There is no norm in the Maldives. However, arguably the most abnormal is Soneva Jani, which opened October 2016. As the speedboat arrives, I begin to see a string of topsy-turvy Heath Robinson structures, whitened wood two- or three-floor sculptures on poles sticking high up out of the water.

The Manila Hotel, designed in 1912 by William Parsons, may be the ‘Grande Dame’ of the capital of the Philippines. But when it comes to global brands, The Peninsula Manila tops the luxury list. The hotel opened in 1976 for an IMF/World Bank Conference – architects were WATG , working with designer Dale Keller. Today, it is easy to see why guests quickly become regulars and staff, at all levels, mostly stay put (“Welcome back,” say doormen and white-suited bellmen). The hotel car’s Wi-Fi has no-password, towels and Evian.

Want to visit not only one of the largest ranches in the USA but one that is the pride and joy of conservationist and CNN conceptor, Ted Turner? Vermejo Park Ranch, just west of Raton in New Mexico, is just a four-hour drive south of Denver or a four-hour drive north-west of Albuquerque.

I was amazed that the idea of combining retail with lodging is 110 years old. In 1910 the management of Le Bon Marché department store, which had been founded by Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut in 1852, decided to open a hotel for their most favoured customers, but instead of calling it Le Bon Marché they named it Lutetia, the original Roman name of Paris. Obviously, the store was doing well. Sculptors Léon Binet and Paul Belmondo, father of Jean-Paul, were commissioned to decorate the façade in Art Nouveau style. Now, all these years later, the 184-room hotel’s seven-floor exterior is as iconic worldwide as is, in a different way, Frank Gehry’s design for the Elciego Marques de Riscal hotel.

I cannot wait to go back to Hotel Rangá in the middle of Iceland. This is the retreat for 360-degree views and as far as the eye can see, no other signs of habitation. There is, admittedly, about a two-minute walk from the main building, a hut that turns out to be an advanced astronomical observatory that so excited two NASA scientists they have already booked for a week in 2020.

Ashford Castle, three hours’ drive west of Dublin near Cong, County Mayo, is now the Irish treasure in Red Carnation Hotels’ portfolio. Red Carnation’s owners, the Tollman family, bought the massive estate in 2013 and they have since spent ‘many millions’ on overall enhancements, including accommodation for some of the 465-strong team, who are augmented by outsourced gardeners.

Start planning now for a mid-2021 trip to the west of Ireland. Fly into Shannon, 14 kilometres from the Dromoland Castle – a Preferred Legend hotel near Newmarket-on-Fergus, in County Clare.

Two great European hotels spring to mind when saying ‘art afternoon tea’. One is Waldorf Astoria Cavallieri, above Rome, famed for its Tiepolos. The other, run since its 1997 start by very-Irish mine host Peter MacCann, is The Merrion, Dublin, where 159 priceless art works are more than enough reason for me, at least, to return to the Irish capital.

“The hills are alive with the sound of music,” sang Julie Andrews in the 1965 movie The Sound of Music. It appears that much of the world, including such luminaries as the Dubai-based President of Kerzner International (Atlantis and One&Only), are also SoM fans. Melinda Gates is such an SoM aficionado that she and her entire family celebrated her last big birthday with a themed party at Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, Austria, where much of it was shot. Yes, Bill Gates in lederhosen.