Five Best: Hotel Beds

Outdoors, revolving, or just plain huge. Sophie Lam uncovers the most extraordinary places to sleep

The Hempel Hotel, London

Tucked behind Hyde Park in the blinding-white surrounds of The Hempel Hotel is the Lioness's Den, complete with caged, suspended bed. It's not as kinky as it sounds - the bed, draped with Frette linen, sits on a honey-hued wooden platform suspended over the lofty sitting room. And when cage fever sets in, there's a calming "Zen Garden" to escape to.

The Hempel Hotel, 31-35 Craven Hill Gardens, London W2 (020-7298 9000; www.the-hempel.co.uk). The Lioness's Den starts at £928; doubles from £206, both room only.

Murano Urban Resort, Paris

In the heart of the chic Marais district, the Murano Urban Resort recently added to its cutting-edge credentials with a honeymoon suite, complete with a vast circular bed. Cocooned by sheer curtains, the bed is set in an organically-curved room, which also features mood lighting, drapes instead of doors, a bath filled with rose petals and a fridge with Dom Perignon. If you can prise yourself from under the covers the hotel bar attracts top Parisian DJs and boasts Paris's only two private outdoor pools.

Murano Urban Resort, 13 Boulevard du Temple, Paris, France (00 33 1 42 71 20 00; www.muranoresort.com). The honeymoon suite starts at €826 (£590); doubles from €400, (£286) room only.

Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, Maldives

Lying on a picture perfect beach, wallowing in the warm sapphire sea - holidaying in the Maldives is nothing if not tranquil. At the Hilton, even watching the sunset requires little more than the touch of a button. Each of its two Sunset Water Villas features a circular bed that revolves 180 degrees so you can watch the sun go down, or rise over the horizon, through the floor to ceiling windows. And with a personal butler and jet boat shuttle to the main resort, the most demanding it gets is leaving your room for treatments at the new spa or for dinner at the underwater restaurant.

Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, Rangali Island, South Ari Atoll, Maldives (00 960 668 0629; www.hilton.com). Sunset Water Villas start at US$2,766 (£1,537); beach villas from $335 (£186), both including breakfast.

Little Shompole, Kenya

Safari is all about the big outdoors, so where's the fun in shutting yourself in a hotel room? Shompole Lodge, on the edge of the Nguruman Escarpment, invites guests to experience life in the wilderness day and night. The two suites at Little Shompole are open-fronted, with views of the Great Rift Valley. Guests are cooled by a pool of water at the foot of the beds; as hot air rises up the hill, the water cools it, enabling guests to listen to bush sounds undisturbed by air conditioning.

Little Shompole, Ngong View End, Karen, Nairobi, Kenya (00 254 20 883 280; www.theartofventures.com). Suites start at US$1,330 (£739), full board, including game activities.

Lloyd Hotel, Amsterdam

Amsterdam is famed for its tolerance, but a bed sleeping eight could just as easily be for fidgety sleepers as orgies. No two rooms are the same in this former prison in Amsterdam's docklands. Styles and prices range from one- to five-star, some furnished by renowned Dutch designers. The duplex "Classical Music Room", with its 4m-wide bed, reputed to be the world's largest hotel bed, also has a grand piano, so you can serenade your bedfellows with "there were eight in the bed and the little one said..."

Lloyd Hotel, 34 Oostelijke Handelskade, Amsterdam (00 31 20 561 3604; www.lloydhotel.com). The Classical Music Room starts at €310 (£221); doubles from €194 (£139), both room only.