Finding affordable accommodation does not mean having to settle for something distinctly average. Breathtaking views, attentive service, great food and hand-picked decor – all are available at a cost that won’t make you cringe. We pick the top 20 bargain hotels from the American Budget Travel Magazine’s new cheap-chic bible Secret Hotels.

HOTEL DE L'AMPHITHEATRE, France

Style, comfort and reasonable prices combine to make these chic lodgings a truly excellent deal. Its central location in the heart of Arles – right by the amphitheatre and a short walk to the main town square – makes it a convenient choice as well.

The owners have completely renovated the building, exposing amazing 17th-century wood-beam ceilings. Wall colours tend towards rich shades of yellow, ochre and red, and they're balanced with bright fabrics, regionally made quilts, light floor tiles, and modern furniture that borrows from antique styles. The cheapest rooms are on the small side; it’s definitely worth paying the extra £8 for a “comfort” double. The Belvedere (£98), which has a 360-degree view of the rooftops of Arles, is worth a splurge. An outdoor terrace and an inviting lounge add to the homey feel.

Vincent Van Gogh lived in Arles in 1888, during which time he developed his signature style of vivid colours and swirling brushstrokes – and then cut off his ear. 00 33 4 90 96 10 30, www.hotelamphitheatre.fr , £33-£98

BLUE MOON VILLAS, Bali

Bali’s remote northeast coast is still well off the beaten track for most visitors, but that may change if more hotels follow the example of Blue Moon Villas, a stylish boutique hotel that makes the most of its dramatic coastal setting.

It has five rooms in three bright, airy villas, as well as an open-sided restaurant. All rooms have separate balconies or terraces, some of which are large enough to double as living rooms. And the bathrooms are partly open to the outside (but completely private).

After a dinner of fresh wahoo barbecued over coconut husks, you’ll want to sit on your balcony and watch the sun set behind the sacred mountain Agung, a prelude to the main event: the brilliant night sky. If the local roosters wake you up in time, you can go out in a fishing boat in the morning to watch the sun rise over Mount Rinjani on the neighbouring island of Lombok. Failing that, just relax by the infinity pool tucked in the centre of a lush garden. 00 62 812 362 2597, www.bluemoonvillas.com , from £34

TREVALSA COURT, Cornwall

German expats Klaus Wagner and Matthias Mainka spent seven years creating a sumptuous prewar atmosphere at this former family home. They’ve obsessed over every detail, right down to the door handles. The 13 rooms are furnished with Lloyd Loom woven chairs, and the moss-green walls are decorated with sophisticated black-and-white art. The level of care is palpable.

As it should be, dinner is served in the oak-panelled dining room, where windows frame the sea. The German chef, Achim Dreher, sneaks Swiss-German influences into his menus. Keep an eye out for highlights such as potato dumplings stuffed with prunes.

A path at the end of the garden leads to secluded Polstreath Beach. 01726 842468, trevalsa-hotel.co.uk , £49-£98

HOTEL MILAREPA, Costa Rica

With its golden beaches, tropical rainforest and rocky tide pools, the southern tip of the Nicoya peninsula is sometimes called the Hawaii of Latin America. Certainly, this small luxury hotel has the aloha spirit. It was either that or the sense of privacy – the hotel has only four rooms – that attracted Leonardo DiCaprio, who once stayed here with a girlfriend.

Caroline Marot and her business partner, Philippe Verquin, have filled each of the bungalows with Indonesian teak and bamboo furniture, topped by elegant, understated white chair cushions, bedding and drapery. The tiled bathrooms are private and semi-alfresco: the sink and toilet are under the eaves, but the shower is open to the sky.

A seven-table restaurant looks out over the pool, past a well-trimmed lawn, and down to the beach, where there’s a driftwood massage hut (£30 for more than an hour). The American chef, James Kelly, draws from Asian influences and makes great use of local seafood. 00 506 640 0023, www.milarepahotel.com , £60-£114 (room-only before December 1, 2007)

JAKE’S, Jamaica

Sitting alongside rocky shoals washed by the warm surf of Jamaica’s South Coast, Jake’s Easter-egg-coloured guest cottages are funky boutique versions of the Caribbean shack. The two-dozen buildings overflow with odd, endearing details that are an exercise in culture-clash chic: Indian minaret-shaped windows, Arabian-influenced domes, hammered-tin doors, door frames made with driftwood, Mayan-inspired weavings, glass bottles embedded in plaster walls. The grounds are dotted with flowering bushes and desert greenery – cactus, yucca and gnarled little trees.

What you get instead of a room with a television, air-con and a phone is a welcoming, laid-back vibe. The hotel was created by Sally Henzell, a theatre designer by trade, and is currently run by her son Jason; both are particularly loved by the surrounding fishing village for starting a nonprofit organisation for the local community. Consequently, the bar and pool at Jake’s are popular with guests and locals alike, and hustlers are virtually nonexistent.

Boats have been raised on stilts and capped with thatched roofs to create an open-air restaurant, Little Ochie, located right on the beach. You can choose your own fresh fish, lobster, crab, or octopus, and the proprietor, Blackie, will cook it any way you like. 01895 450731, www.jakeshotel.com , from £55

LA RIGNANA, Italy

A long way from the main roads, in Chianti wine country, tucked within 300 acres of forest, olive groves and vineyards, sits a refined bed-and-breakfast – and working farm – owned by Cosimo Gericke and Sveva Rocco di Torrepadula.

The two historic guesthouses on the property have noble roots. The Fattoria is based on a 1,000-year-old structure that was once a castle. Enlarged in the 18th century, it contains seven rooms with rustic furnishings and sloping brick ceilings laced with wooden beams. The other guest building, the two-floor Villa Rignana, belonged to the Ricci family in the 17th century and has eight rooms with plank floors and frescoes.

There’s a pretty infinity pool amid the olive trees, with views of rolling hills in the distance. The restaurant, in another cluster of farm buildings and under separate management, has tables on a patio and serves traditional Tuscan fare. 0039 055 852 065, www.rignana.it , £71-£95

PODERE TERRENO, Italy

Roberto Melosi left a promising hotel career at London’s Savoy to become chef and host of an agriturismo on a working farm in Italy. His Paris-born wife, Marie-Sylvie Haniez, decided the only proper way to run an agriturismo was to share communal dinners with guests in the French table d’hôte style. Together, the couple manage a restored 16th-century farmhouse that has seven country-comfy rooms furnished with a hodgepodge of carved-wood vanities and worn terracotta floors.

Wine means a lot to the family: vineyards encircle the house, and guest rooms are named after local grapes. Malvasia, Trebbiano, Vernaccia and Ciliegiolo are all on the east side of the house, with the best vineyard views. In summer, guests enjoy that view from the patio during family-style dinners. There is also a tiny spa with a hot tub and massage table. 00 39 0577 738312, www.podereterreno.it , £65 per person, includes breakfast and dinner

LA FINCA CARIBE, Puerto Rico

In the proprietor’s words, La Finca is “one part funky summer camp, one part homey wilderness lodge”, and flowing linen fabrics and casual-looking models fit right in on the hippieish yet manicured property. Three rustic houses are spread across three hilly acres. The hospitality is warm, but a bit devil-may-care; don’t expect phones, televisions or matching towels or sheets.

There’s a self-serve honour bar, a grill, a porch swing, hammocks and laundry facilities, with a horseshoe pit below. Banana, star fruit and mango trees frame the small swimming pool. 001787 741 0495, www.lafinca.com , from £32

HOTEL BRISE MARINE, France

On the terribly exclusive St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat peninsula, where most homes have gates and names like Lotus or Mon Plaisir, a room rate that’s less than your monthly salary is a true bargain. Amazingly, this gorgeous Italianate villa with turquoise shutters, just steps from town and around the corner from the prettiest beach, is relatively reasonable.

Dating from 1878, the seaside mansion is encircled by a beautiful garden filled with bougainvillea and palm, orange and lemon trees; its various patios and terraces look out on the bright blue bay, the cliffs of the coastline and, in the distance, the Italian Alps. The 18 rooms are simply furnished, but many share the amazing view and a few (nos 3, 16 and 18) have spacious balconies. The sea panorama from No 10’s large, curved terrace is spectacular. There’s no restaurant at the hotel, but breakfast is served on the patio. 00 33 4 93 76 04 36, hotel-brisemarine.com , £102-£112 (room-only)

PENSION MAUARII, French Polynesia

The only decent place to stay on the southern end of the island of Huahine, Pension Mauarii has a castaway vibe. The Oceanside cabins are raised on stilts; at high tide, the water rushes below them. Capped by thatched roofs that are rigged with flap doors in order to catch the breezes, the chalets are twice the size of their competitors – and some even have interior sleeping lofts. All have giant bathrooms done up in cracked tile and inlaid coral.

There’s an activities concierge who can arrange watersports and scooters. Snorkellers, meanwhile, will be in heaven, swimming with the eagle rays in the crystal-clear water right off the white-sand beach. The hotel has a gourmet restaurant, unusual for the island, which serves three meals daily. 00 689 68 8649, www.mauarii.com , room £29-£66, bungalow £71-£114

LE CADRAN SOLAIRE, France

Once a postal-relay inn, this old stone building in the residential part of a very small town has thick walls, a tranquil atmosphere (reinforced by the absence of televisions in the rooms), and a trellised garden. It's named for the sundial found on the front of the building that dates back to 1846. With high-beamed ceilings and garden views, the 12 rooms are luminous; ornate modern bedsteads, period reproduction furniture, and muted colors complete the decor.

Graveson is five miles north of St-Rémy-de-Provence and within a half-hour drive of most Provençal highlights. Huge plane trees shade a tiny canal that cuts across the main square, and from May to October there's a Friday market where cheese and produce are sold. A walk along the town's streets will take you past the 12th-century Notre Dame du Bon Remède chapel, the fortified door of the Romanesque church, the 17th-century Breuil château, and Saint Michel de Frigolet church.

A Graveson, 00 33/4-90-95-71-79, hotel-en-provence.com, £38-£52.

HOTEL DE L'ATELIER, France

Spare yourself the agony of trying to find high-season lodgings in Avignon - there's a great little hotel across the river in Villeneuve, a charming medieval village just a five-minute bus ride from the City of Popes.

The building was constructed in the 16th century as a silk workshop, and the 23 rooms are all different shapes and sizes. There are exposed beams and stone walls, as well as painted niches, Art Deco dressers, Chinese end tables, and antique photography. The garden terrace is livened up with modern sculpture, and hallways showcase paintings by local artists. An old fireplace in the living room adds character and is a great place to curl up with a cup of tea.

A Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, 00 33/4-90-25-01-84, hoteldelatelier.com, £34-£67.

LES DEUX FRERES, France

Go up-past the crowds, past the noise-to the tiny village of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Stop to gasp at the panorama from the tiny town square, and notice the lovely dining terrace to your right. It's attached to the restaurant of the intimate Les Deux Frères.

Each guest room has a name indicating its theme. The African room, for instance, has carvedwood furniture, bed linens with banana trees pictured on them, and a leopard-print headboard and chair cushions.. The Bride room is white-on-white, with a romantic padded headboard, a white wrought-iron café table and chairs, and a wrought-iron lamp draped with crystals.

The hotel's views range from lovely to stupendous.

A Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, 00 33/4-93-28-99-00, lesdeuxfreres.com, £48-£70.

IL PODERUCCIO, Italy

Il Poderuccio lies down the road from Sant'Angelo in Colle, a hilltop medieval village in the heart of Brunello wine country. Don't be alarmed if there's no one around when you stroll across the lawn to the check-in desk. Owner Giorgio Girardi could be in the back tinkering with the tractor or in the fields pruning the grapevines, while his wife, Renate, is probably in one of the gardens.

The Girardis rely entirely on word-of-mouth to guide discriminating travellers to their doorstep. Giorgio left an international banking career to restore this farm and is proud to have strung grapevines along only a fifth of his land. Locals think that he's insane to limit his production of one of the country's most famous (and most expensive) wines, but Giorgio prefers keeping the operation small enough to run almost single-handedly. Renate has filled the six large guest rooms with many thoughtful touches.

A Colle, six miles south of Montalcino, 00 39/0577-844-052, £60, includes breakfast, open Easter-November (closed for July in some years).

ULUN UBUD RESORT AND SPA, Bali

In an open-air workshop just to the west of Ubud, the island's cultural capital, a young wood-carver is carefully contemplating his latest work-a goddess slowly emerging from a twisted tree trunk. When he's satisfied at last, he marks the wood and begins his carving again.

The craftsman's boss is Gus Tu, son of a noted local wood-carver and owner of the Ulun Ubud, which sits next to the workshop. The artistic heritage is obvious as you meander down the paths and steep steps linking the hotel's 22 thatched cottages: Every nook holds a statue or a carving-a Hindu warrior here, a head of the Buddha there, and everywhere countless carved frogs, fish, shrimps, and crabs. The rooms are simple but comfortable, decorated with traditional Balinese antiques and original paintings.

The hotel has a reasonable restaurant serving Balinese and Western fare, and there's a free shuttle if you're feeling inclined to sample some of Ubud's many restaurants. Spend a day rafting; visiting hot springs; or attending traditional theater, dance, or music performances; then return to the hotel spa for a Balinese Boreh therapy session.

A Ubud, 00 62/361-975-024, ulunubud.com, from £38, includes breakfast.

RUMAH CANTIK, Bali

In northern Bali, Lovina is a miniature version of the hugely popular resort towns that lie along the island's south coast. So it might seem surprising that just 200 yards or so from the area's main drag is a place of peace and quiet.

The Rumah Cantik-a homestay with four rooms in a flower-filled tropical garden-was built by Made Kantra and Jette Stampe, a Balinese-Danish couple, and its eclectic design reflects its owners' backgrounds. On the outside of the two pavilions housing the guest rooms, European-style pillars support a Balinese roof with upturned eaves. Inside, the mix of influences continues in the generous guest rooms: The four-poster king-size beds are done up with white canopies, while the other furniture, made by traditional Balinese craftsmen, has a hint of Japanese simplicity.

A Lovina, 00 62/362-42-159, lovinacantik.com, from £34.

YLANG YLANG BEACH RESORT, Costa Rica

It takes a certain confidence to put up a hotel that requires a 15-minute hike on the beach to get to, but Ylang Ylang pulls it off. (If you're not feeling up to the trek, you can arrange a lift for yourself and/or your bags from sister property El Sano Banano, located in town.)

Ylang Ylang's main, two-story building has six rooms, each with pale-yellow walls decorated with original watercolors of local birds. Woven blankets with colorful stripes are tucked neatly across the beds. The eight bungalows are more private; all but one have ocean views from their patios. Stone walkways connect the buildings (one is home to a beautiful yoga studio) and are lined with flowering plants and trees- including the fragrant ylang-ylang, as the hotel's name indicates.

A Montezuma, 00 506/642-0636, elbanano.com, from £65, includes breakfast and candlelit dinner

CASA ZEN, Costa Rica

Experienced surfers, backpacking young couples, and hip parents unafraid to travel with their babies-these are the kinds of free spirits who tend to find common ground at Casa Zen. Kelly Lange, a transplant from Kansas City, opened the hotel in December 2004. She rents 10 rooms with one or two beds, two dorm rooms, and one room with its own bathroom and kitchen. The other six shared bathrooms could be considered part of Casa Zen's communal ethos. All rooms are spare but inviting, with batik bedspreads and tangerine, ocher, and yellow color schemes.

A Santa Teresa, 00 506/640-0523, zencostarica.com, dorm from £6 per person, private rooms from £12, cash only.

MOUNT HAVEN HOTEL, England

Orange Trevillion was drawn to Penzance, at the end of Cornwall, because of the town's proximity to St. Michael's Mount, an ancient craggy island that looks like a lopsided volcano. "It's a sacred place," says Trevillion, an eccentric with carrot colored hair who believes that four of the earth's energy lines come together here.

Trevillion and her partners bought Mount Haven in 2001 and created a friendly retreat. They knocked down walls and reconfigured the old coach house to maximize views of St. Michael's Mount and the ocean. Most of the 18 rooms look out on the water. They have an Asian feel, with silk bedspreads and throw pillows in embroidered fabrics from Trevillion's frequent trips to India.

The best vistas are from the terrace: You can see St. Michael's Mount rising steeply out of the water, a medieval castle perched on its tippy-top.

A Penzance, 01736 710 249, mounthaven.co.uk, from £77, includes breakfast.

SEASCAPE INN, England

The Seascape Inn, on Andros Island's Mangrove Cay in the Bahamas, is within minutes of a 120-mile-long barrier reef (the third largest in the world), making it perfect for diving, fishing, or just dropping out for a week.

The five raised cabanas are paragons of simplicity: They have white walls, white bedspreads, and white curtains; open-beamed ceilings; and terra-cotta floor tiles. Furniture consists of a bed and a wooden armchair; the only real amenity, if you can call it that, is a ceiling fan. In other words, there's hardly anything to distract from the miles of deserted white-sand beach.

Brooklyn-born hosts Mickey and Joan McGowan can typically be found at the bar and restaurant, which serves basic fare: burgers and quesadillas for lunch, and steaks, chicken Parmesan, and fresh fish for dinner. Gracious and friendly, the McGowans are clearly thrilled with their choice to move to the Bahamas 10 years ago.

A Andros Island, Bahamas, 00 242/369-0342, seascapeinn.com, from £75 (includes continental breakfast).

Extracted from Secret Hotels by Erik Torkells and the editors of Budget Travel (Stewart, Tabori & Chang £12).

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