The castles and châteaux of Europe are not only spectacular historical landmarks, but are also used by the world’s wealthiest as luxurious holiday sanctuaries.

Insignia Lifestyle Management has teamed up with Eloise Napier to look at some of the most beautiful castle residences Europe has to offer for a truly indulgent getaway.

China seems to be caught in a conundrum. While the country has over the past decade actively encouraged the rapid rise of its middle class, it now seems quite unsure of how to handle the trappings that go with their newfound wealth.

First the hammer came down on billboards advertising luxury brands — from March they were banned in Beijing and Shanghai, as well more regional cities such as Chongqing, for promoting a lifestyle that was both “unhealthy” and “foreign.”

And now the authorities have again turned their attention to the pastime that was at one stage banned for being too “bourgeois” — golf.

The island nation of the Maldives is poised to build a floating golf course and convention centre in what could be the first of a series of futuristic off-shore developments designed to confront the threat of global warming.

The government has asked a Dutch firm to investigate the feasibility of developing a number of facilities that would be located among the 26 main atolls.

The artificial floating islands will incorporate technologies such as water cooling, water desalination, and the use of floating solar blanket fields.

Sofitel has opened a luxury property in the new Moroccan resort of Essaouira Mogador on the country’s Atlantic coast.

The Mogador resort is set in some 600 hectares of forest along 4 kilometers of coast line, boasting a 36-hole Gary Player golf course and a number of exclusive villas.

The villas are all designed to be eco-friendly thanks to features such as energy-efficient lighting and water recycling systems.

Condé Nast Traveler magazine has revealed the results of its Fourteenth Readers’ Choice Survey, pinpointing the best golf resorts in the world.

The US magazine’s readers chose the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea at the best golf resort of all 80 contenders, with a winning average of 96 percent.

Scores were calculated on the basis of thousands of readers’ votes for course design and access, golf staff and services, rooms, service, food/dining, location and overall design.

Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort (pictured below) in South Carolina took second place, followed by the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii.

The American tycoon Donald Trump today revealed his masterplan for “the greatest golf course in the world” to be built on a windswept stretch of Scottish coastline.

The controversial proposals — first mooted more than three years ago — also include a new village, complete with shops, pubs and cafes.

Trump International Scotland received outline planning permission for the £1billion development from the Scottish government in December 2008.