"At this remote 78-room resort 90 miles southwest of Muscat, guests spend their days hiking (the hotel leads a number of excellent tours through ancient neighboring villages), swimming in the infinity-edge pool, with its views of the sheer canyons below, and generally forgetting the 21st century exists due to a distinct (and pleasant) absence of any sign of modern life. Hot List 2015 - Remote and Wild & Editor's Pick: Gold List 2018 At this spectacular new resort in the Jabal Akhdar Mountains of Oman, guests can hike through the valleys where rose water (a local delicacy) is made and have Turkish coffee with the old men who drink it the same way they've done for 600 years. The very experience is a ritual: of being welcomed into the village, of sitting and chatting with the old-timers who teach you how they press the roses between copper and terra-cotta for hours to create the aromatic water. then you can go watch the ladies cultivating the actual rose bushes. It's ancient, amazing, and totally exotic. Maria Shollenbarger"