Winner: Fogo Island Inn, Newfoundland
This 35,000-square-foot, year-old inn looks like a wooden space cruiser, with sleek rows of windows cantilevered above 420-million-year-old rock. The 29 modern suites were built with the goal of keeping the region鈥檚 economy alive (most of the wares inside are 颅locally made). You can hike 颅nearby trails, or the hotel can hook you up with locals to fish for cod or trout, learn to plane a wooden ship hull, or go searching for whales, caribou, or icebergs. From US$600 per night; fogoislandinn.ca
Runner-Up: Juvet Landscape Hotel, Norway
The digs here are 颅spectacular enough鈥攏ine detached cabins with glass walls anchored to a steep hillside in the fjordlands of western Norway鈥檚 Valldal region. Then there鈥檚 the area鈥檚 abundant adventure: 颅hiking in the Tafjord mountains, fishing or rafting the Class III鈥揑V Valld酶la River, trekking glaciers, and skiing the Trollstigen Plateau, just 15 minutes away from your home base. From $240; juvet.com