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The hotspot: Death Valley, California, USA
Highest recorded temperature: 56.7˚C
The hotel: THEhotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
What’s hot about it? It may be massive – 43-floors, 1,117 suites – but THEhotel provides all the boutique feel of a hotel a hundredth of its size, with the addition of the brain-fryingly huge array of facilities and entertainments that comprise a Vegas hedonist’s playground. There’s no casino, though, so the calm of the lobby isn't spoilt by the kerching of dollars draining into slot machines. A stay here is luxury unadulterated – vast beds, fine dining, gorgeous spa, and one of Sin City’s most pulsing nightclubs – a good enough reason, surely, to eschew the soaring mercury levels outside.
Rates: $160–$1,800 per night, excluding breakfast and taxes.
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The hotspot: Seville, Spain
Highest recorded temperature: 50˚C
The hotel: Corral del Rey, Seville
What’s hot about it? Tucked away in one of the labyrinthine narrow streets of Seville’s old quarter, this whitewashed six-room boutique hotel is a reinvention of a 17th-century casa palacio that preserves Roman marble pillars alongside medieval Mudéjar wooden doorways. It’s the ideal space in which to siesta as temperatures shoot up in the city outside, and the perfect place to come back to after a sultry night spent tracking down flamenco clubs in the sizzling Macarena district. You can see the whole city from its poolside rooftop mirador…
Rates: €280–€350 per night, including breakfast. Excludes taxes.
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The hotspot: Prague, Czech Republic
Highest recorded temperature: 40.2˚C
The hotel: Hotel Josef, Prague
What’s hot about it? Glass walls, shiny chrome and an open-plan scheme lend Josef a design-heavy aura different from anywhere else in Prague. They’ve made the most of every inch, effecting the architectural equivalent of a Wonderbra. The impression of openness is achieved by housing the pale-limestone bathroom in a glass box – smart thinking. Philippe Starck taps visible on the sink also suggest the designers had an exhibitionist streak. Time for cold showers all round, we think…
Rates: €167–€348, including breakfast.
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The hotspot: Saint-Christol-lès-Alès, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Highest recorded temperature: 44.1˚C
The hotel: Les Sardines aux Yeux Bleus, Harmeau de Gattigues
What’s hot about it? From the outside, the only clue that this small hamlet hides an idyllic chambre d’hôte is a subtle sign swinging above the door, bearing an almost prehistoric fish symbol. Worn and wonky stone steps lead upwards to an open atrium, into which the famous light of the Provençal sun pours in. Though modest in its size (three rooms, two apartments), Les Sardines aux Yeux Blues is big on character and personality. TV? No? Room service? No. Bags of charm and a moment to stop, breathe and relax under the sweet scent of the Tilleul tree? Yes and yes again.
Rates: €85–€115 per night, including breakfast.
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The hotspot: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Highest recorded temperature: 43˚C
The hotel: La Suite, Rio de Janeiro
What’s hot about it? Perched in Millionaires Row, just above a private members club and semi-private beach, La Suite allows you to plug into an exclusive lifestyle normally reserved for the exceptionally wealthy. Don a teeny-tiny bikini or a pair of barely-there briefs and head to the beach if you must, but we recommend you stay poolside and quaff caipiranhas until the need for factor-30 ebbs away. You won’t regret it. Having never learned about architecture, studied interior design or worked in hospitality, owner Francois-Xavier Dussol had the courage to construct his dream hotel, and offer guests an experience that’s utterly idiosyncratic and totally unique. You’ll love it.
Rates: €300–€40, including breakfast and taxes.
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