The ultimate round-the-world dream holiday

SELL the house and cash in your shares. It's time for our best ever round-the-world trip with nine stops that are just so hot right now.

Chahoya Spa. Picture: Supplied

SELL the house and cash in your shares! It's time for our ultimate round-the-world dream holiday with nine so-hot-right-now stops.

1. Start in lakeside luxury at Eichardt's, Queenstown, New Zealand (pictured above)

The world's favourite adventure capital is as famous for its lake and alpine setting as its outdoorsy activities on water, land or air. However you play, you'll want a rock-star position to enjoy the ever-present horizon of looming snow-capped peaks and Lake Wakatipu's punchy blue at day's end. Eichardt's hotel is the beating heart of this buzziest of ski towns. Built during the gold-rush era, early prospectors have now been replaced with locals who cosy up in the bar for whitebait and seafood chowder. The hotel's stone and wood character has been updated with a glass atrium and luxe furnishings.

The hotel's Lakefront Apartments, meanwhile, have dress-circle views over the wilderness that encircles the region. Nesting in front of the fireplace and snuggling under the possum rug puts the wonderland back into winter - even though all the bars, eateries, shopping and foreign accents of downtown Queenstown are footsteps away. Visit eichardts.com.

2. Shop up a storm in Buenos Aires, Argentina

It's so satisfying when travel cliches turn out to be true. Yes, the beautiful people of Buenos Aires, known as Porteños, love tango, eat late (so late; 10pm is for amateurs), and are seriously stylish. Fancy keeping up with the Juans? Hotfoot it to the suburb of Palermo and lose yourself in its wide, shaded streets and cobblestoned squares overflowing with fabulous places to eat and shop. The southern subdistrict of Palermo Soho is where those in the know give their credit cards a battering.

Seek out Papelera Palermo for gorgeous books and stationery, Félix for chic casuals and Josefina Ferroni for luscious shoes. For a more vintage vibe, check out San Telmo's antiques market, which spills into the Plaza Dorrego on Sundays, and comes complete with live music and tango displays. Bring a spare bag - you'll fill it.

3. Hide away in stately style at Ballyfin, County Laois, Ireland

Living out a fantasy is a great way to define luxury. If yours is an aristo house-party experience, then stately home Ballyfin will meet those great expectations. Set among the village greens, mountains and castles of County Laois in the Irish midlands, this Georgian gem was the aristocratic seat of the noble Coote family. After years of meticulous restoration, the architectural splendour of fanlights, four-poster beds and period Irish antiques is spellbinding once more.

Yes, a knight in shining armour lurks on the stairwell and the family portraits peering down from the silk damask walls are genuine (the Coote family kept the copies), but Ballyfin still pulls off the amazing feat of intimacy. The Irish gift for friendliness creates its own cocoon and the former lords and ladies' quarters are divided into just 15 rooms and suites, rare for a home of this grandeur. There are 600 acres to frolic in and local charmer Tony will showcase a little blarney as he takes you for a carriage ride to the property's medieval tower. And if you bring a whole house party, then swing on the chandeliers - you can be sure they'll be real. Visit ballyfin.com.

One of the room's. Picture: Sunday Style

4. Get fashion, darling at Yves Saint Laurent Couture House, Paris

If fashion is living history, capturing moments in time and culture, then travellers can enjoy a spell of voyeurism in the industry's inner sanctum. Yves Saint Laurent was one of the world's most lauded designers, creating collections that reverberated around the world from his maison de couture.

The luxurious salons of the Napoleon III mansion are now open to the public for guided tours only. This was the epicentre of the French couture world, in which Parisian craftspeople toiled through the night to make the vision of 'monsieur' - a Sun King-like figure - come alive.

Visitors can now stand in the very studio where Saint Laurent draped toiles on his house models before the glittering jetset came for their fittings, and pore over frozen moments in time.

Bolts of mousseline propped against the walls, alongside personal books on art deco, goths or Andy Warhol; a book of original sketches lying open or, poignantly, glasses left on the desk as if Saint Laurent himself were about to walk back in any moment, his bulldog at his feet. Visit fondation-pb-ysl.net.

5. Stay in magical mountains at Kasbah Tamadot, Marrakech, Morocco

In Marrakech, even the new quarter is medieval. High above the city's spice markets and unknowable labyrinth of alleyways lies one of the world's most exotic luxury experiences: Richard Branson's tantalisingly languid retreat in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. When Branson was mountain ballooning in the late '90s (as you do), he spotted the palace and had to have it. Since then he has used his own Ali Baba-esque wealth to bring it to life. Camels amble around the walled compound, a Valhalla of gardens, roof terraces, suites and Berber tents filled with Moroccan antiques - all tended by local villagers who add an indelible sense of place. Visit kasbahtamadot.virgin.com.

6. Crown yourself prince at Prince Eugene's Winter Palace, Vienna

The former winter palace of one of the city's most colourful characters is now open to lucky travellers and in an exquisite, chocolate-box city prized for its sublime Hapsburg imperial architecture and classical music culture, new attractions are rare - the air still reverberates with the sound of horses' hoofs on ancient cobblestones.

As soon as you walk through the door, the extent of Prince Eugene's astonishing rise is apparent. After arriving at court in 1683 as a penniless refugee, his military and social prowess brought him great fame, wealth and power - echoed in the sublime sculptures of powerful male nudes incorporated into the architecture and the opulence of the staterooms. Visit belvedere.at/en.

The Winter Palace. Picture: Sunday Style

7. Eat in foodie heaven at Seminyak, Bali

New York, Paris and now Bali … Seminyak has foodie hot spots popping up left, right and centre. There's Mejekawi, which sits atop upscale beach club Ku De Ta, where you can work through an innovative menu designed by chef Ben Cross combining western techniques and Indonesian flavours. For something a little bit more rock'n'roll, try Aussie expat Will Lovejoy's Lacalaca, which is the place to go for top Mexican food and good times.

If you've hit the tequila a little too hard, Petitenget is a charming European-style cafe. Repair the damage from the night before with good coffee, eggs and pastries, or drop in at night, when it turns into a restaurant/bar.

8. Relax in antique chic at Hotel Tugu, Lombok, Indonesia

In Indonesian, tugu means monument, and filled as it is with unique, priceless antiques sourced from Java and locally around Lombok, Hotel Tugu in the northwest serves as a bespoke step back in time. From the freaky statue with multiple arms standing by the pool (apparently the locals aren't too fond of this one), to the pure dadap merah suite, designed to resemble an

ancient temple and complete with private rooftop dining area, the whole resort is tailored to you. Each room is unique, and holiday-makers can eat on the private beach or take the resort's antique boat to the neighbouring Gili Islands for the day. Visit tuguhotels.com.

Hotel Tugu, Lombok. Picture: Sunday Style

9. Finish with a spa bliss-out at Chahoya Spa by L'Occitane, Broome, WA

When L'Occitane opened its first spa in Australia, it picked one of the most spectacular stretches of sand in the world, Cable Beach. Spa manger Cathy Kidgell says the town's laid-back vibe

permeates the spa experience. "It's really quite magical," she says. "Often, when people arrive, they're quite strung-out. They're coming from their planes and their busy lifestyles in the cities and then, when you see them after their first treatment, they've relaxed. You just see them slip into 'Broome time'." To experience it yourself, try the Journey to Provence treatment ($250). You'll wander out relaxed, happy and deep in Broome-time mode. Visit cablebeachclub.com.

Chahoya Spa. Picture: Supplied

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