The small spits of granite paradise, way out 1000 miles east of Africa in an isolated part of the Indian Ocean, are looking better and better these days. While both getting there and staying there are not cheap, the lucky few who can dish up the cash will find unmatched scenery and luxury.

 If Money is No Object: Frégate Island
Starting Rate: 1200 Euro ($1877) per person per night; minimum three night stay
Frégate Island is like an elite club for billionaires and their families. The private three square kilometer granite island has room enough for 40 guests, along with a marina for visiting yachtsmen. Each of the 16 jaw dropping colonial-style villas made of native mahogany has a huge private terrace and an infinity pool overlooking the ocean, a Jacuzzi, a personal golf cart and private butler service. Seven powdery beaches including Anse Victorin (oft considered the most beautiful in the world), two restaurants, a beach bar, a kid’s clubhouse, PADI dive center, guided nature hikes, windsurfing and sailing lessons are all found on the tiny island as well. And the resort is eco-sensitive to boot: their giant tortoise nursery is one of the leading nature conservation projects in the Seychelles.

Smart Luxury: l’Archipel
Starting Rate: Doubles from 367 Euro ($574) per night
This small, secluded resort is one of the more budget-minded properties in the über-luxe Seychelles, but still posh enough for the honeymoon of your dreams. l’Archipel is submerged in tropical gardens on the northeast coast Praslin. There are 30 rooms and suites ranging from 44 to 120 square meters, all with additional verandas where your breakfast will be served. The resort hosts poolside candlelight dinners twice a week and arranges fly fishing, scuba diving and windsurfing in the turquoise Seychellois waters. When you get tired of your own private stretch of Talcum powder sand, you can hop on a water taxi over to the Saint Pierre islands or to Anse Lazio or Anse Georgette beaches, where the rates are double.

Smart Family: Banyan Tree Seychelles
Starting Rate: Hillside pool villas from 1010 Euro ($1,578) per night
The land that the Banyan Tree is set on—on the island of Mahé, the largest in the archipeligo—was once owned by Beatle George Harrison. The resort breathes privacy in its contemporary plantation-style villas, each with its own private plunge pool and veranda. While younger children might not appreciate the resorts private feel, Thai spa, contemporary Thai food with African influences or 75-foot infinity pool perched above the ocean, they will enjoy the public beach, Anse Intendance, right in front of the resort. And Banyan Tree just recently added a two-bedroom, 800 square foot villa with two pools and a 24-hour villa host; one of the most family friendly accommodations in the Seychelles.

While Red Light Districts and coffeehouses are one side of Europe’s other city of water, fine galleries and museums, designer shopping, stylish boutique hotels and old world renovations are the other. With an increasing number of direct flights from across North America, Amsterdam has never been as easy to reach. Here are three options on where to stay:

If Money is No Object: The Dylan
Starting Rate: Standard doubles 455 Euros ($721) per night
It’s not that Dylan, but still remarkably cool. The stylish 17th century landmark hotel on the Keizersgracht canal is to many the ultimate boutique accommodation. Each of the 41 sumptuous rooms and suites is individually designed, and they’re known throughout Europe for their cool color schemes. Every room has a theme. Examples include the Klassbol—entirely raspberry red and elephant grey with striped draping around the 4 poster bed—and the Kimono —with hand painted Japanese kimonos, hand painted white oriental china and black lacquer wood flooring. The Dylan’s restaurant, lobby and other common areas exude a sleek and contemporary confidence that, when paired with the guest rooms, gives it an edge that would be hard to recreate in any other city.

Smart Luxury: Lloyd Hotel and Cultural Embassy
Starting Rate: 95 Euros ($150) per night
The building that the Lloyd occupies in Amsterdam’s Eastern docklands area has had many past lives; first as a hotel for emigrant’s heading to the Americas, then a prison for 50 years and finally a workshop for artists before it’s reopening as a hipster hotel in 2004. Everyone of the 117 rooms differs in size and décor and has been redesigned by a wide variety of renowned Dutch architects, designers and artists. Get this—rooms range from one star (95 Euros) with shared bathrooms to five stars (450 Euros) with unusual extras like an eight person bed in one and a fiberglass bath in the center of the room in another. Something in the middle? Three star rooms feature contemporary furniture from Dutch artists like Ineke Hans and Tjalko Lokhorst.

Smart Family: The House Boat
Starting Rate: Doubles from 135 Euros ($213) per night
While Amsterdam is probably not the first city you think of when the words “family friendly” come to mind, if you’re creative, there is no better place. Enter: houseboats. Docked on the canals that run throughout the city, these floating flats are generally more spacious, have better amenities and a view of the city that you could not get elsewhere. The House Boat, a Dutch company, has a dozen or so boats set up in prime locations all over the central districts of the city. Most can fit a family of 2-5, though some can sleep as many as 14 guests. Most of the ships have been renovated in the past five years and feature contemporary décor and furnishings, kitchens and outdoor patios with small gardens.

This beautifully preserved and protected archipelago just southeast of the Bahamas is home of to some of the most luxurious hotels and resorts in the Caribbean. The Turks and Caicos are a place where the Caribbean is still raw and exotic. Here are three choices of accommodations to prove it:

If Money is No Object: Amanyara
Starting Rate: Pavilion Rooms from $1,100 per night; Villas $3,950 per night
Amanyara, near Malcolm’s Beach on Providenciales, is the almost magical Caribbean resort you always hoped existed. The numerous reflecting ponds and infinity pools are scattered around the property so elegantly that they merge with the landscape and make the timber shingle pavilions and villas—each of which has one of their three terraces extending over the water—seem like their own tiny islands. Each of the 40 accommodations is wrapped in sliding glass doors and windows, with flat screens and polished sand-coloured terrazzos with teak inlays, and measures a boyond spacious 1,250 square feet. The hotel sits at the Northwest point, at an isolated end of a 5,000-acre nature preserve, and is fronted by a white sandy beach a short boat ride from some of the best diving in the area.

Smart Luxury: Parrot Cay
Starting Rate: Garden View Doubles from $525
Since being taken over by the exclusive Como chain, Parrot Cay, the private 1,000-acre islet that’s home to only this resort and a few private villas, has upped the exclusivity and luxuries that the many visiting celebrities prize. Rooms are stylish without being too trendy or stuffy—think four poster beds draped with mosquito nets, Balinese furniture and hardwood floors matched with white cotton. The best features are saved for the beach houses and villas, which are graced with plunge pools or full-sized swimming pools and face a mile long beach. The resort is most notably home to Como’s Shambala Retreat, a massive, state of the art health and holistic healing facility where many of the world’s spiritual leaders pilot frequent meditation, yoga and detoxification retreats.

Smart Family: Beaches
Starting Rate: All-inclusive doubles from $560
This massive 453-room mega-resort complex, the largest in the Turks and Caicos, is one of the premier all-inclusive family resorts in the Caribbean. If you’re looking for a romantic weekend—or dislike kids—go elsewhere, but for those packing tots or teenagers, the 12 miles of beach, 10 specialty restaurants, 12 bars serving unlimited premium drinks, 5 pools, supervised kids camp, teen disco, water park, Xbox 360 Game garage and certified nanny service are sure to appeal. With all this, you’d expect the rooms to resemble a Chuck E. Cheese, but they’re surprisingly elegant, with mahogany furniture, marble bathrooms and four poster beds. In January of 2009 the resort will open their more posh Italian Village section, and add a new water park ten times the size of Pirate Island.

Spring Break has ended, so you can finally return to a Yucatan Peninsula sans MTV and wet t-shirt contests. The Riviera Maya, the more sophisticated, secluded and stylish alternative to Cancun, is opening up five-star luxury properties at a dizzying rate. Here are three for the season:

If Money is No Object: Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya
Starting Rate: Deluxe Rooms $595; Premier Rooms from $870 per night
One of the über-luxe Mandarin Oriental chain’s few existing forays in the Americas—though many more are in the works—the just opened Riviera Maya location at Playa del Carmen combines white walls, blue sea and green jungle better than anyone. The 128 rooms and suites are set in bungalow style, two-level villas with bamboo floors and lake, lagoon or ocean views. Best room in the house? The 2,600 square foot Presidential Villa, with three bedrooms, a private pool, spa, sauna, butler and personal chef. Other highlights? The resort is set on 36 acres of tropical forest, 23 Mexican artists have laid installations in the 6 courtyards and contributed to the design and decor, and Temazcal treatments are available in their 25,000 square foot spa.

Smart Luxury: Casa Magna
Starting Rate: Standard rooms from $225 per night
Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s oceanfront estate and adjoining guest house sat vacant and deteriorating for years after his 1993 death, but the owner of nearby Amansala resort—and the Bikini Boot Camp up the beach—completely renovated the property and, after a spiritual cleanse from a Tibetan Monk, opened it to the public in 2005. Now Tulum’s bohemian-chic Casa Magna is home to yoga sessions, Wi-fi, six-night cleanses, mosaic tiled floors and bathrooms, lots of throw pillows and oversized soaking tubs. Some of the spacious rooms are large enough to sleep a family of six, while either of the villas can be rented out entirely beginning at $15,500 for six nights, including personal chefs and maids.

Smart Family: Xpu-Ha Palace
Starting Rate: All inclusive doubles from $347.
While obnoxious, highly un-Mexican family playgrounds are now a staple on the Riviera Maya, upscale family oriented resorts have also turned up. Xpu-Ha Palace is one of the better choices. It’s still plenty upscale, but they’ve managed to work in some kid-friendly features—like a fresh water river running through a cave, lagoon and reef that you can kayak and snorkel through. While there are still the beaches and pools you’d expect, there’s a touch of wilderness as well—with crocodiles, turtles, flamingos, monkeys, deer and manatees on the grounds that can be seen during scheduled feeding times. All of the 147 thatched roof bungalows feature double Jacuzzis, balconies/terraces with hammocks, satellite TV, and minibars.