As we compiled this year’s Editors’ Choice Awards, which will be released on January 4, we took great pleasure in reminiscing about our stays at previous Hideaways of the Year. The properties below remain as enticing as ever, and we would return to any of them given the slightest excuse.

2022: Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort

Lanai City, Hawaii

Located in the cool highlands of Lanai, the exclusive 96-room Sensei Lanai is Four Seasons’ first wellness resort. Extravagant botanical gardens studded with world-class sculptures envelop the property, and contemporary art fills the interiors. Fitness, nutrition and mindfulness programs can be booked in addition to traditional activities such as snorkeling, sunset cruises, fishing, horseback riding and sporting clays. The spa has 10 Japanese-style treatment pavilions, plus a tranquil onsen garden and a large heated pool. Most guest quarters, designed in pleasing light neutral tones, are in wings flanking the large lobby lounge. Though dining options are limited to the excellent Sensei by Nobu and a bar with a garden terrace, shuttles connect this resort with the beachfront Four Seasons Resort Lanai. 

2021: The Lodge at Blue Sky

Wanship, Utah, United States

Our 2021 winner, The Lodge at Blue Sky, is a superb choice for a Western vacation, whether you are traveling as a couple or a family. The 46 accommodations have soothingly neutral color palettes, exposed-stone accent walls and extravagant baths. The excellent main restaurant has a terrace overlooking the lounger-lined infinity pool and sagebrush-covered hills beyond. A pretty spa has a second smaller pool. Elsewhere on the 3,500 acres are world-class stables with pampered rescue horses, a sporting center for clay pigeon shooting and ax throwing, a panoramic yoga deck and a High West Distillery branch. Skiing and snowshoeing are available in winter.