The World's Best Fashion-Designer Hotels

They're the world wonders of a fashionable traveler -- the hotels and resorts designed or owned by an international fashion designer.

Here are some of those properties you'll want to watch as their temperatures and reputations rise.

Palazzo Viviani -- Montegridolfo

Montegridolfo, Italy
Set in the hills of Montegridolfo, 30 minutes from the Adriatic town of Rimini, Italian designer Alberta Ferretti creates an A-list sanctuary within a 13th-century hilltop castle. The property encompasses a hillside promontory surrounded by stone walls overlooking a rolling hillside dotted with abandoned fortresses and historic chapels.

The hotel was built as the seat of the Gridolfi family, who were involved in a series of wars and battles that ultimately saw the castle ransacked and repeatedly destroyed.

The lobby is exquisitely assembled in Gustavian antiques on raw oak floors with hand-woven rugs interrupted by stone thresholds.

Armani Hotels and Resorts

Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Opening in late 2008, Armani Hotels & Resorts will debut its first property within the UAE's new Burj Dubai.

Slated to open within the world's tallest commercial building or residential tower, Armani Hotel will occupy the first 37 floors of a building that's slated to change the face of Dubai's resort-minded hospitality scene. The hotel and accompanying residences will be the first of seven Giorgio Armani-designed projects by partner Emaar Properties scheduled for Milan, London and New York.

While not the actual owner of the chain that bears his name, Giorgio Armani is in charge of all design aspects related to the resort properties including the Burj Dubai where he has also been tapped to design the tower's lobby and common areas.

A few sneak previews of the property show pristine suites decorated in signature Armani Casa furnishings with heavy use of raw stone and marble. There's also an in-house spa and two gourmet eateries in the works.

Byblos Art Hotel

Verona, Italy
Located five miles from central Verona, a 15th-century Venetian villa is resurrected into a museum-quality playground by Byblos fashion heir Dino Facchini.

	Byblos Art Hotel

Allowing guests to "let loose amongst modern design," the five-star hotel takes prized works of art from Proust, Salvador Dali and Cindy Sherman and mixes them with the everyday furnishings of the hotel. The stately hotel features a gated entrance and long drive leading to the baronial structure.

Surrounding the main hotel are opulent gardens including a chapel, a health spa and an expansive lawn area offering a regal-blue swimming pool with formal fountains. The interiors, designed by Facchini and Alessandro Mendini, interpret furniture, fabrics and drapery popular during the 16th and 17th centuries with a modern spin.

Missoni Hotel

Edinburgh, Kuwait and Dubai
It's the perfect pairing of iconic fashion label and established hotel developer; in this case Missoni and its worldwide license agreement with RezidorSAS.

	Missoni

The developer behind such properties as the Regent Berlin partners with the legendary Italian fashion brand for the first Hotel Missoni, set to debut late this year. With properties planned in Kuwait City and Edinburgh, the fashion label brings its iconic sense of style to modern resort properties intended for design-minded travelers.

In Missoni properties, expect eccentric lobby areas with high ceilings, colorful striped walls and signature zigzag-pattern furnishings. Oversize ceramics and whimsical seating areas include pieces from the Missoni home furnishings collection.

The Missoni brand of hotels aims to compete with Starwood's(HOT Quote) ever-expanding W Hotels, as well as U.K.-based Malmaison Hotels and Morgan Hotels for the growing demand of luxury boutique hotels.

Hotel Monaco on Grand Canal

Venice, Italy
Tucked away on a bustling alleyway opposite Harry's Bar just off San Marco Square, Hotel Monaco is accessed by a private gondola dock on Venice's Grand Canal.