Much to the chagrin of sun-worshiping beachgoers everywhere, summer has officially come to an end. But there are plenty of places to travel that are so strikingly peaceful they might just bring you to embrace fall. Here are six hotels, including a Tuscan hideaway and a Tennessee farm, that promise peaceful ways to enjoy the beautiful new season.
Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Morin / @jjmorin1/6Hotel Monteverdi in Tuscany
Tucked away in the 900-year-old village called Castiglioncello del Trinoro, this 12-room hotel and spa is situated on a hill overlooking a vineyard and rolling hills. Though there are four buildings on the property, in total they only house six rooms and six suites, some with unique features like wood-beamed ceilings, an 18th-century copper tub, private gardens, and views of the Val d’Orcia hilltop towns. If you can bring yourself to leave your room, Monteverdi offers excursions like truffle hunting, olive oil tastings, and hot air balloon tours.
Photo: Courtesy of Craig Retchless /cretchless2/6Salvato Mill in Salt Point, New York
A pre-Revolutionary mill house just two hours outside of New York City, this cozy hideaway privately owned home that can be reserved per day or per week and can sleep up to nine. While the exterior of the building remains much as one would imagine it looked when it was first built, the interior is decorated with striking mid-century modern decor. The home is surrounded by 11 acres of woods and a stream—the perfect setting to watch the leaves change and breathe in the fresh fall air upstate.
Photo: Courtesy of Ryan Parker / @dryanparker3/6Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee
Blackberry Farm is located on a 9,200-acre estate at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains and takes full advantage of its impressive natural setting. There’s hiking, biking, fly-fishing, horsemanship, mounted foxhunting, and a robust wellness program that includes lectures and outdoor yoga classes. The food in the hotel’s two restaurants is also sourced directly from the farm, with regional cuisine like Anson Mills grits and a wood oven roasted guinea hen.
Photo: Courtesy of The Inn at Little Washington4/6The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia
A grouping of several thoughtfully restored buildings, including a 1850’s Victorian home and two 1740's cottages, The Inn at Little Washington is at first striking for its colonial charm and strikingly sumptuous interiors, but cements its status as a world-class property with its cuisine. Since it was founded in 1978, the Inn has won five James Beard awards, has been rated number one in all categories by Zagat for the last 14 years, and and its interior design has even been the subject of a Rizzoli tome. But possibly the best part? Because of its relatively remote location, there is limited cell phone service, so walks around the private trails and gardens will feel all the more serene.
Photo: Courtesy of Zoe GoLightly / @zoegolightly5/6Bovey Castle in Dartmoor National Park, Devon, England
Sitting by a warm fireplace after a brisk round of golf is great. Sitting by a warm fireplace after round of golf at a massive English castle is even better. Bovey, originally built in 1907 and home to an 18-hole championship golf course, is one of the most stunning properties in the English countryside. The castle boasts 63 spacious hotel rooms and 22 three-story private lodges for rent. Aside from the castle itself, the Dartmoor National Park, on which the hotel is situated, is home to sweeping moorlands and woodlands, with fall-friendly activities like cider making and skeet shooting.
Photo: Courtesy of _haalterr_ / @_haalterr_6/6Hotel Waldhaus in Sils Maria, Switzerland
Like something out of a fairy tale, or a Wes Anderson film, the Hotel Waldhaus is everything that a fall and early winter hotel should be. Think: snowcapped mountains, lush forests, and a placid lake. Oh, and its village was a favorite hideaway of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Built in 1908, more than half of the guests here are typically Swiss, with certain families that have been visiting the Waldhaus every year for generations. The interiors carry a sense of Old World charm, and the landscape offers the ability to hike in the mountains or enjoy a motorboat ride on Lake Sils.
