The Heart of America - The 5 best Heartland hotels

Hotel Amangani Resort,

Wyoming

The only Aman property in the US is a masterpiece of understated chic and mesmerising views. Spacious rooms have fireplaces and deep soaking tubs, while generously proportioned facilities include a library, health centre and jaw-dropping outdoor pool. This makes a stunning base for skiing at Jackson Hole or hiking in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

1535 North East Butte Road, Jackson, Wyoming 83001 (001 307 734 7333; www.amangani.com). Doubles from $700/pounds 390.

Harriet O'Brien

Triple Creek Ranch,

Montana

In the heart of Montana is a guest ranch that offers horse-riding, mountain biking, hiking, fishing and skiing. However, this is the rugged outdoors for the not-so-hardy. Accommodation is in luxury log cabins such as the decidedly plush Castle, Rock, Sapphire and Stage Stop. The latter has a huge river-rock fireplace and a log-post bed.

Triple Creek Ranch, Darby, Montana 59829 (001 406 821 4600; www.triplecreekranch.com). Cabins from $510/pounds 285 full board.

Lucy Gillmore

Dunton Hot Springs,

Colorado

No two cabins are alike in this 19th-century gold-rush town turned luxury resort. Set in meadows between two national forests, Dunton comes complete with a frontier-town saloon, tepee, hot springs and 11 log cabins restored by local and Native American craftsmen.

Dunton Hot Springs, PO Box 818, Dolores, Colorado 81323 (001 970 882 4800; www.duntonhotsprings.com). Cabins from $250/pounds 140.

LG

Oak Alley Plantation,

Louisiana

Set on the banks of the Mississippi, Oak Alley is your quintessential Deep South plantation house. Guests stay in the grounds in pretty plantation cottages, which offer much more comfort than their original inhabitants enjoyed.

Oak Alley Plantation, 3645 Highway 18, Vacherie, Louisiana 70090 (001 225 265 2151; www.oakalleyplantation.com). Cottages from $115/pounds 65.

Rhiannon Batten

Enchantment Resort,

Arizona

Surrounded by the grandeur of Boynton Canyon, among ruins of ancient Native American cliff dwellings, the resort is bordered by the Secret Mountain Wilderness and the Coconino National Forest. Its terracotta adobe casitas huddle beneath soaring sandstone formations and contain rooms of rustic luxury.

Enchantment Resort, 525 Boynton Canyon Road, Sedona, Arizona 86336 (001 928 282 2900; www.enchantmentresort.com). Doubles from $295/pounds 165.

LG