Five HELLO!-approved winter sun hotspots – chosen by a travel writer

From classic resorts that have found their feet over decades to new cruises through relatively undiscovered territory, there are warm winter escapes for every kind of traveller these days. And as the inevitable seasonal downpours begin – alongside the animated discussions about when to turn on the heating – there's never been a better time to book one. Below, I've rounded up my old favourites alongside some new options that are top of my must-do list.

Goldeneye, Jamaica

Best for: Gen X glam

© Alan Smith

Like everything that was cool in the 1990s, Island Outpost’s Jamaican properties are firmly in vogue once more. Set up by Island Record’s boss Chris Blackwell and once a favourite of the super models, this collection of three hotels (plus the villa where writer Ian Fleming dreamed up James Bond) still has star-factor. On lush Oracabessa Bay, GoldenEye is the best of all, with the same boho cottages, topnotch goat curry and palm-backed beach that Kate Moss et al fell in love with long ago – plus a 21st century upgrade which includes a curved pool overlooking the sand and larger two-bed villas.

How to book it: cottages cost from £448 ($660) per night, room only.

Dolphin’s Motel, New South Wales

Best for: retro road-tripping

I’ve fallen hard for a three-star – and it’s next on my list of must-stays. Dolphins Motel is a retro dream of a revamped hotel strategically placed in Mollymook along Australia’s Sapphire Coast, making it an ideal road trip stop-off on languid journeys from Sydney to Tahra during New South Wales’s warm summers.  Taking its design cues from the 1960s, it comes with a muted palette of mustard and earth, a pool trimmed in yellow-and-white striped umbrellas and tiled with a gloriously kitsch dolphin motif, and surfboards and bikes so guests can tackle the waves or pedal off towards golden sand. There’s the local market (every fifth Saturday) and Mollymook’s excellent seafood restaurants, including one from Rick Stein, as well as whale-watching and oyster eating along this stretch too.

How to book it: king rooms cost from £127 ($172).

Four Seasons Resort at Anahita, Mauritius

Best for: classic December sunshine

Minimal time difference, 30°C temperatures and white sand beaches straight from the ads make Mauritius a no-brainer for a winter sun-and-sea getaway. Away from the more built-up West coast (albeit quite far from the attractions), Four Seasons Resort at Anahita has long been my favourite getaway on the island, with a dreamy setting on a sprawling, hidden-away estate. Now that it’s had a multi-million pound revamp, I’m keen to go back to see the redecorated villas all done up in quietly luxurious neutrals – as well as the new overwater spa.

How to book it: Pool Villas from £1,249 ($1,690) per night, B&B.

AmaWaterways boat in Colombia 

Best for: a different type of cruise

© Getty Images

I’m not usually a big fan of cruises but AmaWaterways’s new routes along the Magdalena river sum up a new approach to boat-based holidays that I find really appealing. Over seven nights, guests sail from Barranquilla to Cartagena (where temperatures top 30°C in winter), passing riverside villages and sleepy colonial towns. Shore excursions are a world away from the usual coach trips to packed tourist sites: try your hand at filigree during a workshop, disembark to weave through untouched wetlands on a smaller boat and explore Palenque, founded by escaped slaves and alive with the sound of UNESCO-recognised drum rhythms.

How to book it: the seven-night cruise costs from £4,039 ($5,462) including meals and some excursions but excluding flights.

Bancal Hotel, La Gomera

Best for: changing your mind about the Canaries

© Silvia Gil-Roldan

It may be just 50 minutes by ferry from Tenerife but the island of La Gomera is, quite literally, wildly different, as the Bancal Hotel – on a former tomato plantation – shows. While there is a world-class spa, rooms and restaurants are beautifully simple in design, done up in whitewash and raffia and allowing guests to focus on the dramatic landscape outside. 

It really is something: La Gomera comes with deep black volcanic beaches, the UNESCO-protected laurel forests of Garajonay National Park and a wonderfully sleepy ancient capital, San Sebastian de la Gomera, which was Columbus’s last stop-off before he hit the wide-open Atlantic. It’s proof that you don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to have a winter adventure in the sunshine.

How to book it: Tui has a week, including flights, from £688pp ($927), B&B.