Travel Picks: Top 10 hotels to drop in and tune out

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - In a world where e-mails follow people on vacation, the need for true chill-out travel has never been higher, sparking a boom in hotels and resorts dedicated to the quiet, and slow, life.

Luxury travel site globorati.com lists the 10 of the world's top spots to disconnect from the madding crowd:

1. Fairmont Miramar Hotel: Santa Monica (www.fairmont.com/santamonica/)

Checking in at the Fairmont Miramar for its Electronic Rehab Weekend, you are instructed to surrender your electronic devices at reception. For 48 hours all laptops, iPods, cell phones, pagers and BlackBerrys are banished while you ease into recovery at the "healing waters sanctuary."

2. Qualia: Australia (www.qualia.com.au/index.htm)

A new hideaway off the coast of Queensland that's strictly off limits to under 18s. The resort's 60 hillside pavilions line the northern tip of Hamilton Island amid the tropical Whitsundays, the southern gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

3. Luton Hoo: UK (www.lutonhoo.co.uk/)

Fly into London and bed down at a top-notch spa -- without having to battle the bustle. Just opened, 18th-century manor Luton Hoo has been transformed into a genteel five-star retreat with 1,000 acres of parkland, a huge oak-framed pool and a Victorian tennis court. Just eight minutes from Luton airport.

4. The Sanctuary at Ol Lentille: Kenya (www.ol-lentille.com/)

The Sanctuary at Ol Lentille, Kenya's newest bush retreat, is in the midst of a private 6,500-acre conservancy. Guests stay in fully-staffed, stylishly-furnished houses commanding stunning views of Mt. Kenya and can go trout-fishing or bird-shooting with their personal sanctuary guide.

5. Old Edwards Inn & Spa: North Carolina (www.oldedwardsinn.com/)

The "nap-reflection room" at Old Edwards Inn & Spa, an Historic Hotel of America in the highlands of the Smoky Mountains, is painted with soothing pastoral murals and piled high with pillows. The chilled-out private space is part of a new 15,000-square-foot annex to the inn's sumptuous spa.

6. Jumby Bay: Antigua (www.jumbybayresort.com/)

The 300-acre Rosewood Resort on a private island off the coast of Antigua is reachable only by boat and blissfully free of cars. A new must-do? Midnight massages for couples.

7. Malikha Lodge: Myanmar (here)

The country's only upscale wilderness retreat opens this month in the foothills of the Himalayas. The remote, locally-staffed lodge has 10 bungalows spread across 16 acres of gardens that back on to Asia's largest tiger reserve. Activities include elephant-guided jungle treks, while at the ranch you can soak in your 400-gallon handcrafted teak bathtub.