The Villa D’Este on Lake Como in Italy. Heaven, absolute heaven.
My vote goes toward the Port Orleans: River Side (Dixie Landings) resort at Disney World. The atmosphere is unmatched by any other hotel I have ever been too.
The Al-Bustan Palace Hotel near Seeb, Oman. Its owned by Intercontinental, but it is actually an old palace belonging to the Sultan- he gave IC the lower 19 (I think) floors and kept the top five for himself and his staff, although he’s never there.
It has its own private beach (which is fantastic, and ringed by jellyfish nets unlike Oman’s other beaches), a gigantic pool, well, two, and there’s an old fella burning frankincense in the (frighteningly large) lobby 24 hours a day.
The Doha (Qatar) Gulf Hotel is also rather nice, although I was only seven or so when I stayed there.
And English dopers may know of what I speak here- there’s a hotel in Bakewell (close to Chesterfield) where Jane Austen stayed while writing Pride and Prejudice… the Austen suite is lovely, but I can’t remember the hotel name…