We’re big fans of burying ourselves in blankets and big sweaters, nuzzling up to a crackling fire and watching trees turn equally warming hues, but these aren’t the only ways of ‘being an autumn’. You could spend the cooler seasons on a great American ski adventure, watching whales in Mexico, brushing up on the arts in Venice or Japan, or safari-ing in South Africa.
But you don’t need to land on what type of seasonal traveller you are just yet — follow our guide to where to stay in autumn and winter this year and you may end up chasing the sun across both hemispheres.
Malta
Malta is an anomaly of a European island, in that it’s independent. It has had its fair share of invaders, with a language that’s strikingly similar to Arabic just one relic of its colonisations over the centuries; but what remains is a unique mix that makes Malta unlike anywhere else in Europe. Capital Valletta, which was built by the Knights of Saint John, is one of the most immaculately preserved cities in the continent, a fortified, photogenic centre of cobblestone staircases, 16th-century ramparts, historic, honey-toned buildings and a public park overlooking the Grand Harbour and the Three Cities beyond.
But tempting you away from the capital to the village of Attard for a taste of the Maltese good life is Casa Bonavita, a former family home (belonging to the founders of The Rug Company) whose gardens, sculptures, fountains and pools are now open to guests. It’s still a family affair, with the fine design minds of the owners put to good use during its transformation into a boutique hotel, and the ceramics supplied by the couple’s daughter and her husband. It gets even more magical — a forgotten folly is now a standalone suite in a private, pool-enhanced garden.
Back in the heart of the city, Iniala Valletta is formed from four golden houses along the St. Barbara Bastion by the harbour, a handy location both for ascending into the centre of town and for ferry crossings. Or head over to one of the Three Cities (Senglea) for a stay at Cugó Gran Macina Malta, a Scandi-flavoured heritage hotel, with period details from its 1550s construction date, including vaulted ceilings and limestone walls.
Turks and Caicos
Caicos is derived from an indigenous Lucayan word meaning ‘string of islands’, and one glimpse of Turks and Caicos’ turquoise-sea-meets-white-sand scenery reveals that this northern Caribbean archipelago is a thread worth following.
Westerly island, Providenciales, is where our tale of winter sunshine and lo-fi beach days begins — specifically on a remote stretch of the isle’s west coast, where the ultra-luxe hotel group Aman has beamed down clean-cut teak villas and a sleek spa, plus a head-turning cylindrical bar, all beside a tranquil beach. Amanyara has big-ticket holiday in its DNA, but it’s not the only dreamy coastal retreat on these shores.
Yachties drop anchor at South Bank, set on its namesake coast on Providenciales. Despite being a resort village with a raft of pools and dining spots, the service here is seamless and boutique in feel, and the Lagoon Villas, set around a bathing spot edged by sandy beach, are catnip for families. Across Juba Sound from South Bank, The Strand Turks & Caicos sits in a serene spot that’s more neighbourhood-like than touristy. Sea-spying suites and villas, and a shoreside pool and beach club, meet the classic Caribbean wishlist, but the hotel’s efficient, solar-powered design and pollinator-sanctuary status give it a green ethos, too.
Closer to North Caicos, Como Parrot Cay is a dreamy, whitewashed resort staging an upscale islet takeover. This is your away-from-it-all luxury option, and it comes with excellent pedigree from the Como stables. All in all, Turks and Caicos turns out to be extremely well strung.
Mendoza, Argentina
Like South Africa, South America is also coming into wine season, and there’s one Argentine province where a certain grape has become almost as famous as the landscape. At Casa de Uco, the vines stretch far into the distance, to a horizon broken by the frosted peaks of the Andes. But top-notch Malbec isn’t the only superstar in residence here. The hotel’s striking architecture and bona fide green credentials — no herbicides, no pesticides — make this industrial-style stay unmissable if you’re Southern Hemisphere-inclined. An hour or so closer to the state capital, but still decidedly rural and similarly surrounded by vineyards, Awasi Mendoza is another compelling bouquet of relaxation, landscape and wine.
Utah, USA
Hearts broke last year when Robert Redford died. His legacy, however, is very much alive at his exclusive, outdoorsy and altruistically minded escape, The Inn at Sundance Mountain Resort. The resort’s beating heart is the Inn: a cosy, Alpine-coated clutch of timbered rooms and suites, bolstered by stellar dining, an alfresco pool, sauna and spa. Redford’s Native American art collection adorns the walls, and you can learn more about local indigenous culture through the resort’s outreach projects. The actor-director’s love for the land is reflected in everything from provenance-proud dining to water- and energy-saving design, to conservation initiatives.
At this time of year, we hail the hotel’s proximity to powder-blessed trails, with Sundance on your doorstep and Deer Valley and Park City within driving distance. Whatever the season, the chiselled presence of Mount Timpanogos and the surrounding Wasatch peaks, as well as canyon hiking or rafting adventures, make this an idyllic mountain playground.
An hour’s drive away in Deer Valley, a different director’s cut is at play. Love-letter-to-Austria interiors bring folksy flamboyance to Auberge hotel Goldener Hirsch, which feels just as Tyrolean as its Salzburger namesake. But Utah is still the main character, with days centred around the peak-wrapped pleasures of the Wasatch mountains and Deer Valley’s stellar skiing opps. A rooftop pool, altitude-countering spa and trio of dining spots are its gong-worthy supporting cast.
Philadelphia, USA
Philly has all the potential you need for an offbeat city break come fall — especially when you base yourself in creative hang-out spot Fishtown. This arty district in Philadelphia has two Smith-approved stays. First up, with a female-first backstory that floors Rocky in the first round, is Anna & Bel: its 18th-century setting was formerly an ‘asylum’ for single women but now welcomes all genders to its boutique nest of rooms, each with a different layout and distinct period features. Plus, peek beneath its formal petticoats and you’ll reveal a heated courtyard pool (still open in October), which feels cocooned from the city.
A more palatable historic strand is woven through Wm Mulherin’s Sons, named for the Irish family who ran this 19th-century whiskey blending and bottling plant. It’s now a four-key restaurant with rooms and an appreciation for life’s finer things — this time around, distilled with less graft. Exposed brickwork, pipes and ducts conserved in bedrooms remind you of the bolthole’s industrial past, while mod-Italian cuisine and polished craft cocktails bring its epicurean appeal bang up to date. The record player and stack of vinyl in your room pair well with your Fishtown locale, where indie bars and music venues are just a leaf-kicking saunter away.
Big Sky, Montana, USA
Big Sky’s old Explorer Gondola has finally hung up its skis. In its place comes a lightning-quick, heated 10-seater gondola, whisking powder hounds towards snow-saddled Lone Peak at a pace that would leave even the speediest mustang in the dust. Fitting, then, that the West’s hottest new address is corralled just down the trail. One&Only Moonlight Basin has recently found its cowboy-boot-shod footing in Montana, wrangling outdoor onsens, a whiskey collection worthy of a frontier trading post, and timber-and-stone interiors that look as though they’ve always belonged beneath the Madison Range. Better still, the resort has a gondola of its own, taking you from lodge to lift for first tracks and back again to swap boots for slippers and bourbon by the fire.
Meanwhile, Montage Big Sky proves cowboy country isn’t just for lone rangers. Ideal for multi-generational trail parties, this all-out adventure hotel has ski-in, ski-out access, six dining spots, a Spanish Peaks-facing spa, and enough off-slope entertainment to prevent any cabin fever. It’s a resounding ‘yeehaw!’ from us, especially when venturing into neighbouring Yellowstone, where bison plough through snowdrifts and Old Faithful lets off steam to a far smaller crowd than summer ever allows.
Venice, Italy
In autumn, Venice trades summer mugginess for morning fog that makes its canals look even more cinematic. We’ll forego the odd alfresco meal if it means more elbow room while exploring, and shorter queues at the Doge’s Palace, St Mark’s Basilica and other key crowd-lurers. But stay at Hotel Metropole Venezia to get your fix of palatial grandeur from your bed. Rooms have cherubim, hefty four-posters, rich damasks and enough glitz to make a doge green-eyed. It moonlights as a museum too, with over 2,000 antiques, including a floor dedicated to folding fans and the largest Italian collection of crucifixes — a place that feels truly blessed.
If you prefer to judge the art rather than it judge you, palazzi-set Hotel Gabrielli is close to Arsenale’s venues, so you can catch the Biennale’s global pavilions before they close in November. The hotel’s vast private garden, rooftop overlooking Riva degli Schiavoni and spa sanctuary encourage holing up, but its art experiences — from screen-printing to mask-making — will spark your own creativity.
London, UK
With the Bayeux Tapestry on display until July 2027 at the British Museum, those with tickets will want to position themselves as close by as an arrow was to poor King Harold’s face in the 1066 battle it depicts. Luckily The Zetter Bloomsbury is within (sword) striking distance; but if you miss out on the Middle Ages marvel, the hotel itself proves a rich tapestry, with an afternoon tea parlour, cool cocktails and shelves lined with curios. Zetter fans will find it’s not as eccentric as its sibling stays in Marylebone and Clerkenwell, but well-heeled Wicked Uncle Seymour and Great Aunt Wilhelmina (the characters each stay was designed around) would still deign to snooze in its navy-, mustard- and oxblood-hued rooms — some with bedside bath tubs — and sip champagne on its garden terrace.
South Africa
It’s the start of wine season in South Africa, where 300-year-old Spier Wine Farm (which has the country’s oldest cellar, to boot), just 40 minutes outside Cape Town, has us purring like wildcats. Its braai-and-bubbles stand, smokehouse and bakery, herbal spa treatments and impressive art collection show us the hotel’s as serious about its ethical and sustainable credentials as it is about making you feel like you’re floating on air.
Speaking of which, at the opposite end of the country, the equally green-minded Few & Far Luvhondo in the Soutpansberg Mountains is a safari outpost where you have a choice: sleep in a cliff-hanging suite, ensconced with your own plunge pool and a clutch of modern comforts. Or: allow yourself a closer connection with nature by following a guide to a far-flung sleep-out (available March to October), where your king-size bed and small veranda are dwarfed by nothing other than the surrounding rocky amphitheatre and the vast dome of the sky.
California, USA
Healdsburg’s Little Saint restaurant has grown fruitfully in Cali’s food scene, in line with its vegan menu, which uses ingredients from the founders’ farm just over two miles away. It’s served in a sort of haute greenhouse that doubles and triples up as a wine bar and music venue, and now has four cottages next door for when you’ve overdone the eggplant parm, ‘tres leches’ cake and biodynamic wines from surrounding Sonoma and Napa Valley. The Cottages at Little Saint have been styled by designer Ken Fulk and look like psychedelic farmhouses, with a hippie penchant for colour and print. And with names borrowed from Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills & Nash songs, they propose quite a love-in. Further south, adults-only Hotel Joaquin is an equally laid-back surf retreat by Laguna Beach. It might share a setting with popular, aughts teen show The OC, but the only drama here is the Pacific scenery.
Maebashi, Japan
Where in Japan? It’s a fair question, because Maebashi — just 90 minutes north of Tokyo — is enjoying late-in-life success thanks to a city-wide regeneration project spearheaded by the founder of hip eyewear brand JINS. It has so far seen famous architects reimagine existing buildings and add their own to the cityscape; Shiroiya Hotel is the poster child, having been transformed into an art-led stay by Sou Fujimoto. Creatives such as Jasper Morrison and Michele De Lucchi (and Sou himself) have dreamt up unique concept suites. Leandro Erlich’s Lighting Pipes art installation entertains guests as they try local delicacies in the atrium, and art is found in the smallest details, such as the water-effect, cedar-wood bar counter, or the pâtisserie’s Fibonacci-esque fruit tarts. Ruminate on it all in one of the hotel’s three private saunas and you might gain a new perspective, too.
Sri Lanka
When you find yourself pining for the halcyon days of summer, there’s one destination that always outdoes those rose-tinted glasses: Sri Lanka. Warm, vivid and fragrant with spice, the island country is inherently uplifting — and that’s before you get to its famous cuppas and cinnamon cakes. Kalkudah Beach House, on its lesser-trodden east coast, is an intimate estate on a coastal coconut-palm plantation. Skirting a wonderfully secluded stretch of golden sand, it has just five rooms — some in a historic villa, others in a sleek new wing — meaning it never feels busy, whether you’re padding between the nigh-deserted beach and pool, sipping Ceylon teas on the shady veranda or playing croquet on the lawns.
Crowning a verdant promontory in south-coast Tangalle, Uga Prāva also aims for a big impact on its small cohort of guests. This stay is all about visual drama: the bulk of the suites are set into a cliff face just back from the water’s edge, ensuring glorious vistas from sunrise to sunset. It has one of the most covetable infinity pools in the region, personal butlers and all-inclusive dining to make staying home a joy, and a team of guides to lead whale-watching trips, lagoon safaris and hikes to Buddhist monasteries.
Sticking with the south coast and small-scale theme, we also have The Six Weligama. Each of its six villas is inspired by beaches around the world, with tactile fabrics, one-off pieces by Sri Lankan artists, a sauna and private pool. A small army of private chefs, mixologists, masseuses and experience guides ensure pretty much everything is tailored to you, including pan-Asian cooking classes, surfing lessons and private film screenings beneath the stars.
Baja California, Mexico
Many visitors to the Baja California peninsula in Mexico head straight for the southernmost tip, to the glamorous golf courses and A-list-frequented resorts of Los Cabos. And if you’re a fan of the colour pink, this is precisely what you should do, because awaiting you in the historic heart of San José del Cabo is a dusky dream: Laiva Hotel San José by Tasman. This pink palace has time for other shades, but not a lot of it. It’s a suitably bold artistic choice for a city of galleries and a booming art scene, where blush-pink brutalism suddenly starts to make sense.
But you should absolutely explore more of the peninsula as well, which you can do by heading north to Salara Hotel, whose rooms are split between the sleepy fishing village of El Pescadero (a short drive out of the Pueblo Mágico Todos Santos) and the shores of the Pacific Ocean. And even closer to Todos Santos itself, Hotel San Cristóbal is right on the coast — perfect for being in with a chance of seeing migrating whales and their calves swimming past your sunlounger, if you’re visiting between mid-December and mid-April.
Marrakech, Morocco
Bustling and beautiful, Marrakech electrifies the senses. The city’s summer heat can be fierce but autumn and winter are a glorious time to visit. No longer taxed by the need to seek shade, you’re free to take in the whirl of light, scent and frantic commerce that defines the city. At The Mellah Marrakech, colour runs riot and warmth radiates from every surface. The five-room riad is in Marrakech’s Mellah, the historic Jewish Quarter, where synagogues and kosher bakeries rub shoulders with spice souks and textile workshops. Every detail has been chosen to evoke the visual poetry of the Red City — hand-cut zellige tiles, artisanal camel-leather floors, filigree brass lamps — creating a stay as layered as the spices in a tagine.
For peace, greenery and breathing space, look to Dar Rhizlane, a Moorish mansion hunkered in a verdant plot in the Quartier de l’Hivernage, where the pace of life is worlds away from the go-go-go Medina. The hotel channels the cloistered luxury of a Moroccan palace, with its Andalusian gardens, splashing fountains and tadelakt-finished pavilions in which to retreat from the sun.
Scotland, UK
Some like it Scot — we certainly like Edinburgh in autumn, after the capital’s festival fizz has simmered down, Georgian sandstone crescents catch the honeyed light and haar (an eerie fog) rolls in off the North Sea, softening the city’s skyline into a Gothic smokeshow. The Scott leans into the mood with its baronial bones, frescoed ceilings and marble fireplaces you can cosy up to with a wee dram. Arthur’s Seat is practically on your doorstep, its frost-crisp paths crunch satisfyingly underfoot, so your urban hikes are sorted.
To walk among even loftier giants, though, point your bonnet north to Perthshire — Scotland’s Big Tree Country, where more than 200,000 acres of woodland put on a dazzling display of copper and gold for leaf-peepers before the ‘Highlands proper’ have even begun flexing. Pine Trees Hotel wears the season well, encouraging you to borrow wellies, embrace the muddy pathways with pups in tow, and spend just as much time under the forest canopy as its gabled roof. Keep your eyes peeled for red squirrels, deer and, if you’re lucky, an osprey lingering before migration.
Devon, UK
Home to the Jurassic Coast and English Riviera, Devon is often thought of as a summer destination. But go in autumn and you’ll be rewarded with quiet coastal walks, forests awash with reds and golds and moorlands wreathed in morning mist. The shift in seasons does call for added cosiness, and you’ll find plenty at Glebe House, a cosseting labour of love in East Devon’s Coly Valley. In a pleasing turn of nominative determinism, it’s run by super-host owners Olive and Hugo Guest, an artist and chef respectively. They’ve poured their creativity into the nine individually styled rooms and acclaimed farm-to-fork restaurant, toting provenance-proud menus and a Michelin Green Star. Throw in a wood-fired sauna, seasonal pool and lovingly curated activities, and you’ve a homegrown stay that fires on all cylinders.
Equally attractive for cool-weather stays is The Pig at Combe, resident of a masterfully made-over country pile close to Exeter and Honiton. The rooms do a lot to vie for your attention — there are creatively reimagined haylofts, former horseboxes and upscaled stables — but the restaurant is the beating heart of the hotel. It draws all its produce from within 25 miles, including prime cuts of beef from Honiton’s best butchers and the catch of the day from Lyme Bay.
Umbria, Italy
As the summer crowds disperse, Umbria’s natural beauty doesn’t diminish. In fact, it gets better, with golden autumnal light and blazing foliage to be found as truffle season kicks in. The temperatures are still mild, and the harvest fills pantries with goodies such as olive oil, chestnuts, porcini mushrooms and, of course, prized black and white truffles. At romantic Gothic Revival stronghold, Borgo dei Conti, you can play count for the duration of your stay, with fairy-tale forests, a crenellated exterior, frescoed ceilings and a two-storey spa all supporting the decadent fantasy. But be warned, it’ll be hard to go back to normal life afterwards. Equally captivating and cosy for autumn is Borgo Tre Vaselle in the mediaeval town of Torgiano, where the lounges are full of antiques and fireplaces are on hand for when the nights draw in. There’s a wine museum around the corner, or you can head out to neighbouring vineyards for tastings; other autumnal pursuits on offer include truffle hunting and cycling through the Tiber Valley.
Further north towards the historic city of Arezzo, skirting the border with Tuscany, you’ll find Vocabolo Moscatelli, set in a 12th-century monastery. It’s a worthwhile stop on a gourmet tour — breakfast lasts all day for a start, and the estate has its own Negroni school.
Shine on with our winter-sun collection or play it cool with a ski break