From here to infinity

Some views are unexpected, even astonishing. Of the pyramids of Giza from the Mena House Oberoi, or of the Taj Mahal, from every room of the Amarvilas. One of several palatial hotels developed by Oberoi in India a decade ago, the Amarvilas is reminiscent of a modern-day Mughal palace, featuring acres of marble and twinkling fountains and arched windows looking across the treetops to the creamy domes of the Taj Mahal only 600m away. Many rooms have balconies and the suites on the top floor command the best views.

The garden view as highly as its ocean counterpart

SEAFRONT resort operators may not rate the garden view as highly as its ocean counterpart but at times green is preferable to blue. Through the ancient windows of a bedchamber at Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire, for instance, on to the oldest Tudor garden in England, thrumming in summer with plump bumblebees. Fit for a king, The Tower Room at the top of the castle, accessed by a stone spiral staircase, features the most elevated views to the distant River Severn. Nevertheless every glimpse and glance through these narrow windows, tucked into metre-thick walls, will transport you straight to the pages of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall.

Ocean views come in many guises and in this part of the world we are spoilt for choice, with countless Southeast Asian and Pacific resorts offering lovely, often spectacular, ocean and beach aspects. Nevertheless none so blue as the view from the thatched bungalows of the Four Seasons Bora Bora resort, located on a remote coral atoll in French Polynesia. This is the blue they're going for in the Downtown Dubai lake, yet here it's the real deal: lapis, aquamarine and azure all the way down to the sandy bottom. The luxurious overwater bungalows are spaced out along four handsomely weathered piers. Each bungalow is an ocean-going kaleidoscope, bouncing light off the water through windows in the floor. There are views from bed and bath, with a ladder dropping straight into the lagoon from a private terrace.