"The world is too much with us, late and soon.

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers."

— William Wordsworth

Since I was a little girl, I have had a special room to escape to when the world was too much with me. I transport myself to that room in search of serenity.

During my childhood and teen years, it was my bedroom in the family beach house on O'ahu's North Shore (the top bunk bed, to be exact). No matter how difficult life seemed, I could take myself in my mind to that lovely little room and be lulled to sleep by the sound of waves.

Once I began traveling, my getaway room morphed. For a while it was a cosy, chintz-covered cottage room in a bed-and-breakfast in County Sligo, Ireland.

Later, it became a rooftop room in the home of weaver Viennoula Koussathanas on the Greek island of Myconos, where I could look out over the whitewashed rooftops to the charming port of Myconos (circa 1967, before it became a tourist mecca).

Then it was a friend's garden guest room, bursting with bougainvillea, in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe, and anything but a welcoming place). After my marriage, it was Room 863, an oceanfront room in the Halekulani, from which I could sit in the ultimate soaking tub and gaze at Diamond Head.

This year — a year when I seem to need an escape hatch more than ever — I travel in my mind to the Studio Chevre in Maisons de Cappadoce in Uchisar, Cappadocia, Turkey. The studio, a former cave, has been lovingly restored by French architect Jacques Avizou and his interior designer wife, Anne.

Maisons de Cappadoce is a 200-year-old, three-story cave dwelling with a small courtyard and rooftop terrace.

A short walk down a winding hill, the studio is separated from the main house in its own "cave." The view from the studio's lanai is a surreal landscape of terra-cotta-colored tuff, soft volcanic rock, which has been sculpted by wind and rain into odd cones and obelisks over the centuries.

The room is superbly decorated in pristine shades of white. The white custom-fitted and embroidered sheets are made for the bed that is sunken into a marble platform. Turkish-style, there is a curvilinear banquette in the corner with mounds of soft off-white pillows to curl into, perfect for a cozy read. The lighting throughout the studio is superb, subtle and romantic, yet functional. When we arrived, candles were lit on each step that goes to a door to nowhere. There is a working fireplace all set so all you have to do is light a match.

A separate little room between the lanai and bedroom contains a marble table and a sofa positioned perfectly for painting. My husband and I spent one entire day there, just sketching and painting. There is also a full kitchen so you can cook, dine or snack without ever leaving. And, of course, we never wanted to leave.

The bathroom is modern, sleek and elegant, marble from ceiling to floor, yet it's in keeping with the style of the cave dwellers. The shower is reached by walking through a mini-maze of marble. Even the soap is perfection. I saved a sliver of it so the fragrance can transport me back to Cappadocia. Everything in the room felt tailor-made for the two of us. Studio Chevre's rate for 2009 is $215 per night, www.cappadoce.com.

What makes a room perfect?

Of course I am not an interior designer, just a passionate traveler, and I began to wonder what constitutes the perfect room.

I asked several interior designers for their thoughts on the subject, as designers and avid travelers.

ALLISON HOLLAND, ASID, CREATIVE DECORATING

"The perfect room, first and foremost, has to work. This is called function. And the perfect room has to feel good — this is called form. 'Feel good' to some means soft, soothing, uncluttered, neutral, contemporary, shibui; while to others it means exciting, stimulating, elegant, dramatic, or even 'hip.' Romantic might be another way to feel good in identifying the 'perfect room.'

"In hotels and public places, a much broader audience is involved and personalized individuality cannot be addressed. The location or purpose of the space usually becomes the central theme or mode of design. Careful generic design must appeal to a variety of tastes to insure the perfect interior space is not disturbing to any."

NANCY PEACOCK, AIA AND ASID

"One of my favorite hotel room experiences was staying in an old Paris hotel in the 1980s called Hotel Duminy, on the Right Bank near the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries. Mr. Duminy was this old man who had never remodeled the hotel. It was amazing, like stepping back in time to before World War II, and I stayed in the anteroom on the top floor. I've stayed there eight times. The room was completely like the original from the 1920s; nothing had changed. It was small but really comfortable and cozy, with windows looking out over the city. It had old, footed tubs, old-fashioned pedestal sinks, windows with old-fashioned hardware that swung open, an old caged elevator."

Peacock prefers a room decorated in feminine colors — white, peaches, pastels — and without a lot of technology or masculine hardware. "Somewhere you don't have to close the drapes day or night ... a room that is high enough to look out over the city, to visually connect you with the place and you can wake up in the morning to sunlight."

Also important: High-quality white cotton sheets and a comforter with a duvet cover, writing desk, a claw-foot bathtub and a place to hang clothes and stow luggage to keep the room tidy.

(Note: Mr. Duminy has since died. The hotel was sold, renovated and is now the Hotel Duminy-Vendome. Though its location and service remain stellar, staying at the hotel is now a different experience.)

CHARLES DELISLE, ASID, OF DELISLE, PHILPOTTS & STAUB

"My favorite room is a combination of ecology and elegance," he explained, such as the Andrere Amellal Ecolodge in Siwa, Egypt.

"It felt real. The more you travel, the more you want to feel where you are, not a Marriott or Hilton experience. And you're really attached to where you are by being in the room itself. This room had old-world beauty and the romance of being in the Sahara Desert like you would read about in books."

The resort, DeLisle explained, is completely sustainable, in a remote oasis about 25 miles from Libya, an eight-hour drive from Cairo. He describes the room as "spectacular but earthy." Among the features he loved in the room was the absence of electricity — the room is lit by candles. The beds were made from reeds and palm tree elements woven together with "super-comfortable" bedding. The bathroom was fashioned out of sculpted clay and the sink carved from a rock. A highlight for DeLisle: "Waking with the sun over the lake peeking through tiny windows." Adrere Amellal Ecolodge in the Siwa Oasis is about 500 miles from Cairo, the nearest airport. Rates begin at $415 per night and includes all meals, beverages and day trips into the desert. www.adrereamellal.net.

MARION PHILPOTTS-MILLER, ASID, OF PHILPOTTS & ASSOCIATES/DELISLE, PHILPOTTS & STAUB

The perfect room, Marion Philpotts said, is about "Making magic out of simple pleasures." A stay should be "experience-centered and memorable," she said, adding that "some of it is intangible. It's a composition of all the materials and elements — how it is balanced. There should be one or two things that are signatures, such as a wall that makes it special. You should see past a formula. How does it feel?"

The perfect room, she said, can be dark and warm and cavernous at night but bright and cheery during the day. Philpotts-Miller believes the hip, younger international travelers are sophisticated, savvy and eco-conscious, "elevating their room experience to an expectation" of something unique. Philpotts-Miller looks for lighting with CFLs, effective wastewater management, crisp white linens, room blackout ability, rich woods and quiet colors such as greens and browns. She also appreciates a fresh flower in a bud vase.

Fodors's "Green Travel" lists some of the world's best eco-lodges and earth-friendly hotels, $21.95. www.fodors.com

MARY PHILPOTTS, ASID, OF PHILPOTTS & ASSOCIATES

"My most potent (room) experiences have been in Ireland. You are treated like royalty and family at the same time. The Irish do it without a flaw. The linens are always fresh, the rooms are great, the gardens are beautiful. It doesn't matter if it's a small, intimate inn or a bigger hotel. When you left, you felt like you had a really special experience."

Among the components Philpotts cited for her perfect room are natural light or the ability to go out on the balcony; bathrooms with good light, a great tub or shower and fine amenities. Also important: "easy-to-control, nondehydrating air conditioning, as well as "simple controls for everything from the alarm to the radio."

Finally, "a clean-looking color scheme and sparkling white linens."

Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland, built in 1228, is celebrating its 70th anniversary as a hotel this year. Rooms begin at $145 per night. www.ashford.ie.