Subsix, Maldives

Over-the-top luxury under the sea

Located six metres underwater in the Indian Ocean, Subsix originally opened in 2015 as a bar and nightclub at Niyama Private Islands. Though it has since reopened as a restaurant, it remains a unique Maldivian watering hole for an elaborate cocktail, a refreshing local beer or a champagne breakfast. Guests arrive via speedboat before descending a staircase to reach this submarine lair that looks out onto a coral reef. Shoals of parrotfish, Moorish idols and groupers regularly circle the restaurant and clam-shaped bar, with the occasional moray eel, hawksbill turtle or reef shark also cruising by. Tension-soothing massage chairs with anemone-like fingers complete the otherworldly experience.

Subsix, Huluwalu, Maldives; +960 676 2828

Hotel Palacio de Sal Bar, Bolivia

Salt flats, stargazing and sunset cocktails

If you take salt with your tequila, the bar of the Palacio de Sal hotel is for you. The entire property, in fact – its name literally meaning ‘palace of salt’ – is made from the unusual building material, and that extends from walls and ceilings to furniture and sculpted artworks in the lobby and guestrooms. Located on the edge of Salar de Uyuni – the world’s largest salt flat – close to the Bolivian town of Colchani, the Palacio de Sal hotel has the first ‘salt bar’ in the world, as well as a popular restaurant, spa and golf course. Perched some 3,600 metres above sea level, the bar offers memorable sunsets and – thanks to the hotel’s remote location and the lack of ambient light from cities – excellent stargazing, with a dramatic backdrop of mountain ranges in the middle of nowhere.

Palacio de Sal, Orillas Salar de Uyuni, Colchani, Bolivia; +591 2626 5186