Boutique buds of May: coastal cool in Cornwall, and a trip down memory lane in the Berkshires

May is a festive month of bank holidays, cherry blossom, people attached to ribbons dancing around a pole and the Eurovision Song Contest. We like May. We’re heralding its arrival by joining in with the fun (hotel-shaped, of course)…

This month, we sent our spies westwards to Cornwall to comb the coast in search of hot new hotels. They reported back with Boskerris, a breezy Med-style villa, Salt House, a two-bedroom boutique B&B, and The Scarlet, an eco spa retreat with hot tubs hanging on the cliff face.

We also made a trip down to Shaftesbury, the Hovis-favoured Dorset town, and found Hotel Grosvenor, a modernised Georgian manor that’s home to some especially fine dining.

A whistlestop tour of some bright-light cities revealed Babuino 181, a chic pied à terre in Rome, The Surrey, an NY Beaux Arts beauty, and Shoreditch Rooms, a newly accessible private members’ club in London.

We also fell in love with 20th-century Blantyre, an enchanted estate in the Berkshires with 220 acres and a host of snowy activities to its name, new to our Smith Vintage collection.

Over in Asia, our latest discoveries in Luang Prabang, Laos, were high on French colonial charm: Satri House, a pretty former royal residence, The Apsara Rive Droite an intimate riverside retreat with its own boat, and Amantaka, a heritage-luxe Aman offering.

In Cambodia, we came over all modern, favouring Viroth’s Hotel, a hip Siem Reap with rooftop masseurs and Knai Bang Chatt, a Le Corbusier-influenced seaside sanctuary and our first coastal getaway in Kep.

For the first time, we forayed over to the Philippines, discovering Abacá Boutique Resort & Restaurant, a spa-toting island hideaway with seriously seductive rooms.

We’re staying mostly Continental next month, with ones to watch in Italy, France, Spain, Germany and Greece, via Brazil, Bali and Vietnam. Check back in June.