Blanket Bay - Otago, New Zealand

Hiking, horseback riding, kayaking, skiing, fishing—all are just moments away. Granted, the stone-and-timber lodge, with its 30-foot-high Great Room, looks more like it belongs in the Rocky Mountains than the Southern Alps (as New Zealand’s South Island mountains are known), but it’s such a beauty that no one’s going to quibble about local design. Plus, the surrounding scenery (the location for the Lord of the Rings saga) is so staggering in its jagged-mountain and glassy-lake drama that you’re grateful for the tall windows to take it all in. READ FULL REVIEW »