscratchvideo Maliba Lodge, Lesotho Splashing out for the promised luxury and spa, I hadn't considered the amazing view. We were utterly stunned by the mountains and snow-peaked vistas in southern Africa. Breathtaking.+27 31 702 8791, maliba-lodge.com. Doubles from £55 including all mealsGYgal Embassy Suites Hotel, Niagara Falls, Canada Rooms on the higher floors of this 42-storey hotel provide dizzying views of both the Horseshoe and American Falls through enormous floor-to-ceiling windows. However, to bring the experience closer, rather than booking a chilly Maid of the Mist boat trip, stay in a room with a two-person whirlpool and panoramic views, where you can watch the thrashing torrents from the comfort of your tub by the in-room fireplace whilst sipping champagne.+1 800 420 6980, embassysuitesniagara.com. Whirlpool suites sleeping six from £90 B&Bbowbank The Inn on Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina, US Step back in time to an era of understated elegance and grandeur at this inn with a restaurant serving sumptuous food and an unsurpassed view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.+1 800 411 3812, biltmore.com. Doubles from £119ID4623854 |