Victor Redondo Sierra, CEO of ARCO, a winemaking and distribution conglomerate, is developing a string of hotels, with wine-estate properties stretching across Spain. The flagship is Hacienda Zorita (near Salamanca), a gracefully renovated 14th-century monastery where Christopher Columbus supposedly stayed while planning his New World voyages. Rooms overlook the gorgeous Tormes River—and, of course, the estate's vineyards (doubles from $142; 011-34-923-129-400).

Published December 2005