Staying overnight at Taniya, located in the historic castle town of Takayama, is akin to sleeping at Fallingwater or another architectural landmark. Positioned beside the Kusakabe Family Residence, an old merchant’s house designated an Important Cultural Property, the century-old two-room inn is an extension of its notable neighbor, both showcasing ancient Japanese techniques carried out by local craftsmen.

An hour’s drive from Adelaide but seemingly a world apart, Nest & Nature is located on a remote hilltop at one of the highest points on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. This luxury retreat is made up of just two sustainably built and architecturally striking suites: Mist, tucked into a thicket of trees on the hillside, and Nest, positioned higher up on the hill with sweeping views of the Inman Valley below.

Souki Lodges & Spa feels a bit like a private discovery. In fact, despite its middle-of-nowhere location outside the village of Cabrières, it’s one of the most exclusive and sought-after places to stay in the region. The boutique hotel is the passion project of a pair of locally based designers who imagined a sleek, eco-friendly getaway built right into the landscape at the foot of the Pic de Vissou.

What was formerly a private house in Kamakura, the so-called “home of the Samurai,” is now Kamakura Cocon, a guest house with a mere two units in a style that mixes elements of European and traditional Japanese hospitality. Comforts include micro bubble baths, Airweave bedding, yukata robes, and espresso machines; each suite comes with a Japanese-style tatami room alongside Western-style living rooms.

WeSense contains a mere two units: a Cave Suite called Zest, and a Cave Villa by the name of Bliss. The former sleeps three guests, the latter four; it’s smaller than some vacation homes, and that’s part of its appeal. Privacy and tranquility are assured at this scale, and the interiors in both are clean-lined and modern, with plenty of island character but not a spot of kitsch.

Casa9 Zocalo is a new boutique hotel located in one of Mexico City’s oldest houses, which itself stands on the grounds of an older ceremonial temple. The property has undergone a transformation, as a team of architects, blacksmiths, stonemasons, and carpenters has restored the house’s colonial grandeur. The result is striking. Passing through the entryway is like stepping back in time.

Formentera’s crystal-clear water and sandy beaches are standouts, but Ibiza it isn’t. Instead, the island has retained its haute hippie spirit. Checking in means chilling out here, and no place captures that essence quite as well as Can Tres. This trio of apartments has the barefoot luxe look down pat, with sun-splashed spaces kitted out with hanging beds and pops of color.

Le Pavillon de Galon, just outside the Luberon village of Cucuron, is a lovingly restored 18th-century hunting lodge surrounded by 15 acres of orchards and gardens. It’s owned by the French photographer Guy Hervais and his wife Bibi Gex, a couple with a keen eye for interior design — the three suites are disparate in style but consistent in quality and full of surprising details.

First came the surfers, then the official distinction as one of Mexico’s Pueblos Mágicos, and finally, a wave of designers, chefs, and hoteliers, turning the once-quiet beach village of Todos Santos into a hip getaway on the Baja California peninsula. Among the numerous style-conscious lodgings on offer is Desierto Azul, a petite boutique hotel on a sun-baked stretch of land a few blocks back from the coastline.

L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is named somewhat literally for its unique setting; the river Sorgue flows around the outside of the town’s old fortifications. And La Maison sur la Sorgue is a similarly straightforward description of this four-room family-owned boutique hotel, whose spaces, public and private, are decorated with souvenirs from its proprietors’ global travels.

Located in Barichara, an impossibly picturesque Colombian village that feels frozen in time, Casa Yahri is a gorgeous colonial villa set amid lush greenery and tropical flowers, its sun-drenched terraces overlooking the vast Chicamocha Canyon. But what’s truly exceptional about Casa Yahri is the extent to which every detail is considered, every need anticipated.

The Guinness Book of World Records officially designated Hotel Puntagrande as the world’s smallest hotel in 1984. But what’s especially notable about this “hotelito” is its spectacular location on a piece of lava rock jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. The original building, a cultural site protected by the Canary Islands government, dates back to 1830. Inside, the hotel looks something like a small nautical museum.