Tablet Hotels Collection

Below is a list of all hotels available at Tablet Hotels.

Empire Riverside Hotel: Hamburg, Germany; View | Reserve; Given the rather colorful reputation of Hamburg’s St. Pauli district—long a harborside pit stop for visiting sailors, and home to the infamous Reeperbahn—a sleek modernist tower might not be exactly what you expect from one of the area’s hippest new hotels. But that’s exactly what the Empire... Read More
101 Hotel: Reykjavík, Iceland; View | Reserve; Though it may sound like a bit of marketing drivel, 101 is quite literally Reykjavik's most fashionable postal code. This city has long been the holiday playground of hip Europeans and, in particular, Londoners — English pop stars and artists come here for a little anonymity, and the truly... Read More
21c Museum Hotel: Louisville, KY, USA; View | Reserve; On the face of it, Louisville, Kentucky seems about the unlikeliest place for a hotel like the 21c. Not just an inspired modern boutique hotel, but a 9,000-square-foot contemporary art gallery as well, it’s the sort of place that would turn heads even in New York or Los Angeles — in Louisville... Read More
25 Hours Hotel: Hamburg, Germany; View | Reserve; Some sectors of Germany’s hotel world, especially outside Berlin, seem hopelessly wedded to a rather outdated concept of luxury, of the sort that results when old-world opulence crosses over into self-parody. Fortunately Hamburg is not so afflicted. There’s the Gastwerk, an industrial... Read More
25hours Hotel tailored by Levi's: Frankfurt, Germany; View | Reserve; Space concerns prohibit us from saying its name more than once, so here it is, eccentric capitalization and all: 25hours Hotel tailored by Levi’s is, as you may have gathered, a collaboration between the German budget-boutique group 25hours and the American denim company. Let’s just be thankful... Read More
3-14 Hotel: Cannes, France; View | Reserve; Cannes, for most people, means old-world glamour, and a stay in one of the same opulent wedding-cake grand hotels that have stood over La Croisette since the beginning of the last century. There’s nothing wrong with doing Cannes the old-fashioned way, but novelty seekers may find the 3.14 to be a... Read More
41 Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Behind an unmarked door in Westminster, just across from the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, the 41 Hotel is one of London’s best kept secrets. At just 18 rooms, it’s as intimate as they come, offering five-star grand-hotel service on a bed-and-breakfast scale... Read More
42 The Calls: Leeds, UK; View | Reserve; It may seem a perplexing name for a hotel, but The Calls is the name of an old cobbled street down by Leeds' waterfront, and 42 is, true to current style, merely the street address. The building was once home to a corn mill, and the city's riverfront area, though resurgent, bears strong remnants of... Read More
6 Columbus: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; The long-awaited Upper West Side sequel to Soho’s successful 60 Thompson is here at last. Like its sister, 6 Columbus is named for its address, and it’s a prestigious one, right on Columbus Circle, next to the Time Warner Center retail-and-dining development and at the southwest corner of Central... Read More
60 Thompson: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; About 60 Thompson:60 Thompson is a luxury boutique hotel in the lower part of the Soho neighborhood of New York City. With airy loft-like rooms and a popular roof-top bar, 60 Thompson is a favorite of guests seeking both privacy and downtown nightlife and shopping... Read More
A'jia Hotel: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; Even the most jaded of travelers can’t help but be struck by the contrast between the ancient city of Istanbul and the ever so modern A’jia. Here, on the Asian side of town, on the quiet eastern shore of the Bosphorus, a 19th-century governor’s mansion has been given a makeover... Read More
ABaC Restaurant & Hotel: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Barcelona, already one of Europe’s hottest destinations, has in recent years consolidated its position as a worldwide culinary capital. It’s no longer just about tapas bars that stay open long after other countries have gone to bed, it’s about cutting-edge culinary experimentation as well, pushing... Read More
Abama Golf & Spa Resort: Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; View | Reserve; The Los Chozos Pool at Abama Golf & Spa Resort will be closed from June 22 - July 14, 2009. All other 7 pools of the resort will be fully open and operational, including the Beach Club facilities... Read More
Abracadabra Pousada: Búzios, Brazil; View | Reserve; For a new spin on a classic destination it’s never a bad idea to find out where your favorite spot’s residents take themselves on holiday. In the case of Rio, that destination is Búzios, a fishing village turned beachside getaway two hours’ drive to the east, a place where rather than towering... Read More
AC Ciudad De Toledo: Toledo, Spain; View | Reserve; Due to its small-town location, the Toledo branch of the AC hotels doesn’t see the same steady flow of high-profile guests that parade through the doors of its sisters in places like Madrid. It’s a different animal from its big-city counterparts, a fused-together cluster of traditional... Read More
AC Palacio De Santa Ana: Valladolid, Spain; View | Reserve; It’s enough to make other countries swoon with envy. The United States, for example, seems to have trouble getting interesting hotels open even in some of its biggest cities, while Spain, on the other hand, has chains like AC Hotels, who manage to install swanky, stylish boutique hotels like this... Read More
AC Palacio de Santa Paula: Granada, Spain; View | Reserve; Just a short bus ride from the Alhambra, the Palacio de Santa Paula conceals a Moorish treasure of its own. Behind the facade of a nineteenth-century palace, a modern structure contains the standard rooms; and behind that, a sixteenth-century convent, home to some more spacious rooms, as well as a... Read More
AC Palacio del Carmen: Santiago de Compostela, Spain; View | Reserve; Santiago de Compostela is a picturesque Medieval city in the northwestern region of Gallicia—quite literally as far as you can get from such Spanish travel hotspots as Barcelona, the Balearics, and Bilbao. It’s a formidable tourist destination in its own right, but one with an... Read More
AC Palacio del Retiro: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; In spite of its not entirely undeserved conservative reputation, Madrid’s got a few modern hotels that, in their own serious way, stand up to some of Barcelona’s more outré experiments. Behind the 1908 facade of a palace facing the famous Retiro park, the AC Palacio del Retiro is a... Read More
AC Santo Mauro: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; The Duke of Santo Mauro’s 1895 French-style neolassical mansion is now one of Madrid’s most elegant and luxurious hotels. At just 51 rooms, and located in a largely residential district off the Paseo de Castellana, it’s intimate—a feeling magnified by the discreet nature of... Read More
Ace Hotel: Seattle, WA, USA; View | Reserve; Ace Hotel's standard rooms have shared bathrooms. Let us be absolutely clear about this. Fully half of the rooms do not have their own private bathrooms.We trust some of you, at least, are still with us — the Ace Hotel, obviously, will appeal to a slightly different segment of the marketplace than... Read More
Ace Hotel & Swim Club: Palm Springs, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Our new Tablet Spy program offers the chance to get early looks at the most promising new hotels. If you’re willing to take the risks associated with staying in a hotel that’s not officially open yet — unfinished spaces, noisy construction, inexperienced service — then you’ll be rewarded with deep... Read More
Ace Hotel New York: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Our new Tablet Spy program offers the chance to get early looks at the most promising new hotels. If you’re willing to take the risks associated with staying in a hotel that’s not officially open yet — unfinished spaces, noisy construction, inexperienced service — then you’ll be rewarded with deep... Read More
Ace Hotel Portland: Portland, OR, USA; View | Reserve; The new Portland outpost of Seattle’s Ace franchise is a boutique hotel, but not as we know it. Forget the jet-set model of the trendy designer boutique — that sort of thing would never fly in America’s Northwest, and certainly not in Portland. For as cosmopolitan as this city may be, it’s far off... Read More
Ada Hotel: Bodrum, Turkey; View | Reserve; Along the Mediterranean on Turkey’s southwestern coast is the port city of Bodrum, a yachtsman’s paradise and an increasingly popular tourist destination — visitors flock from all over Europe for a taste of the good life by the sea, and for the city’s notorius nightlife... Read More
Adam&Eve Hotel: Belek, Turkey; View | Reserve; Not only does it occupy the geographic and cultural frontier between Europe and Asia, but there’s a sense in which Turkey is also the wild frontier of the hotel world. And as such it’s a country that doesn’t shy away from the extreme. Take the Adam & Eve hotel as an example — this is the design... Read More
Adara Hotel: Whistler, Canada; View | Reserve; For the most part, ski hotels are a conservative lot; most lie somewhere on the continuum between the classic Alpine chalet and the bland and shapeless corporate chain. Not this one. Fresh and inspired, the Adara is Whistler's first designer boutique hotel, bringing urban boutique cool to the... Read More
Adrere Amellal Resort: Siwa, Egypt; View | Reserve; Please note: Prepayment will be required by bank wire transfer at time of booking. Special assistance is required for bookings at Adrere Amellal Resort. Please contact Customer Service... Read More
Adriana Hotel: Hvar, Croatia; View | Reserve; If Hvar is going to be the next St. Tropez—that would be the young and ultra-hip St. Tropez of the Sixties, not the current, slightly faded version—then it’s going to need a few very stylish hotels. And they’re working on it. Sister to the Riva, already a mainstay on the boutique-hotel scene, the... Read More
Affinia Chicago: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; It may sound a bit like a car, but a hotel it is. The Chicago branch of the Affinia group has come through a large-scale renovation with a new design that’s decidedly in the modern boutique vein. And it’s not just the furniture: from the welcome cocktail to the Aveda products in the bathrooms to... Read More
Aghadoe Heights Hotel & Spa: Kerry, Co.Kerry, Ireland; View | Reserve; The typical Irish country escape involves rolling green hills, perhaps a bit of golf, and usually a castle of some vintage or another. But a look at the Aghadoe Heights Hotel and Spa should convince you that the part about the castle should be entirely optional. This 75-suite resort overlooking the... Read More
Aguas de Ibiza: Ibiza, Spain; View | Reserve; For a fair bit of the Ibizan travel market hotels don’t seem to matter very much — those who don’t sleep don’t ask much from their accommodations. But Ibiza’s not just for the club kids, and there’s another, more demanding breed of traveler who needs more than just a shower and a place to store... Read More
Aigialos: Santorini, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Aigialos is open annually from May 1 - Oct 31... Read More
Aire de Bardenas: Tudela, Navarra, Spain; View | Reserve; It’s still something of a mystery, the fact that Spain, of all places, has become the site of so much cutting-edge architecture. We don’t have the space to investigate the reasons (and don’t even get us started on the food), so we’ll have to be content merely to report on another worthy... Read More
Akasaka Granbell Hotel: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; At this point in history an affordable, stylish city-center boutique shouldn’t really be a novelty. But in Tokyo it still is. Here you’ll find some of the finest high-luxury accommodation in the world, as well as a plentiful supply of average and below-average business hotels. But places like the... Read More
Al Husn at Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa: Muscat, Oman; View | Reserve; A new addition to the burgeoning subgenre of over-the-top Persian Gulf megahotels is Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, a sprawling (and sparkling new) tripartite hotel complex overlooking the bay of Al Jissah, in Oman’s capital city of Muscat... Read More
Al Maha Desert Resort: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; Dubai is a city of excess, a fast-paced, futuristic city, a showcase of unimaginable wealth and nearly unrestrained development — two emblems of which are the 1,000-foot Burj al-Arab hotel, the world's first seven-star hotel, and the massive man-made Palm Island, not just named for but also in the... Read More
Al Moudira: Luxor, Egypt; View | Reserve; The name is Arabic for “the boss” — maybe more poetic if left untranslated, but very much to the point, if what you’re after is summing up the feeling of staying in a palace like Al Moudira. Though constructed in a traditional style, it’s a new build, and must have seemed a bit of a folly, out in... Read More
Albergo Hotel: Beirut, Lebanon; View | Reserve; We’ll skip over all the usual caveats and acknowledgements and just assume you know what you’re doing going to Beirut at this current moment in world history. But if you do, the first order of business (aside from possibly checking with your embassy, and giving the international headlines a quick... Read More
Albero Lodge: Estepona, Spain; View | Reserve; Please note: Albero Lodge will be closed until March 15, 2009... Read More
Alchymist Residence Nosticova: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Residence Nosticova will be closed from January 14, 2008 to July 1, 2008... Read More
Aldebaran Hotel & Spa: Bariloche – Rio Negro, Patagonia, Argentina; View | Reserve; Thanks to the influx of Austrian, German, and Swiss settlers to Argentinian Patagonia at the turn of the century, the lake region’s architecture tends toward chalet-style lodges and wooden cottages. Certain areas of Bariloche, complete with tourist-friendly German shepherd puppies and decorative... Read More
Alden Hotel: Houston, TX, USA; View | Reserve; Houston? Lest we forget, it’s America’s fourth-largest city, and one could make the case that it’s the shadow capital of the US—the ruling dynasty has roots here, and the nation’s energy policy is decided in closed-door meetings in the sleek skyscrapers around the Alden-Houston Hotel... Read More
Alden Hotel Splugenschloss: Zurich, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Not every hotel in Zurich is out to prove how edgy and hip Switzerland can be — for those in the mood for some classic hospitality, one need look no further than the Alden Hotel Splugenschloss, a small all-suite property in a century-old heritage apartment house a few blocks from the Banhofstrasse... Read More
Aleenta Resort & Spa, Phuket-Phang Nga: Phang Nga, Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; Phuket’s no longer the untamed paradise it was, but a place like Aleenta proves that, if you pick your spot properly, you can still get that old desert-island feeling. Not quite the Robinson Crusoe feeling — the architecture sees to that, with urbane little villas and contemporary-styled loft... Read More
Aleenta Resort & Spa, Pranburi: Hua Hin, Pranburi, Thailand; View | Reserve; Perhaps the key to Thailand’s popularity as a destination is its endless variety: from the urban excess of Bangkok to the solitary eco-escapes or package-holiday crowds of the famous beaches, it’s got more faces than many nations twice its size. Time to get used to another: the upscale destinations... Read More
Aleph: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Hotel Aleph is not for the faint of heart, or, for that matter, for those delicate souls disturbed by the color red. Though this hotel is part of the new wave of chic Italian boutiques, the decor doesn't exactly fit the standard white-on-white template... Read More
Alila Cha-am: Amphur Cha-Am, Thailand; View | Reserve; There was a time when travel to Thailand meant one of two things: the bustling inner city of Bangkok or the densely developed island paradise of Phuket. These days, though, the accomplished traveler knows the country’s geography inside and out: Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin — and now Cha-Am... Read More
Alila Jakarta: Jakarta, Indonesia; View | Reserve; The word “Alila” is related to the Sanskrit word for surprise — and a surprise it is, to find such a sleek, modern hotel in Jakarta, of all places. Designed by the multinational firm of Denton Corker Marshall, Alila opened its doors in 2001 and became Jakarta's first high-design... Read More
Alila Manggis: Karangasem, Indonesia; View | Reserve; It’s difficult to say just what is special about Alila Manggis, as many of its attributes could justifiably be claimed by dozens of other hotels. Bali is not exactly an obscure destination (though this East Bali location is a bit wilder), and the idea of a modern hotel with traditional... Read More
Alila Ubud: Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Think of Bali and you almost certainly think of idyllic white sand beaches, thatched-roof villas open to the sea breeze, and maybe a bit of snorkeling. Alila Ubud, then, will confound expectations, as it shows a different side of Bali. The town of Ubud is Bali's arts capital, and is well inland... Read More
Almyra Hotel: Paphos, Cyprus; View | Reserve; Long gone is the old Paphos Beach hotel, and in its place the Almyra brings a healthy dose of high-design glamour and an unusual young family-friendly angle. Paphos, once the Mediterranean getaway of choice for the budget-conscious and style-impaired, has reinvented itself as a destination for the... Read More
Alt Hotel Quebec (ex- Germain Des Pres): Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; Hôtel Germain-des-Prés is located near business facilities and Jean-Lesage International Airport. It offers an inexpensive alternative to the hotels we have selected in the center of charming old Québec City.A recent makeover has enhanced the appeal of this hotel already noted for its convenience... Read More
Alta Bay: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; Note: Alta Bay will be closed for maintenance May 25 – June 28, 2009... Read More
Altstadt Vienna: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; In a city as storied and picturesque as Vienna, a boutique hotel made from an aristocrat’s renovated townhouse already has plenty to recommend it. Add to that an update by the Milan-based architect Matteo Thun (see also the Vigilius resort in the Italian alps) and you’ve the makings of a modern... Read More
Alva Park Resort & Spa: Lloret de Mar, Catalunia, Spain; View | Reserve; The Costa Brava may lack the long history and the pure natural charm of Spain’s more southerly coastal destinations, but this is the sort of fantastically high-end boutique-sized luxury resort that quickly renders moot any concerns about exactly which Costa you’re on. About an hour’s drive up from... Read More
Alvear Palace Hotel: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Truly, this is the high-society heart of Buenos Aires. Each of the pale-veined stones of its ornate, Beaux Arts facade was shipped from Paris. Outside lingers the unmistakable Buenos Aires scent. Teardrop chandeliers beckon from cathedral ceilings, floors gleam black and white, and Persian rugs are... Read More
Aman at Summer Palace, Beijing: Beijing, China; View | Reserve; To say the Aman at Summer Palace, Beijing is an example of the Amanresorts group gone urban would be perhaps a bit misleading. This one is technically in a city, which is a departure from the usual Aman setting—whether on the beach in Bali or by the side of a mountain in Wyoming, one thing they all... Read More
Aman i Khas: Rajasthan, India; View | Reserve; Please note: Aman i Khas will be closed from May 1, 2009 until September 30, 2009... Read More
Amandari: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; In terms of sheer luxury of the leave-it-all-behind variety, it is hard to imagine anyplace more relaxing than an Aman resort. This is a chain that is consistently at the head of the class, whose secluded resorts marry top-notch spas with unparalleled service and exquisite natural surroundings... Read More
Amangalla: Galle Fort, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; In the early years of the millennium, as Sri Lanka was rapidly ascending to its current station as the hip travel destination of the moment, the colonial-era New Oriental Hotel was in rather desperate need of refurbishment. Still, nobody could have dreamed it would turn out quite like this — the... Read More
Amangani: Jackson Hole, WY, USA; View | Reserve; The legendary Amangani is not just Jackson Hole’s most exclusive resort, but its most impressive as well. This is the only outpost of the Singapore-based Aman chain in the Americas — and should Wyoming seem an odd choice for a brand mostly known for Bali-style luxury spas, one look at the hotel... Read More
Amanjena: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; Amanresorts meets Africa in the form of Marrakech’s Amanjena. It’s another departure from tropical island-chic for the chain that started nearly two decades ago in Phuket with Amanpuri. Designed by the American architect Ed Tuttle to conform harmoniously to its surroundings, Amanjena bears a... Read More
Amanjiwo: Magelang, Java, Indonesia; View | Reserve; The simple fact that it’s an Aman resort high in the hills of central Java would be enough for most people, but Amanjiwo, it turns out, offers something a bit more otherworldly than the trademark Aman cocktail of clever design and world-class luxury. The views here are that much more sublime: for... Read More
Amankila: Manggis, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Trust the Aman resorts to show you a different side of Bali. Amankila’s location, on a cliff overlooking the Lombok Strait on Bali’s east coast, is one of the island’s most isolated resorts — and though the opening of the Denpasar-Klungkung road means that Amankila is a bit more accessible, it... Read More
Amankora: Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey and Bumthang, Bhutan; View | Reserve; Amanresorts are nothing if not exclusive; relatively modest in size, if not in the scope of their comforts, they’re priced well out of the reach of the undiscerning traveler, and situated in locations that are highly desirable, yet less than obvious... Read More
Amanpulo: Pamalican Island, Philippines; View | Reserve; Amanpulo makes its home on the private island of Pamalican, one of thousands of islands in the oft-overlooked Philippines. Surrounded by a coral reef, this tiny island rises just a few meters above sea level, and there’s nothing here aside from the resort — and, of course, the airfield upon which... Read More
Amanpuri: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; This is where it all started: Amanpuri was the first Aman resort to open, and serves as the flagship for the Singapore hospitality concern’s winning blend of modern design, classic luxury, stunning settings and first-rate service. Here on the west coast of the island of Phuket lies an exclusive... Read More
Amansara: Siem Reap, Cambodia; View | Reserve; Cambodia’s luxury makeover has been quite understandably long in coming. The temples at Angkor have always been a magnet for tourism, but it’s only recently that the country’s political situation became stable enough to allow for luxury tourism on a scale that could support new upmarket hotels... Read More
Amanusa: Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Of the three Aman resorts in Bali, Amanusa is the closest to the archetypal Bali getaway. This is not to say it’s average, or even typical — this chain takes great pride in promising, and often delivering, the extraordinary — but unlike its more remote sisters, Amanusa is set on Bali’s southern... Read More
Amanwana: Moyo Island, West Sumbawa, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Call it tunnel vision, or the herd mentality of the travel industry; for all the vastness that is Indonesia, most holiday visitors are drawn to Bali like moths to a light. Certainly there’s no place like it — but conversely, there’s no place on Bali like Amanwana... Read More
Amanwella: Tangalle, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; The phenomenon that is Amanresorts is a singularly puzzling one. It’s a chain, yes, but one with seemingly all the strengths and none of the weaknesses that that implies. On the up side there’s consistency of experience, which Aman offers in spades — just ask the “Aman junkies,” who, as legend has... Read More
Amanyara: Providenciales, Turks And Caicos Islands; View | Reserve; Clichés get that way because however unoriginal, they’re true; the Turks & Caicos really are spectacular, ringed with tons of white sand, surrounded by inviting turquoise waters, beneath blue skies punctuated by the occasional picturesque fluffy white cloud. And in a related cliché, the Aman... Read More
Amarvilas: Agra, India; View | Reserve; In light of the recent incident in Mumbai, the security at The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra has been intensified. Amongst the measures armed guards from Agra police have been deployed at the hotel, the strength of security personnel in and around the hotel has been increased and periphery patrolling has... Read More
Amstel InterContinental: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; There are plenty of places to stay in Amsterdam if you’re among the fun-seeking youth that regularly descend upon this town, but if you’re a member of the Dutch royalty, you stay at the Amstel. The Amstel is a breathtakingly grand place, with an old-fashioned, almost stuffy air that, in this... Read More
Ananda in the Himalayas: Tehri - Garhwal, Uttaranchal, India; View | Reserve; Note: Ananda Rishikesh welcomes children 15 years of age and older... Read More
Anantara Dhigu Resort & Spa: South Male Atoll, Male, Maldives; View | Reserve; The very concept of a Maldives resort is one that’s hard to get wrong; the trick, one supposes, is getting hold of one of these shallow, sandy atoll islands, and after that, the rest is just details. After all, once you’re in your villa, on a pristine white sand beach, or in one of the suites on... Read More
Anantara Resort Golden Triangle: Chiang Saen, Chiang Rai, Thailand; View | Reserve; At the confluence of the Sop Ruak and the Mekong rivers is the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. Here, on a wooded ridge with views of all three countries, is the Anantara Resort and Spa, a brand-new spa and hotel complex overlooking the waters of the Mekong... Read More
Anantara Resort Hua Hin: Hua Hin, Thailand; View | Reserve; Before a few years ago, Hua Hin was rather out of the way for international travelers, and was best reached by train or coach. Now four flights leave Bangkok each day for the Hua Hin airport. Survive the slightly claustrophobic journey to the heart of the northern Malay Peninsula and you’ll soon... Read More
Anantara Resort Koh Samui: Koh Samui, Thailand; View | Reserve; When a hotel cares enough to shell out for the services of an architect of Bill Bensley’s stature, chances are the hotel will be obsessive in other areas as well. The Anantara on the Thai island of Koh Samui is one such hotel... Read More
Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa: Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; It’s not always entirely about getting away from it all. Seminyak is pretty much the heart of the tourist Bali, but it got that way for a reason. And if you can stand a little socializing with your tropical-beach getaway, it’s a rewarding option — even more so considering that it’s now home to a... Read More
Anassa: Polis, Cyprus; View | Reserve; The Greek islands are the stars of the Mediterranean at the moment—but for all the spectacular beauty, and none of the crowds of tourists, Cyprus is a good bet. And as for lodging, Anassa is the queen of this island, perched majestically above the Mediterranean Sea... Read More
Andaz London: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Andaz London is a rare beast, a hip hotel right on top of Liverpool Station — one of just a handful of lodgings in the Square Mile, bucking the trend that generally sees City boys and girls (and their guests) flee for parts westward as soon as the closing bell rings. And despite its... Read More
Andel's Hotel: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Andel, Czech for “angel,” is the name of the once-derelict industrial area, now repurposed as a residential and retail district, that the hotel calls home. The interiors, by Jestico + Whiles (responsible for London’s Hempel and One Aldwych) are bright, clean, predominantly white... Read More
Angleterre Hotel: Saint Petersburg, Russia; View | Reserve; We don′t put much stock in the concept of star ratings for hotels; often it′s just an exercise in list-making, where some phenomenal hotels lose out to boring and predictable ones, for the crime of lacking a swimming pool... Read More
Apostrophe Hotel: Paris, Ile de France, France; View | Reserve; These days design hotels are so widespread as to be almost commonplace, and art hotels are no longer the novelty they once were. So what’s next? One attempt at an answer comes in the form of the Apostrophe Hotel, which styles itself the world’s first “poem hotel” — an idea that’s so perfectly... Read More
Aquapura Douro Valley: Lamego, Portugal; View | Reserve; Traditionally Portugal hasn’t needed much more than a sunny climate (and maybe a bit of golf) to woo tourists by the tens of thousands. There are places, though, that go above and beyond the basic formula: Aquapura, in the Douro Valley, the wine-making region in the north, is one of these... Read More
Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow: Moscow, Russia; View | Reserve; It is an old story by now, so we will spare you the detailed recap of the post-Cold War years, and the changes that have taken place in Russia over the last two decades. Allow us simply to summarize, with an example that is particularly germane to the subject matter of Tablet Hotels... Read More
ARC The Hotel: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; View | Reserve; Ottawa’s first design hotel is officially named ARC The.Hotel — but rest assured, it will not be the subject of any clever wordplay here on Tablet Hotels. The name, so irresistible to pun-happy journalists, is intended to evoke associations with the Canadian capital’s high-tech... Read More
Arcana Izu: Izu City, Shizuoka, Japan; View | Reserve; Japan’s rural ryokan present a bit of a challenge in classification; while they’re new and uncharted territory for most foreigners, to the Japanese they’re as traditional as it gets. But the Arcana, on the Izu peninsula two hours outside of Tokyo, is one we can all agree on: while in concept it’s... Read More
Aria Hotel: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; The Aria Hotel may have been, as it claims, Prague's first five-star luxury boutique hotel; it is certainly the most unique hotel in town. The location is excellent, on a quiet side street in the picturesque Malá Strana, and the hotel itself is charming, decorated by architect Rocco Magnoli... Read More
Art Deco Hotel Montana: Luzern, Switzerland; View | Reserve; The Art Deco Hotel Montana is precisely what it claims to be; though the building, high on a hillside overlooking the lake and town of Lucerne, actually predates the movement by a decade or so, it’s an Art Deco hotel, through and through... Read More
ART Hotel Atelier sul Mare: Castel di Tusa, Sicily, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s easy to imagine that the scenic outlying areas of rural Italy belong to some long-past era — in fact most Italian hotels go out of their way to create exactly this impression. So it’s natural that a sense of surprise is evoked by a place like the Atelier sul Mare, which, despite its location... Read More
art'otel berlin kudamm, by Park Plaza: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; This is the first in what has become a sort of German mini-genre—the art'otel. Don’t confuse it with a design hotel, unless you mean a hotel dedicated to and decked out with works by a particular designer (Arne Jacobsen’s SAS Copenhagen comes to mind). An art'otel is not just an artistic hotel, or... Read More
art'otel budapest, by Park Plaza: Budapest, Hungary; View | Reserve; The art’otels are perhaps more like auteur hotels—every detail created or curated by the hand of a single artist, resulting in a rather more unified vision than the typical committee-designed chain hotel, and an escape from uninspired hotel art to boot. In this case the auteur is the American... Read More
art'otel dresden, by Park Plaza: Dresden, Germany; View | Reserve; The art’otel chain is a small one, numbering just a few hotels across Germany, mixing modern hotel design with an art gallery atmosphere — each art’otel is dedicated to the work of a particular local artist, and features a collection of that artist’s work. The décor is conceived as a complement to... Read More
Arthotel Blaue Gans: Salzburg, Austria; View | Reserve; The building that’s home to the Arthotel Blaue Gans has stood in this spot on the Getriedegasse for so many centuries that its precise age is unknown. It’s been a hotel for some time, but only recently has it joined the movement of Arthotels that is currently sweeping the... Read More
Artus Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Located on the rue de Buci, in the left bank, the newly renovated Artus is doubly remarkable; not only is it contemporary and stylish, but it’s quiet about it as well. Some of the most fashionable Parisian hotels take themselves a bit too seriously, with pompous service to match (we could name... Read More
As Janelas Verdes: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; Just down the road from the National Art Museum on the Rua das Janelas Verdes is an eighteenth-century mansion; once the home of the Portuguese novelist Eça de Queirós, today it’s a small and elegant boutique hotel, with many of the trappings of an old-fashioned literary residence... Read More
Astarte Suites: Santorini, Greece; View | Reserve; Astarte Suites is closed November - March 2008. Children under 13 years of age are not permitted at the hotel... Read More
At Three Storks: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Prague is a city so steeped in history that even the brand-new high-design boutique hotels have stories that reach back centuries. This one is no different — it started its life as a monasterial brewery some time in the 14th century, lived through several reconstructions (in Renaissance, Baroque... Read More
Atacamadventure: San Pedro de Atacama, II.Region, Chile; View | Reserve; The Atacama of northern Chile is one of the most sublimely bleak and stunning landscapes on this planet and possibly others — if they were making a movie about Mars they could do worse than this vast red desert. The inhospitability of the place demands an extra measure of luxury from its lodgings... Read More
Auberge du Soleil: Rutherford, CA, USA; View | Reserve; If your idea of heaven is Tuscany meets Provence with a Bay Area sensibility, Auberge du Soleil will make think you’ve died and gone there. In the distance rise the mountains, while below, a vineyard sits. Fifty-odd rooms are decorated in a style that can only be described as European country... Read More
Auberge du Vieux Port: Montreal, Québec, Canada; View | Reserve; Old Montréal is like a city within a city, a slice of Old Europe right in the middle of a major North American city, where one can still hear the hooves of horses, drawing carriages along the meandering cobbled streets. And the Auberge du Vieux-Port is a bit of a trip through time as well—though... Read More
Auberge Saint-Antoine: Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; Auberge Saint-Antoine is half hotel, half museum, a unique blend of a boutique hotel and an old-fashioned bed and breakfast, three centuries-old buildings in the lower OId Port of Québec City, overlooking the stately St. Lawrence river, and just steps from many of this historic city's tourist... Read More
Augarten Hotel: Graz, Austria; View | Reserve; It’s no surprise at all anymore to find a slick, modern, loft-style boutique hotel somewhere like Stockholm or Berlin. And at this point, to find a hotel like the Augarten in a place like Graz isn’t terribly surprising either — but the fact that contemporary hotels like this one have... Read More
Avalon Hotel: Beverly Hills, CA, USA; View | Reserve; What was once the Beverly Carlton (and two neighboring apartment houses) is now the Avalon, a Fifties retro-style hotel packed with mid-century Eames, Noguchi and Nelson furniture to match its blocky blue facade and curvaceous hourglass-shaped pool, which we’d like to think is an homage to... Read More
Awasi: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile; View | Reserve; Until recently, the only hotel filling the luxury-in-the-Atacama niche was Germán del Sol’s Explora—understandable since most craggy edge-of-the-world desert moonscapes haven’t got even one upscale adventure hotel. Now, though, there’s competition, and some of the finest comes in the form of Awasi... Read More
Axel Hotel Guldsmeden: Kepenhaven V, Denmark; View | Reserve; Upon checking into a Copenhagen boutique hotel, you might expect mid-century Danish furnishings and frosty minimalist design. But increasingly, boutique in Denmark means going against the grain. The Axel Hotel Guldsmeden, certainly, is anything but modernist; here, in the heart of Copenhagen, is a... Read More
Azur: Queenstown, New Zealand; View | Reserve; The whole point of New Zealand, from an outsider’s perspective, is the outdoors — there’s city culture there, of course, but what’s worth going on and on about are the natural gifts of the place. So a hotel like Azur plays to all its location’s strengths; it’s urbane and sophisticated, just a few... Read More
Azura: Benguerra Island, Mozambique; View | Reserve; Given Mozambique’s troubled history a hotel as luxurious as Azura, located on the tropical Benguerra Island, must tread sensitively, a fact its British proprietors are clearly well aware of. It was built by locals, it’s largely staffed by locals, it contributes to community health education, and... Read More
B Hotel: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; There’s no shortage of ultra-modern accommodations in Barcelona — it seems there’s a stylish little boutique or two on just about every street. This is a first-class city, though, and a phenomenally well-traveled destination, and so there’s always room for another good one... Read More
Babington House: Somerset, England, UK; View | Reserve; Pre-dating by a moment or two the new rush of country-house design hotels, Babington House was opened in the late Nineties as a sort of rustic sequel to the London members club Soho House. As such it’s quite understandably less about pining for the bygone days of shooting parties and fox hunts, and... Read More
Baby Grand Hotel: Athens, Greece; View | Reserve; Hotel designers far and wide strive for interiors that are hip and eclectic, but these days a few zebra-print pillows and some potted bamboo in a minimalist setting hardly qualify as edgy. Enter the Baby Grand, an Athens hotel that’s delightfully avant-garde, splashed with colorful artworks, and... Read More
Badrutt's Palace: St. Moritz, Alps, Switzerland; View | Reserve; St. Moritz—that place of furs and slopes and lots of champagne—was nothing before Johannes Badrutt. He made this town when he persuaded a bunch of English tourists to try skiing. And today his legacy lives on as the definition of wintry European glamour. If you want to drink kirsch and... Read More
Baglioni Hotel London: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; West London has never been short on top-flight luxury hotels, especially around Knightsbridge, Kensington and Hyde Park. What’s unique about the Baglioni is that it’s so, well, Italian — posh and decadent, almost comically over-the-top, yet without a shred of irony, marked by none of the whimsy and... Read More
Bagni di Pisa: San Giuliano Terme, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; In the public imagination the city of Pisa has drawn a pretty short straw — thanks to that tower, it’s relegated to the status of architectural footnote or physics-book illustration. Time was, however, it was known not for its shoddy foundation work, but for its thermal baths — hence the... Read More
Bairro Alto Hotel: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; It’s stylish, it’s plush, it beckons you off the street with its cheery yellow exterior. But perhaps the best thing about the Bairro Alto is the hotel’s choice location on Lisbon’s main square, Praça Luís de Camões. This central spot would make its poet namesake proud: serene by day, the square is... Read More
Banyan Tree Al Areen: Juffair, Bahrain; View | Reserve; One of these things is not like the others. The latest installment in the Banyan Tree series is located not in some jungle-island paradise like the Maldives or the Seychelles but in Bahrain, in the desert a half hour outside Manama. An unlikely location, at first blush — but this Persian Gulf... Read More
Banyan Tree Bintan: Lagoi, Bintan Island, Indonesia; View | Reserve; The unique architectural style of Banyan Tree Bintan villas may pose a potential risk for children below the age of 12 years. Guests with children are requested to read and sign a Disclaimer Form upon check-in... Read More
Banyan Tree Lijiang: Lijiang, Yunnan , China; View | Reserve; The thing about China is that it’s just really massively big. Yes, that’s the kind of insight that makes Tablet Hotels such an authoritative source. But be honest: when you think of a Chinese holiday, the mountainous southwestern province of Yunnan is probably not the first place that comes to... Read More
Banyan Tree Maldives Vabbinfaru: Male, Maldives; View | Reserve; Even as the Maldives heat up, experiencing a wave of new development, there’s one resort that’s been there all along — well, ten years, at least, which these days amounts to about half an eternity in the hotel world... Read More
Banyan Tree Phuket: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; Please note: From July 18-23, 2009, Banyan Tree Phuket and neighbouring Laguna Phuket hotels, will be the host venue for a high profile government conference. There will be visibly increased security measures within Laguna Phuket and limited access to some areas of the Laguna Complex. Please rest... Read More
Banyan Tree Ringha: Yunnan Province, China; View | Reserve; Ten thousand feet up in the mountains of China’s southwestern Yunnan province, Banyan Tree Ringha is a bit of a departure for the Singapore-based hotel company. Though the coastal outposts of the franchise share a Balinese style, the Ringha version leaves that behind in favor of a Tibetan lodge... Read More
Banyan Tree Seychelles: Mahe, Seychelles; View | Reserve; The Seychelles are deep in the middle of the Indian Ocean; and though remote by North American standards, they are stiff competition to the typical Caribbean destinations, in the minds of many Europeans. Mahé is the largest of these islands, and on the shores of this island's stunning Intendance... Read More
Barcelo Raval: Barcelona, , Spain; View | Reserve; This is another one to file under the heading of “only in Barcelona.” That metal skin, those modern interiors, the mini-tower construction, looking down on the rooftops of the historic Barrio Chino — it’s a perfect fit with the raucous blend of old and new for which the Catalan capital is so well... Read More
Basico: Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Please no children or pets.It would have been unthinkable a few short years ago, but today, just south of Cancún, tourist-kitsch capital of the Yucatán peninsula, there’s a small hotel so stylish (and sustainable) you’ll think you’ve walked in on a Dutch design expo — at least until the bartender... Read More
Baudon de Mauny: Montpellier, France; View | Reserve; If the South of France, for you, is simply shorthand for Provence and the Riviera, then there’s another world you’re missing out on. Not the vibrant old sailors’ city of Marseille — though you should make sure you see that too — but the classical-Rome meets cosmopolitan-multicultural town of... Read More
Baur au Lac: Zurich, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Please note: Baur Au Lac is currently undergoing... Read More
Bayerischer Hof Munich: Munich, Germany; View | Reserve; Playing host to the likes of aristocrats, film stars and pop idols, the independently owned Hotel Bayerischer Hof is without a doubt the queen of Munich’s grand hotel scene. Once the spare palace where King Ludwig I entertained his royal guests, since 1841 it’s been a stately and old-fashioned... Read More
BCN Design: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; The Eurostars group operates several successful luxury hotels in Barcelona; their latest additions, notably the new BCN Design, have been attracting more and more style-conscious travelers. BCN Design enjoys a prime location on the Passeig de Gràcia, and occupies an antique building that was gutted... Read More
be Manos hotel: Brussels, Belgium; View | Reserve; Until lately the Brussels hotel scene has remained fairly conservative — some fine business hotels, and some gorgeous old-world mansions, but little in the way of modern design fireworks. Be Manos, however, changes all that — this chic little gem around the corner from the Gare du Midi occupies the... Read More
Beau-Rivage Palace: Ouchy, Lausanne, Switzerland; View | Reserve; One of the last of Europe’s traditional grand hotels, Lausanne’s Beau-Rivage Palace recalls the days of aristocrats traveling by coach; from within the gardens of the hotel’s ten-acre grounds, pressed up against Lake Geneva, it would be easy to feel a little bit lost in time... Read More
Bedarra Island: Queensland, Australia; View | Reserve; Please note: Bedarra Island has a 2 night minimum stay requirement... Read More
Bel Ami: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Not at all what you’d expect of this town, in terms of style and design — the Bel Ami is all simple modernity, rather than fussy muséification, and the palette leans to the muted and earthy, almost Nordic, avoiding the rich crimsons and pinks on display in Parisian grand hotels. This sort of... Read More
Bellagio: Las Vegas, NV, USA; View | Reserve; Created by Steve Wynn, and it’s in Las Vegas. Safe to say then, the Bellagio is an extravagant place — it's the size of a small town, and comes complete with its own theatres, fountains, art galleries, restaurants, and, obviously, wedding chapels and casinos. We all know that over the last few... Read More
Bellevue Syrene 1820: Sorrento, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Bellevue Syrene 1820 is presently closed and will re-open on April 1, 2009... Read More
Belmont Hotel: Dallas, Texas, USA; View | Reserve; There’s usually little that’s positive to be said for America’s car culture — sprawl, pollution, and suburban alienation all are routinely laid at its doorstep. But lately one of the car culture’s byproducts — the roadside motor court inn — has begun a sort of renaissance, these one-time symbols of... Read More
Belvedere Hotel: Mykonos, Greece; View | Reserve; High on a hill above Mykonos town and the scenic harbor, the Belvedere makes the most of its visual environment — a look around at the cascade of blocky whitewashed buildings and the deep blue Aegean beyond and it’s immediately clear exactly where you are. The Belvedere is among the cream of... Read More
Bernardus Lodge: Carmel Valley, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The location alone would be enough to make Bernardus Lodge an attractive resort getaway. Tucked into the pines and oaks of Carmel Valley, the Lodge is remote enough to provide a measure of seclusion, yet still just minutes from the picturesque town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, and a short (and scenic... Read More
Berns Hotel: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; Since the 19th Century, Berns Salonger has been one of Stockholm’s classiest hotels, with its Belle Epoque exterior and an opulent interior to match — in fact the Red Room was the setting for August Strindberg’s novel of the same name... Read More
Best Western Hotel Tomo: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Recycling is great for household goods but as it turns out it’s even better for hotels. Formerly the Best Western Miyako Inn, the Tomo is part of America’s great surplus of cheap-but-uninspired mid-century budget hotels, re-designed and re-purposed into a boutique hotel that takes its style cues... Read More
Beverly Wilshire Hotel: Beverly Hills, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Despite subtle name changes over the decades, to most of us, it’ll always just be the Beverly Wilshire. Fresh off a massive renovation, and still under the Four Seasons flag, this Beverly Hills grand dame is more high-end than ever, a perfect match for the unapologetic opulence of Rodeo... Read More
Biras Creek: Virgin Islands (British); View | Reserve; In a world of near-identical Caribbean resorts, Biras Creek is something truly special, more private, more isolated, more unspoiled than the average tropical resort. Everything one expects from a luxury island resort is here, but it is all done a bit differently, and, dare we say, more than a bit... Read More
Bitter End Yacht Club International: Virgin Gorda, Virgin Islands (British); View | Reserve; Bitter End may seem an inauspicious name for a resort, but it’s a clue to the sailing heritage of the place—the North Sound of the British Virgin Islands was the last sight of land for ships heading back to Europe.Today it’s the most expansive sailing facility in the British Virgin Islands, with... Read More
Black Barn: Hawkes Bay, New Zealand; View | Reserve; “Please note price includes first morning breakfast provisions. There is an additional $NZ 50 servicing fee for bookings of 1 night only.” - Black Barn... Read More
Blackberry Farm: Walland, TN, USA; View | Reserve; Please note: there is a 3-night minimum stay on weekends from September 15 to November 15... Read More
Blakes: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Possibly the most theatrical and over-the-top hotel in London or anywhere else, Blakes nevertheless predates by two decades the current mania for individualist boutique hotels, and frankly outpaces them all, at least in terms of sheer eccentricity. It’s hard to imagine how shocking this place... Read More
Blancaneaux Lodge: San Ignacio, Belize; View | Reserve; There was a time when the fact that the film director Francis Ford Coppola had a special fondness for the jungles of Belize would have simply been celebrity gossip, or Hollywood trivia. But now that he’s opened his holdings to the paying public, it’s a matter for the travel pages... Read More
Blanch House: Brighton, UK; View | Reserve; If Brighton is going to go upscale, and yet retain the thrill of its recent past as a seedy seaside getaway, then a familial, familiar little hotel like Blanch House is just the way to do it. Equal parts chic boutique and dressed-down guest house (with just a dash of dirty weekender) Blanch House... Read More
Blanket Bay: Glenorchy Otago, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Please note: Due to safety reasons, Blanket Bay does not allow children under the age of 13... Read More
Blantyre: Lenox, MA, USA; View | Reserve; The Blantyre, a grand estate situated on a hundred-acre estate outside Lenox, Massachusetts, epitomizes the proud and somewhat old-fashioned spirit of its Berkshires setting. An English-style summer house from the turn of the 20th century, the Blantyre has since been converted to a luxury hotel... Read More
Bleibtreu Hotel: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; Located on the sleepy Bleibtreustrasse, just off the shopper’s paradise of the Kurfürstendamm, the Bleibtreu Hotel is the sort of downtown boutique we’d like to see more of. This is a hotel that succeeds in being modern and hip, yet never painfully so, in being suitable for business and leisure... Read More
BloomEstate: Swellendam, South Africa; View | Reserve; Not quite a hotel, not really a bed and breakfast, Bloomestate is the sort of small, individually-owned lodging that defies categorization. At the edge of the old Dutch colonial town of Swellendam, in South Africa’s Western Cape, it’s more likely a stop on a longer tour of the country — but anyone... Read More
Bloomfield Lodge: Cairns, Queensland, Australia; View | Reserve; Peppers Bloomfield Lodge does not accommodate children under 12 years old... Read More
Blow Up Hall 5050: Poznan, Poland; View | Reserve; The concept, frankly, sounds like a classic Russian Reversal joke: in Blow Up Hall 5050, hotel room chooses you. This place is half interactive art project, half high-design boutique hotel — guests in its stylish public spaces are monitored on video, and their images are incorporated into a... Read More
Blue Palace Resort & Spa: Elounda, Island of Crete, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Blue Palace Resort & Spa is open April 25th-October 31st... Read More
Blue Sydney: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; View | Reserve; It's impossible to resist the Blue's location, an old finger wharf extending out over the water in Woolloomooloo, still surrounded by docked vessels and affording prime views of the marina, the city, and the landmarks on the Harbour... Read More
Bodysgallen Hall: Llandudno, North Wales, UK; View | Reserve; There is no better setting for a cozy whodunit—Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple would have felt quite comfortable here. This 17th-century manor, set in 22 acres of fountains and climbing roses, is British hospitality to the extreme. Fireplaces crackle, footsteps tread softly on Persian carpets, and... Read More
Bora Bora Lagoon Resort: Bora Bora, French Polynesia; View | Reserve; Though the resort is only a few years old, this is the Bora Bora experience you've been hearing about all your life — coral reefs, crystal blue water, and dense green jungle. The resort is secluded and exclusive, situated amidst the dense vegetation of the island. Bungalow living is the norm here... Read More
Bora Bora Nui Resort: Bora Bora, French Polynesia; View | Reserve; The notion of bungalows on pylons in shallow seawater is not a new one — it has been the modus operandi of French Polynesian hoteliers for decades. But there's a reason why this fad never died out, and if you have never experienced overwater bungalow living, it's definitely worth a try... Read More
Boston Harbor Hotel: Boston, MA, USA; View | Reserve; Boston’s got a reputation for being one of America’s most old-fashioned big cities — accurate or not, there’s no denying that it’s not exactly the trendiest city on earth. Of course that’s not a bad thing at all; and what Boston lacks in design fireworks it more than makes up for in old-world... Read More
Boutique Hotel Zara: Budapest, Hungary; View | Reserve; No, the Zara is nothing to do with the Spanish fashion chain of the same name — just the same catchy couple of syllables. But a case could be made that there’s an accidental similarity between the clothing brand and the Budapest boutique hotel. After all, it’s sharp and modern, with plenty of basic... Read More
Bovey Castle: Moretonhampstead, England, UK; View | Reserve; Not just any old castle, but a lovingly restored Art Deco revival; which means that Bovey Castle is rich with classic character, but a little less precious than some of England’s museum-piece castle hotels. This one is meant to be inhabited, not just seen — it’s no less devoted to its theme, but... Read More
Bratsera: Hydra, Greece; View | Reserve; On the island of Hydra, closed to all automobiles (but not donkeys) a one-time sponge factory dating to 1860 has been renovated and converted into the island’s best hotel, Bratsera. Here you’re a short walk up the hill from the harbor, in a stone villa surrounding a central pool, a... Read More
Brenner's Park Hotel and Spa: Baden-Baden, Germany; View | Reserve; Baden-Baden is well-known as a spa, resort and convention town, and since 1872 Brenner's Park Hotel and Spa has been its finest hotel. This is a side of Germany that is often overlooked: here, at the edge of the Black Forest, one may indulge in all the finest creature comforts life has to offer... Read More
Bristol Hotel Frankfurt: Frankfurt Am Main, Germany; View | Reserve; One might expect the hotels in Germany’s banking capital to tend toward the traditional side, perhaps confined to the city’s signature skyscrapers. This may be in some measure true, but there’s more to Frankfurt than finance. Around the corner from the Hauptbahnhof station is a hotel that caters to... Read More
Brooklands Country Estate: Waikato, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Many of New Zealand’s most famous hotel properties are imposing mountain lodges or adventure-sports meccas; those less adventuresome among us, though, may prefer the quiet life on offer at a place like Brooklands Country Estate. Here, 80 minutes to the south of Auckland, lies a hundred-year-old... Read More
Brown's Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Boutique hotels come and go, but a few of London’s top hotels have been in it for the long haul. At the end of the last century Brown’s, a fixture since 1837, was starting to show its age. But after a big-ticket renovation (the top to bottom Olga Polizzi treatment) it’s back in business, as grand... Read More
Buckland Manor Hotel: Buckland, Gloucestershire, UK; View | Reserve; If you're in the heart of England, Broadway is not a street but a town, the “gateway to the Cotswolds”, and it happens to be packed to the metaphorical rafters with hotels and bed and breakfasts. A bit less besieged with tourists is the tiny village of Buckland, just two miles away — and alongside... Read More
Buenos Aires cE, Design Hotel: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Argentina’s economy, after famously melting down at the turn of this century, seems to have rebounded handsomely, at least if the spate of recent hotel openings is any indication — forget about inflation or GDP, the Boutique Hotel Index is the only measure that matters to us. Suddenly it seems that... Read More
Bulgari Hotel: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Bulgari Hotel does not allow children 16 years old or under in their pool/spa... Read More
Burj Al Arab: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; The Burj Al Arab is quite possibly the most over-the-top hotel in the entire world, including Vegas. It is also the world's first and only seven star hotel, and it takes that extra star very seriously. Rising like a sail crest out of the Arabian Gulf, all 28 stories of this building are covered in... Read More
Burnham Hotel: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; Calling all architecture junkies: the Burnham may just be the hotel of your dreams. Built in 1895 by the famed partnership of Daniel Burnham, Charles Atwood, and John Welborn Root, it was a building ahead of its time. Sixteen stainless steel stories high, the then-called Reliant was one of the... Read More
Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amista: San Pietro In Cariano, Verona, Italy; View | Reserve; We’ve seen design hotels, and we’ve seen fashion hotels, but the Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amistà is something slightly different. Though it’s owned by the family that owns the Byblos fashion house, it’s far from just an exercise in cross-branding — instead it’s something... Read More
Ca Pisani Hotel: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; We have seen many modern hotels, even a few post-modern ones. And in a city like Venice, deeply attached to its past, we might expect a hotel to lean toward the classic, to play up its connection with Venice’s unique architecture and history.Hotel Ca’Pisani, then, is a surprise, in design terms... Read More
Cabo Surf Hotel: San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Los Cabos isn’t short on big seaside resorts; but the savvy surfers know this stretch, outside San Jose, offers some of the best long rides anywhere, and this quiet and uncrowded spot is home to something a bit rare — a friendly small hotel, steps from the beach, that manages to stave off the... Read More
Cadogan Hotel: London, UK; View | Reserve; It doesn’t get much more picture-book English, much more posh turn-of-the-century London, than this: the Cadogan Hotel, on Sloane Square in Knightsbridge, just around the corner from Harrod’s, down the road from Harvey Nicks, and a (very muscular) stone’s throw from Hyde Park. This is where Oscar... Read More
Caesar Augustus Hotel: Capri, Italy; View | Reserve; Enough has been written about the star-studded resorts on the island of Capri to fill a thousand magazines—and still there’s a side to the island that is unfamiliar to the boatloads of jaded tourists ferried in for the day, and the paparazzi-posing celebrities who check in at the Quisisana... Read More
Caesars Palace: Las Vegas, NV, USA; View | Reserve; The size of Vegas can at first be a bit intimidating. From a distance the Strip looks walkable, until you realize that the buildings are four times the size they appear to be, and you begin to have some sympathy for the able-bodied people you see scooting from place to place on those little... Read More
Calistoga Ranch: Calistoga, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Calistoga Ranch might sound like a rustic old cattlemen’s hideout, and given its location in the upper Napa valley one could mistake it for a nature commune, or some kind of eco-retreat. In fact it’s a modern and highly exclusive luxury resort, easily on a par with the world’s finest rural... Read More
Cambiocavallo - Unesco Area & Resort: Modica, Sicily, Italy; View | Reserve; Situated in the historically rich and geographically blessed southeastern corner of Sicily, Cambiocavallo is a country resort just inland from the port of Pozzallo, and a few miles from the UNESCO-honored baroque city of Modica. But the property’s style has little to do with the flowery... Read More
Cambridge Beaches: Sandys, Bermuda; View | Reserve; 5 night minimum stay April 16 to October 31... Read More
Cameron Highlands Resort: Pahang, Malaysia; View | Reserve; It’s not exactly what comes to mind when you think of Malaysia. The Cameron Highlands is a cool, mild region, almost a mile above sea level, a few hours north and inland from Kuala Lumpur. Here, in a place named for a British explorer (and known for its tea) it’s perhaps no surprise to find a hotel... Read More
Camino Real Mexico City: Mexico City, Mexico; View | Reserve; It would be hard to miss the Camino Real — located in the heart of the upscale Polanco district, surrounded by Mexico City’s top museums, it is itself almost a museum, and something of a monument, both in terms of architectural distinction and in sheer volume. Designed by the renowned modern... Read More
Camino Real Oaxaca: Oaxaca, Mexico; View | Reserve; On a pedestrian street in the heart of Oaxaca’s old town lies the Hotel Camino Real; once a sixteenth-century convent, now a listed landmark, it’s Oaxaca’s most luxurious lodging, without sacrificing any of its colonial charm. It’s a splendid building, rich with stone corridors and quiet... Read More
Can Bonastre Wine Resort: Masquefa, Spain; View | Reserve; Just over a half-hour’s drive from Barcelona, in the Penedes wine region, the Can Bonastre Wine Resort sits near the foot of the Montserrat mountains, on a 250-acre estate that produces several varieties of red and white wines, and a bit of olive oil on the side. And these days it’s producing... Read More
Canary Hotel: Santa Barbara, CA, USA; View | Reserve; In Santa Barbara the Spanish architectural style is laid on pretty thick. So it makes a certain kind of sense that the Canary Hotel is named not for a particular shade of yellow but for the Canary Islands, offering a sort of metaphorical escape from the Spanish mainland. And in a very real sense it... Read More
Caneel Bay, A Rosewood Resort: St. John, Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands (U.S.); View | Reserve; Caneel Bay, A Rosewood Resort, is one of the original blue-blooded Caribbean resorts—a destination for “the man who has everything,” if you like. Caneel is the baby of Nelson Rockefeller, who fell in love St. John in the 1950s and purchased 5,000 acres, most of which has now been given to the... Read More
Canyon Ranch: Tucson, AZ, USA; View | Reserve; Canyon Ranch offers stays of four, seven, or ten nights. Please no children under 12 years old... Read More
Canyon Ranch: Lenox, MA, USA; View | Reserve; Canyon Ranch offers stays of three, four, five or seven nights. Please no children under 12... Read More
Caol Ishka Hotel: Siracusa, Sicily, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s odd, we’ll grant, to travel all the way to Sicily and end up in a hotel with a Gaelic name. But it’s not the only thing that’s out of the ordinary about this place. Caol Ishka seems simple enough from the outside, just a traditional masseria, a Southern Italian farming... Read More
Cap Estel: Eze, France; View | Reserve; There are two ways to properly do the Riviera: either march into one of the big grand hotels in Cannes, in full view of throngs of adoring fans or paparazzi, plonk down a pile of cash, and flounce around like the celebrity you are; or else find some secluded spot and duck in, out of the view of... Read More
Cape Grace Hotel: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; Right in the heart of the city, and yet removed, constructed on a quay at the Victoria and Albert waterfront, the Cape Grace Hotel is equally well positioned to take advantage of the views (of the harbor, the marina, and Table Mountain) and of the convenience of a city center location. It’s hard to... Read More
Cape Lodge: Margaret River, WT, Australia; View | Reserve; Unless you’re a wine connoisseur familiar with Chardonnay varietals, the Margaret River region of southwestern Australia may be something of a mystery to you. Here’s a quick update: slightly inland from the Indian Ocean, the vineyard-surrounded town is located about three hours’ drive from Perth... Read More
Cape Royale Luxury Hotel and Residence: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; Note: Annual maintenance on the hotel's Pool Deck and Sky Bar will take place July 16 - August 10, 2009. The hotel does not anticipate any major disruption for guests and will provide an alternative venue should guests wish to make use of a swimming pool... Read More
Capri Palace Hotel & Spa: Anacapri, Italy; View | Reserve; Capri is where the Roman Emperor Tiberius came to live, and where innumerable European jet-setters have hung their hats for who knows how many decades. Naturally, it couldn’t remain a secret forever, and today finds Capri beset with day-trip tourists, jamming the streets and crowding the sights... Read More
Carcosa Seri Negara: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; View | Reserve; In the dazzling modern metropolis of Kuala Lumpur many of us would be tempted to stay in one of the super-sized contemporary business hotels, the 500-rooms-plus palaces that are, to be fair, just about as good as it gets, as long as coziness and intimacy are not chief among your concerns... Read More
Carducci 76: Cattolica, Italy; View | Reserve; The Adriatic coast near Fellini’s old haunt of Rimini is a well-traveled tourist destination, particularly among Italians. Carducci 76, however, has developed an international following, a fashion- and design-conscious crowd, drawn to an intimate beachfront villa hotel that’s conspicuous by... Read More
Carlisle Bay: St. Mary's, Antigua / Barbuda; View | Reserve; Carlisle Bay is the sister hotel of London's One Aldwych, and in this case they could be mistaken for twins, so strong is the resemblance. This is not as thoughtless as it sounds — the signature blend of posh elegance and to-die-for hipness translates surprisingly well to the shores of Antigua... Read More
Carlo IV: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; You may find yourself phoning the front desk just to hear a Czech voice reminding you you’re not in Rome or Milan. The Boscolo hotel family has expanded, and this newest offering brings a touch of Italian style to downtown Prague... Read More
Carlton Hotel St. Moritz: St. Moritz, Grisons, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Please note: Carlton Hotel St. Moritz will be closed April 13, 2009 through November 26, 2009... Read More
Carlton InterContinental: Cannes, France; View | Reserve; The Carlton is the undisputed star of the French Riviera. Massive, white and marble, it sits on the famous La Croisette seafront in Cannes. And in a town where everyone is finely tanned, rail-thin, and wears jewels to breakfast, the Carlton clientele are the most dazzling. It has the best parties... Read More
Casa Angelina Lifestyle Hotel: Praiano, Amalfi Coast, Italy; View | Reserve; Maybe you don’t know Praiano, but it’s a sure bet that you do know the Amalfi Coast, that charmed little crescent of heaven on earth just north of Naples, on Italy’s west coast. Some of the world’s most famous hotels lie along this coastline, perched on cliffsides high above... Read More
Casa Camper: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; There’s already a Camper shoe store on the main shopping drag of every city across Europe — it won’t be long before there’s a Camper hotel as well. Here in Barcelona’s arty El Raval district is the first of a projected chain of mid-priced boutique hotels by the Spanish-owned hipster footwear... Read More
Casa Casuarina: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; It’s perhaps the apex of a certain tendency in hospitality: the old Versace mansion is back, this time as a private members’ club — and, for those willing to shell out for a temporary membership, a luxury boutique hotel. This patchwork Italian-style palace is still every inch a monument... Read More
CASA Colombo: Colombo, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; With upscale Sri Lankan tourism booming, we’ve seen openings in a couple of the genres that matter: most notably the uniquely Sri Lankan plantation-house hotels and Dutch-fort hotels, as well as outposts of the global Amanresorts mini-genre. Urban high-design boutique hotels, though, have... Read More
Casa Colonial Beach & Spa: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; View | Reserve; If everywhere else in the Caribbean seems old hat, chances are you haven’t tried the Dominican Republic. Here, especially on the rough-and-tumble north coast, it’s possible to escape the package-holiday hordes, and maybe even get a taste of that undiscovered-paradise feeling... Read More
Casa de Madrid: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Ostentatious it most certainly isn’t. Casa de Madrid comes with no towering atrium, no army of fawning bellhops, no long corridors lined with identical international-minimal bachelor pad bedrooms — just a nearly unmarked door (a small plaque simply says CdM) next to a traditional restaurant... Read More
Casa de Sierra Nevada: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; View | Reserve; The quietly stylish Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende is the perfect setting for a classic refuge like the Casa de Sierra Nevada, equal parts 16th-century residence and modern luxury boutique hotel. It’s one of just a few Orient Express hotels in North America, which speaks well to its general... Read More
Casa Madrona Hotel & Spa: Sausalito, CA, USA; View | Reserve; There are plenty of hotels, both old-fashioned and painfully hip, within the San Francisco city limits. Casa Madrona is different, though; no towering city hotel, this is a Victorian mansion tucked into a hillside in Sausalito — just off the far end of the Golden Gate Bridge, in upscale Marin... Read More
Casa Morada: Islamorada, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Children over the age of 16 are welcome... Read More
Casa Morisca: Granada, Spain; View | Reserve; Though to English speakers it may sound poetic, Casa Morisca is one of those literal, understated hotel names — it means simply “moorish house,” and that’s exactly what it is. This small hotel is in fact a meticulously restored 15th-century Moorish residence, deep in... Read More
Casa Oaxaca: Oaxaca, Mexico; View | Reserve; Casa Oaxaca, a restored colonial home dating from the 18th century, is an artful downtown escape from the lively streets and markets that surround it. Like the city of Oaxaca itself, the hotel is an eclectic mix of indigenous and Spanish colonial elements — think whitewashed adobe walls and bundles... Read More
Casal Santa Eulalia: Santa Margalida, Mallorca, Spain; View | Reserve; Travelers who like the idea of visiting Majorca but find themselves put off by talk of foam parties, streets packed with nightclubs and hordes of package-holiday makers, should do an about-face at the Son Sant Joan airport and head north to the Casal Santa Eulalia, a converted traditional farmhouse... Read More
Casas Brancas Boutique - Hotel & Spa: Buzios, RJ, Brazil; View | Reserve; In the southern summer, when the whole world seems to gather in Rio, those of Rio's inhabitants who have the means flee to Búzios, two hours to the north. This humble fishing village (is there any other kind?) has become an upscale resort destination, largely thanks to a '60s visit by Brigitte... Read More
Castello del Nero Hotel & Spa: Florence, Italy; View | Reserve; Surrounded by world-famous vineyards and within easy day-trip distance of both Florence and Siena, the Chianti region of Tuscany is hardly suffering from a shortage of worthwhile attractions. But the Castello Del Nero takes the concept of stately country retreat a step further than various other... Read More
Castello di Velona: Montalcino, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Castello di Velona is currently closed for renovations and will reopen in Spring 2010... Read More
Castello di Vicarello: Cinigiano, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s a testament to what’s special about Tuscany that it’s still even possible to find a part of it that’s not saturated with tourism. Perched on a hilltop surrounded by gently rolling hills, the Castello di Vicarello is one of these places — an authentic 12th-century castle, converted into a... Read More
Cayo Espanto: San Pedro, Belize; View | Reserve; This tiny private island off the coast of Belize aims to deliver the last word in luxury — today’s version of which looks less and less like a four-hundred-room five-star palace, and more and more like, well, a tiny private island... Read More
Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; Foreigners traveling to Tokyo face a set of obstacles they are unlikely to encounter elsewhere — just getting around can be a struggle, given the sheer size and complexity of the city, and the fact that many streets seem to be unnamed. Selecting a hotel, one soon finds, is also not without... Read More
Ceylon Tea Trails: Hatton, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; Sri Lankan tourism has never been hotter, it’s true, but until now it’s been a phenomenon that’s mostly been confined to the coasts. The island’s interior, especially the spectacular tea country, has stayed relatively untouched, leaving quite a bit of lush and unspoiled landscape for a place like... Read More
Chambers: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Chambers bills itself as a Soho hotel with a Midtown address, and truth be told, that’s not far off the mark — up here in the Fifties, off the main shopping drag of Fifth Avenue, the last thing one expects to see is a small boutique hotel with loft-style guest rooms and fashion-forward, subtly... Read More
Chambers Minneapolis: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; View | Reserve; The Chambers, you may have noticed, shares its name with a fairly distinguished New York hotel. There’s good reason for that — it shares its ownership and its look and feel as well. Some of the “boutique hotels” in America’s provincial capitals feel like baby steps... Read More
Charles Hotel - Munich: Munich, Germany; View | Reserve; Forget about Oktoberfest kitsch and the cliches of provincial Bavaria. Today’s Munich is a modern, cosmopolitan city — and it’s finally starting to get the modern, cosmopolitan hotels it deserves. It’s still a bit light on the funky little boutiques that a lot of us wish for, but the opening of the... Read More
Charleston Place: Charleston, SC, USA; View | Reserve; Charleston Place is in the heart of one of the most romantic cities in the USA, Charleston, South Carolina. The 440 rooms and suites are superbly appointed with traditional furnishings and marble baths. Upon arrival, you are instantly transported to a magical, timeless place, surrounded by narrow... Read More
Charlotte Street Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Think back, if you will, to the Bloomsbury set: Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey, EM Forster, Roger Fry — they lived the perfect bohemian life with houses in the city and the country, lofty aesthetic goals, not so much money as to lose their social consciousness but more than... Read More
Charming House DD.724: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; Venice is one of the world’s most beautiful cities, with seemingly a hotel on every corner—but few quite like DD.724, a stylish (and very small) guest house that’s about as far as you can get from the full-service grand palazzos. After all, to come to Venice is to be steeped in the history of an... Read More
Chateau de Bagnols: Bagnols, France; View | Reserve; It doesn't get much more authentic than this: a 13th-century château in the heart of the Beaujolais countryside, among the forests, vineyards, and rolling green hills of the southeast of France. This is a majestic and lovingly restored hotel, thanks to the efforts of an English couple, Helen... Read More
Chateau de la Chevre d'Or: Eze Village, France; View | Reserve; Location is everything—at least when that location is Eze. This medieval village, high on a cliffside halfway between Nice and Monte Carlo, is one of the most amazing places on the Côte d’Azur, offering spectacular sweeping ocean views that simply can’t be matched from any... Read More
Chateau de la Messardiere: Saint Tropez, France; View | Reserve; Saint-Tropez is an extraordinary enough place on its own, but the Château Hôtel de la Messardiere is almost too much to take. High on a hilltop above the town, the Château is a fairy-tale castle and a Mediterranean-style villa, with fortified towers rising above Italian red tile... Read More
Chateau de la Treyne: Lacave, Souillac, France; View | Reserve; Dramatically perched over the waters of the Dordogne, surrounded by acre upon acre of the valley’s lush greenery, the Château Treyne is the archetypal French fairy-tale castle, a majestic sixteenth-century chateau converted into a modern hotel. This is the perfect place to indulge any... Read More
Chateau de Mercues: Mercuès, France; View | Reserve; The Château de Mercuès has existed in one form or another since about 650 AD, and was home for centuries to the Bishops of Cahors. In its present incarnation, it’s a luxury hotel, its fairy-tale turrets and towers converted into sumptuous and authentic guest rooms, its defenses used for peacefully... Read More
Chateau de Mirambeau: Mirambeau, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Chateau de Mirambeau is closed November through February... Read More
Chateau du Sureau: Oakhurst, CA, USA; View | Reserve; On the edge of one of America’s most beautiful natural landmarks, lies the perfect European chateau hotel run by a warm-hearted Viennese woman, Erna Kubin-Clanin. The hotel is a time capsule of stone on six manicured acres, the living room a Hapsburg salon with its elaborate detailing and its... Read More
Chateau Eza: Eze, France; View | Reserve; The Côte d'Azur is unfamiliar to no one — it is arguably the most heavily-travelled destination in Europe, positively infested with tourists, with one jewel-encrusted hotel palace after another. The sheer popularity of this place can be overwhelming, and it is easy to feel like there are... Read More
Chateau Les Crayeres: Reims, Champagne, France; View | Reserve; This magnificent wedding cake of a chateau was once owned by Madame Pommery, that vivacious lady whose name, in the world of champagne, rivals that of the old widow Clicquot herself. And even now, Les Crayères is the essence of Champagne country. The parkland on which it sits is meticulously... Read More
Chateau Marmont: Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Please note: Two-night minimum on the weekends for Bungalows, cottages, premier cottages, premier suites, 2 bedroom suites and Penthouses.Of all the haunted hotels, the Chateau Marmont has to be the most glamorous. Located on LA's Sunset Strip, it is where Clark Gable and Jean Harlow got sizzling... Read More
Chatham Bars Inn: Chatham, MA, USA; View | Reserve; The Chatham Bars Inn is among the oldest of the best of Cape Cod’s luxury hotels, an instant classic for escaping Bostonians upon opening in 1914, and an old favorite today, the impressive main house curving along the hillside, with prime views the Atlantic just behind. In this part of New England... Read More
Chewton Glen Hotel: New Milton, Hampshire, UK; View | Reserve; Chewton Glen may be the country house hotel against which to measure all others. The location is spectacular, occupying 130 acres of parkland at the edge of the New Forest (once the hunting ground of Norman nobles, later the refuge of smugglers carrying Continental contraband). Nearby are Salisbury... Read More
Chiva-Som Luxury Health Resort: Hua-Hin, Thailand; View | Reserve; Thailand is, to most, something of a Wild West of holiday destinations, a place whose hedonistic spirit is at least as big a draw as its natural beauty. Chiva-Som Luxury Health Resort, then, is a slight departure from the conventional travel wisdom about Thailand.As you might suspect from the name... Read More
Chongwe River Camp: View | Reserve; The Chongwe River Camp aims to add a measure of distinctive personality to the safari-lodge experience. It starts with a location in Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park, at the confluence where the Chongwe joins the Zambezi river, which is itself a departure, a riverine floodplain setting to... Read More
Choupana Hills Resort & Spa: Funchal, Portugal; View | Reserve; Choupana Hills Resort & Spa is a curious import, a resort in the far Eastern style transplanted to the hills above Funchal on the island of Madeira—which is itself quite near Africa, though technically part of Portugal. The Madeiran aesthetic, despite the tropical setting, tends to be... Read More
Chromata: Santorini, Greece; View | Reserve; High above the sea, at the highest point of Santorini’s volcanic caldera, Chromata would be remarkable enough for the view alone. In fact some of Santorini’s hotels stop with the view, perhaps reasoning that any attempts at arresting interior design would be overshadowed by the natural... Read More
Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; Since the sixteenth century a number of palaces have stood on this spot, an unparalleled location amid lush gardens at the edge of the scenic Bosphorus. And perhaps in a bid to halt the seemingly endless series of razings and rebuildings, the Ciragan Palace hotel has chosen a novel method for... Read More
citizenM Hotel Amsterdam Airport: Schiphol - Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; The idea of the airport hotel has certainly changed. Of course it needed to: just the phrase “airport hotel” has become a sort of punchline, a phrase we use to describe the worst kind of hotel. But CitizenM has its own Facebook page. The other airport hotels just want you to check out on time... Read More
Claridge's: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Claridge's may be one of the best hotels in London, and it is almost certainly the poshest. Even after its renovation, this Mayfair landmark—where the crowned heads of Europe came to wait out World War II—has remained splendidly and timelessly Art Deco. Stroll past the black awning into an entry... Read More
Clarum 101 Boutique Hotel: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico; View | Reserve; Many of us only know Guadalajara as a place to make a connecting flight en route to our final destination — but these days Mexico’s second city is booming, tourism and industry alike. So it’s only natural that it’d be in line for its first high-design lodging, which comes in the form of Clarum 101... Read More
Claska: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; Not available online; for reservations please email customerservice@tablethotels.com... Read More
Clayoquot Wilderness Resort - Bedwell River: Tofino, British Columbia, Canada; View | Reserve; Please note: Clayoquot Wilderness Resort - Bedwell River is open May 14th through September 30th. The resort only takes arrivals on Thursdays and Sundays and has a 3 night minimum stay policy... Read More
Clift Hotel: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Once San Francisco’s grandest old-fashioned luxury hotel, the century-old Clift underwent a thorough re-imagining at the hands of Philippe Starck, who has transformed its faded Victorian elegance into its nearest modern equivalent — all black, ivory and steely grey, with rich textures in hardwood... Read More
Cliveden House: Berkshire, UK; View | Reserve; Few hotels in England offer a stronger dose of the aristocratic life than Berkshire’s Cliveden House. This 19th century Italianate landmark, surrounded by 400 acres of National Trust gardens, is nothing if not monumental. It’s both physically imposing and historically significant — for... Read More
Club Tapiz: Mendoza, Argentina; View | Reserve; Foreigners curious about South America have been making the pilgrimage to Buenos Aires for years, but the wine capital of Mendoza is now emerging as an equally popular destination. The air is dry, the grapes are flourishing, the Andes rise dramatically at the city’s edge, and the accommodations... Read More
Cocoa Island: South Male Atoll, Maldives; View | Reserve; The Maldives seem a bit like an over-the-top parody of an island holiday destination — not an island or an archipelago, but an atoll of a thousand Robinson Crusoe-sized islands, in the shallow water of a coral reef in the Indian Ocean. Cocoa Island is one of these, just a ten minute walk from end... Read More
Colona Castle Manor House: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; It’s not much of a castle, really, and not quite a manor house either — but Colona Castle’s name, in any case, puts the right sort of picture in your head. You don’t come to Cape Town for outrageous, cutting-edge design, but for the classic good life — traditional architecture, old-fashioned... Read More
Colony Palms Hotel: Palm Springs, CA, USA, USA; View | Reserve; There are two ways to go with the rehabilitation of a classic motor inn like the Thirties Spanish-style Colonial House. Keep it simple, cheap and funky, smoothing out the rough edges while making the most of the place’s built-in charm. Or else do what the owners of the Colony Palms did: turn it... Read More
Commune by the Great Wall Kempinski: Beijing, China; View | Reserve; The Commune by the Great Wall Kempinski is most often described as an architectural museum, a design exhibition, an exercise in cutting-edge modernism — architourists travel from all over the world to walk its polished wood and stone halls and admire the work of two dozen of Asia’s leading... Read More
COMO Shambhala Estate: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Dharma-seekers are lining up for COMO Shambhala Estate—the latest and hottest Bali resort—to align their chakras, drain their bad chi, and say om in a ravishing rainforest setting. Meditating in nature has never felt better, possibly because those old-style Zen mountain monasteries never took into... Read More
Compass Point: Gambier, Nassau, Bahamas; View | Reserve; Nassau conjures shudders in many and no wonder - bright pink tourists in lurid Hawaiian shirts and baseball hats crowd the streets. But there's a softer side to Nassau. Just eight minutes from the airport, in the quiet neighborhood of Gambier lies Compass Point. Shells deck the railings. Eight... Read More
Condesa DF: Mexico City, Mexico; View | Reserve; Anyone who still thinks of Mexico City as a polluted, congested urban dystopia hasn’t spent much time in La Condesa, the district that lends the Condesa DF its name. Here the wide avenues are lined with trees, which along with the Art Nouveau architecture resembles Paris more than it does the... Read More
Conrad Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; There’s just something about Bangkok. Some of the top hotels are practically pleasure palaces, urban resorts where business is all but forgotten among spa treatments and poolside cocktails. Here even the most conservative business hotels — and now we’re talking about the Conrad Bangkok — take a... Read More
Conrad Brussels: Brussels, Belgium; View | Reserve; The Conrad is world-class luxury and a strong candidate for the best business hotel in Brussels. There is nothing particularly subtle about it; beneath the nineteenth-century facade is an absolutely modern hospitality experience in the grandest of styles... Read More
Conrad Tokyo: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; Conventional wisdom holds that anyone hoping for a glimpse of the future need look no further than Tokyo; this is as true in the hotel business as it is in fashion, technology or anything else. Here even the big-chain luxury properties cut a stylish silhouette with the kind of good looks that used... Read More
Continentale: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; The Continentale hotel is a Lungarno hotel, which means it's a Salvatore Ferragamo hotel. Why the chain of code names? Why not just come out and say it, Ferragamo in blinking neon, or at least radiant gold (a la Versace)? Why not at least take advantage of the opportunity to better position the... Read More
Convent de la Missio: Palma, Illes Balears, Spain; View | Reserve; Tucked down a quiet lane in Palma de Mallorca’s historic quarter is Convent de la Missio, a hotel as modern and stylish as its seventeenth-century exterior is traditional and historic. As the name would suggest, this building was once a convent, and the hotel retains some of the ascetic and... Read More
Convento do Espinheiro, Heritage Hotel & Spa: Evora, Portugal; View | Reserve; Ninety miles inland from Lisbon, halfway to the border with Spain, is the city of Evora, a charming university town and UNESCO world heritage site — the latter of which is just a handy way of saying, with the authority of the UN behind you, that it’s culturally significant and terribly... Read More
Copacabana Palace: Rio de Janeiro, CEP, Brazil; View | Reserve; Some of the exotic thrill about Rio de Janeiro may have worn off since its heyday—with the proliferation of budget jet travel, there’s nowhere truly exotic anymore, and major cities like Rio are near commonplace... Read More
Coral Reef Club: St. James, Barbados; View | Reserve; Time was, when people said “Little Britain” they were referring to Barbados, the easternmost of the major Caribbean islands, and the one with the most pronounced British Colonial flavor — here the Queen still rules, at least nominally, and cricket is the national sport... Read More
CordeValle, A Rosewood Resort: San Martin, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Golf is the reason for the Lodge's existence. And it is nearly impossible to find fault with CordeValle, A Rosewood Resort, as a golfer's resort. The course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., is a 7,169-yard championship course with all the conveniences one would expect, including a clubhouse... Read More
Cosmopolitan Toronto Hotel and Spa: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; View | Reserve; Hidden away in plain sight in downtown Toronto’s bustling financial district is the kind of hotel experience that it usually takes hours of driving to reach. The Cosmopolitan calls itself an “urban sanctuary,” and while that may sound a bit precious, in the end it’s entirely... Read More
Costa Careyes: Careyes, CostAlegre, Mexico; View | Reserve; Was it Walt Whitman or the nation of Mexico that said “I am large, I contain multitudes”? It was the poet, of course, but it’s equally true of Mexico — whether your picture of it is the ruined pyramids of the Yucatán or the hip nightspots of the Distrito Federal, you can bet there’s another side of... Read More
Costa Lanta: Krabi, Thailand; View | Reserve; Phuket is packed, Bangkok is brimming, even Koh Samui isn’t quite so unspoiled anymore. Where to go for some quiet, some open space, in today’s Thailand? On the northern tip of the island of Koh Lanta Yai, on the Andaman side of Thailand, quite off the beaten path, there’s a little modernist... Read More
Cotswold House Hotel: Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, UK; View | Reserve; The Cotswolds present travellers with a dizzying array of country house hotels, from rustic hunting lodges to elegant period pieces to contemporary-styled designer boutiques. How could one more country house possibly hope to stand out... Read More
Cotton House: Mustique Island, St. Vincent & Grenadines; View | Reserve; The island of Mustique is not the easiest place in the Caribbean to get to — but after decades of tourism and development, the better places are the ones a little bit off the well-worn path. It's an hour-long commuter flight on any of three local airlines from Barbados, though some of Mustique's... Read More
Country Residence Le Serre: Moncalieri, Italy; View | Reserve; To say that the culture of the north of Italy is the cool-headed yin to the south’s hyper-dramatic yang would be to indulge in stereotyping of the broadest and most insensitive sort. But we’re going to say it anyway. Where else but the north (Moncalieri to be exact, an ancient resort... Read More
Couran Cove Island Resort: South Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia; View | Reserve; Couran Cove is quite possibly the most low-key of all the island resorts in the world, and without the fawning service of the Maldives or the forced mellowness of a Jamaican resort. This is eco-tourism, of a sort, though more as a result of clever design than through any hardship on the part of the... Read More
Covent Garden Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; About Covent Garden Hotel:Covent Garden Hotel is a private, luxury boutique hotel in London, England. Covent Garden Hotel is located in the center of the theatre district and within walking distance to Soho, the British Museum, and the Royal Opera House... Read More
Cowley Manor: Cowley, England, UK; View | Reserve; From the outside, Cowley Manor is an absolutely classical Italianate mansion, actually loosely based on Rome’s Villa Borghese. Seemingly a traditional English country house, this appears from a distance to be the sort of place one might set a BBC adaptation of a nineteenth-century literary classic... Read More
Cradle Mountain Lodge: Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, Australia; View | Reserve; It seems every hotel five minutes or more outside of a major city attempts to sell itself as some sort of escapist fantasy. It’s no overstatement at all, though, to say that visitors to Cradle Mountain Lodge are leaving the civilized world behind. Here in the wilderness of central Tasmania, at the... Read More
Craft Hotel: Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Everyday in Buenos Aires, the cafés fill up early, the dog-walkers wrangle a dozen barking canines through the park, and another boutique hotel opens its doors to the public. All are stylish, and every manager is eager to please — so what sets one of these establishments apart from the... Read More
Cuisinart Resort and Spa: Anguilla, Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands (British); View | Reserve; First, just to satisfy your curiosity: yes, CuisinArt is owned by the same guys who chop your carrots extra-fine. But no, the resort does not look like it would belong in your grandma’s cupboard. Rising out of Anguilla, one of the more unspoiled islands of the Caribbean, is a taste of Greece... Read More
Culloden Hotel: Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK; View | Reserve; High in the Holywood hills, five miles outside of town, you’ll find what may be Belfast’s grandest old hotel. The 19th-century Culloden estate cuts an impressive silhouette, surrounded by twelve acres of wooded parklands and gardens overlooking the waters of Belfast Lough. Once a... Read More
Custom Hotel: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The phrase “airport hotel” is one we often catch ourselves using as shorthand for the uninspired and uncomfortable places that are the antithesis of everything we at Tablet hold dear. So it’s kind of a big deal when one of them turns out to be as sleek, stylish and thoughtfully put together as any... Read More
Dakota Hotel: Nottingham, England, UK; View | Reserve; The newest hotel venture from Malmaison creator Ken McCulloch is Dakota Hotels, a series of low-priced but high-design business hotels — the first of which is now open outside of Nottingham, just off the M1. It’s a striking sight, this futuristic black granite block of a hotel, and its... Read More
Dan Boutique Jerusalem: Jerusalem, , Israel; View | Reserve; The boutique hotel concept has taken a little longer to arrive in Jerusalem, but if the Dan Boutique is any indication, the awkward early stages have been more or less entirely bypassed. It helps that it was originally laid out as an apartment house — undersized rooms and hasty construction, which... Read More
Dana Hotel and Spa: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; There was a Dana Hotel here before, on this very spot, but a very different one — traditional, old-fashioned, maybe even classic, depending on who you ask. But that’s in the past now: the original Dana has been pulled down, replaced by a brand-new tower of modern metal and glass, home to the new... Read More
Dar Les Cigognes: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; With the seemingly endless array of riad hotels in Marrakech, it takes a discerning eye to separate one from another. In the case of Dar Les Cigognes: this is the one with the bridge. Like a few others, this one is made of two courtyard residences joined into a single small hotel; unlike the... Read More
Dar Warda: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; Dar Warda will be closed from 06/01/09 to 07/15/09 for renovations and the creation of a new swimming pool... Read More
De Las Letras Hotel & Restaurante: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; The spa at the hotel will be closed as of June 14, 2009 for renovation... Read More
Delamore Lodge: Waiheke Island, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Delamore Lodge is the archetypal New Zealand lodge hotel — a luxe and secluded guest house in improbably stunning natural surroundings. In this case, the setting is Waiheke Island, a 35-minute ferry ride from Auckland, and the lodge itself a unique four-suite property carved into a hillside facing... Read More
Delano Hotel: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Miami’s South Beach is the spot where hotels vie for style: The Hotel is the most funky, the Marlin the most rock’n’roll, the Tides the most sophisticated, and the Delano the most cool... Read More
Delle Arti Design Hotel: Cremona, Italy; View | Reserve; Delle Arti Design Hotel is a small hotel – 33 rooms – and a decidedly modern one, in a region heavy on history and tradition. Cremona, an hour south and east of Milan, is a small and wealthy city, once a Roman fortress, later the birthplace of Monteverdi and home to Stradivari and his... Read More
Demeures d'Orient: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There are humbler riads, designed to feel as cozy and low-key as a private home, or at least as cozy and low-key as a five- or ten-bedroom walled mansion could possibly feel. And then there are riads like Demeures d’Orient. This place doesn’t bother itself with trying to create that home-spun “our... Read More
Desa Seni: Canggu, Indonesia; View | Reserve; By now we all know what to expect from a Balinese resort: a walled-in modernist villa, either with or without thatched roof, but otherwise sticking closely to the contemporary-Zen formula of the modern minimalist luxury hotel. But at Desa Seni you’ll find not some sleek and monumental luxury hotel... Read More
Deseo: Playa Del Carmen, Qunitana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Deseo does not allow children or pets.In another attempt to create a modern Mexican sophistication, the owners of Habita in Mexico City have moved to the Yucatan Peninsula. The Mayan Riviera, long visited for stunning archeological ruins and scuba diving, now has the ultimate destination for... Read More
Desert Palm Dubai: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; Another entry on the more sedate end of the Dubai hotel scene, the Desert Palm lies some twenty miles outside the city center, and trades construction cranes for polo grounds. And if your visit’s purpose allows you to choose the country over the city — well, it’s not much of a choice, to be honest... Read More
Design Hotel Astoria: Opatija, Croatia; View | Reserve; Back in the good old days, around the turn of the twentieth century, this was the Villa Louise, a classic grand hotel in the then-current Belle Époque style; Opatija, the Croatian seaside town it calls home, was at the time one of eastern Europe’s top resort destinations. Now a hundred years... Read More
Design Hotel Waldorf: Milano Marittima, Emilia Romagna, Italy; View | Reserve; This isn’t grey postwar Milan, but sunny seaside Milano Marittima, on the Adriatic Riviera along the east coast of Emilia-Romagna. Here the Design Hotel Waldorf sits just yards from the beach, showing off a different side of Italy, that of the sun-drenched tropical escape. It’s on the outskirts of... Read More
Design Suites Bariloche: San Carlos De Bariloche, Argentina; View | Reserve; As the Design Suites group spreads across all corners of Argentina, the branch in Bariloche is perhaps the most impressive of the bunch — perched on a hill overlooking Nahuel Huapi lake, in the ski country of Patagonia, four striking, eco-inspired structures house a contemporary art gallery, wine... Read More
Design Suites Calafate: El Calafate, Argentina; View | Reserve; The Design Suites luxury hotel mini-chain operates several successful properties in Argentina, but this particular boutique, situated in the far-flung reaches of Patagonia, distinguishes itself with a design by the renowned architect Carlos Ott. His thoroughly contemporary creation mixes... Read More
Devi Garh Fort Palace: Udaipur, Rajasthan, India; View | Reserve; Frankly it’s astonishing that there aren’t more hotels like the Devi Garh Fort Palace. Not because 18th-century palace hotels are a dime a dozen in India, certainly they aren’t, but because the contrast between the faded majesty of the exterior and the sparkling modernity of the interiors is so... Read More
Diamant Hotel Canberra: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; View | Reserve; Canberra, though roughly midway between Sydney and Melbourne, sees but a fraction of the tourist traffic — it’s a purpose-built inland capital, like Madrid without the history or Brasilia without the concrete. But in the Diamant, Canberra has got itself a high-end boutique hotel that wouldn’t look... Read More
Discovery at Marigot Bay: Marigot Bay, St. Lucia; View | Reserve; The American novelist James Michener once proclaimed Marigot Bay in St. Lucia the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean. Take it from a tropical-island expert: there’s hardly a finer spot to soak up some sun, and there’s nowhere more grand at Marigot than Discovery, a three-story complex of a... Read More
Distrito Capital: Mexico City, Mexico; View | Reserve; Our new Tablet Spy program offers the chance to get early looks at the most promising new hotels. If you’re willing to take the risks associated with staying in a hotel that’s not officially open yet — unfinished spaces, noisy construction, inexperienced service — then you’ll be rewarded with deep... Read More
DO & CO Hotel: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; Hotels don’t really get any more well-located than this; DO & CO stands right on the Stephansplatz, at the top of a modernist landmark building, overlooking the 12th-century Stephansdom cathedral, and a stone’s throw from any number of the cafés, restaurants, high-end shops, not to mention the... Read More
Domaine des Andeols: Saint-Saturnin-lés-Apts, Provence, France; View | Reserve; Founded by a couple of fashion-industry insiders down from Paris, Domaine des Andeols is a bit more than the typical Provençe farmhouse hotel. Literally more — in fact it’s nine houses, each one converted into a single suite of one to three bedrooms — and figuratively more as well, with... Read More
Domaine des Etangs: Massignac, France; View | Reserve; To the extent that there is such a thing as the “typical” castle hotel (arguable, but bear with us), Domaine des Étangs is a departure. The storybook stone château, flanked by fortified towers, is present and accounted for. But rather than shoehorn a dozen modern hotel rooms into a medieval floor... Read More
Domaine Des Hauts De Loire: Onzain, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Domaine des Hauts de Loire is closed annually from December 1st to February 25th... Read More
Donovan House: Washington, D.C., USA; View | Reserve; Though a first-class boutique hotel would fit in well just about anywhere, it’s a pleasant surprise to see one like Donovan House opening in the District of Columbia. This is a town with a slightly staid reputation — but openings like this one show it’s an image that’s much in need of some... Read More
Drake Hotel: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; View | Reserve; At the far end of Toronto’s Queen Street West, at the frontier where the newly hip Parkdale district meets the unkempt edge of the grittier neighborhoods beyond, the Drake is not in the ideal location for visitors looking to “do” the city in the traditional touristy sense. It is... Read More
Dream: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Not quite as sedate as the name would have you believe. The Dream Hotel is more lucid and surrealistic than simply restful, filled with bizarro luxury and oversized art pieces — not to mention the kind of odd celebrity juxtaposition that could only happen in dreamland, in the form of a hotel spa by... Read More
Dromoland Castle: County Clare, Ireland; View | Reserve; Dromoland Castle, located in the west of Ireland (quite near the present-day Shannon Airport), was the traditional home of the O'Brien clan, Ireland’s rulers from the tenth century on. The present castle is not so old as that — first built in the 17th century, it was torn down and rebuilt in its... Read More
Dubrovnik Palace Hotel: Dubrovnik, Croatia; View | Reserve; Until recently Croatia was on nobody’s list of hot travel destinations. All this is changing now, as these things do, and fast — if you’re thinking of Dubrovnik as an undiscovered paradise, you may be a bit late... Read More
Dune: Hua Hin, Thailand; View | Reserve; You know how these things go. The hip destination of the moment is the one with the right blend of natural appeal, geographic accessibility, and exclusivity — the place that’s edgier than the established destinations (read in this case Bangkok or Phuket) but that draws enough traffic to... Read More
Dunton Hot Springs: Dolores, CO, USA; View | Reserve; Mountain hotels come in all shapes and sizes, from rustic lodges to luxurious mega-resorts and everything in between; nowhere, though, is there anything like Dunton Hot Springs. Here, in remote southwestern Colorado, along the banks of the Dolores river, halfway between the ski town of Telluride... Read More
Duomo Hotel: Rimini, Italy; View | Reserve; What was once a fading and slightly tacky seaside resort town is currently enjoying something of a renaissance, and a new hotel like the Duomo can’t help but propel the town a little further into the 21st century. The Israeli-born architect Ron Arad’s bold hypermodern redesign is aimed... Read More
dusitD2 chiang mai - formerly D2: Chiang Mai, Thailand; View | Reserve; Just when we were beginning to wonder if anyone even visits Thailand’s cities anymore — when was the last time you heard of someone going to Bangkok unless on the way to some beachfront island paradise? — the Dusit hotel group has gone and answered our question with the launch of a new brand... Read More
Dylan: Dublin, Ireland; View | Reserve; The design hotel as we’ve known it is dead. In this corner of the world at least — whatever you can get away with calling the U.K. and Ireland collectively without starting a blood feud — the white-walled minimalist-Zen hotel is so very last century. In its place is the new breed of luxury hotel... Read More
Eagles Nest: Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand; View | Reserve; New Zealand’s natural beauty is so phenomenal, they can get away with some truly understated place names. Imagine the most spectacular place the name “Bay of Islands” could possibly describe, and you still won’t be prepared for the real thing. It’s notable mostly for its unique geography, but this... Read More
East Hotel: Hamburg, Germany; View | Reserve; We’ll try to resist linking it to some sweeping generalization about the practical and sensible nature of some imagined German national character, and simply say: we wholeheartedly endorse the trend of listing room descriptions like t-shirt sizes, on a spectrum from Small through X-Large and... Read More
Eastwest Geneva: Geneva, Switzerland; View | Reserve; At first blush a Swiss luxury hotel seemingly named after a series of trade agreements might not sound like the most thrilling proposition. But Geneva is a town of subtler charms, and the same can be said for the Eastwest Hotel — which, to be fair, is rather more likely to have got its name from... Read More
Eden Designhotel Maastricht: Maastricht, Netherlands; View | Reserve; Maastricht, the oldest city in the Netherlands, had its beginnings as a Roman outpost, fifty years B.C. (crumbling fortifications still surround the city, and disused tunnels form a labyrinth under the western suburbs). And geographically it is something of a Dutch outpost, on the end of an... Read More
Eden Rock: St. Barthélemy, French West Indies, Guadeloupe; View | Reserve; The original Saint-Barthélemy hotel has seen a thorough restoration, and is much changed since the days when the guest list included the likes of Howard Hughes and Greta Garbo. One thing that hasn’t changed is what may be Eden Rock’s essential feature: its spectacular situation, atop a rocky... Read More
Eichardt's Private Hotel: Queenstown, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Eichardt's Private Hotel was established during the gold rush days of the 1860s, and was, at the time, Queenstown's premier lodging. Of course that was a long time ago, and in the intervening years hard times befell the property. By 1999 it was nothing more than a slightly tacky pub — and then came... Read More
Ekies All Senses Resort: Vourvourou, Sithonia, Greece; View | Reserve; For every spectacular destination in Greece you can name, it seems there’s half a dozen more, equally spectacular, that you’ve never heard of. So blessed by natural beauty are the Greeks that, when you think about it, it’s rather shocking that they ever left the beach for long enough to do anything... Read More
El Convento: Old San Juan, Puerto Rico; View | Reserve; One need not be a student of the Spanish language to surmise that El Convento, in English, means "the convent." And it was, in a previous life, a Carmelite convent, established in 1651. Hard times befell the property in the twentieth century, as the convent became a dance hall, a flophouse, and... Read More
El Hotel Pacha: Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain; View | Reserve; It’s hard to think of a concept for a hotel that’s more surely guaranteed to pack in a crowd than that of El Hotel Pacha. For starters, it’s in Ibiza town, a place that it’s fair to say gets quite a lot of tourist traffic. And it’s not just anywhere in Ibiza town, but... Read More
El Portal: Sedona, AZ, USA; View | Reserve; Just two hours to the north of Phoenix is an entirely different Arizona, a landscape of pine trees and dramatic red cliffs and the more hospitable climate of the high desert, which at four thousand feet above sea level remains ten degrees cooler than Phoenix at its hottest. This is no sprawling... Read More
Eleven Cadogan Gardens: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The London hotel scene is something of a proving ground for new trends in the hotel business — but you’d have to look long and hard at Eleven Cadogan Gardens to find any evidence of progress. This is a hotel that delights in keeping to the trailing edge rather than the cutting one, a small... Read More
Elite Plaza Hotel: Goeteborg, Sweden; View | Reserve; Think of a Scandinavian design hotel and what probably comes to mind is an impossibly hip little boutique, decorated like some design academy's furniture competition. A stereotype, to be sure, but no less apt than that of (most) Parisian hotels as museums dedicated to the preservation of pompous... Read More
Elounda Beach Hotel and Villas: Elounda, Crete, Greece; View | Reserve; Usually closed January through March... Read More
EME Fusion Hotel: Sevilla, Spain; View | Reserve; Lately this mix of modern and historic architecture is something of a Spanish trademark. Look no further than the EME Fusion Hotel, in the heart of old town Sevilla, just across the way from the ancient Giralda cathedral. The “fusion,” one imagines, is the mix of ornate arabesque patterns, a... Read More
Emiliano: Sao Paulo, Brazil; View | Reserve; We can’t possibly say enough about this hotel, except possibly that if you’re a design and architecture junkie, and you’re not left speechless, then we don’t know you. Even from the street, Emiliano is an imposing presence, a narrow glass tower, gleaming amidst the high-rises of the fashionable... Read More
Emirates Palace: Abu Dhabi, UAE; View | Reserve; They don’t make them small in the Emirates these days, that’s for sure. Still, some are taller than others — and while there are plenty of options for high-rise enthusiasts, the smart money is on a sprawling seaside compound with a private beach like the Emirates Palace. UAE's only palace concept... Read More
Enchantment Resort: Sedona, AZ, USA; View | Reserve; Phoenix is nice enough, if you like sprawl, and if you don’t mind the fact that the landscape is so flat and featureless that the one modest hill in the center of it all is revered as cactus country’s answer to Mt. Fuji. The real Arizona, though, begins at the end of the city planners’ grid, and by... Read More
Enterprise: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; This isn’t necessarily the most picturesque or charming of Italian cities — in fact, in comparison to Rome or Venice, it’s cold, fast-paced, industrial, all business. Milan is less about leisurely cappucinos and drifting gondoliers and more about smart design and efficient technology — less about... Read More
Eremo della Giubiliana: Ragusa, Sicily, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s not all farm houses and olive groves. Near the south coast of Sicily, housed in a medieval-era convent once occupied by the Knights of Malta, lies the Eremo della Giubiliana, a remarkably posh boutique hotel hidden away within an imposing fortified exterior. These stone walls still look up to... Read More
Esencia: Playa Del Carmen, Qunitana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; A mere forty miles south of the glitz and hustle of Cancun lies a decidedly more relaxed section of the Riviera Maya. But usually wherever there are blinding white sand beaches and water so clear you can discern the precise shade of your toenail polish, the developers are close behind. Even this... Read More
Esperanza: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; View | Reserve; Esperanza is located at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, four miles outside of Cabo San Lucas, where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez. The setting is spectacular and the resort itself is luxurious and exclusive, the sort of place where you just might spot a vacationing Hollywood star... Read More
Establishment Hotel: Sydney, Australia; View | Reserve; Children are welcome in the hotel, although... Read More
Estalagem Da Ponta do Sol: Ponta do Sol, Madeira, Portugal; View | Reserve; This is Portugal, technically, although it's hardly the Portugal you are accustomed to — the island of Madeira is more a part of Africa than of Europe, and lies 400 miles off the western edge of Morocco. It's a volcanic island, which means lush vegetation, and the climate is tropical, which means... Read More
Estancia El Colibri: Santa Catalina, Cordoba, Argentina; View | Reserve; Since the devaluation of the peso in 2001, Argentina’s struggling economy has depended on visitors eager to order juicy steaks, learn the tango, even glimpse a real gaucho or two. These days the countryside has no shortage of estancias, ranches where guests can gallop around on thoroughbreds and... Read More
Etnia Pousada & Boutique: Trancoso, Brazil; View | Reserve; Up north in Bahia is where you’ll find the wilder, rougher side of Brazil — which for anyone bored of the beach scene in Rio is not a warning but a positive enticement. Trancoso was one of the prototypical fishing-villages-turned-hideaways, and there’s still plenty of that mellow bohemian vibe... Read More
Eurostars Madrid Tower: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Once upon a time the stylish modern hotels were smallish and independently owned, while the massive towers tended very much towards the beige and bland side of things. It’s no longer quite so simple. The Eurostars Madrid Tower is no mom-and-pop operation — it’s part of a fairly extensive chain... Read More
EV Hotel: Mugla/Turkbuku, Turkey; View | Reserve; It seems while everyone was looking for the next Prague somewhere in the Balkans, the Bodrum Peninsula suddenly turned into some kind of Turkish Riviera — with Türkbükü playing the part of bizarro St. Tropez. Don’t expect throwback Sixties grooviness, though; this place’s heyday appears to be right... Read More
Evason Ana Mandara & Six Senses Spa - Nha Trang: Nha Trang, Vietnam; View | Reserve; You could stress yourself out trying to keep track of all the many permutations of Evasons and Ana Mandaras and Six Senseses and whether they’re Hideaways or not. And you shouldn’t stress yourself out, it’s bad for that sixth sense, and entirely contrary to the point of all these places, including... Read More
Evason Hua Hin & Six Senses Spa: Hua Hin, Thailand; View | Reserve; At least half of what we said about the Evason Hideaway next door is also true of the Evason Hua Hin & Six Senses Spa. After all, they share a lot: ownership, obviously, as well as a common aesthetic and a similar service philosophy, as well as (even more obviously) a location in Hua Hin, a... Read More
Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; Of all the Evason resorts, the Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa might just be the most back-to-basics. Which is really saying more about the chain’s high standards than it is about the Phuket outpost. This is by no means a second-rate operation, simply a relatively humble one, in a world where... Read More
Evian Royal Ermitage: Evian-les-Bains Cedex, Rhone-Alpes, France; View | Reserve; With two hotels, a pair of spas, a world-class golf course, and eleven restaurants, the Evian Royal Resort is pretty much self-sufficient. And while guests have access to facilities on each of the park’s 42 lovely acres, there are decisions to make: chocolate fondue or low-calorie synergetic... Read More
Evian Royal Palace: Evian-Les-Bains, France; View | Reserve; Yes, that Evian. The same company that owns the famous French water bottler also owns the Evian Royal Resort, comprising a pair of hotels — one, l’Ermitage, in the woods a few miles inland, and the other, the Evian Royal Palace, right by the shore of Lake Geneva... Read More
Excelsior Hotel Ernst: Cologne, Germany; View | Reserve; Long Cologne’s number one grand hotel, the landmark Excelsior Hotel Ernst has stood on this spot since 1863, in a commanding position on the cathedral square, in the heart of the city center. This stately old palace has played host to emperors, statesmen and all manner of VIPs, and today... Read More
Exedra: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Though nominally the sister hotel of the bizarre modernist fantasy that is the Aleph, the Exedra could hardly be more different: while the Aleph is a small and insular hipster haven, the Exedra is a large and luxurious business hotel; and while the Aleph strains at the boundaries of cutting-edge... Read More
Faena Hotel and Universe: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Buenos Aires’s new Faena Hotel + Universe, brainchild of Argentinean fashion designer Alan Faena, has been making some big waves, as much for the ambition of its universe-spanning concept as for its design, courtesy of a rather familiar name: Philippe Starck.Largely absent, though, is the signature... Read More
Fairmont Le Montreux Palace: Montreux, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Fairmont Le Montreux Palace is the city’s biggest and grandest hotel, with a sprawling Belle Epoque facade that dominates the lakeside, itself almost enough to keep Montreux architecturally anchored in the 19th century. Inside it’s more of the same, enough meticulously preserved opulence to stun... Read More
Farmer's Daughter Hotel: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Just to give you an idea of the sort of place we’re talking about here: the Farmer’s Daughter Hotel is just across the street from CBS Studios, and The Price Is Right recommends it to guests. Five-star luxury it most definitely is not. But just as youth is wasted on the young, a hotel this cool... Read More
Farol Design Hotel: Cascais, Portugal; View | Reserve; On the marina in the historic heart of Cascais, the upscale western suburb of Lisbon, a nineteenth-century manor house and a neighboring lighthouse have been painstakingly renovated, converted into a contemporary-style design hotel, complete with all the expected trappings: a Mediterranean fusion... Read More
Fasano: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; The sequel to the wildly successful São Paulo establishment, the Fasano in Rio De Janeiro sets its sights no less high. Like its sister, it’s as dignified and serious as a cutting-edge modern-design boutique hotel can get, all supremely confident understatement — which is all the more surprising... Read More
Fazenda da Lagoa: Bahia, Brazil; View | Reserve; The appeal of Brazilian beaches populated by beautiful people is nothing new. But contrary to pop culture images of the past, Copacabana isn’t necessarily where it’s at any longer — the legendary stretch of coastline is generally overpriced and crammed with tourists. Brazilians themselves head to... Read More
Fazenda Sao Francisco do Corumbau: Prado, Bahia, Brazil; View | Reserve; Let’s face it: the details of your hotel room are almost beside the point when you’re staying on a beach as staggeringly beautiful as Corumbau. On the other hand, there’s something to be said for a hotel that’s so wisely designed and seductively outfitted that it’s not completely outshined by the... Read More
FCC Angkor Hotel and Spa: Siem Reap, Cambodia; View | Reserve; Though there’s still more than a hint of colonial history about the place — the FCC group is named for the Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh, and this chapter, in Siem Reap, is housed in the old French Governor’s residence — the FCC Angkor is anything but fixated on the past... Read More
Finca Cortesin Hotel Golf & Spa: Casares, Malaga, Spain; View | Reserve; Southern Spain is blessed with an array of natural gifts: not just sun, sand and surf, but a climate and a landscape that are ideal for the game of golf. And while golf resorts the world over are a conservative lot, Spanish hotels have been quicker than most to modernize — beneath its traditional... Read More
Finca Son Gener: Son Servera-Mallorca, Spain; View | Reserve; When it’s summertime and Spain is calling there’s no end of options. More than a few of us prefer to leave the Costa del Sol to the tourists and Ibiza to the clubbers, and set out for Mallorca — either Palma, the capital city, or something a bit on the quiet side, like the pastoral Finca Son Gener... Read More
First Hotel Grims Grenka: Oslo, Norway; View | Reserve; It’s a puzzling irony: the sort of modern, minimalist design that’s so often described as Scandinavian is actually quite rare in real live Scandinavian hotels. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part they’re a conservative lot. That’s about to change, though, if the opening of the... Read More
Fisher Island Hotel & Resort: Fisher Island, FL, USA; View | Reserve; A private ferry drops you and your car off, and a personal attendant promptly hoses the sea water off your fender. You get a mimosa along with mineral water at check in, and your own personal golf cart to shuttle you about the grounds during your stay. It’s hard to believe that you’re just seven... Read More
Florblanca Resort: Mal País, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; Once simply a magnet for student backpackers, the tropical Eden of Costa Rica has lately begun to attract a slightly more upmarket crowd. Adding to the number of budget lodges and surfers’ haunts, a new wave of luxury hotels is opening, as are some more intimate hotels — places like the Florblanca... Read More
Fontana Park Hotel: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; If you haven’t been to Portugal in a while you might be surprised at the explosion of new contemporary design that’s taken place there. Suddenly this classic, conservative town is full of striking avant-garde architecture and interiors. And that goes for the hotels as well — among the best of the... Read More
Fonteverde Natural Spa Resort: San Casciano dei Bagni , Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; You know you’ve hit the big time when Galileo Galilei is your children’s science tutor. Only the fabulously wealthy and influential Medici family could pull it off — they also commissioned Florence’s Pitti Palace and produced three popes, a duke, and a couple of queens. They... Read More
Four Seasons Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; The Four Seasons is located just across Rajadamri Road from the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, surrounded by the Thai capital's business, entertainment, shopping, and cultural centers. Catering equally to the business and the pleasure traveler, it is an absolutely modern service-oriented luxury hotel... Read More
Four Seasons Georges V: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Paris palace hotels—the Bristol, the Crillon, the Ritz—have always been renowned for their historical significance and their stuffy grandeur. Though it is not officially a palace, the George V is, in many ways, the most palatial. From the moment it opened off the Champs-Elysées in 1928, it was... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Amman: Amman, Jordan; View | Reserve; Within a decade of its opening the Four Seasons has managed to become, by many lights, the top luxury hotel in Jordan’s capital city of Amman. In terms of design, it doesn’t get much more conservative than this — it’s about as avant-garde as you’d expect from a Middle Eastern outpost of a Canadian... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Boston: Boston, MA, USA; View | Reserve; Since it opened in 1985, the Four Seasons Boston has been the place for the establishment to drink tea. New as it is, it feels completely part of its blue-blooded home, next to Beacon Hill and overlooking the Boston Public Gardens. From its entrance lined with fountains, to its massive staircase... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Some of the Four Seasons properties are contemporary, almost verging on modern in style. Not this one. The Four Seasons Buenos Aires starts with a stunning French-style mansion, and runs with it — even in the newer 13-story main building, the interiors are as Belle Epoque as you’re likely to come... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: Florence, Italy; View | Reserve; One of the most common complaints about the big luxury chains is that they tend to exhibit a certain sameness of style, no matter the location. But whatever you might say about the Four Seasons Firenze, you certainly can’t get away with saying that. Never mind the museums and the galleries — you... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire: Hampshire, England, UK; View | Reserve; We all know more or less what a Four Seasons is, and most of us are at least familiar with the basic idea behind an English country house hotel. But put the two together and the result, the Four Seasons Hampshire, is something of a novelty, even, in some circles a controversy; these hotels tend to... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; Istanbul is a glorious city—marvelous in its architecture, profound in its history, and exciting in its cuisine. And now, at last, there is a proper place to stay and enjoy it all… in a former jail. But what a jail it is. Certainly, our idea of a penitentiary doesn’t include a delicate... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; The second Four Seasons in Istanbul is a different animal entirely from its sister in the Sultanahmet district. This one, right by the side of the Bosphorus, is quite a bit farther from the heart of the city’s tourist trade, and closer to the clubs, shops and restaurants where you’ll find the... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta: Jakarta, Indonesia; View | Reserve; When it comes to hotels, we’re all for novelty, and in these pages you’ll find hundreds of listings to prove it. But there’s also something to be said for consistency. You’re talking about the fulfillment of basic needs, after all, things like food and sleep — not areas where we always feel like... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas: Las Vegas, NV, USA; View | Reserve; Only in a city like Vegas could the Four Seasons' trademark elegance seem new and daring. Everyone's talking about the Vegas Renaissance. Yes, you can still get comped rooms, a six-dollar all-you-can-eat steak buffet (iceberg lettuce and Jell-O included) and sell your soul to the slots—but that's... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Mexico, D.F.: Mexico City, Mexico; View | Reserve; It’s only a bit more than a decade old, but it’s not a stretch to lump the Four Seasons México D.F. in with some of the capital’s more historic buildings; the style is consciously Belle Epoque French-influenced, and the vast central courtyard makes for a peaceful atmosphere that’s very much at odds... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Milano: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; Though it’s got plenty of competition, a considerable subset of our readers will likely find the Four Seasons to be hands down the finest hotel in Milan. The handiest reason is simply that the location dovetails nicely with what many consider to be the main reason to visit Milan: it’s right in the... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai: Mumbai, India; View | Reserve; In some towns the Four Seasons is among the most conservative luxury hotels in town. But in Mumbai, and in India in general, it would take some doing to out-classic some of the grand old palace hotels. Here the new Four Seasons is all contemporary: from the gleaming glass facade of the Four Seasons... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel New York: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; The Four Seasons is not exactly a cozy hotel. Nor is it an understated one. At 52 stories, it’s New York’s tallest, and at 600 square feet, its standard guest room is New York’s largest. From the thirty-three-foot onyx-and-alabaster lobby ceiling to the bathtubs that fill in sixty seconds flat, the... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia: Philadelphia, PA, USA; View | Reserve; The Four Seasons in Philadelphia is everything that you’d expect from a grand-dame hotel in a picturesque city center. Two bellhops to help you out of your car, a carved granite facade, a rose marble lobby with flowers, flowers, flowers, and rooms—in true blue-blooded Philadelphia... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; View | Reserve; A lot of big business hotels claim to occupy a “privileged” position, or offer a “unique” or even a “commanding” view. In the case of the Four Seasons Riyadh, though, it’s a tough proposition to argue with. It’s a part of the Kingdom Tower, an award-winning, vaguely bottle-opener-shaped 99-story... Read More
Four Seasons Lana'i, The Lodge at Koele: Lanai City, HI, USA; View | Reserve; The Four Seasons Lana'i, The Lodge at Koele doesn’t feel particularly tropical. For one thing, the majority of the guests are fully dressed—for horseback riding, tennis or golf. Surrounding you are evergreens—no palm trees—and rolling green lawns. Inside is done in English country house style... Read More
Four Seasons Marunouchi: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; Tokyo is the kind of place where they can just simply decide to build, from scratch, a brand-new commercial and financial district. Turn your back for a year or two and the next time you turn around there’s Marunouchi, tucked in alongside the Imperial Palace, right next to the Ginza. High-flying... Read More
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay: Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; The south coast of Bali is anything but a well-kept secret — recent political troubles aside, it’s one of the world’s most storied holiday destinations, and is home to no end of hotels and resorts.You’d be hard pressed to take notice of any of this, though, from the grounds of the sublime Four... Read More
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Time was, travel to Bali was all about surf and sand, a classic beach-front island paradise. Lately, though, the savvy and crowd-shy travelers have set their sights on Ubud, the artist’s colony in the island’s central hills. This departure from habit, presumably, dictated that the Four Seasons at... Read More
Four Seasons Resort Carmelo: Carmelo, Dpto. de Colonia, Uruguay; View | Reserve; South Americans know it well, but the rest of us might need some introduction: Carmelo, Uruguay is on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, three hours by car (or a negligible plane flight) up the river from Buenos Aires, and not much farther from Montevideo. And the new Four Seasons Carmelo presents a... Read More
Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo: Guanacaste, Costa Rica; View | Reserve
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai: Ka`upulehu-Kona, HI, USA; View | Reserve; With all the action happening on the beaches of Oahu and Maui and in the deep forests of Kauai, it’s easy to overlook the Big Island. And perverse as it may be to claim that any part of Hawaii qualifies as a well-kept secret, it’s nevertheless true that the island of Hawaii, for all its natural... Read More
Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole: Teton Village, WY, USA; View | Reserve; There was a time in the not-so-very distant past when Jackson Hole was a bit more like the name makes it sound: a rough-edged and rugged Rocky Mountain hideaway. These days its rugged beauty is still very much intact, but a bit of the rough has been smoothed away — today it’s a place where, for... Read More
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea: Maui, HI, USA; View | Reserve; To a fashion-obsessed travel press, always in search of the next big thing, it’s probably a bit too obvious. But from a traveler’s point of view, the idea of a Four Seasons on the Hawaiian island of Maui has everything to recommend it... Read More
Francois Plantation: Saint Barthelemy, French West Indies, France; View | Reserve; Change the name to Français Plantation and you're at least halfway to understanding what François Plantation is all about. Saint-Barthélémy of course is in the West Indies, but culturally it's a lot closer to France, and these cottages, amid tropical gardens surrounding the old plantation house... Read More
Fresh Hotel: Athens, Greece; View | Reserve; Just when we were beginning to worry that “design” had become a synonym for “monochrome,” along comes a place like Athens’ Fresh Hotel, a place that’s bursting with color. And by color we don’t mean muted earth tones, or burgundy and brown leather—think, instead, of a palette that’s not found in... Read More
Fuchun Resort Hangzhou: Zhejiang, China; View | Reserve; If it looks as pretty as a picture, it’s no coincidence; the Fuchun Resort just outside of Hangzhou was in fact inspired by a classic of Chinese landscape painting, the fourteenth-century “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.” Here just 150 miles from the urban enormity of Shanghai is a secluded rural... Read More
Fundu Lagoon: Pemba Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania; View | Reserve; Though it may sound perverse, there are some novelty-seekers and civilization-dodgers who find Zanzibar to be a bit too close to the beaten path. Lucky for them, there’s Pemba island, fifty kilometers to Zanzibar’s north. This is a place, like Zanzibar, largely known for the spice trade, a history... Read More
Gaia Hotel & Reserve: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; Ponce de León put Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast on the map in 1519 — but, too afraid to confront the native Quepoa tribe, he was left to appreciate the evergreen forests and white sand from the safety of his ship. Today, thanks to the establishment of the Manuel Antonio National Park and a... Read More
Gaige House: Glen Ellen, CA, USA; View | Reserve; With one foot in the old world and one foot squarely in the new, the Gaige House is a California wine country bed and breakfast unlike any you’ve ever seen. From the outside it’s a classic Victorian mansion of the sort that’s for some reason peculiar to Northern California; inside, though, it’s... Read More
Galle Fort Hotel: Galle, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; Though fashionable enough, the Galle Fort Hotel is hardly just luxury lodging — checking into a suite here assures a bit of a cultural experience as well. The hotel is located within the massive stone walls of the seaside fortifications built to defend the port by the Dutch East India Company. And... Read More
Gallery Hotel Art: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Don't be put off by the concrete exterior, which unlike most Florentine buildings is contemporary, and of no architectural distinction. It's the stuff inside this Salvatore Ferragamo hotel that's the key. High couture meets maximum efficiency. Art meets the commercial world of the hospitality... Read More
Ganischgerhof Mountain Resort & Spa: Deutschnofen, Südtirol, Italy; View | Reserve; You might be forgiven for thinking this was somewhere other than Italy. Here, near Bolzano, where the place names are in German and the architecture is pure Alpine, is where you’ll find Ganischgerhof — again, not the most stereotypically Italian name you could think of. It’s enough to make other... Read More
Gansevoort South: Miami, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Our new Tablet Spy program offers the chance to get early looks at the most promising new hotels. If you’re willing to take the risks associated with staying in a hotel that’s not officially open yet — unfinished spaces, noisy construction, inexperienced service — then you’ll be rewarded with deep... Read More
Gastwerk Hotel: Hamburg, Germany; View | Reserve; Though it loses something in translation, Gastwerk is a pun on the building’s original function—a gaswerk, or gasworks—and on its new one, that of a ‘guest works,’ or a hotel. This is a textbook reclamation of a decaying heavy industrial site, a trend that takes Americans’ appetite for loft living... Read More
Geejam: Port Antonio, Jamaica; View | Reserve; Chris Blackwell’s Island Outpost hotel group has always made the most of its music-business connections, for good reason — Jamaica without reggae just wouldn’t be the same (and Chris Blackwell, without Island Records, might not own hotels in the first place). With Geejam, however, this marriage... Read More
Georges Blanc: Vonnas, Bresse, France; View | Reserve; In the sleepy Bressan village of Vonnas, alongside a gentle river flowing through fields of wildflowers, is one of the finest restaurants in France, accompanied by a charming country inn. Georges Blanc may be one of the country’s most celebrated chefs, and his three-star restaurant may be the main... Read More
Gerbermuehle: Frankfurt am Main, Germany; View | Reserve; Some of the best contemporary-design hotels are renovations of existing buildings. But few start with structures as storied as Frankfurt’s Gerbermühle. This 16th-century flour mill had a second or third life as a local businessman’s summer house, where Goethe met his Marianne — and now it begins a... Read More
Gild Hall: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Whether it’s an advantage or a disadvantage is somewhat in the eye of the guest, but one thing’s for sure: the most notable feature of Thompson Hotels’ new Gild Hall is its location. Just a few hundred yards from Wall Street, this is deep in the heart of the financial district, a place that not too... Read More
Glin Castle: Glin, Glin, Ireland; View | Reserve; Please note: Glin Castle will be closed in 2009... Read More
Golden Apple Boutique Hotel: Moscow, Russia; View | Reserve; Time was, visitors to Moscow, however accustomed they were in Europe or North America to staying in small and stylish boutiques, were more or less out of luck. There were always the massive and impossibly opulent grand hotels, which are impressive in their own right, as nobody else has a feel for... Read More
Goldman 25hours Hotel: Frankfurt, Germany; View | Reserve; As they expand across Germany, one thing the 25hours group can’t be accused of is repeating themselves. The Hamburg version looks like it’s from space, and the other Frankfurt outpost is a partnership with Levi’s, and is decorated accordingly. This one, in Frankfurt’s east end, was created by a... Read More
Good Hotel: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; That’s “good” as a noun, not an adjective. San Francisco’s Good Hotel is less about being a good hotel—it certainly is that, in its unassuming way—and more about doing good... Read More
Grace Bay Club: Grant Turk, Turks And Caicos Islands; View | Reserve; The Grace Bay Club is the picture-perfect Caribbean getaway, a Mediterranean-style villa, red tile roofs and all, fringed with imported palm trees and opening onto one of the finest beaches in the Western hemisphere, a stretch of immaculate white sand framing the deep turquoise waters of the bay on... Read More
Grace in Rosebank: Johanesburg, South Africa; View | Reserve; The Grace lives up to its moniker with ease. Situated in the northwestern Jo’burg suburb of Rosebank, it inhabits a gentrified and culturally rich area, full of high-profile businesses, posh shopping malls, restaurants and art galleries – a lively little community where lattes can be sipped al... Read More
Gramercy Park Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; About the Gramercy Park Hotel:Gramercy Park Hotel is the latest luxury boutique hotel in New York from Ian Schrager. It is located on the private Gramercy Park, steps from Union Square and slightly below the Midtown area. The hotel features 2 bars (Rose Bar & Jade Bar) and a private rooftop lounge... Read More
Gran Hotel La Florida: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Gran Hotel La Florida is a unique place, a bit of an oddity; it is equal parts city boutique and luxury resort, located on a hilltop just outside of Barcelona. The view is stunning, overlooking the city, and beyond, the Mediterranean, and the location is secluded, a thousand feet above the city... Read More
Gran Hotel Son Net: Mallorca, Spain; View | Reserve; Though this grand hilltop manor house dates back to 1672, it has only been a hotel since 1998 — a fact that will not surprise anyone who has stayed here. The feeling is less like a hotel stay and more like a visit to a friend's country estate; though obviously this friend has near-unlimited... Read More
Granados 83: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Staying on La Rambla may ensure proximity to Barcelona’s waterfront, but at a price: the ubiquity of the tourist-trap tapas bars and fluorescent-lit souvenir shops quickly begins to detract from the charm of the old pedestrian streets. A ten-minute stroll (or five-euro cab ride) away in a quieter... Read More
Granbell Hotel Shibuya: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; It’s perhaps a bit odd that for all the other ways in which Tokyo leads the world in cool, it’s still hard to find a small and stylish boutique hotel in a central location. This town has some of the best luxury hotels in the world, and a vast array of lesser options, from middle-of-the-road... Read More
Grand Hotel Baglioni: Bologna, Italy; View | Reserve; Bologna may be the original college town, and home to a thriving bike culture not seen this side of Amsterdam, but that doesn’t mean you’re in for student housing: the Baglioni is a classic five-star grand hotel, by far the poshest in town. After all, even a university town can expect its share of... Read More
Grand Hotel Central: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Spacious, cool and clutter-free, the Grand Hotel Central melds the scale and efficiency of a business hotel with the textures and colors of a city-center boutique hotel. The minimalist-chic design looks immediately familiar, immaculately clean and gracefully illuminated, but is confidently handled... Read More
Grand Hotel Continental: Siena, Italy; View | Reserve; Siena is, on the one hand, a time machine, a meticulously preserved medieval city, known for its artworks and architecture, and ever-popular with travelers of all nationalities. But people live here too; and alongside its medieval fortifications and Renaissance palazzos is a thriving boutique and... Read More
Grand Hotel de Cala Rossa: Porto-Vecchio, Corsica, France; View | Reserve; Closed from January 4 to the beginning of April... Read More
Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferrat: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Riviera, France; View | Reserve; The Cote d’Azur positively teems with the rich and famous, and groans under the weight of serious amounts of cash. Those wishing to mingle with the beautiful people will no doubt find the Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferrat to be isolated perfection; however it’s clearly not for those traveling on a strict... Read More
Grand Hotel et de Milan: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; Milan may be the most fashion-forward city in Italy, the couture capital, and the center of industrial progress as well—but this is still Italy, after all, and there’s always room for a little bit of ancient history. Nothing industrial or futuristic about it: the Grand Hotel et de Milan... Read More
Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria: Sorrento, Italy; View | Reserve; The Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria benefits from a phenomenal location, right in the heart of Sorrento, high on a cliff overlooking the harbor and separated from the bustling Piazza Tasso by orange groves and acres of parkland. The hotel itself comprises three separate villas, all built between... Read More
Grand Hotel Nord-Pinus: Arles, France; View | Reserve; It’s been a long time since Provence was unspoiled and uncomplicated — today’s Provence experience is a mediated one, a sort of collective fantasy, mutually constructed by local landowners and generations of tourists British and otherwise. It’s a problem if you’re on a quest for authenticity, but... Read More
Grand Hotel Quisisana: Capri, Italy; View | Reserve; Since ancient times, Capri has been the place where the world's wealthiest and loveliest go on holiday. And if the town of Capri is where they frolic, then the Quisisana is where they sleep — actors, supermodels, and the entire Agnelli clan, owners of Torino's Fiat industrial group... Read More
Grand Hotel Stockholm: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; With not an ounce of blonde wood and not a single platform bed in sight, the Grand is Stockholm style circa 1874, and the place to stay if you’re a Nobel winner, foreign dignitary, or just an everyday movie star. The location can’t be faulted, in the heart of the city, across from the Royal Palace... Read More
Grand Hotel Timeo: Taormina, Italy; View | Reserve; High on a hillside above Taormina, just below the Greek Theatre, stands the Grand Hotel Timeo, an opulent neoclassical symbol of the Sicilian aristocracy since 1873, playing host to the likes of Oscar Wilde, DH Lawrence, Guy de Maupassant and the Kaiser Wilhelm II — all, no doubt, taken in by the... Read More
Grand Hotel Tremezzo Palace: Como, Italy; View | Reserve; Midway down the southwestern arm of Italy’s sublime Lake Como is the town of Tremezzo — just one of many spectacular towns by the water, it’s as stunning as any of them, and is home to something rather impressive: the Grand Hotel Tremezzo Palace... Read More
Grand Hotel Vesuvio: Naples, Italy; View | Reserve; Grand Hotel Vesuvio was built in 1882, and immediately became the classic Naples hotel. Guests in the early years included Oscar Wilde, Guy de Maupassant, and Enrico Caruso, who spent his last night here in 1921, continuing a rich tradition of artistic figures dying in grand hotels. The hotel was... Read More
Grand Hotel Villa Medici: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; The Grand Villa Medici is possibly the most relaxing hotel in Florence, for two simple reasons: Its slightly out-of-the-way location, and its swimming pool. Florence is lovely, but in the summer, with tourists jamming the streets and aggressively hot temperatures, you may easily reach your limit of... Read More
Grand Hotel Zermatterhof: Zermatt, Switzerland; View | Reserve; The Matterhorn is the focus; this imposing, eerie mountain peak, standing upright above the high Alps, is possibly Switzerland's most recognizable icon, and the high mountain town of Zermatt the Alps' classic resort town. The Grand Hotel Zermatterhof has been here since 1879, and was the favored... Read More
Grand Hyatt Berlin: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; It would be easy to mistake this place for a Tokyo hotel, with its Zen-inflected interiors and Japanese-style overflowing tubs, not to mention Helmut Jahn’s sleek and towering Sony Center next door—but this is not Shibuya, but rather Potsdamer Platz, the Wall-era no-man’s-land... Read More
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong: Hong Kong, Hong Kong; View | Reserve; The flagship property of the already quite impressive Grand Hyatt brand is located here, in Hong Kong, with the Convention and Exhibition Center at one side and Victoria Harbor at the other. This makes for an ever so slightly out-of-the-way location—but there’s no mistaking this place... Read More
Grand Hyatt Jakarta: Jakarta, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Jakarta is an exotic place, to be sure, and many of its hotels are heavy on showmanship. But Jakarta is also the capital of Indonesia, a vast nation, and an important player in the global economy. As such, it needs a few no-nonsense business hotels, of which the Grand Hyatt is king.Fears of a bland... Read More
Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo: Sao Paulo, Brazil; View | Reserve; Sao Paulo may be an old city with plenty of historical flavor, but don't expect to find any opulent old-world hotels. Two competing hotel concepts have dominated for the last few years, through the city's boom (and subsequent glut) of construction. There are the ever-fashionable boutique hotels... Read More
Grand Hyatt Shanghai: Pudong Shanghai, China; View | Reserve; Skidmore, Owings and Merrill’s 1998 Jin Mao Tower is, quite possibly, the perfect visual symbol of Shanghai, the city some call the New York of the next century. Rising some 88 stories above the new development in Pudong, it’s utterly futuristic, yet at the same time Art Deco-inspired... Read More
Grand Hyatt Taipei: Taipei, Taiwan; View | Reserve; The Grand Hyatt Taipei is the archetypal Far East megahotel, an enormous palace on a hillside overlooking the city, where even the humblest of its 856 rooms are quite justifiably named Grand Rooms. Intimate and funky it certainly isn’t, but smaller isn’t always better—you haven’t lived until you’ve... Read More
Grand Hyatt Tokyo: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; Loosely speaking, Roppongi Hills is Tokyo's answer to Rockefeller Center — a multi-billion dollar, multi-purpose shopping and dining development. The centerpiece is Mori Tower, with its 53rd-floor modern art museum. But the newest addition to Roppongi Hills is right next door — the... Read More
Grand Marina Hotel: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Barcelona's new Grand Marina Hotel is easily the city's premier business hotel, very much in the same league as the Park Hyatts of the world, though in a distinctly bright and summery Spanish style. The twist here is the location — the hotel occupies the western quadrant of the World Trade Center... Read More
Grand Resort Lagonissi: Athens, Greece; View | Reserve; Total luxury overkill is the theme at Grand Resort Lagonissi, a sprawling seaside compound on a peninsula 30 miles south of Athens. This is the kind of place where wealthy industrialists arrive via helicopter or Learjet, and Hollywood stars make discreet entrances in chartered limos. Long a... Read More
Grand Villa Argentina: Dubrovnik, Croatia; View | Reserve; With Croatian tourism booming as it is, new hotels are opening all the time. One with a head start on the competition, though, is the Grand Villa Argentina. This five-star by the Dubrovnik seaside was a haven for journalists during the war, and thus has an international reputation. And deservedly... Read More
Grande Roche Hotel: Paarl, South Africa; View | Reserve; Less than an hour from Cape Town, in the Drakenstein valley in South Africa’s Cape Winelands, this eighteenth-century farm estate has been rebuilt in a reproduction Cape Dutch style and rehabilitated into a top-flight spa retreat. Though it’s just outside the town of Paarl, and within easy reach of... Read More
Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg: Cologne, Germany; View | Reserve; Though the Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg is perhaps not the most conveniently located hotel for doing business in Köln, there’s more to life than convenience alone. This three-hundred-year-old Baroque castle, on a hilltop in Bensberg, twelve kilometers from the city center, is close enough... Read More
Graves 601 Hotel: Minneapolis, MN, USA; View | Reserve; Formerly a member of Le Meridien’s forward-looking Art + Tech sub-brand, Graves 601 has gone independent, and is to be the first of a series across the Americas for the Minneapolis-based Graves Hotels and Resorts... Read More
Gravetye Manor: East Grinstead, West Sussex, UK; View | Reserve; Somehow Gravetye Manor is only an hour from the city, and, incredibly, just 12 miles from Gatwick airport; but it feels a good deal more remote than that, with an air of pastoral calm worlds away from the rush of today's cosmopolitan London. It is as though chain hotels had never existed and white... Read More
Great John Street Hotel: Manchester, UK; View | Reserve; Theories both plausible and implausible abound, from the flurry of reconstruction in the aftermath of the 1996 IRA bombing to some sort of trickle-down effect associated with City and United footballers and their spendy wives. But whatever the cause, there’s no disputing the effect... Read More
Gregans Castle Hotel: Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, Ireland; View | Reserve; Far from the grim stone fortress conjured by the name, Gregans Castle turns out to be something quite a bit more refined and urbane: not a castle at all, it’s a 250-year-old manor house, lovingly maintained, thoroughly renovated, and reopened as a charming and elegant country house hotel, the sort... Read More
Greulich: Zurich, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Zurich may still mostly be known as a banking capital, a grown-up town, long on old money and short on youthful exuberance. When you’re talking about Zurich West, however, none of the old stereotypes apply. Here, and in the neighboring Langstrasse (the city’s vice district... Read More
Grosvenor House West Marina Beach by Le Meridien, Dubai: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; Please note: Due to the development work currently ongoing at the Dubai Marina, which is located near the hotel, there may be some noise disturbance caused around the hotel. Sea view rooms are not affected... Read More
Grotta Giusti Natural Spa Resort: Monsummano Terme, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; We’re often partial to cutting-edge design around here, it’s true — but a hotel like this one, in the postcard-perfect Italian countryside, proves that the classics never go out of style. Here, in inland northern Tuscany, roughly between Florence and Lucca, stands the... Read More
Hacienda Benazuza elBullihotel: Sevilla, Spain; View | Reserve; Note: Hacienda Benazuza elBullihotel will close November 22, 2008 and will reopen April 1, 2009... Read More
Hacienda de San Antonio: Colima, Mexico; View | Reserve; This authentic nineteenth-century plantation estate is one of Mexico’s best-kept secrets. The Hacienda de San Antonio spent five years under the Amanresorts flag, and though it’s now gone independent, it’s still very much in the same class as its former siblings, offering all the luxury, service... Read More
Hacienda del Cerezo: Santa Fe, NM, USA; View | Reserve; Located just 12 miles outside of Santa Fe, in the high desert of New Mexico, the Hacienda del Cerezo is one of the Southwest’s most extraordinary hideaways. With just ten rooms it’s dwarfed by the typical American luxury resort, which definitely counts in the Hacienda’s favor — more and more often... Read More
Hacienda Puerta Campeche: Campeche, Mexico; View | Reserve; This one’s a bit of a departure — the Hacienda Puerta Campeche has little in common, besides common management and a loose geographic tie, with the other Starwood-run hacienda hotels across the Yucatán. First of all, it’s not really strictly speaking a hacienda at all; while its sisters are old... Read More
Hacienda San Angel: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; View | Reserve; Puerto Vallarta was, at one time, among the most glamorous of Mexican destinations — and though it fell victim to overdevelopment, it’s never completely lost its magic. These days there’s a bit of a resurgence at hand, with a few absolute gems among the big hotels. One of the better examples is the... Read More
Hacienda San Jose: Tixkokob, Yucatan, Mexico; View | Reserve; The interior of the Yucatán Peninsula is a side of Mexico that’s not often seen by casual tourists, who tend to stick to the beaches and the cities. It’s a shame, really — the charms of the Mayan country are a worthy alternative to the same old sand and surf... Read More
Hacienda Santa Rosa: Santa Rosa, Yucatan, Mexico; View | Reserve; It’s hard to imagine any place more at odds with the stereotypical Mexican holiday experience than the Hacienda Santa Rosa. If you’re after a surf-side beach hotel or a glam city boutique, look elsewhere; the Santa Rosa is deep in the heart of the Mayan country, at the west end of the Yucatan... Read More
Hacienda Temozon: Temozon Sur, Yucatan, Mexico; View | Reserve; Located in the heart of the Mayan country of the Yucatán peninsula, the Hacienda Temozon is an authentic 19th-century hacienda, a family-owned farming operation converted into a luxurious hotel that’s at once big and small — with just 28 rooms, it’s intimate, but the rooms themselves are massive... Read More
Hacienda Uayamon: Uayamon, Campeche, Mexico; View | Reserve; Just fifteen minutes from the historic walled city of Campeche, and deep in the heart of Mayan country, Hacienda Uayamon offers a taste of the other side of Mexican tourism — not the hedonistic indulgence of the seaside resorts, but the time-machine fantasy of the remotest places in the country’s... Read More
Halekulani: Honolulu, HA, USA; View | Reserve; At 455 rooms it’s not small. But once you’ve settled on Waikiki Beach as a destination it’s clear that you’ve decided to forget about secondary concerns like secrecy, exclusivity, hipness, and the like, and simply focus on pleasure. And at that point you could do a whole lot worse than Halekulani... Read More
Halkin: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Many of the world’s most stylish hotels are heavy on the public spaces, pouring money into lounges, libraries, drawing rooms, even private cinemas, while relegating the paying guests to cramped, uninspired rooms. How this works as a business proposition is quite beyond our understanding, but in... Read More
Hambleton Hall: Oakham, Rutland, UK; View | Reserve; Along the shores of Rutland Water in the English Midlands is Hambleton Hall, a classic country house hotel that remains a well-kept secret, possibly owing to nothing more than geographic chauvinism—Rutland, the smallest county, is just two hours from Heathrow and one from Leicestershire, yet... Read More
Hapuku Lodge: Kaikoura, New Zealand; View | Reserve; It’s enough to make you wonder why anyone stays anywhere else. Hapuku Lodge, near Kaikoura on the eastern coast of New Zealand’s South Island, is that most rare of lodges: splendidly located, stunningly designed, small, personable, and yet still quite affordable. It seems there must be a catch... Read More
Hard Days Night Hotel: Liverpool, England, UK; View | Reserve; It could have gone so wrong. In less capable hands a Beatles-themed hotel, right around the corner from the Cavern Club, could easily have resulted in a nightmare of kitsch. But the Hard Days Night, against the odds, doesn’t try to coast on theme alone — were it not for the portraits and the... Read More
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino: Las Vegas, NV, USA; View | Reserve; The Hard Rock in Las Vegas conjures up images of bikini babes, guitar riffs, and blue cocktails glowing in the night. It's of course already had its moment on the silver screen—in the monstrous Nicolas Cage vehicle Con Air, runaway convicts smash their plane into the neon guitar atop the roof... Read More
Harvest Inn: St Helena , CA, USA; View | Reserve; Hidden in plain sight on the edge of the charmingly old-fashioned Napa Valley town of St. Helena is the Harvest Inn, a rustic boutique-style hotel set on 20 acres of parkland and redwood groves. This is the wine country’s main artery, and literally St. Helena’s Main Street — but from within the... Read More
Hayman Island Resort: Queensland, Australia; View | Reserve; Hayman Island, in the Whitsunday Islands of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, is one of the most extraordinary places in the world, a spectacular setting, teeming with sea life and natural wonders. To spend the night in a shack or a tent on one of the island's white coral beaches would be an... Read More
Haymarket Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The verdict on the long-awaited Haymarket Hotel: more of the same from the Firmdale group. Which is a good thing, if you're wondering. We’re disposed to think of Number Sixteen, the Knightsbridge, the Pelham and all the rest of the group's other London hotels as instant classics: luxury-hotel... Read More
Hazlitt's: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Tucked away off Soho Square lies a discreet little townhouse hotel called Hazlitt’s. Named for William Hazlitt, the essayist and Napoleon biographer who lived and died here in the early 19th century, the hotel has held on to its literary theme, and is today a favorite among writers and publishers... Read More
Helvetia & Bristol Hotel: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; On the outside, this building—despite having been built in the 19th century—blends in comfortably with the surrounding architecture, with its white walls, gray stone arches reminiscent of Brunelleschi’s churches. But while the exterior is reminiscent of the Florentine Renaissance, inside is firmly... Read More
Heritage Av Liberdade: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; The sunset-blue facade of the Heritage hotel is the only original remnant of this 18th-century palace on Lisbon’s Avenida Liberdade; the interiors are unrecognizable, pure contemporary luxury, courtesy of the designer Miguel Câncio Martins, perhaps best known for the interiors of the Buddha Bar in... Read More
Hermitage Bay: St. Marys, Caribbean, Antigua / Barbuda; View | Reserve; An idyllic Caribbean holiday should tick certain boxes: foliage must be verdant, sand must be white and waters must verge on day-glo blue. Luxury cabins, private plunge pools and gourmet dining are less common, and it’s exactly these not-so-trivial extras that rank Hermitage Bay as one of the most... Read More
Hi Hotel Eco Spa & Beach: Nice, France; View | Reserve; The term design hotel has found wide currency in recent years, and has devolved into a vague superlative, almost without referent. Today any hotel built after 1900 calls itself a design hotel, as though in opposition to those hotels which were not designed but which assembled themselves, of their... Read More
Hidden Pond: Kennebunkport, ME, USA; View | Reserve; So steeped in history is seaside New England that you sometimes forget they’re building new hotels too. But in the woods outside of Kennebunkport, that’s exactly what they’ve done — though you wouldn’t know it from a glance around the grounds that Hidden Pond is any less than a century old... Read More
Hillside Su Hotel: Antalya, Turkey; View | Reserve; Hillside perfectly well describes not just the hotel, but the city of Antalya as well — this south coast resort town clings to the cliffs above the Mediterranean, and it seems everyone’s got an elevated sea view. The view from the Hillside Su is no different: here the front-side rooms have... Read More
Hilton Auckland: Auckland, New Zealand; View | Reserve; We know what you're thinking, and you're right — a Hilton hotel had better be something special to be included in our listings. You're right, of course, and we are happy to say that this particular Hilton hotel is indeed something a bit out of the ordinary... Read More
Hivernage Hotel & Spa: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; In Marrakech hotels the choice, often enough, is between a contemporary resort way out in the Palmeraïe and a traditional-style riad hotel in the crowded, buzzing medina. But it’s not actually as simple as that. Take the Hivernage Hotel & Spa as an example — it’s in town, though just outside... Read More
Hix Island House: Vieques, Puerto Rico; View | Reserve; Hix Island House does not accommodate guests under 16 years old... Read More
Hob Knob: Edgartown, MA, USA; View | Reserve; Martha’s Vineyard is the kind of destination that can feel a bit closed off to outsiders. It’s a place that’s perhaps better known for vacation homes and vacation estates than it is for hotels. But there are some gems to be found, among them Hob Knob, a charming 19th-century house in Edgartown... Read More
Home Apartments: Reykjavík, Iceland; View | Reserve; You don’t see many of these. Reykjavik is a bit thin on hotels to begin with, especially ones created by Icelandic architects recently home from a decade in New York. In fact this one’s one of a kind: Home Apartments is the work of the award-winning Agnar Agnarsson, a man who’s no stranger to the... Read More
Home Hotel Buenos Aires: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; A good hotel is made of quite a bit more than just good intentions — but the spirit behind a place counts for an awful lot. On the minus side, there are the big chains, whose decisions are dictated by profitability and share price. We all know how that works out for guests... Read More
Homestead Inn-Thomas Henkelmann: Greenwich, CT, USA; View | Reserve; The French countryside is home to more than a few gastronomic inns, operated by the partnership of a highly regarded chef and his virtuoso decorator wife—hotels where the cuisine and the hospitality are equal attractions, and the hotel, however remote, becomes a destination unto itself... Read More
Hope Springs Resort: Desert Hot Springs, CA, USA; View | Reserve; There is a two-night minimum stay requirement for all stays at Hope Springs Resort... Read More
Hope Street Hotel: Liverpool, England, UK; View | Reserve; Liverpool is Europe’s Capital of Culture for 2008, and the new Hope Street Hotel is perfectly positioned to capitalize on that fact. In the heart of the cultural district, between the two cathedrals at each end of Hope street, the hotel is walking distance from the theatres, the Philharmonic... Read More
Horned Dorset Primavera Hotel: Rincon, Puerto Rico; View | Reserve; “Nothing” is the motto here. There’s no tennis, no TV, not even a phone. Located on a strip of beach in nowhere, Puerto Rico, this four-acre haven is dedicated to the sweet, slothful life. It also happens to be one of the most elite spots in the Caribbean... Read More
Hospes Amerigo: Alicante, Spain; View | Reserve; Another outpost of the Hospes group, a series of five-star boutique hotels across Spain, the Amerigo chooses Alicante as its home. Once a Dominican convent, later an office building and an apartment block, today it’s a bit closer to its original incarnation, offering the sort of creamy-white... Read More
Hospes Lancaster: Paris, France; View | Reserve; The Hospes Lancaster is Paris’ most sophisticated gem: small and flawless without dazzle. Since this 1889 mansion was converted by hotelier Emile Wolf in the 1930’s, it has played host to the more refined of the celebrity set — Marlene Dietrich, Noël Coward, Grace Kelly... Read More
Hospes Las Casas del Rey de Baeza: Sevilla, Spain; View | Reserve; It seems unlikely that any hotel could make good on a promise to shield its guests from the electrifying din of Seville’s flamenco-tinged street life. Las Casas del Rey de Baeza, though, accomplishes this, and a bit more... Read More
Hospes Madrid: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; It took a while, but the Hospes group has moved into the capital. The patented Hospes formula (classic building, modern-luxe interiors, signature spa and restaurant) is on display in this classic 19th-century building just off the Plaza de la Indepencia, deep in the heart of Madrid... Read More
Hospes Maricel: Palma de Mallorca, Spain; View | Reserve; Ten minutes west of Palma, perched at the edge of the Mediterranean, this stately old building was once a grand residence, and later one of Mallorca’s top nightclubs. Today it’s the Maricel, a luxury boutique by the Spanish Hospes group—and while it is one of the city’s most in-demand destinations... Read More
Hospes Palacio de los Patos: Granada, Spain; View | Reserve; Somewhere in the middle ground between history worship and idol-smashing avant-gardism lies a place like the Palacio de los Patos. In frontal view, it’s a 19th-century palace, utterly authentic, marble staircase and all; behind this, though, stands a brand-new modern addition — not the sort of... Read More
Hospes Palacio Del Bailio: Cordoba, Andalusia, Spain; View | Reserve; The Palacio del Baílio is the Córdoba branch of the Hospes franchise, and while the word “Palacio” may put some of us in mind of an old-fashioned grand hotel — like the seaside palaces of Cannes, for example — this is a palace of an entirely different kind. More a mansion than a hotel... Read More
Hospes Palau de la Mar: Valencia, Spain; View | Reserve; It’s time the world discovered there’s more to Spain than Barcelona and Madrid: Spain’s third city is heating up, with travelers from the UK in particular discovering Valencia in record numbers, and budget airlines scrambling to establish routes from all over Europe... Read More
Hospes Villa Paulita: Puigcerdà , Girona, Spain; View | Reserve; Puigcerdà might not easily roll off the non-Catalonian tongue, but it’s a name worth learning — this little village at the foot of the Pyrénées is a scenic enough spot, and home to a remarkable small hotel, the Hospes Villa Paulita. This storybook Art Nouveau mansion, in the woods by the... Read More
Hotel 1000: Seattle, WA, USA; View | Reserve; For everything that makes the Northwest such a vibrant and livable place, there’s a bit of a shortage of style in the upper end of the hotel market. But not to worry — this is an imbalance that is well on its way toward being redressed, thanks to the brand-new Hotel 1000... Read More
Hotel 1898: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; These days when a hotelier is stuck for a name, the safest solution is just to use the street address — it’s mysterious and blank, and avoids unwanted connotations, or any connotations at all. As it turns out, Barcelona’s Hotel 1898 is named not for its address at all, but for the year... Read More
Hotel Abalu: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Hotel Abalu is proof that there’s much more to the hotel business than just location. What was formerly a rather dowdy little hostel (albeit a well-located one, right off the Gran Vía) is now, after some drastic renovation, one of Madrid’s hippest small hotels, the kind of cozy yet stylish boutique... Read More
Hotel AC Barcelona: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Barcelona’s got some fine little boutique hotels, but in a destination this popular, there’s much more demand for high-design boutique-style accommodation than the little guys can comfortably supply. It’s no surprise, then, that some of the bigger hotels would get in on the action. The AC Barcelona... Read More
Hotel Adagio: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Think of American boutique hotels and you’re probably thinking of hotels by Schrager or Balazs, in cities like New York or Los Angeles or Miami. All this time, however, Chip Conley’s Joie de Vivre group has been building a small empire in San Francisco — and one of its pillars, in the heart of the... Read More
Hotel Adler: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Hotel Adler is at the corner of Velazquez and Goya, deep in the heart of the shopping and commercial districts — which makes for a busy neighborhood, but one largely free from throngs of tourists in short pants. The noise of the street is, in fact, the only complaint levelled against the Adler, so... Read More
Hotel Albatroz: Cascais, Portugal; View | Reserve; Forty minutes’ drive west of Lisbon, the coastal town of Cascais is part seaside resort, part suburb. This is where kings and queens summered, and today it’s where Lisbonites of means come to indulge in some sun and sand — and for the last couple of decades the Hotel Albatroz has been the classiest... Read More
Hotel Albergo Villa Marta: Lucca, Italy; View | Reserve; Add another to the rolls of places in Tuscany that seem almost too amazing to be true. Here, a couple of miles outside the ancient walled city of Lucca, you’ll find the Hotel Albergo Villa Marta, a 19th-century hunting lodge lovingly restored by its husband-and-wife owners into an intimate 11-room... Read More
Hotel Albert Premier: Luxembourg, Luxembourg; View | Reserve; Luxembourg City may not be one of Europe’s headline-grabbing tourist destinations, but it sees its fair share of visitors — business travelers, perhaps, and those in search of an out-of-the-way urban escape. Among the former group there will be some who are in the mood for a departure from... Read More
Hotel Alfonso XIII: Seville, Spain; View | Reserve; Hotel Alfonso XIII is a relic of a bygone age — built in 1928 to anticipate the Ibero-American Expo the following year, the hotel was named for the then-current king, and constructed in a an opulent blend of Baroque and Moorish styles that looks centuries older. Of course in the Thirties... Read More
Hotel am Schlossgarten: Stuttgart, Germany; View | Reserve; Book a hotel in most modern city centers and you’re in for bustling crowds and the chaos of crowded streets. Not so in the wide-open green center of Stuttgart — the Hotel am Schlossgarten finds itself surrounded by landmarks like Stuttgart Palace and the state theater and art gallery, and... Read More
Hotel Amigo: Brussels, Belgium; View | Reserve; Once a jail, later a rather uninspired hotel, today’s refurbished Hotel Amigo (courtesy of Rocco Forte) is one of the best hotels in Brussels, for business or pleasure. The location is central, steps from the scenic Grand Place, in a pedestrian-only historic district, near enough to any number of... Read More
Hotel Andra: Seattle, WA, USA; View | Reserve; Though it’s the hotbed of a certain kind of entrepreneurial creativity, and one of America’s centers of new technology, Seattle has always been slightly conservative in terms of design and visual arts. It’s a delight, then, to come across a hotel like this one, not just another... Read More
Hotel Angeleno: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; America’s wealth of disused and neglected modernist hotels and motels is a resource we’d like to see put to better use. So the Hotel Angeleno comes as a nice surprise. This cylindrical tower on the West Side was a Holiday Inn, from that middlebrow chain’s Sixties tower period — today, though, after... Read More
Hotel Art Nouveau: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; This place has got to be one of the best-kept secrets we’ve ever seen. The sign which identifies this residential building as the site of Art Nouveau hotel gives no clue, and may even scare you off. In fact, it takes a trip up an antique iron-gated lift to the fourth floor to even find the front... Read More
Hotel Astoria: Saint Petersburg, Russia; View | Reserve; St. Petersburg is home to a few historic grand hotels, but the Astoria is near the top of any list—not just for its historic Art Nouveau elegance, but for the simple fact that its Western management (courtesy of Rocco Forte) takes some of the edge off the slightly disarming and disorienting... Read More
Hotel Baltschug Kempinski: Moscow, Russia; View | Reserve; Quite probably, this is Moscow′s flashiest hotel—at least, it′s where Elton John stays when he′s in town. Behind the Baltschug′s hundred-year-old facade beats a glossy and very up-to-date heart—huge rooms overlooking the Kremlin, internet access, and a blissfully... Read More
Hotel Bel Air: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Hotel Bel-Air is a true 5-star luxury boutique hotel in the hills above West Los Angeles. Set on several acres in the center of the famous mansions of Bel-Air, the Hotel Bel-Air is surrounded by lush gardens and is well-known for its privacy. The hotel is close to Sunset Boulevard and the Getty... Read More
Hotel Bergs: Riga, Latvia; View | Reserve; With the Soviet era just a fading memory, and the Baltics now absorbed into the EU, it was only a matter of time before the concept of the design hotel touched down in Latvia. Within the walls of these two late nineteenth-century buildings lies what may be Riga’s most stylish lodging, the... Read More
Hotel Birger Jarl: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; You couldn’t get much more modern or more Swedish than this. Named after the city’s founder, the Birger Jarl is the ultimate in Stockholm chic, with its kiss-me red lobby and birch wood paneling that makes even the most jaded of interior decorators catch their breath. Every piece of... Read More
Hotel Bora Bora: Bora Bora, French Polynesia; View | Reserve; Hotel Bora Bora is currently closed for a major renovation. The Re-opening is scheduled for 2011... Read More
Hotel Brandenburger Hof: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; Berlin’s top hotels tend to be grand hotels, stately old palaces with hundreds of rooms—so the Brandenburger Hof cuts a bit against the grain. From the outside, this fin-de-siècle mansion could pass as a smaller, more intimate cousin to places like the Adlon; but the elegant facade... Read More
Hotel Britania: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; Though they’re all outwardly different, the boutique hotels of Lisbon’s Heritage group share a common approach: they’re historic buildings in central locations, heavily renovated, with one eye on contemporary design and the other on historical preservation. And of all of them, the Britânia is at... Read More
Hotel Bulow Residenz: Dresden, Germany; View | Reserve; The charming, old-fashioned Hotel Bülow Residenz is possibly the finest small hotel in Dresden. It is located in the traditional city center, next to a monument to August the Strong, and its carefully restored façade itself dates back to August's time (1730, to be precise). The interior, of course... Read More
Hotel Cala Di Volpe: Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy; View | Reserve; Closed late October to early April... Read More
Hotel Capo d'Africa: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Rome is rich with history and many of its hotels are grand and old-fashioned; the exception, of course, is at the opposite extreme, embodied by capital-d Design statements like Aleph and Es. The gap in the hotel landscape between classic opulence and avant-garde chic loomed large, but has been... Read More
Hotel Carl Gustaf: St. Barthelemy, French West Indies, Guadeloupe; View | Reserve; Saint Barthélemy has always been an exception in the Caribbean, an exclusive and upscale Gallic outpost surrounded by what in a pessimistic mood can seem like island after island full of tacky overdevelopment and overcrowded beaches. Frankly it’s hard not to think slightly elitist thoughts here... Read More
Hotel Caruso: Ravello, Italy; View | Reserve; Fresh off a long renovation, Hotel Caruso is once again one of the finest hotels in Ravello. For some, that’s recommendation enough; for the benefit of the others, though, we’ll go on... Read More
Hotel Casa del Mar: Porto-Vecchio, Corsica, France; View | Reserve; Something’s been happening in Corsica for a few years now — the mountainous island with its French-Italian hybrid culture, once a haven for pensioners and people who truly apreciate its rugged beauty, is turning hip. And while it will be a few years before Corsica replaces the Côte d’Azur in the... Read More
Hotel Casa Del Mar - Los Angeles: Santa Monica, CA, USA; View | Reserve; If you believe in karma, then the Casa del Mar has paid its dues. In the 1920s Santa Monica was the place to party, and the Club Casa del Mar was the hotspot — at least for silver screeners like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford. Built for two million, a then unheard of sum, it was where... Read More
Hotel CasaSandra: Isla Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Not “Cassandra,” but CasaSandra. As in Sandra’s place — in this case a Cuban-born writer and artist named Sandra Pérez, who has transformed a little strip of coast on Isla Holbox, just offshore from the Yucatán, into a pared-down, unpretentious, funky little beach resort. It’s intended to be as... Read More
Hotel Certosa di Maggiano: Siena, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s not entirely irrelevant that Siena’s Hotel Certosa di Maggiano began its life in the 14th century as a monastery: to this day it retains a certain ascetic air, a feeling of escape from worldly concerns, an uncanny calm that could, we’re confident, quite reasonably be called spiritual... Read More
Hotel Cipriani & Palazzo Vendramin: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; Venice’s most famous hotel is neither a landmark palace, nor several hundred years old, and it stands not in the city proper, but across the lagoon on Giudecca Island. Nonetheless, the Hotel Cipriani is as synonymous with Venice as the Piazza San Marco. We suppose it has to do with the founder... Read More
Hotel Claris: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Only in architecturally adventurous Barcelona would one find a downtown grand hotel in a style like this; the Claris is a postmodern mélange of the modern and the classic, visible from a glance at the exterior—the 18th-century shell of the Verdruna Palace remains, but it’s as... Read More
Hotel Claude Marbella: Marbella, Spain; View | Reserve; The trouble with seaside paradises like the Costa del Sol is that they suffer under the weight of their own undeniable attractions; they’re developed too quickly, and often a little tastelessly, in order to capitalize on the massive demand. Here and there one finds pockets of good taste, however... Read More
Hotel Cocoon & Lounge: Salvador de Bahia, Brazil; View | Reserve; The contrast couldn’t be greater between the self-styled “first spaceship hotel in the world,” the retro-futuristic Hotel Cocoon, and its setting: it’s more or less right at the seaside, but rather than condo complexes and luxury hotels for neighbors it’s bordered by a busy avenue (under which a... Read More
Hotel Concorde Berlin: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; Berlin is a city of many centers, or of no center at all — same thing, really, and in the end you’ve got to quit meditating on that seeming paradox and just pick a neighborhood. Old East Berlin is where you’ll find the cutting-edge nightlife, Mitte is the booming commercial center, and for... Read More
Hotel Continental: Oslo, Norway; View | Reserve; In spite of the rich history of modernist Scandinavian design, there’s nothing terribly modern about Norwegian hotels. The best bet in Oslo is to forget about hipster hotels and live it up at the century-old Hotel Continental. It’s a grand hotel of the classic old style, family-owned... Read More
Hotel Cote Cour SL: Beijing, China; View | Reserve; The hotel will be closed for the month of June, 2009 due to emergency construction immediately adjacent to the hotel... Read More
Hotel Cour des Loges: Lyon, France; View | Reserve; Once four separate buildings dating back as far as the fourteenth century, Cour des Loges is now a single hotel, and a masterful example of modern design meeting old-world charm. Jean-Louis and Jocelyne Sibuet have updated the Italian (yes, Italian) Renaissance style of the original dwellings with... Read More
Hotel CRAM: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Architecturally-minded visitors to Barcelona can’t help but have high expectations these days — it seems every building is either an ultra-modern masterpiece or a centuries-old treasure. These expectations are more than satisfied by Hotel CRAM, a bit of both worlds: a tour de force of modern... Read More
Hotel Crillon le Brave: Crillon le Brave, France; View | Reserve; In northwestern Provence, 25 miles from Avignon, is the medieval hilltop village of Crillon le Brave. The hotel itself is a cluster of stone buildings, centuries old, looking down on the village's rooftops and beyond, at the vineyards and orchards of the valley below. The terraces and gardens are... Read More
Hotel d'Angleterre: Geneva, Switzerland; View | Reserve; The shores of Lake Geneva and the banks of the Rhone are thick with deluxe grand hotels, many a century old and more. One of the most unique is the Hotel d’Angleterre, on the Quai du Mont Blanc, on the right bank; this hotel’s English flavor runs deep, and may well account for its... Read More
Hotel D'Urville: Marlborough, New Zealand; View | Reserve; It’s almost unfair, if you dwell on it, that New Zealand, blessed as it is with natural gifts — from surf and sand to rainforests and rocky peaks — should be home to a booming culinary and winemaking scene as well. And a place like the Hotel d’Urville, in Marlborough, on South Island, could only... Read More
Hotel Daniel: Graz, Austria; View | Reserve; Austria’s second city is a youthful town, a university town, and thus perfect for a hotel like the Daniel. After all these years finally smart modern design is available at budget rates: there’s nothing at the Daniel over 100 euros, and in fact the most basic rooms start at €59, a price... Read More
Hotel Daniel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; In Paris, one of the most-visited cities in the world, there are the old palace hotels, the new minimalist boutiques, and, as in this case, various shades in between. A newly minted classic, and a bit of a stylistic departure for Paris hotels, Hotel Daniel comes outfitted in a sort of Silk Road... Read More
Hotel Das Gogers: Austria; View | Reserve; Spend enough time playing golf, that most tradition-bound of games, and the ultra-conservative architecture of the typical country club will start looking reasonable. So pervasive is it, in fact, that a place like the Hotel Das Gogers looks positively alien, set as it is in the golf-happy region of... Read More
Hotel Das Triest: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; Vienna suffers no shortage of history; seemingly around every bend there’s a reminder of the city’s rich cultural heritage, and the hotel scene reflects this fact—most of Vienna’s better hotels are opulent classical palaces, untouched by the passage of time or the changing... Read More
Hotel de Crillon: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Next to the spot where rebelling peasants once chopped off the heads of aristocrats, stands the Hotel de Crillon, whose Presidential Apartment (favored by both Madonna and Arnold Schwarzenegger) has a price tag so exorbitant it's only revealed after you've confirmed your reservation... Read More
Hotel de la Cite: Carcassonne, France; View | Reserve; Carcassonne is the largest walled citadel in Europe, and the Hotel de la Cité sits behind the ancient fortifications, with the Romanesque Château Comtal and the Gothic Basilica of Saint-Nazaire as its neighbors... Read More
Hotel De La Paix: Geneva, Switzerland; View | Reserve; One of Geneva’s original luxury hotels, the De La Paix has stood on this spot on the Quai du Mont Blanc since 1865. As a classic five-star, it wasn’t entirely without company — the shores of Lake Geneva are all but lined with luxury palaces — but now, after an extensive renovation, it’s staking out... Read More
Hotel de la Paix: Siem Reap, Angkor, Cambodia; View | Reserve; Tourism in Cambodia is booming, and nowhere more than in Siem Reap — this picturesque colonial city is the center of the local luxury travel industry, thanks in no small part to its proximity to Cambodia’s most famous attraction, the temple at Angkor Wat. And now one of the city’s... Read More
Hotel de la Tremoille: Paris, France; View | Reserve; La Trémoille has been a fixture on the Paris luxury hotel scene since 1883. In 2002 it was re-opened following a complete renovation by Richard Martinet. The restored Haussmannian facade, a historical monument in its own right, is as authentic as ever, while the interior has been updated in an... Read More
Hotel de Orangerie: Bruges, Belgium; View | Reserve; Bruges may no longer be one of the economic centers of Belgium, but this ancient Flemish city remains one of Europe’s most picturesque destinations, its streets lined with a wealth of carefully preserved historic buildings. One of these architectural treasures, a fifteenth-century convent... Read More
Hotel de Paris: Monte Carlo, Monaco; View | Reserve; An extravagant pure-white swan of a building, this is arguably the true palace of Monte Carlo. Belle Epoque columns and spires adorn the facade; statuettes of nubile nymphs flank arched doorways and fountains, and a bronze statue of Louis XIV on horseback stands in the lobby, the horse′s... Read More
Hotel de Rome: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; It doesn’t get much heavier than the Hotel de Rome, a converted 19th-century bank building off the Bebelplatz in old East Berlin — its stone walls and neoclassical architecture are a perfect match for the high seriousness of the Rocco Forte house style. This hotel is set to become the lodging... Read More
Hotel de Russie: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Once upon a time, on a sunny day at the Hotel de Russie, you might have spotted Pablo Picasso or Jean Cocteau peeling and eating the oranges that they picked in the hotel garden. After a sixty-year hiatus, the Russie has re-emerged and is still a languid spot. While you won't catch today's Picassos... Read More
Hotel de Sers: Paris, France; View | Reserve; The Marquis de Sers, it seems, was a country gentleman in need of a Parisian second home — he commissioned this classic four-story mansion just off the Champs Elysées in 1880, and in the intervening hundred-plus years it went on to become first a rather conventional hotel (the Queen Elizabeth) and... Read More
Hotel Derek: Houston, TX, USA; View | Reserve; "Something altogether different has arrived in Houston. It's an iconoclastic take on the traditional hotel experience, an innovative alternative to the expected. Hotel Derek offers a world of crisp, sleek design and customized comfort with a touch of Texas flair. It's a place to connect or retreat... Read More
Hotel des Academies et des Arts: Paris, France; View | Reserve; An utterly traditional Thirties hotel in Paris’s Montparnasse district is now, after a radical update, the very picture of the modern boutique hotel. With just twenty rooms, the Hotel des Académies et des Arts owes some debt to the cozy Left Bank lodgings of times past; but the bold colors, graphic... Read More
Hotel Des Indes: The Hague, Netherlands; View | Reserve; Though the cutting edge of modern design may arguably be located in the Netherlands, here on the Hague’s stately Lange Voorhout boulevard you’ll find a different sort of Dutch design. The Hotel des Indes has long been the Hague’s grand dame, and its 19th-century atmosphere is still overpowering... Read More
Hotel Drisco: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Hotel Drisco’s most extraordinary feature has to be its location; while most of San Francisco’s hotels are clustered around the bustling downtown area, the Drisco makes its home in the sedate upscale residential district of Pacific Heights. This is the postcard vision of San Francisco... Read More
Hotel du Palais: Biarritz, France; View | Reserve; Biarritz’s grande dame is the Hotel du Palais, the summer residence of Napoleon and Eugenie, an ostentatious brick-red and beige palace standing at the water’s edge, offering incomparable views up and down the rugged Basque coast and out into the Bay of Biscay. Old-world opulence... Read More
Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens: Glasgow, Scotland, UK; View | Reserve; Possibly Glasgow’s finest small hotel, and certainly its poshest, Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens is the favorite of many a visiting actor or pop star. But don’t hold that against it. Some hotels try altogether too hard—with flashy design, precious modern cuisine, and always-packed... Read More
Hotel Duo: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Nothing completely new ever really opens in the center of Paris — but the newly expanded, heavily renovated and recently renamed Hotel Duo is about as close as it gets. Previously the Axial Beaubourg, the Duo has had a makeover at the hand of the modern architect and interior designer Jean-Philippe... Read More
Hotel Eden: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; To call a hotel the Eden is hardly the dictionary definition of unpretentiousness, but don’t be put off by the audacity of its name; this Roman mainstay, for all its splendor, is remarkably discreet, its recently restored opulence never striking a crass note. Once a favorite haunt of the... Read More
Hotel Fasano: Sao Paulo, Brazil; View | Reserve; The Fasano family name is well known in São Paulo, in the context of fine dining: the family has over 100 years of experience in the restaurant business, having brought the finest in Italian cuisine with them from Milan. Their flagship restaurant, called simply Fasano, has presided over this... Read More
Hotel Fortyseven: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; There’s something for everyone in Rome, from stately old palaces to user-unfriendly design exercises and everything in between. The austere 1930s brickwork facade of the Fortyseven Hotel is a compromise, its Deco style striking enough to satisfy those bored with the classics, yet restrained enough... Read More
Hotel Fundador: Santiago , Chile; View | Reserve; It’s related to the Tablet favorite Remota, in Puerto Natales, and while it may lack the windswept edge-of-the-world theatrics of its country cousin, the Hotel Fundador shares a common approach, a dedication to innovative and unconventional interior design. You can thank the architect Germán del... Read More
Hotel G: Beijing, China; View | Reserve; If you accept the premise that this is China’s century (and we’re all just living in it) then logically one inescapable conclusion follows: they’re going to need a lot more boutique hotels. This, obviously, is what the Hotel G is for: a new 110-room boutique in the hip-yet-luxurious mode, located... Read More
Hotel Gabbia D'Oro: Verona, Italy; View | Reserve; Verona is a city steeped in history; the architecture spans the ages from Roman times through the Renaissance and beyond, and it’s all perfectly preserved, having survived the 20th century completely intact. Today it’s this rich heritage upon which Verona’s tourism industry trades... Read More
Hotel Gansevoort: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; The latest in a string of contenders for hippest New York neighborhood, the Meatpacking District is home to the city’s hottest restaurants and bars, a number of upscale boutiques and salons, and if you’re up early enough, a bit of genuine old-fashioned meatpacking. Its advantages over... Read More
Hotel Gasthof Rote Wand: Lech am Arlberg, Arlberg, Austria; View | Reserve; Tucked away high in the mountain state of Vorarlberg, Austria’s westernmost state, is the resort village of Lech am Arlberg, which is that most unusual variety of ski town: it’s actually a proper town, founded not during the 20th-century ski boom but by Swiss migrants during the 14th century. And... Read More
Hotel Gault: Montreal, Québec, Canada; View | Reserve; In the historic quarter of Vieux Montréal, behind the 18th-century stone facade of a former carpet factory, you’ll find one of the most modern hotels in North America. Hotel Gault has no time for the French country style of many of its neighbors—the look here is industrial contemporary, with... Read More
Hotel George: Washington, DC, USA; View | Reserve; Washington is a conservative town, at times bordering on stuffiness, and its hotels, largely, are no exception, trying hard to present an air of grown-up diginity. What limited gestures they make in the direction of coolness usually come off faintly embarrassing, like that uncle who still says... Read More
Hotel Giraffe: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; It’s a strange animal in a slightly eccentric location — the Giraffe stands on Park Avenue South at 26th street, north of downtown and south of Midtown, well outside the bounds of the tourist traps and hipster neighborhoods. In this neighborhood you can safely forget about minimalism or Soho-style... Read More
Hotel Goldener Hirsch: Salzburg, Austria; View | Reserve; Hotel Goldener Hirsch has existed in one form or another since 1407, the year of the first mention in the city’s archives of an inn on this spot in Salzburg’s Old Town, just down the road from the birthplace of Mozart. Its present incarnation dates back to 1948, and is today a... Read More
Hotel Grande Bretagne: Athens, Greece; View | Reserve; The Hotel Grande Bretagne is a bit of a departure for a Greek luxury hotel: rather than some sprawling compound out on a rock by the Aegean, this one is a Victorian mansion right in the bustling heart of Athens. Yes, you read that right — the meticulously restored facade is all Victorian, and... Read More
Hotel Gritti Palace: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; Venice is a magic city—the site of many a novel, love affair and Bellini cocktail, with pigeons, Canaletto style watery vistas, and alleyways and bridges that lead nowhere. In many ways, the only proper place to stay in Venice is a palace. And of all the palaces-turned-hotels in Venice, they... Read More
Hotel Guanahani: St Barthelemy, French West Indies, Guadeloupe; View | Reserve; Saint Barthelemy, a pearl nestled in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Its pure white sandy beaches stretch between an emerald sea and an azure coloured sky. A little part of France, colonized by the Brittans in the XVII th century, where a gentle way of life is jealously maintained. The Guanhani's... Read More
Hotel Habita: Mexico City, Mexico; View | Reserve; Mexico City’s Hotel Habita is the very face of urban boutique cool, wrapped in an outer layer of frosted glass, extending the old apartment block’s volume out into space, making corridors of the old balconies, keeping the cool air in and the street noise out. From outside, the silhouettes of the... Read More
Hotel Habita Monterrey: San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, Mexico; View | Reserve; Grupo Habita, already responsible for more than a few of Mexico’s most stylish boutique hotels, is at it again, this time in Monterrey. And while other hotels in town play to Monterrey’s colonial heritage, the Habita MTY, as they’re calling it, opts for contemporary lines and a striking and utterly... Read More
Hotel Hana Maui and Honua Spa: Hana, HI, Maui, USA; View | Reserve; Like more than a few classic Hawaiian resorts, the Hotel Hana-Maui and Honua Spa went through a rough patch at the close of the last century. Those days are past, though — fresh off a ten-million-dollar renovation, the Hotel Hana-Maui is back in fighting form, again a luxurious and exclusive... Read More
Hotel Healdsburg: Healdsburg, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Northern California’s wine country has no shortage of lodgings—seemingly every third house is a bed and breakfast. Hotel Healdsburg, though, is something unique; this full service luxury hotel bucks the faux-rustic trend in favor of sleek modern design... Read More
Hotel Hermitage: Monte Carlo, Monaco; View | Reserve; Anyone hoping for a hip little boutique hotel in Monte Carlo is missing the point, and badly. The only way to do this town properly is to leave your taste for minimalism at home, and check into one of the over-the-top Belle Époque palaces... Read More
Hotel Hesperia Madrid: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; The Hesperia is an oddity in Madrid, a modern-design hotel, standing out like a bit of a sore thumb in a city where 18th-century architecture is prized above all. It may have seemed a risky proposition, but Madrid has warmed to this stylish newcomer, thanks in no small part to an all-star team... Read More
Hotel Holos: Sevilla, Spain; View | Reserve; Architecturally the Spanish are unfazed by the mixing of the new and the old — in Barcelona, for example, works by Calatrava and Gaudí comfortably exist side by side. So it’s only natural that in a historic district like Heliopolis, a sort of concept city built within Sevilla for the 1929... Read More
Hotel Holt: Reykjavik, Iceland; View | Reserve; Hotel Holt is nothing if not unique. This small hotel (30 rooms and 12 suites) is decorated in an unassuming modern style, tasteful almost to a fault, saving guests’ attention for the main attraction: the hotel’s collection of contemporary Icelandic art... Read More
Hotel Home: Florence, Italy; View | Reserve; There’s a lot to look at in Florence, so much that they’ve actually got a name for the city’s particular brand of visual overstimulation: Stendhal Syndrome is the feeling of dizziness and confusion brought on by exposure to too much classic art, too much Renaissance architecture, and too many... Read More
Hotel im Wasserturm: Cologne, Germany; View | Reserve; This 11-story brick water tower, the tallest in Europe, must have seemed like an unlikely candidate for the sort of industrial renovation that is sweeping Germany—but punch some holes in the sides for windows, drop a restaurant on the roof, and you've got yourself a striking and stylish... Read More
Hotel Imperial: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; The Imperial opened in 1873 and from that day forward has been the hotel of choice in Vienna for visiting dignitaries—it’s the official lodging for guests of the Austrian government. And in a city with as rich a musical history as Vienna’s, it’s no surprise that the... Read More
Hotel Jerome: Aspen, CO, USA; View | Reserve; "Renowned for its tradition of elegance, hospitality, and unobtrusive pampering, the Hotel Jerome is a registered national landmark in the heart of this sophisticated resort. Victorian antiques and beautifully restored neo-Gothic design recall the hotel's place as an Aspen institution from the... Read More
Hotel Josef: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Prague’s light and airy Hotel Josef is the perfect alternative to the heavy atmosphere and gritty authenticity of the city’s historic hotels. The design, courtesy of London architect Eva Jiricná, is as modern as they come, a familiar idea (the whiter-than-white design boutique... Read More
Hotel Juana: Juan Les Pins, Riviera, France; View | Reserve; Though it’s passed through varying degrees of cool, from golden age to slightly passé and back again and again, it’s by now clear that the French Riviera is just one of those timeless destinations. The perennial warm-weather migration back to this stretch of the Mediterranean is due in part to the... Read More
Hotel Jules Cesar: Arles, France; View | Reserve; The Hôtel Jules César is styled, rather incongruously, after a Roman palace — you’d never guess at its provenance as a seventeenth-century Carmelite convent. Interesting enough from a historical perspective, but more so for the fact that today it offers something of a blend of both worlds: a... Read More
Hotel Julien: Antwerp, Belgium; View | Reserve; As a holiday destination, Antwerp is one of Western Europe’s best-kept secrets — home to Europe’s diamond trade, Belgium’s second-largest city also happens to be its style capital, playing the fashionable foil to serious old Brussels and serving as the proving ground for a... Read More
Hotel Kabuki: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Previously a slightly faded chain hotel, the Kabuki now belongs to San Francisco’s homegrown Joie de Vivre boutique hotel group. And under their direction it’s looking to recapture a bit of the optimistic jet-set romance that must have accompanied the opening of this modernist concrete high-rise... Read More
Hotel Kamp: Helsinki, Finland; View | Reserve; Helsinki’s finest hotel opened in 1887, and was the sort of place where well-heeled Finns like Sibelius could be spotted mixing with Europe’s aristocracy. A thorough reconstruction and new management by the Starwood group find the Hotel Kämp in fighting form, restored to its Belle... Read More
Hotel Katikies: Santorini, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Katikies does not accommodate children under 13 years of age... Read More
Hotel Keppler: Paris, France; View | Reserve; In Paris we’re always on the lookout for something that shows a little restraint, whether that means understated style, unimposing atmosphere, or reasonably affordable rates. It’s rare to find all three at once, but that’s more or less what the Hôtel Keppler offers: a sensible amount of luxury, a... Read More
Hotel L'Auberge: Punta del Este, Uruguay; View | Reserve; The exclusive Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este caters to the cream of Brazilian and Argentinian high society, most of whom come to stay in ostentatious seaside palaces or big-money casino hotels. French-style farmhouse hotels, on the other hand, are quite understandably few and far between, and... Read More
Hotel La Bobadilla: Loja, Granada, Spain; View | Reserve; An hour west of Granada, in the olive-strewn hills of Andalusia, the Hotel La Bobadilla sprawls over a thousand-acre estate in the manner of a Moorish village, all whitewashed buildings, winding paths and courtyard after courtyard connected by arched walkways. This is one of the finest hotels in... Read More
Hotel La Colombe d'Or: Saint Paul de Vence, France; View | Reserve; Closed in November and December.Many decades ago this was a likely spot to run into the leading lights of the European art scene; the likes of Picasso, Matisse, Chagall and Braque dined here during time spent in the scenic hilltop village of Saint Paul de Vence. Short on funds, as artists so often... Read More
Hotel La Perouse: Nice, France; View | Reserve; After all these years, there are still a few surprises left on the Côte d’Azur — the famous grand hotels carry on as they always have, but there’s the thrill of occasionally discovering a place like La Pérouse. Cut into a cliffside overlooking the Baie des Anges, this one-time prison is... Read More
Hotel La Posada del Torcal: Malaga, Spain; View | Reserve; High up in the hills an hour outside of Málaga, near the Costa del Sol in Andalusia, is La Posada del Torcal, a classic Spanish farmhouse hotel with views that seem almost too perfect to be true — just about every window in the house frames a spectacular vista over the estate’s eleven acres of... Read More
Hotel le A: Paris, France; View | Reserve; The first thing that’s notable about Hotel le A is the style. Any time a high-design, architecturally modern hotel opens in Paris, it’s news. First because there are still few of them — the Paris hotel scene remains in thrall to a century-old vision of architecture and interior design — and second... Read More
Hotel le Beauvallon: Sainte-Maxime, France; View | Reserve; The Hotel will be closed for all of 2009 as it undergoes a major renovation. It will reopen in early 2010... Read More
Hotel Le Bristol: Paris, France; View | Reserve; The most well-mannered of the Paris grand hotels is the Bristol, named after an English lord and a bishop. It is also by far the most reserved. Rather appropriately, it's where Newland Archer stays in that final, heartbreaking scene in Wharton's Age of Innocence, when he goes to see Madame Olenska... Read More
Hotel Le Germain Montreal: Montreal, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; In Montreal, the boutiques have all but run the big chains out of town — and Hôtel le Germain is the place that started it all. Once a deeply unfashionable Sixties office block, this was the first hotel in town to embrace the sort of high-concept hotel design made famous by Starck and Schrager in... Read More
Hotel Le Germain Toronto: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; View | Reserve; It's about time squeaky-clean Toronto had a style transplant, and it's probably no surprise that this one happens to be a Québecois import. The Germain family's first Ontario outpost adds a dash of style to the theater district, in the form of this scratch-built 11-story red brick building, which... Read More
Hotel le Germain – Dominion (ex-Hotel Dominion 1912): Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; Classic architecture meets modern interior design in this Old Port boutique, perennial contender for the title of Québec City’s finest small hotel. Once the 1912 Dominion Fish & Fruit building, today it’s the Hotel le Germain – Dominion, a warm and inviting home base for exploring the historic... Read More
Hotel Le Meurice: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Nicknamed “The Hotel of Kings”, the Meurice has played host to everyone from Queen Victoria and the Maharajah of Jaipur to the King and Queen of Spain. For more than a hundred years the Meurice has been, for many, the quintessential French hotel. Reflecting its uninterrupted attachment to the... Read More
Hotel Le Saint Paul: Saint Paul de Vence, France; View | Reserve; There's more to the Côte D'Azur than the opulent casino hotels of Monte Carlo and the grand palaces of Cannes — and Le Saint-Paul is a perfect example of the alternative. The walled town of Saint Paul de Vence is just 15 kilometers from Nice airport, midway between Cannes and Monaco, but... Read More
Hotel Lenado: Aspen, CO, USA; View | Reserve; Aspen, as one of the most famous destinations in the Rockies, has more than a few big and glamorous hotels. And for those in the mood for something on a smaller scale, there are some more intimate options, though perhaps none so unexpectedly modern or unconventional as Hotel Lenado... Read More
Hotel Les Trois Rois: Basel, Switzerland; View | Reserve; There’s history, and then there’s history; there are old hotels, and then there are old hotels. Few, though, are quite as old as Les Trois Rois (or the Drei Könige, if you prefer), which has stood by the banks of the Rhine since the year 1026. The building, happily, isn’t quite that old, dating... Read More
Hotel Lisboa Plaza: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; Just off the the Avenida da Liberdade, the main boulevard in Lisbon’s city center, lies the fifty-year-old Hotel Lisboa Plaza, a classic family-owned hotel housed in a listed historic monument, behind a charming Art Nouveau facade. Here you’re within walking distance of the best of... Read More
Hotel Lord Byron: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s readily apparent from the name that the Hotel Lord Byron is nobody’s idea of a stereotypical Roman hotel. And though there’s nothing wrong with Rome’s central grand hotels, there’s something to be said for a smaller and more intimate hotel, just off the Borghese... Read More
Hotel Los Gatos: Los Gatos , CA, USA; View | Reserve; Los Gatos, if you’re not familiar, is a charming little town just outside of San Jose, nestled at the foot of the Santa Cruz mountain range. It’s no Silicon Valley insta-suburb, however — there was a Ferrari dealership on Main Street back when the internet was just a gleam in the Defense... Read More
Hotel Louis C. Jacob: Hamburg, Germany; View | Reserve; On the banks of the Elbe river, to the west of the Hamburg city center, is an old-world throwback to the Hanseatic days: the two-hundred-year-old Hotel Louis C. Jacob. It’s named for a French gardener, and after one look at the meticulous landscaping that surrounds this opulent mansion of a hotel... Read More
Hotel Madero: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Compared to its high-profile neighbor, the Philippe Starck-designed Faena, the Hotel Madero is downright sedate, just a humble business hotel as opposed to a “universe” and a comprehensive lifestyle program. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, and frankly the world would be a better place if... Read More
Hotel Madlein: Tirol, Austria; View | Reserve; Hard to believe, but once upon a time the Alps were considered an eyesore, a terrifying no-man's land populated with dragons, forming an impenetrable barrier between the north of Italy and the rest of the continent. But all that had changed by the time a visiting Norwegian brought his skis to... Read More
Hotel Maria Cristina: San Sebastian, Spain; View | Reserve; We're as fond as anyone is of the small hotel, the quirky hotel, the independently owned, off-the-beaten-path hotel — but there's something to be said for seeing a city from the vantage point of one of its classic grand hotels. San Sebastian's most luxurious hotel is the Maria Cristina, on the... Read More
Hotel Market: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Any doubts about whether Barcelona really is one of the world’s capitals of cool are quickly settled by a look at the boutique hotel scene. And in a city full of funky, well-designed small boutiques, the Hotel Market fits in perfectly... Read More
Hotel Marques de Riscal: Elciego, Basque Country, Spain; View | Reserve; There’s something of an architecture arms race afoot in the Rioja wine country, with new buildings by the likes of Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava now joined by one from the Basque country’s adopted son, Frank Gehry. Originally intended just as a corporate headquarters for the Marquès... Read More
Hotel Martinez: Cannes, France; View | Reserve; The Art Deco king of the Croisette has seen some ups and downs throughout the decades since its 1929 opening; but today, after a thorough renovation, the Hotel Martinez is poised to recapture its place of honor along Cannes’s famed oceanfront promenade... Read More
Hotel Mas de Peint: Arles, France; View | Reserve; Hotel closed from mid-January to mid-March, and from mid-November to mid-December. Restaurant closed Wednesdays and for lunch on Thursdays... Read More
Hotel Max: Seattle, WA, USA; View | Reserve; What used to be the wholly unremarkable downtown Hotel Vance is now making a play for the title of Seattle’s hippest hotel, under a new name: Hotel Max. To that end, it’s had something of a modern-design makeover, and the new look, all brightly colored modern furnishings against dark masculine... Read More
Hotel Maya: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; View | Reserve; Finally, with the arrival of the newly renovated Hotel Maya, the decades-old design boutique wave has touched ground in Kuala Lumpur. In a city that’s clearly no stranger to modern building — the iconic Petronas Towers, for example, stand just blocks away — there’s been a distinctly conservative... Read More
Hotel Mayet: Paris, France; View | Reserve; At this late date the mere fact of a contemporary-style hotel in Paris may not be enough to raise eyebrows. But add to that the fact that Hotel Mayet manages to come in at a starting rate of under €120 per night, and you’ve got yourself a story... Read More
Hotel Metropole: Monte Carlo, Monaco; View | Reserve; Some classic hotels are never quite the same again after a big renovation. The Métropole, however, is perhaps even more a big deal than it already was — when it started to show its age, the famed Parisian designer Jacques Garcia was commissioned for an update, and it turns out that his hyper-luxe... Read More
Hotel Mirador de Dalt Vila: Ibiza, Baleares, Spain; View | Reserve; While Ibiza may be primarily known for its hedonistic nightlife, there’s a lot to recommend it by day — the old town is as picturesque as they come, and the Balearic island setting isn’t exactly hard on the eyes either. Dalt Vila is the old town, the fortified hilltop settlement, and the Hotel... Read More
Hotel Miramar Barcelona: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Score one for historic preservation, as well as one for modern architecture. This Twenties palace sat disused on a Montjuïc hillside for decades, which was a waste, considering its view of the port, and its semi-idyllic city-park location. Now, though, it’s rather exceeded its original potential... Read More
Hotel Misani: St. Moritz - Celerina, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Think of St. Moritz, and Swiss alpine resorts in general, and the word “affordable” might not leap directly to mind. For the most part it’s still very much an upscale destination, but just down the road in Celerina, one town over from St. Moritz proper, there’s a much more attainable option, in the... Read More
Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; These days no respectable fashion empire would be caught dead without a hotel to call its own. Some are exercises in brand-building, while others are a bit more discreet; a guest at the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal could hardly be blamed for missing the Benetton connection, dazzled instead by the... Read More
Hotel Monaco Chicago - a Kimpton Hotel: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; Chicago’s Hotel Monaco may be perfectly located for business travelers, but this hotel’s atmosphere is anything but buttoned-up. Most business hotels aim for inoffensive and land somewhere between bland and charmless—the Monaco, in contrast, heaps on the Art Deco kitsch with a shovel, decorating... Read More
Hotel Monaco Portland - a Kimpton Hotel: Portland, OR, USA; View | Reserve; Yes, the Hotel Monaco in Portland is descended from (or shares a lineage with, or something) the Hotel Monaco in San Francisco. Both are part of the California-based Kimpton group, whose accessible boutique aesthetic is spreading across the United States. With more charm and character than the... Read More
Hotel Monaco Seattle - a Kimpton Hotel: Seattle, WA, USA; View | Reserve; Though located deep in the heart of Seattle’s financial district, Hotel Monaco is anything but the typical drab business accommodation. After all, what corporate chain hotel boasts bright yellow and red striped wallpaper in the guest rooms, animal-print upholstery, and dog coats monogrammed... Read More
Hotel Monaco Washington D.C. - a Kimpton Hotel: Washington, DC, USA; View | Reserve; Behind the deadly serious marble exterior of the 1839 Tariff Building, Washington’s Hotel Monaco brings a dash of style to an otherwise conservative town. Or maybe the town lends gravity to a slightly flashy hotel—some of the Kimpton group’s ventures in other cities verge on... Read More
Hotel Monasterio: Cusco, Peru; View | Reserve; "Now with oxygen enriched rooms" - Hotel Monasterio... Read More
Hotel Montalembert: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Interior designers go ga-ga. Writers and their agents love it for lunch. It's neither Seventh Arrondissement baroque-ornate-stuffy, nor is it one of those faded, low-ceilinged haunts so prevalent in the Latin Quarter. Located just off the Boulevard St Germain, the Montalembert manages to be... Read More
Hotel Nelligan: Montreal, Québec, Canada; View | Reserve; The Hotel Nelligan is named for Émile Nelligan, one of Quebec’s most celebrated poets, and his face and quotations adorn the interiors of the hotel. It’s a detail that stops well short of outright gimmickry, but it contributes to the sense of history that is thick in the halls of... Read More
Hotel Neruda: Prague , Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Hotel Neruda is named for Czech writer and poet Jan Neruda, who was raised in this district, the Malá Strana, and who, by some accounts, lived in this building, a converted foureenth-century convent, just down the hill from Prague Castle. Neruda was an obsessive documentor of this... Read More
Hotel Nikopolis Thessaloniki: Thessaloniki, Greece; View | Reserve; If Puglia is the new Tuscany, then maybe Greek Macedonia is the new Mykonos. Bounded by the Aegean Sea on the northern coast, the region boasts a natural beauty that’s similar to that of the south — but without the crowds and the constantly unloading cruise ships. Due to its relative obscurity... Read More
Hotel Normandy: Deauville, France; View | Reserve; The Côte d’Azur has its devotees, to be sure, but there’s always been a contingent that prefers the coast of Normandy — what it may lack in Mediterranean balm it more than makes up for in proximity to Paris, not to mention London and Brussels. And for close to a century the smart money has been on... Read More
Hotel Oceana Santa Monica: Santa Monica, CA, USA; View | Reserve; There’s a case to be made that the popular image of LA has it all wrong. It’s a vast, sprawling, crowded city, in most places hardly the oasis of mellowness it’s commonly suspected of being. Santa Monica, however, is exactly that oasis of mellowness — it’s got the beach, the pier, the promenade... Read More
Hotel of Modern Art: Guilin, Guangxi, China; View | Reserve; Yes, why not a Hotel of Modern Art. To be more exact, perhaps a hotel of modern sculpture: this resort outside Guilin, in China’s south central Guangxi province, is surrounded by a thousand and a half acres of outdoor sculpture, by a wide-ranging array of international artists. It’s the folly (in... Read More
Hotel Omm: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Sunlight and privacy — these are the twin motivations behind Omm's unique facade, a slab of light stone with rectangular sections peeled back like the pages of a book, revealing the guest room windows underneath. The white slab reflects the strong Catalan sun into the room, while blocking the... Read More
Hotel on Rivington: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Towering above the grimy storefronts and tenement buildings of the Lower East Side, the Hotel on Rivington gambles on an unlikely location and extracts what will be, for a certain subset of travelers to New York, a weighty payoff. This is one of Manhattan’s last wild neighborhoods, and... Read More
Hotel Palafitte: Neuchâtel, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Perfect for those with no taste for the tropics, or anyone who appreciates an inventive and inspiring hotel, Hôtel Palafitte is a South Pacific-style overwater bungalow hotel, located not in the Maldives but on the waters of Switzerland’s Lake Neuchâtel, at the foot of the Jura mountains, with a... Read More
Hotel Plaza Athenee: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Combining Eighteenth-Century elegance and Art Déco cool, this Belle Epoque hotel may be a classic but it is no museum. Even in its youth, in the 1930s, the Plaza Athénée was equal parts classical French style and contemporary hipster hangout — the likes of Josephine Baker and... Read More
Hotel Pont Royal: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Time was, in the early years of the last century, the Pont Royal was a haunt for literary types — this, of course, back when Paris was the destination of choice for writers in any language. Today it’s known for creation of a different sort; not only is it an intimate 75-room luxury boutique hotel... Read More
Hotel Prestige Paseo de Gracia: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Barcelona is a brash, bustling and chaotic city, and this hotel is right in the middle of it all, behind a heavy unmarked silver door on the busy Pesseig de Gracia, the upscale shopper's avenue. From the outside, this 1930s building may not look all that remarkable; but once inside, it's easy to... Read More
Hotel Principe Di Savoia: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; The Principe is the grandaddy of Milan hotels—ostentatious and slightly fraying, with a staff of elderly men who seem to have worked there since the beginning of time. It’s easy to imagine that it’s stayed the same for the last hundred years—crystal chandeliers in the lobby, ornate antique chests... Read More
Hotel Pucic Palace: Dubrovnik, Croatia; View | Reserve; It’s a pleasure to see Croatia in the news for something other than football or political trouble. These days tourism is booming, especially in Dubrovnik — travelers, it seems, are charmed by its sidewalk cafes and historic sights, and are descending on the “jewel of the Adriatic”... Read More
Hotel Pulitzer: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; The more brand-conscious among you may be imagining an American-style business hotel, transplanted to the Netherlands.Well, things are a little bit different in Amsterdam — mainly in terms of the legality of various leisure pursuits, but there are differences in the hotel world as well. In... Read More
Hotel Pulitzer Barcelona: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Hotel Pulitzer Barcelona:The Hotel Pulitzer Barcelona is a boutique luxury hotel in Barcelona, Spain situated on Bergera street which opens on to Plaza Catalunya, the center of Barcelona... Read More
Hotel Pulitzer Roma: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Sister to the smart and stylish Hotel Pulitzer in central Barcelona, the Pulitzer Roma occupies a 20th-century modernist building in the EUR district, the Fascist-era exposition center, now a business park and residential area just south of the city center. And what it lacks in picture-postcard... Read More
Hotel PUR: Quebec City, Canada; View | Reserve; Québec City’s not all castles and ramparts, not by a long shot. Quite a bit of it, as in many other North American cities, is Sixties and Seventies office towers. And say what you will about office towers—certainly they’re not the most picturesque things in the world—but once you’re inside the... Read More
Hotel Quadrifolio: Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; View | Reserve; Named for the four-leaf-clover figure that forms a common motif in Spanish Colonial Colombian architecture, the Quadrifolio is a bit of a time capsule. It’s a renovated colonial manor house on the Calle del Cuartel, in the historic walled old town of Cartagena, the port city where Colombia meets... Read More
Hotel Quinta Das Lagrimas: Coimbra, Portugal; View | Reserve; One of Portugal’s best-kept secrets, the Quinta das Lágrimas is an authentic aristocratic residence on a sprawling garden estate in the inland city of Coimbra, the historic capital of the Kingdom of Portugal. Though steeped in history, it’s not all old-fashioned — beyond that stately golden... Read More
Hotel Quinta do Lago: Algarve, Portugal; View | Reserve; Hotel Quinta do Lago isn’t the sort of place where you check in because you happen to be passing through Southern Portugal—this is a first-class luxury resort, a destination unto itself, attracting the likes of football stars, opera singers and genuine aristocracy from all over the world to the... Read More
Hotel Quintessence: Mont-Tremblant, Canada; View | Reserve; The age of the boutique ski hotel is upon us. While the typical North American mountain resort counts rooms by the hundreds, Quintessence, on the shores of Quebec’s Lake Tremblant, numbers just thirty suites — though surely they had space for more, as each spans at least 700 square feet, they went... Read More
Hotel Raya: Panarea, Italy; View | Reserve; Panarea is the smallest of the inhabited Aeolian islands, just a speck of a place off the coast of Sicily — the perfect location for a quiet, subdued sort of resort, the kind of escape that hardly seems possible in today’s Italy. While the rocky, olive-dotted island’s simple charms have... Read More
Hotel Restaurant Troisgros: Roanne, France; View | Reserve; The culinary tradition of France’s famed Troisgros family is on display here in Roanne, and most guests are in it for the food, frankly. Don’t let that fact obscure the brilliance of this hotel, though; while Michel Troisgros works his magic in the kitchen, Marie-Pierre tends to the aesthetics, and... Read More
Hotel Rex: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Those who aren’t fans of the 1930s detective stories may be unaware that San Francisco is the original hardboiled town. San Francisco crime had class—dames in silk stockings offering you two hundred to knock off tiresome husbands. Well, the Hotel Rex hasn’t forgotten this... Read More
Hotel Ritz: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; The Ritz Madrid boasts a noble heritage; the child, quite literally, of Alfonso XIII, who opened it in 1910. Guests are those with too much good taste to stay elsewhere: Paloma Picasso, Nelson Rockefeller, Barbara Hutton, and the Rainiers, who came here on their honeymoon. Today, rooms look very... Read More
Hotel Rival: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; Widely hailed as Stockholm’s first boutique hotel, the newly rehabilitated Hotel Rival is in the heart of the hip Södermalm district and comes complete with an entertaining pop culture connection in the person of owner Benny Andersson, of ABBA fame. Some say Andersson is the reason the... Read More
Hotel Roemer: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; Hotels in Amsterdam are an odd business. For all the talk about ultra-edgy Dutch design it’s often forgotten that they’ve got quite a lot of protected historic architecture to contend with. The Hotel Roemer, however, expertly manages this fusion of old and new — behind its 18th-century townhouse... Read More
Hotel Rouge: Washington, DC, USA; View | Reserve; On the whole, Washington's buttoned-up image is well deserved — among the many areas of life with which Washingtonians are concerned, style does not always rank highly. And the hotels, like the people, tend to be dignified, serious, even elegant, but just not very hip. Hotel Rouge, though, is one... Read More
Hotel Royal Riviera: St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France; View | Reserve; For decades, the French Riviera was unchallenged as the center of all that was glamorous on the Mediterranean, from the Roaring Twenties through the Swinging Sixties—but at some point, the gilt-edged opulence and wedding-cake splendor started looking dated, and the beautiful people moved on... Read More
Hotel Sacher Salzburg: Salzburg, Austria; View | Reserve; The Hotel Sacher Salzburg was born the Hotel D'Autriche in 1866, and remains to this day one of Salzburg's grandest hotels, occupying a privileged position along the banks of the Salzach river. And even today it's better known under another name — the Österreichischer Hof, or, mercifully, the ÖH... Read More
Hotel Sacher Wien: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; Don’t let the masses of tourists at the Sacher Café put you off. The Sacher torte (an unbelievably sinful chocolate cake) is at once the hotel’s claim to fame and, for its ability to draw a crowd, its greatest disadvantage. But everything else about the Hotel Sacher is charming and exclusive... Read More
Hotel Saint Cecilia: Austin, TX, USA; View | Reserve; For a while now Austin has been one of the United States’ best-kept secrets: a little enclave of progressive thought, high-tech savvy, and hipster culture, cleverly hidden in Texas, which is not the first place you’d look — and it’s disguised as the state capital, no less. But until recently its... Read More
Hotel San Anselmo: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; A little off the beaten path, in a residential neighborhood on the Aventine Hill, the Hotel San Anselmo is ideal for that most paradoxical of escapes: the big-city hideaway. Whether it’s a lovers’ weekend or just some time alone, it’s an undeniable fact that some of us would rather disappear to the... Read More
Hotel San Giorgio: Portofino, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s seemingly impossible to travel twenty miles in any direction within Italy without passing through one picturesque destination or another. Even against this backdrop, though, the seaside village of Portofino stands out; it’s one of the most spectacular places on the Mediterranean, and its rocky... Read More
Hotel San Jose: Austin, TX, USA; View | Reserve; A half-mile south of downtown, in Austin’s authentically funky South Congress neighborhood, the San Jose perfectly fits its location: it’s unpretentiously stylish, relaxed and comfortable, and surprisingly easy on the budget, cheaper even than the big chains downtown... Read More
Hotel San Roque: Garachico - Isla Baja, Tenerife, Spain; View | Reserve; Geographically speaking, a holiday in the Canary Islands is already pretty much by definition an exercise in getting away from it all. But you’ve got to choose wisely — there are parts of Tenerife that are so thoughtlessly overdeveloped as to leave you wondering why you bothered at all. Luckily... Read More
Hotel Santa Caterina: Amalfi, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s the rare traditional-style hotel that really gets us going, but the Santa Caterina is an absolute classic. Family-owned for the better part of a century, it sits high on a hillside facing the sea and the town of Amalfi — guests ride an elevator down to the hotel’s private beach, for the... Read More
Hotel Santa Teresa: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; Here’s an entirely new take on the familiar city of Rio de Janeiro. The gentrifying, bohemian Santa Teresa district is an exception among Rio’s most desirable neighborhoods, in that it’s high up on the hillside rather than down along the beach. This is a district full of colonial mansions and... Read More
Hotel Savoy: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; From the look of the Savoy’s facade, facing onto central Florence’s Piazza della Repubblica, one would perhaps expect the sort of arch and historic grand hotel that hasn’t seen so much as a new set of draperies since it opened in 1893. Perhaps a few years ago this impression would have been... Read More
Hotel Savoy Prague: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Just down the road from Prague Castle, behind a soft and quiet yellow Jugendstil facade, is one of the city’s finest hotels, the Savoy. Adjacent to the Foreign Ministry, the Savoy has become a favorite for visiting officials, and anyone in the market for an elegant yet understated experience... Read More
Hotel Sax Chicago: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; For fans of old-fashioned luxury hotels, Chicago offers no end of options; many of the city’s hotels feel like throwbacks to Chicago’s glory days as the business-and-industry capital of the Middle West. For the rest of us, however, Hotel Sax Chicago is a bit of a welcome departure, with soft, light... Read More
Hotel Seerose Classic & Elements: Meisterschwanden, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Behind the unconventional is a hotel with something of a split personality. Here just outside the village of Meisterschwanden, alongside Lake Hallwil in north central Switzerland, is what’s really two hotels in one: Seerose Elements, a high-design contemporary-style boutique hotel, and Seerose... Read More
Hotel Sezz: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Some cities are filled to the brim with chic and hyper-modern designer hotels, but Paris could always use another one. As such, Hotel Sezz is a welcome addition to the landscape, the perfect antidote to the prevailing antique hotel trend. Here, in the 16th arrondissement (hence the name), Starck... Read More
Hotel Signum: Malfa Salina, Sicily, Italy; View | Reserve; Scientists look at Sicily and see volcanic landforms, geothermal sites and ongoing geologic land-creation, the building of the earth itself. For anyone seeking to indulge their inner volcanologist, there’s not much left to say. But for the rest of us there’s the Hotel Signum. A marriage between... Read More
Hotel Silken Puerta America: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Sure, it’s a Metro ride away from the sights of central Madrid, the Royal Palace, the opera house, the museums; but for the sort of travelers who’ll stay here, the Hotel Puerta America is a sight unto itself. It’s practically a museum of modern architecture and design, from John Pawson’s lobby and... Read More
Hotel Skt Petri: Copenhagen, Denmark; View | Reserve; In downtown Copenhagen's Latin quarter, just off the Strøget (the famed shoppers' walk), is the Hotel Skt. Petri. The very large building was previously home to the Daells Varehus department store, and the hotel's exterior retains the quaint, retro-futuristic look of the 75-year-old building.The... Read More
Hotel Solamar - a Kimpton Hotel: San Diego, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Located in the booming Gaslamp quarter, and just a block from the new baseball stadium that’s driving this city-center renaissance, Hotel Solamar is the first San Diego venture for the San Francisco-based Kimpton group — a group that’s busy exporting its funky yet accessible aesthetic all over the... Read More
Hotel Spadari al Duomo: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; You might surmise from the name that the Spadari is just steps away from the Duomo cathedral, and you'd be right. But close proximity to tourist attractions isn't what keeps the Spadari's style-conscious clientele coming back again and again—designers and editors set up shop here during the... Read More
Hotel Splendido: Portofino, Riviera, Italy; View | Reserve; In order to understand the Splendido, you have to understand the chic scene that is the seaside town of Portofino, where most visitors arrive in their own yachts. The roads were actually restructured to keep out the commoners arriving in their cars. The Duke of Windsor was the first person to sign... Read More
Hotel Square: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Paris, a city of historical architecture, has very few hotels that make an unequivocally modern design statement. Hôtel Square is one of them. The hotel is located in the 16th arrondissement, close to the Eiffel Tower, but also right in the midst of the media district, just opposite the Maison de... Read More
Hotel St. Augustine: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; In Miami’s bid to maintain its reputation as America’s sexiest destination, South Beach is its red carpet. With hotels, bars and clubs like glittering starlets flashing canned smiles to the cameras, SoBe’s exhibitionistic brand of luxury sometimes borders on sensory overload. So while its hot-list... Read More
Hotel St. Paul: Montreal, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; The landmark Beaux-Arts exterior of the ten-story St. Paul Hotel, in the heart of the historic district of Vieux Montréal, is utterly at odds with what’s inside—an utterly modern and minimalist hotel, something light and ethereal, straight from the pages of a design magazine... Read More
Hotel Straf: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; The Straf is one of the new breed of high-design hotels to have recently opened in downtown Milan. The city that this hotel inhabits is less the dingy industrial center of decades past, and more the new Milan, the center of all things stylish in Italy. In this case, the architect, Vincenzo de... Read More
Hotel Teatro: Denver, CO, USA; View | Reserve; This refurbished 1911 landmark bills itself as Denver’s only luxury boutique, and it certainly has a strong claim to that title. Smallish and reservedly stylish, it’s all intimate elegance, its 111 guest rooms fashioned from Indonesian sandstone and marble and outfitted with luxurious earth-toned... Read More
Hotel Therese: Paris, France; View | Reserve; It would be difficult to imagine a location for a hotel that would be closer to the center of it all than the Hotel Thérèse. Just a stone's throw away from the Louvre, the Palais Royal, and the Comédie Française, this hotel could hardly be in a better location for shopping or sightseeing. The... Read More
Hotel Therme - Vals: Vals, Graubünden; View | Reserve; Not available online; for reservations please contact Customer Service... Read More
Hotel Tres: Palma de Mallorca, Spain; View | Reserve; One of Palma de Mallorca’s most stylish hotels brings to this Spanish Gothic town an infusion of bright Scandinavian modernism. This Swedish-owned boutique spans the centuries, a sixteenth-century mansion and a Sixties apartment block joined together, the interiors renovated and redecorated... Read More
Hotel Tresanton: St. Mawes, Cornwall, UK; View | Reserve; In the postwar years the Tresanton was one of Britain’s favorite seaside hotels, before falling on hard times from the Seventies on. Lately it’s again become one of Cornwall’s hottest spots, rescued from the ravages of time by Olga Polizzi, perhaps best known as the keen decorator... Read More
Hotel Twentyseven: Copenhagen, Denmark; View | Reserve; For all Denmark’s design prowess, it’s not always the easiest thing to find a hotel that makes the most of this heritage — the high end particularly is crowded with hotels that are very much stuck in the 19th century. Not so with the Hotel Twentyseven; this place is not just Danish Modernist but... Read More
Hotel Una: Brighton, East Sussex, UK; View | Reserve; Kitsch still runs rampant in Brighton, as an ironic nod to this seaside town’s progressive loss of status, as first rail and then air travel made more exotic destinations suddenly accessible. You’ll find none of this irony on display at the Hotel Una, however; this place dispenses with the... Read More
Hotel Unique: Sao Paulo, Brazil; View | Reserve; We are going to try to resist commenting on Hotel Unique's name, as it should be obvious enough from the photos that it is an appropriate one. The design is inescapable — the structure is by Niemeyer protegé Ruy Ohtake (himself one of Brazil's most famous architects) and takes the form of a... Read More
Hotel Urban: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Madrid may be the more conservative of Spain’s big cities, but there’s plenty of modern design, made all the more striking by the contrast with the city’s prevailing classic architecture, much of it dating to the 18th century and earlier. In the center of Habsburg Madrid, near the Puerta del Sol... Read More
Hotel Valencia Riverwalk: San Antonio, TX, USA; View | Reserve; As American cities go, San Antonio is not exactly on the cutting edge of fashion. But visiting the “Fiesta City” doesn’t have to mean resigning yourself to a forgettable stay at one of the big chains. The Hotel Valencia Riverwalk towers over El Paseo del Rio, the famed riverside promenade, and is... Read More
Hotel Valencia Santana Row: San Jose, CA, USA; View | Reserve; For all the cash flowing in and out of Silicon Valley, San Jose Northern California’s overlooked city, less cultured and picturesque than San Francisco and lacking even Sacramento’s dubious status as state capital. Visitors would have found plenty of chain hotels, motor inns and little... Read More
Hotel Valley Ho: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; View | Reserve; Tokyo has its skyscraper-hotels, London has its converted Georgian townhouses, Germany its art hotels. If there’s such a thing as a uniquely American hotel concept, it’s probably the boutique motel — a prime example being the Hotel Valley Ho, in Scottsdale, the upscale and somewhat historic Phoenix... Read More
Hotel Verhaegen: Ghent, Flanders, Belgium; View | Reserve; Not a hotel in the way we typically use the word, the Verhaegen slides in on the Francophone exemption. In English we’d call it a bed and breakfast, or maybe a guest house — whatever you want to call it, it’s a carefully preserved 18th-century mansion located just off the old port, two streets away... Read More
Hotel Victor: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; It’s not easy making a splash in South Beach’s sea of would-be chic hotels. At every turn a gaggle of trend-chasing properties are vying for to be at once impossibly cool, deeply conceptual, and plush enough to attract pampered celebrities. Hotel Victor takes a risk with its Ocean Drive location... Read More
Hotel Villa Cipriani: Asolo, Italy; View | Reserve; Venice is of course a wonderful place, but it can be a bit much; beautiful, delicate, and crumbling, it is besieged by tourists year-round. So why not stay where the Venetians themselves have historically gone to get away from it all... Read More
Hotel Villa del Quar: Verona, Italy; View | Reserve; Though not as heavily traveled as some of Italy’s neighboring regions, the Veneto has more than its share of charms. Verona is a major one, a small and picturesque city rich with history; another lesser-known one is the Villa del Quar, a 16th- and 18th-century villa on an estate just a few minutes... Read More
Hotel Villa Fiesole: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Hotel Villa Fiesole is far more than one has any right to expect from a hotel. Fiesole is a small town in the gorgeous wooded hills above Florence, and the Villa itself is a converted private residence, an elegant, luxurious hotel, peaceful and idyllic, yet with a view of the city. Add to this the... Read More
Hotel Villa Real: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Madrid’s Hotel Villa Real may be a bit more traditional in style than its sister, Barcelona’s Claris—but that’s to be expected, given the stylistic differences between the two cities. The Villa Real may not be an ultra-modern design showcase, but for conservative Madrid, it’s downright striking... Read More
Hotel Villa San Michele: Fiesole, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Heat, cathedrals, and German tourists clicking cameras at the Venus de Milo — Florence in the summer has a way of wearing you down. Desperate? Well, a way out exists, a fifteen-minute drive outside of the city's throbbing heart. Welcome to the Villa San Michele, where tranquility reigns, alongside... Read More
Hotel Villa Soro: San Sebastian, Spain; View | Reserve; San Sebastián is not quite at the top of the list for Spanish destinations, but it’s hard to say why. Perhaps it’s that those few tourists who venture north find themselves at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, but everyone, it seems, is missing out on a perfectly shaped bay and some extraordinary cooking... Read More
Hotel Vincci Maritimo: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; The Vincci hotels are a chain seemingly intent on injecting a sleek, no-nonsense modernity to the multifarious Spanish hotel scene, a scene that ranges from dusky and traditional old palaces to Guggenheim-inspired flights of postmodern fancy. Against these extremes, the Vincci Maritimo seems a... Read More
Hotel Vitale: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; One of the only brand-new ground-up hotel projects to open in San Francisco this decade, the Vitale stands on the newly revitalized Embarcadero, right across from the foodie mecca that is the rehabilitated Ferry Building. This is new-school luxury hospitality, distinct from the stately palaces of... Read More
Hotel Vondel: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; Other Amsterdam boutique hotels get more attention, but the quietly stylish Vondel has become one of the city’s most desirable lodgings. And it’s easy to see why: a charming townhouse setting, located just off the nightlife-centric Leidseplein and close to the Museumplein and the shops on PC... Read More
Hotel Zaza: Dallas, TX, USA; View | Reserve; Just because you’re going to Dallas doesn’t mean you have to stay at one of the big chain hotels. Hotel ZaZa is, if you can believe it, a bit of the south of France, transplanted to the south-central United States. It’s a conceit that seems difficult to carry off, but in this case it certainly... Read More
Hotel Zaza Houston: Houston, TX, USA; View | Reserve; In Texas everything really is a little bit bigger, a little bit bolder. And the boutique hotels are no exception. Downtown Houston’s Hotel ZaZa, the second from the Dallas-based group, puts decadence first, and you won’t confuse it for a business chain anytime soon... Read More
Hotelito Desconocido: Cruz de Loreto-Tomatlan, Jalisco, Mexico; View | Reserve; Note: Hotelito Desconocido is closed for renewal until January 2010... Read More
Hudson Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; The Hudson Hotel is hip — yet, some say, haunted. It is a recent addition to a string of high-concept, affordable hotels; first it was chic motels, and now the Hudson has taken over the 1928 YWCA. Located west on 58th Street, across from Central Park, it's just avenue blocks away from Morgan... Read More
Huka Lodge: Taupo, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Huka Lodge is a fisherman's paradise, founded in 1930 on seventeen acres of land alongside the Waikato river, three hundred meters upstream from Huka Falls. The Waikato, along with some 40 other nearby rivers, attract anglers from all over the globe, and nearby Lake Taupo is filled to the brim with... Read More
Huvafen Fushi: Male, Maldives; View | Reserve; Just the fact that the Maldives exist is extraordinary in itself. Were the waters of the Indian Ocean just a few feet higher, there’d be virtually nothing here. As it is, though, these islands seem tailor-made for tourism — each one a picture-perfect island idyll, a soft sand beach ringing an... Read More
Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort & Spa: Gora, Hakone, Japan; View | Reserve; Travelers to (and within) Japan know the Hyatt name means something special here. There’s the famous Park Hyatt in Tokyo, of course, and a number of fine Grand Hyatts all around the country. Located in Gora, a hot spring town at the foot of Mount Fuji, an hour and a half to the west of Tokyo, the... Read More
Hyatt Regency Johannesburg: Johannesburg, South Africa; View | Reserve; While foreign visitors know all about South Africa’s colonial-era charms, its mansion-style boutiques and classic old grand hotels, fewer seem to be aware of Johannesburg’s modern side — this is the de facto capital of sub-saharan Africa, and a global style center in its own right. So it should... Read More
Hyatt Regency Kyoto: Kyoto, Japan; View | Reserve; Here’s a hotel that forces you to dispense with a couple of easy generalizations. The first is the idea that the big chains guarantee a dull experience — not a bad rule of thumb but one with many, many exceptions. And the second is the idea that in Japan, Tokyo is the center of all that’s modern... Read More
Ibiza Gran Hotel: Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain; View | Reserve; For a long time in Ibiza the hotel situation lagged some way behind the legendary nightlife. We’ve seen the odd boutique here and there making an effort to remedy the situation, but nothing on the scale of the Ibiza Gran Hotel. One look at the place and you can see it doesn’t suffer from any lack... Read More
Il Falconiere Relais e Ristorante: Cortona, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Italy has its fair share of dazzling palace hotels, but there’s much joy to be had in the simpler pleasures of this rustic country villa. Once home to the 18th-century poet Antonio Guadagnoli, this tiny estate and its 400-year-old buildings were painstakingly restored by owners Silvia and Riccardo... Read More
Il Palazzo at the Bauer: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; Of the two hotels on this Venice block, one might expect that we would prefer the Fifties-style Hotel Bauer; the city does suffer from a bit of antique overkill, and to be fair, the Bauer is a nice change of pace. But the real gem is the Bauer Il Palazzo—which is, as you may guess from the... Read More
Il Pellicano: Porto Ercole, Italy; View | Reserve; In a way, Il Pellicano’s location is notable for its lack of attractions. Most of Italy has been done to death, with a villa on every outcropping, an artistic treasure in every town, and every café beset by tourists in shorts begging for a cup of drip coffee. It’s the price a region pays, one... Read More
Il San Pietro di Positano: Positano, Italy; View | Reserve; Even by Italian standards, Positano is naturally breathtaking: its colorful houses and churches cling desperately to the mountainside, with postcard-perfect views of the sea coming seemingly a dime a dozen. Perhaps a bit more than a dime, actually; it’s possible (if unlikely) that there are... Read More
Ilha de Toque Toque: Sao Sebastiao, Brazil; View | Reserve; We may go to São Paulo for a taste of Brazil but when the Paulistanos are in the mood to escape, some head east: to São Sebastião, a coastal enclave some two and a half hours away. It’s not a resort town, per se, nor is it the “humble fishing village” of Brazilian-tourism cliché — it’s a town whose... Read More
Indigo Patagonia: Puerto Natales, Chile; View | Reserve; Time was, travelers to Patagonia were faced with a pretty stark choice: rough it in a tent or a hostel, or splash out five-star–style at Explora. But it seems the market has found a third way, as markets will: Puerto Natales, increasingly, is home to more than a few sub-luxury, supra-hostel... Read More
Indigo Pearl: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; It’s a boutique hotel forged from the remnants of a century-old tin mine — and thanks to the efforts of the interior designer Bill Bensley, the look is akin to industrial cool. As luxury-spa-villa fatigue begins to set in, a new take on the old familiar Phuket is more than welcome... Read More
Inis Meain Restaurant & Suites: Co Galway, Ireland; View | Reserve; It’s not the first place you’d look for a hotel like this. Which, one imagines, is pretty much the point of the place. Inis Meáin is just a speck of a place, a tiny island in Galway Bay on the Atlantic side of Ireland, home to just 200 people. But two of those 200 are your hosts, a chef and his... Read More
Inkaterra La Casona: Cusco, South America, Peru; View | Reserve; The Peruvian Andes may seem at first glance to be more a backpacker’s sort of adventure, but La Casona is an option for those who want to start the Inca Trail in high luxury style. This rehabilitated Spanish colonial manor at the heart of the old town of Cusco has joined the Inkaterra family of... Read More
Inkaterra Machu Picchu: Machu Picchu, Peru; View | Reserve; It’s not the closest hotel to the ruins at Machu Picchu, but Inkaterra boasts a location that’s special in another way: this 85-room eco-lodge is surrounded by twelve acres of high-mountain forest filled with all kinds of flora and fauna, wild birds and exotic orchids. It’s at the edge of the town... Read More
Inn at Irving Place: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Not available online at this time; for reservations please contact Customer Service.Quite the opposite of what the New York hotel world has become, the Inn at Irving Place is like a snapshot of an entirely different era—a pair of 1834 townhouses without so much as a sign to mark its presence, it’s... Read More
Inn at Palmetto Bluff: Bluffton, SC, USA; View | Reserve; The Inn at Palmetto Bluff may be the first East Coast hotel from the California-based Auberge Resorts, but it would take a keen eye indeed to notice any Napa Valley influence here — this place, though brand new, is absolutely authentic, its fifty clapboard cottages built in the local Low Country... Read More
Inn at the Market: Seattle, WA, USA; View | Reserve; The Market, in this case, is Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, best known as the place where all that fish-tossing goes on. This inn is quite literally on the market, in the heart of Seattle’s most picturesque tourist area, and some rooms look over the market or the city, while others... Read More
Inn at the Spanish Steps: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; The Inn at the Spanish Steps is old-world Rome at its finest — this seventeenth-century guest house is right alongside the famed Caffé Greco, on Via dei Condotti, the famed shoppers' avenue, home to every boutique from Bulgari to Ferragamo. This is one of Rome's most famous districts... Read More
Inn of the Spanish Garden: Santa Barbara, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Santa Barbara, though only 95 miles from Los Angeles, is the aesthetic opposite of the prevailing image of Southern California; L.A. might be all chaotic sprawl and strip malls, but development in Santa Barbara is tightly controlled. The result is that, while few buildings survive from before the... Read More
InterContinental Boston: Boston, MA, USA; View | Reserve; A prime waterfront location in the Financial District is the only natural site for the InterContinental group’s grand entry into Boston, given the demographics of its likely audience — the fact that it’s pretty much the exact site of no less historic an occurrence than the Boston Tea Party is just... Read More
International House: New Orleans, LA, USA; View | Reserve; It is time to go back to New Orleans: if not for the Mardi Gras shops selling Comme des Garcons, and fusion cuisine replacing the beignet. International House hotel still manages to fuse old and new successfully — it is modern without being obnoxious, stylish without being frigid. It is, in fact... Read More
Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong: Central, Hong Kong; View | Reserve; Quite possibly the apex of the Far East school of high-luxury mega-hotels, Hong Kong’s Island Shangri-La is nothing if not large. A futuristic skyscraper rising some 56 floors above Victoria Harbour, its 16-story glass-topped atrium contains the world’s largest landscape painting, an... Read More
ITC Sonar: Kolkata, West Bengal, India; View | Reserve; If there’s one thing India does well it’s massive, lavish, and extremely well-equipped business hotels — unfortunately for the more design-sensitive among us, they tend to be extremely conservative in style. Not so, however, the ITC Sonar, on the outskirts of town near the Science City. This is a...