WHETHER YOU WANT to kiss on a castaway island or tangle in a Tanzanian treehouse, the world's most seductive bolt holes are guaranteed to put you in the mood for love. Sauciest, by far, has to be London's Portobello Hotel, favoured by rock stars such as Alice Cooper, Van Morrison and Tina Turner, and the place where Kate Moss and Johnny Depp are said to have bathed in bubbly (that's Bollinger not Badedas). Located in the heart of Notting Hill, rooms range from the flagrantly funky to the simply sexy, and include two moodily dark Moroccan chambers, and a four-poster room that boasts a giant Elizabethan bed complete with steps to help you clamber in. The 'waterworks' room features a Victorian bathing machine on its own little island, behind a round bed. Although there's no restaurant at the hotel, guests can visit sister establishment, Julie's, a raffish eatery patronised by the likes of Sean Connery and Madonna. It's known for its gothic-bohemian style and seedy sitting room, referred to by Londoners as the 'snog pit'. (Moroccan rooms $2,824; four-poster room $3,883; waterworks room $3,883. 22 Stanley Gardens, London, W11, tel: [44] 20 7727 2777; www.portobello-hotel.co.uk ) Lovers who fancy a smouldering location might like Mahakua-Hacienda de San Antonio in Mexico. Nestled in the foothills of a smoking volcano (about 200km from Guadalajara), the strawberry-pink hacienda is on a 2,023-hectare working ranch, complete with glassy lagoons, coffee plantation and a neo-Roman aqueduct. Mahakua is Mexico's first Amanresort - an airy, suite-only retreat where you can get a massage beside a crackling log fire, and where you're always within earshot of running water, thanks to the fountain-filled gardens. The service is stupendous: salsa snacks materialise at your elbow, poolside, and dinner is served at a private table set up in a different location each night. Huge candles light the scene, a brace of waiters helps you through the menu, and ponchos are thoughtfully placed on the back of your chair should the night air turn nippy. (Suites $7,380-$13,206. Municipio de Comala, CP 28450, Colima, Mexico, tel: [52] 312 313 4411; www.mahakua.com ) If you want your relationship to reach new heights, Lake Manyara Tree Lodge in Tanzania is the place to go. It features 10 rooms cradled in the boughs of ancient mahogany trees. The lodge is situated on the edge of the Great Rift Valley, and overlooks watering holes alive with elephants, zebra and the park's fabled tree-climbing lions (don't worry, they like only 17 of the trees in the area, so you should be safe in yours). Each leafy lair features neutral colours, contemporary furniture and native art. Plus there's a personal butler, treetop showers, and private decks with vast swinging loungers. Ernest Hemingway was inspired to write Green Hills Of Africa after staying at Manyara, and it doesn't take long before guests empathise with his inspiration. (Treehouses $2,758-$3,845. Contact CC Africa on [27] 11 809 4300; www.ccafrica.com ) Famously louche, the Hotel Costes in Paris was designed by Jacques Garcia, whose ethos of 'all things in excess' has been fully embraced. From the candlelit lobby to the lipstick-red sofas, this place oozes sensuality - and that's before you reach the cosily intimate bedrooms where the heavy curtains, seductive beds and gilt detailing are reminiscent of Josephine Bonaparte's boudoir. Exquisite languor aside, there's also a fearfully expensive bar where le tout Paris gathers to see and be seen (the celeb quotient is high), and some seriously stylish shopping slap-bang on your doorstep. Sex and the city - who could ask for anything more? (Rooms $4,368-$10,930. 239 rue St-Honore, 1st arrondissement, Paris, 75001, tel: [33] 1 4244 5000; www. hotelcostes.com) Mnemba Island Lodge, on a pristine African atoll off the coast of Zanzibar, is rated by Conde Nast Traveller magazine as one of the three most romantic hotels in the world. Each of the 10 secluded cottages spills onto a heart-shaped swathe of sand, and comes with bleached-wood furnishings and bathroom painted turquoise to match the Indian Ocean. Although the coral reef encircling the island is guaranteed to keep divers goggle-eyed for hours, the languorous pace is perfect for the drop-and-flop crowd. Dinner is served on the beach, and baskets filled with lobsters and tropical fruit are brought in under sail on a traditional ngalawa outrigger. (Cottages $3,845- $4,855. Contact CC Africa on [27] 11 809 4300; www.ccafrica.com ) Twin Farms in Vermont is the perfect place for couples who like canoodling outdoors. An alluring idyll surrounded by mountains, lakes and wildflower fields, it has four guest suites in the main house, plus cottages dotted among the trees. This is rural at its ritziest. Books, antiques and paintings by the likes of Hockney, Lichtenstein and Twombly decorate the lodge. The cottages have big beds, log fires and jacuzzis - perfect for easing aching muscles after a day skiing, hiking, swimming or fishing. Lovers will relish the intimate nooks at Twin Farms: a pair of Adirondack chairs under an ancient chestnut tree are perfect for whispering sweet nothings, while the Japanese bathhouse, nestled deep in the woods, is ideal for amorous trysts. (Main house rooms $7,380-$8,545; cottages $8,545-$20,198. Barnard, Vermont, 05031, tel: [1] 802 234 9999; www.twinfarms.com ) Located on the Grand Canal in Venice, a stone's throw from St Mark's Square, Il Palazzo at the Bauer is within an authentic palazzo and screams romance with a capital R. The VIP wing of the Bauer Hotel - fresh from a multimillion-dollar renovation - has 35 palatial rooms and 40 suites kitted out in a decadent palette of gold, purple and red. For over-the-top romance, choose a room with a balcony or terrace overlooking the Grand Canal, where gondoliers glide past during the summer months. High season is not necessarily the best time to visit. Go during February and you can take advantage of a Valentine's package, tourist-free streets, magical mists rising off the lagoon, and the chance to frolic freely in the hotel's rooftop jacuzzi. Now that's amore. (Double room with Grand Canal view $3,980-$6,309. San Marco, 1459, 30124 Venice, tel: [39] 041 520 7022; www.bauervenezia.com ) Desert landscapes are always ineffably seductive, which is why the newly opened Dar Ahlam in Morocco is such a hit. Hidden from view on a dusty road near the Atlas Mountains, this rose-coloured fortress has a vast lantern-lit courtyard, stone swimming pool, outdoor massage tents, jacuzzi and hammam (Arabic bathhouse). Accommodation consists of eight suites and three cottages, each of which has been differently decorated in such colours as deep purple, raspberry-pink and pistachio-green. The spacious bathrooms are stocked with fragrant oils, and dinner is served at a different location each night, with tables positioned to catch the moonlight. There are sunrise champagne picnics to the Valley of Roses, and nightly visits to the desert for stargazers. (Suites from $7,375. Palmeraie de Skoura, Ouarzazate, tel: [212] 4485 2239; www.darahlam.com ) Couples seeking total romance will love Amandari in Bali, where a sense of spirituality - and the scent of frangipani - pervades. Built to replicate a traditional village, complete with breezy salas and cobbled paths, the hotel is perched high above the Ayung river gorge, and has blissful views over rice terraces and volcanoes. Guest pavilions are surrounded by courtyards to guarantee privacy, and come with lavish marble flooring and outdoor baths strewn with petals. Staff treat newly-weds with the greatest respect, and hang yellow banners outside the entrance to their pavilions. The infinity pool is particularly alluring by night when the three-man gamelan band strike up. (Villas $4,855-$24,082. Kedewatan, Ubud, tel: [62] 361 975 333; www. amanresorts.com) Due to open next month, Huvafen Fushi in the Maldives offers the last word in liquid hedonism. The hotel has 26 overwater bungalows, and the world's first sub-aqua spa, with treatments for two in glass-walled rooms beneath the sea. From the moment you arrive (by speedboat or seaplane from Mahe), you'll be knocked sideways by the impossible romance of the place. Outsized beds are the central focus in the deluxe accommodation, while Bose surround sound systems and private plunge pools provide fitting accompaniments. There's also an underwater bar, an overwater yoga pavilion, and eateries with names like Salt and Blue. (Lagoon bungalows from $4,661. PO Box 2017, North Male Atoll, tel: [960] 444 222; www.huvafenfushi.com )