The best retreats for barefoot luxury travel

Luxury is a subjective notion – for some, it’s as simple as a hot bath; for others, it might be somewhat more lavish, involving lashings of vintage champagne (or perhaps a combination of the two). But when it comes to hotel design, the term can ring alarm bells – all too often ‘luxury’ is a byword for diamanté-encrusted bling and dark-polished surfaces, a concept that can leave us cold.