Sacramonte Landscape Hotel - Maldonado, Uruguay

Escaping from the madding crowd is all very well, so long as one does it with minimal discomfort and inconvenience. 

Checking all the right boxes is this millennial getaway set in the wild sierras of Maldonado, about 30 clicks north of Uruguay’s Punta del Este and José Ignacio. The Brazilian and Uruguayan studio MAPA Architects have gently inserted 13 spacious cabins – prefabbed in Montevideo and assembled on-site with minimal disruption to the natural terrain – into a hundred hectares of grasslands, spring-water reservoirs, and vineyards bristling with tannat, merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes. 

The entire front of each cabin is sheathed in smoky one-way mirror glass which creates a simple but effective camouflage against the setting, whilst providing the interiors, which are lined with cool dark stone and oak wall panels, with uninterrupted views of the sierra. And set on a hilltop is a farm-to-table restaurant that serves barbecued lamb, veal and wild boar.