Six Senses Hideaway, Oman

Although few Westerners know much about Oman, it is being billed as the "new travel hot spot", says Sarah Barrell in the Independent on Sunday. But after a week in Six Senses Hideaway on the Musandam Peninsula, you won’t be any better informed about the sultanate.

This hotel sells itself on being remote, cut off as it is by the "near impenetrable" Hajar Mountains. (To check in, more adventurous guests can opt to paraglide down from the mountains.) The hotel's design "gives a nod" to traditional architecture. Each villa has a private pool and personal butler, and the food - "course after decadent course" of curries and mezes - is superb. Children are welcome, but the hotel "doesn't know quite what to do with them", so excursions are a must.

A trip along a nearby wadi (dry river bed) offers a crashcourse in the region's incredible geology. It's a real shame that the rest of Oman, while tantalisingly close, is just out of reach.

Wellbeing Escapes (0845 602 6202; wellbeingescapes.co.uk) has seven nights at £1,420pp. ·