Best New Hotels 2008:Kayumanis Nanjing

China has plenty of five-star hotels, but few that really scale the peaks of hospitality. Until now. On its first foray out of Indonesia, the Kayumanis hotel group picked an idyllic site outside the former capital and invested it with 21 red-tiled villas, dressed in a variety of Chinese and Asian styles, each wrapped around a stone-paved courtyard with a lap pool and alfresco tub fed with hot spring water from the Tangshan Mountains. An extensive spa treatment menu provides ample diversion.

We love The sense of Bali beamed up to the heart of China. And no under-12s.

Villas from about $555, www.kayumanis.com.
ED PETERS