Verana is an intimate boutique hotel on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Tucked in a remote hillside jungle just thirty miles south of Puerto Vallarta and accessible only by boat, Verana boasts luxury private accommodations with a backdrop of stunning water and mountain views.

Arriving by private pier you’re led to the full-service jungle spa, the first of the hotel’s two restaurants ad then it’s a 15-minute hike through the jungle, up winding stone steps to the hotel.

Verana’s nine individually-designed villas dotting the hillside combine the traditional architecture with modern design, with indoor/outdoor living. The hotel’s lush natural surroundings make it effortless to relax.

Dramatic views overlooking the bay from the hotel’s second restaurant and spa location.

A spring water pool with 180-degree views of the mountains and ocean, spa treatments, yoga classes, kayaking, whale and bird watching excursions, starlit baths (as good as it sounds, lit only by the heavens and candlelight) and the like. The nearby town of Yelapa is just a twenty minute hike away, with a long, lovely beach and a local celebrity of sorts—”the cake lady” who walks up and down the beach carrying delicious cakes and pies on her head for sale. Plan accordingly though, the trail between Yelapa and Verana is impassible when the tide is in.

Urnatur translating to ‘essence of nature’, is a Swedish forest getaway, where visitors can stay in cabins and spend time reconnecting with nature. The unique hand-crafted cottages and tree-houses are located in the Swedish Holaved Forest, and work in harmony with their surrounding environment.

UrNatur opened the doors to the wood hermitage in 2007. 6-15 guests can fit in the hermitage and can occupy six cabins. Only the conference hall and the tin castle, has access to electricity. UrNatur is perfect for day-long workshops, seminaries, lectures and other activities.

Forester Håkan Strotz and Biologist and Designer Ulrika Krynitz, bought the small farm Sjögetorp in 1993. Håkan worked as a teacher at Omberg’s Nature School, while Ulrika founded a textile design company ‘Qualle’ in 1999. during many summers they organized a handcraft festival called ‘ragnarök’. with strong shared interests in design and crafts, but also nature, ethno-biology, self-sustainability and cooking, the UrNatur project slowly took form.

The owners wanted to be able to offer a fantastic experience – similar to those of our parent’s generation – for city people who spend too much time far from nature. Houses are built from the storm-felled trees and are designed and built from scratch by Håkan.

Guests cook on an open fire and a single 12 volt lamp is powered by solar cells on top of the bath house roof.

All food offered at UrNatur is local, wild crafted or home grown. The bath house is the largest of all the houses, it contains a wood fired sauna, which heats two generous wash rooms.

via designboom, video from the Anthropologist via Kristin

The Bardessono Napa Valley is a LEED-Platinum certified hotel, restaurant and spa very luxurious while still earth friendly. Secluded on five acres of gardens and vineyards, the 62-room hotel offers a green spa, that is heated and cooled by an underground geothermal system, smart guestrooms in buildings crafted from hand-milled, reclaimed wood and steel and 93-seat restaurant headed by Executive Chef Sean O’Toole. (lots of biodynamic wine selections)

The advanced environmental technologies at Bardessono ensure a carbon footprint of zero while you relax in luxury. 940 rooftop solar panels provide all the electricity the hotel requires.

A portion of your room rate is donated to the Napa Valley Land Trust. Rooms are equipped with In Fiore bath products, Coyuchi bed linens, and 40-inch Sony LCD HDTVs. Internet, valet parking, and bicycles for touring the town of Yountville are included in your rate. The Bardessono is the second hotel to ever receive LEED Platinum certification and the first for California!

Set amongst Sweden’s dense 140 year old Northern boreal forest are seven futuristic structures that that are Treehotel, an innovative project by husband and wife team Britta Jonsson-Lindvall and Kent Lindvall. Treehotel was inspired by Swedish indie director Jonas Selberg Augustsén’s 2008 eco-documentary Trädälskaren-the Tree Lover, which followed a group of friends who leave their mundane jobs and move to the woods, building their own tree house home.

The Lindvalls’ tree dwellings were designed by some of Sweden’s most cutting-edge architects, including Bertil Harström, Tham & Videgård, Sandell Sandberg, Inredningsruppen, Marge Architects and Cyren & Cyren. The seven micro dwellings include “The Bird’s Nest,” a circular pod covered in twisted branches, and “The Tree Sauna,” an elevated take on the steamy sauna of Scandinavia.

Each mini tree house is powered by sustainable electricity and is attached to its respective tree via a metal clamp that adjusts for tree growth rather than with screws and nails that would damage the trees. Treehotel lies approximately 60 km South of the Arctic circle in stillness and wilderness undisturbed.

Watch this Reuters Treehotel video.

Hapuku Lodge in Kaikoura New Zealand is a luxury wilderness accommodation offering 5 contemporary treehouses. This unique rural experience includes use of the lodge lap pool, sauna & exercise room, and very nearby whale watching. Designed by the owner’s family who are architects and designers, the Hapuku has four addition spacious lodge suites and an Olive House Apartment. Situated within the landscaped grounds of a deer farm and olive grove, all rooms have views of Kaikoura’s environment of mountains, fertile pastures, native bush and the Pacific Ocean. The lodge and accommodations are designed to complement the environment, featuring timbers and local stone in their construction and handcrafted furnishings in interior design. The dining room sources the freshest local ingredients, even growing some ingredients on site, with a large New Zealand wine list.