very small hotels

Rolling Huts, Methow Valley, Washington

Whether you’re a hiker, mountain biker or cross-country skier, these six Rolling Huts, located in the beautiful Methow Valley of Washington’s North Cascades, are the perfect accommodation. Designed as a modern alternative to camping, the six huts are grouped as a herd, each with views of the mountains.

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Verana, Yelapa, Mexico

Verana is nine individual houses, with panoramic views of the mountains – deep in the Valle del Sierra Madre Occidental. Carved out of the lush Mexican jungle, Verana is remote and secluded, but still offers all the amenities for a comfortable and relaxing stay.

Each HOUSE was designed with its own character and feel to blend with the landscape and environment. The houses have their own gardens and terraces for privacy, but are still close enough so you don’t feel all alone in the jungle.

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Home, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Here’s a wonderful hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Home, with its 18 rooms and suites, as well as two lofts, is located in the stylish Palermo Viejo district of the city. Created by Buenos Aires local Patricia O’Shea and her English husband Tom Rixton, Home was conceived as a place for visiting friends to stay in Argentina. But it’s getting such rave reviews that their friends and everybody else’s are coming to stay. The hotel itself is worth visiting, but if you want something a little different, the Loft is the place to stay. It’s located beside the main hotel and offers ‘the privacy of your own loft with all the benefits of staying in a hotel.’

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Consolacion, Matarrana, Spain

Consolacion is a baroque stone building surrounded by ten wooden cabins built into the landscape. Each is 100m from the main building, in the middle of fragrant herb gardens. It is located close to the Consolacion Hermitage, in the relatively undiscovered Matarraña region of Spain.

Designed by Camprubi i Santacana Arquitectes, the hotel makes great use of natural materials like wood and stone, as well as sheet metal. The kubes are 36 sqm of minimalist architecture – black slate floors, with bathtubs emerging from them, and suspended chimneys.

The main building holds a kitchen which serves as a constant meeting place, and another outhouse serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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Caol Ishka, Sicily, Italy

Caol Ishka Hotel pleasantly combines the traditional Sicilian masseria with warm modern design. It is made up of ten individually-designed rooms, six of which have private terraces, and is nestled on the bank of river Anapo beside the Fiume Ciane natural reserve. Only five minutes from the old town of Ortigia, this is a 4-star hotel with restaurant, immersed in a beautiful garden with swimming pool.

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Poustinia Hermitages, Tipperary, Ireland

These four poustinia can be found at the Glencomeragh House Retreat Centre in Ireland, near Waterford. The house belongs to the Rosminian congregration, a Catholic group that has been living there since 1960. Thirty years after they moved there, they opened up the premises of their main 19th-century building to retreats of all kinds. A decade later, they asked architects Bates Maher to design some poustinia. Set into an incline, they are surrounded in wildflowers and positioned to capture different views of the surrounding countryside.

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Convent de la Missio, Palma, Spain

The Convent de la Missio in Palma de Mallorca is a 17th-century monastery with 21st-century sensibilities. A small hotel, with only 14 rooms and suites, it is housed in an ancient building once dedicated to teaching missionaries. Tucked away down narrow streets and surrounded by garden patios, the Convent is reached through some unexpectedly modern opaque glass doors.

Within its walls are a refectory art gallery, bar, restaurant, lounge (complete with bean bags and open fire), wine cellar, Zen-designed roof-top patio, solarium, whirpool and sauna. There’s also a chapel, of course, and intermittent bell-ringing from the church next door. Just to remind you where you are.

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Charming House DD724, Venice, Italy

Charming House DD724 is a pre-19th century building with contemporary interior design, classically-influenced modern artwork, views of Venice’s Giudecca Canal, and just four rooms. It’s an island within an island: ‘A place where the world begins to make sense, where it stops and where you can step off for a while. Where you can remind yourself of just how beautiful the world can be.’ Interiors are contemporary, with all modern conveniences. DD724 is located in the Dorsoduro Quarter, next to the Guggenheim Gallery, and its unusual name comes from its postal address.

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YL Residence, Koh Samui, Thailand

YL Residence No 17, a property made up of a main building and ten individual villas, is Koh Samui’s largest private home and available for rent in its entirety.

Scattered across 12.5 acres of idyllic landscape, it offers abundance and five-star concierge service, with little luxuries like fresh flowers and tropical fruit delivered daily, and complimentary champagne and massage upon arrival. Designed by architect Martin Palleros of Tierra Design, it features pared-down design with natural furnishings and hi-tech fixtures.

For the $5,000-per-night price tag, you get full use of the residence and gardens, as well as all of its facilities. You also get full staff, shuttles to and from the airport, mini bar and breakfast every day.

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Riva Lofts, Florence, Italy

Riva Lofts is a cluster of eight suites in Florence, Italy, created by architect Claudio Nardi, and designed to be halfway between being at home and being away. The Lofts started life in 1880 as a small factory, then in 1999 Nardi turned them into his design atelier. Today, with the help of his daughter Alice, the site has become nine suites that blend old and new. You’ll find antiques as well as furniture from the 1950s, natural wood as well as corian.

Each suite is unique in size (between 30 and 100 square meters) and design. Each also has a different perspective on its surroundings – some have a private terrace, others have panoramic views of the Cascine Park or Brunelleschi’s Cupola, Florence’s most famous icon.

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