Best New Hotels 2007: Villa 32, Taipei, Taiwan

Taiwan, not Thailand, is home to one of Asia’s most exciting new spa retreats. Forty-five minutes by car from Taipei’s international airport, landscape worthy of a Chinese scroll painting unfurls on approach to Yangming Mountain. The retreat includes two Japanese tatami suites and three elegant Western rooms. Open-air public baths overlook the mist-covered mountain. Spa treatments include massages on heated tables that warm bodies between pre- and post-treatment plunges in waters from the Beitou hot springs.

Doubles (European style) from about $620, Japanese style from $970, www.villa32.com.