Tablet Hotels Collection

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

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
137 Pillars House: Chiang Mai, Thailand; View | Reserve; Thai boutique hotels tend to stick to a couple of themes; think beach villas in the coastal regions, or ultramodern design in Bangkok. More suited to the old northern capital of Chiang Mai, however, is 137 Pillars House, a luxury boutique that’s more elegant than funky, more traditional than outr... Read More
1864 The Sea Captain's House: Santorini, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: 1864 The Sea Captain's House is open seasonally, March through mid-December... Read More
21c Museum Hotel: Louisville, KY, USA; View | Reserve; Check out our coverage of 21c on Tablet Talk : 'Hey, Slugger... Read More
25hours Hotel tailored by Levi's: Frankfurt, Hesse, 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
25hours Hotel Wien: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; For many centuries, Vienna’s had a reputation as a creative center, and one entirely deserved. There is, however, some issue as to the volume of respect that’s paid to figures, styles and movements of the past. Which is why the mere existence of a hotel like 25hours is a welcome relief. Say what... Read More
45 Park Lane: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; London is a lot of things to a lot of people, and it’s got a diversity of hotels to match. Mayfair in particular is, among other things, one of the hedge-fund capitals of the world. Put frankly, there’s quite a lot of money discreetly hidden discreetly away behind this neighborhood’s doors. And in... 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; Time was, a hotel’s life span was measured out in fractions of a century; now just staying around for the better part of a decade is a genuine achievement. Having opened towards the end of the early wave of downtown Manhattan boutique hotels, 60 Thompson, a few years in, can now rightly be called... 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 — behind its classic... 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
Abalone House Boutique Guesthouse: Paternoster, South Africa; View | Reserve; South Africa’s urban centers are quite cosmopolitan, but get a bit out of town and it’s almost shocking how quickly you find yourself deep in the middle of nowhere. Here, in the Western Cape, a little over two hours from Cape Town, is the sleepy little village of Paternoster, which in turn is home... Read More
AC Baqueira Hotel & Spa: Baqueira, Naut Aran, Spain; View | Reserve; AC Baqueira Hotel & Spa has a 5 night minimum stay requirement during high season... Read More
AC Barcelona Forum: 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. AC Barcelona... 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 Spanish... Read More
AC Ciudad de Tudela: Tudela, Navarra, Spain; View | Reserve; An 18th-century ancestral house converted to an intimate boutique hotel, the AC Ciudad de Tudela boasts a brand of elegance can certainly be called contemporary — with the caveat that most hotels would seem positively futuristic surrounded by the Gothic architecture of Tudela’s gorgeous palaces and... Read More
AC Cordoba Palacio: Cordoba, Spain; View | Reserve; This is certainly a contrast for Córdoba. Right at the edge of the historic old town, where the Moorish influence gives way to something a bit more contemporary (or at least a bit more 20th-century), the AC Córdoba Palacio is as modern as can be. Behind a weathered copper skin, this 162-room luxury... 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, Andalusia, 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 old-fashioned bent... 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 deceptively... 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; The Ace Hotel group is not content merely to deeply undercut Seattle boutique-hotel prices, or to massively multiply the cool quotient of the Portland budget-hotel market. Now they’re moving beyond the Northwest, straight to what seems like a fairly unlikely locale: the California high desert of... Read More
Ace Hotel New York: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; After some years making a name for itself on the West Coast, the Ace brand arrives in the East, with a New York outpost on Broadway at 29th Street. And, as you’d expect, this one is a little bit different from other New York hotels. Start with the location: while you’re in the middle of Manhattan... Read More
Ace Hotel Portland: Portland, OR, USA; View | Reserve; The 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 the... Read More
Ada Hotel: Turkbuku, Bodrum Peninsula, Turkey; View | Reserve; Please note that Ada Hotel will open on May 1st for the 2012 season... Read More
Adara Hotel: Whistler, British Columbia, 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
Aditya: Galle, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; There are places whose appeal waxes and wanes with the trend-chasing crowds — and then there’s the southwest coast of Sri Lanka. The boom in Sri Lankan hospitality doesn’t seem to have much to do with the changing fashions, and one imagines a place like Aditya, though recently opened, is in it for... Read More
Adrere Amellal Resort: Siwa, Egypt; View | Reserve; When considering a trip to Adrere Amellal, at the foot of the White Mountain in Egypt’s Siwa Oasis, travellers need to ask themselves some searching questions. For example, do you expect your hotel to be made out of bricks and mortar? Does living without 24-hour room service bring you out in a... Read More
Aenea Designhotel: Reifnitz, Carinthia, Austria; View | Reserve; Please note: Aenea Designhotel is open for the Summer 2011 season from May 20th - September 15th... 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
Aigialos: Santorini, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Aigialos is open seasonally, May through October... 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
Albabenshal: Siwa, Egypt; View | Reserve; Built alongside a crumbling 13th-century citadel that once protected the remote Egyptian oasis town of Siwa from invaders, Albabenshal Heritage Lodge is at the vanguard of the boutique eco-lodge boom that is currently turning this largely unspoiled region into a hotspot for green travel. Potential... 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
Aldebaran Hotel & Spa: San Carlos de Bariloche, 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 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, Hua-Hin: 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
Aleenta Resort & Spa, Phuket: 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
Algodon Mansion: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; For all the recent commotion in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, where every week seemingly marks the opening of another desperately hip little boutique hotel, it would be easy to forget that it’s not the city’s only neighborhood. A little to the east lies Recoleta, a long-established... Read More
Algodon Wine Estates: Mendoza, Argentina; View | Reserve; Algodon Wine Estates, in the Argentinean province of Mendoza, brings together two of the favorite pastimes of civilized gentlemen (and ladies): fine wine and golf. Those with a predilection for spending half a day swinging clubs and putting on the green, and the other half swirling and sipping... Read More
Alila Bangalore: Bangalore, India; View | Reserve; It’s not that India is facing any shortage of domestic hotel operators. It’s just that the prospect of getting Alila’s take on a new location is more or less irresistible. In their Asia-Pacific boutique hotels they’re the masters of a certain sophisticated, worldly luxury, and as it turns out, the... Read More
Alila Diwa Goa: Salcette, India; View | Reserve; Alila, the Southeast Asian boutique-hospitality powerhouse, is expanding to the west, and they’ve alighted on Indian shores — the west-coast state of Goa, to be exact. There will be some of you who need little more encouragement than just the name, and it’s not hard to see why — the place looks... 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: Manggis, Bali, 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 indigenous... Read More
Alila Sothea: Siem Reap, Cambodia; View | Reserve; Alila’s villa hotels, no matter the country, present a unified concept: small-scale luxury, up to international standards yet painstakingly localized. That last bit is important when you’re talking about a destination like Siem Reap, a place where the city’s cultural inheritance is practically as... 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
Alila Villas Soori: Kelating, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Anyone who’s familiar with the luxury travel scene in Southeast Asia knows what Alila brings to the table: the ethos and soul of the mythic East blended with the architectural elegance of modern Asia. With the opening of their fourth Bali resort, the Villas Soori, the Alila experience is now... Read More
Alila Villas Uluwatu: Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; When it comes to successful and stylish high-end resorts across Asia and the far East there are a few different names we could mention. Ask around, though, and you’ll find consistent high marks awarded to the Alila group. They’re not the most decadent resorts in the world, but their sophisticated... Read More
AlmaPamplona - Muga de Beloso: Pamplona , Spain; View | Reserve; Just about any place on earth could be described with some variation on “land of contrasts.” But it’s actually a pretty fair description of Spain, in at least one important way. It’s hard to think of another country that has held on to so much of what’s traditional, while at the same time fervently... Read More
AlmaSevilla - Hotel Palacio de Villapanes: Seville, Andalucia, Spain; View | Reserve; Hospitality is a tough game, but when you start with a building as stunning as this one, it’s a bit like being born on second base. The AlmaHotels group managed to acquire an 18th-century mansion in Seville’s Santa Cruz district, and with a few bold design strokes they’ve turned it into the Palacio... 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
Alpaga: Megève, Rhône-Alpes, France; View | Reserve; It’s not exactly the skiing that draws holidaymakers in their hundreds of thousands to the French Alps. Or, at least, it’s not just the skiing. Fast lifts and steep slopes are hardly exclusive to Megève, and a faultless modern-rustic ski lodge like Alpaga would have little trouble packing them in... Read More
Altapura: Val Thorens, France; View | Reserve; Val Thorens makes much of its status as the Alps’ highest ski resort; more practically, it makes much of its status as its largest, at least in terms of terrain. But from our hospitality-centric viewpoint, a French ski town isn’t really on the map until the Sibuets have opened a hotel there... 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
Ames Boston: Boston, MA, USA; View | Reserve; When it comes to hotels Boston is a bit of a puzzle. For whatever reason, there just aren’t as many stylish and innovative options as there ought to be — compare New York, where you’re absolutely spoiled for choice. Here to add one more to the scant supply of well-designed boutique hotels is the... Read More
Amira Hotel: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; Location’s not quite everything, but it’s certainly not unimportant either; and in Istanbul one could do quite a lot worse for a location than this. The Amira Hotel is deep, deep in the Sultanahmet, the historical heart of the city, around back of the Blue Mosque. This is where you expect to find... Read More
Ananda in the Himalayas: Tehri - Garhwal, Uttaranchal, India; View | Reserve; Note: Ananda in the Himalayas welcomes children 15 years of age and older... Read More
Anantara Bophut Resort & Spa: 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 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 Golden Triangle Resort & Spa: 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 Hua Hin Resort & Spa: 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 Lawana Resort and Spa: Koh Samui, Thailand; View | Reserve; It’s not exactly remote; Koh Samui’s Chaweng Beach is a busy place, with plenty of development supporting a thriving tourist trade. So the success of the Anantara Lawana lies in large part in the way it creates an atmosphere of tranquil seclusion, while still offering easy access to all the bustle... 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; Please note that Anassa will be closed for the winter season from November 14, 2011 to March 4, 2012... Read More
Andara Resort & Villas: Kathu, Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; In case you needed it, this is proof positive that Phuket, done right, is still absolutely extraordinary. Andara’s location, on a hillside up above Kamala Beach, on the island’s west coast, immediately places it in a different class — not for nothing is this stretch called the Millionaires’ Mile... Read More
Andaz 5th Avenue: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; At the risk of massively understating the case, we’ll start by saying that some of the big chains are really getting the hang of this whole boutique-hotel thing. The Andaz concept was probably focus-grouped and market-tested for years by the design wonks in the Hyatt black-ops program, but when... Read More
Andaz Liverpool Street London: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Andaz Liverpool Street, 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... Read More
Andaz Wall Street: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; When some big chains venture into boutique-hotel territory, the result is basically the same old chain hotel, with an extra helping of funky plastic furniture. Not so with the Hyatt group’s Andaz sub-brand. The hotels under the Andaz banner are about more than just design; they’re boutique in... Read More
Andaz West Hollywood: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The old “Riot Hyatt” on Sunset, site of countless acts of rock-star debauchery and destruction, is now just about unrecognizable. Mötley Crüe’s loss, however, is your gain — it’s been reborn as the Andaz West Hollywood, the old balconies, venue of many an aerial TV toss, sealed off with full-length... Read More
Anemi Hotel: Folegandros, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Anemi Hotel is open seasonally May through September... 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
Anna Hotel: Munich, Bavaria, Germany; View | Reserve; Neither traditionally beer-hall Bavarian nor modern corporate-headquarters Munich, the Anna Hotel has embraced color along with the brilliance of a correctly placed bit of décor. It’s all very whimsical and, incongruously enough for this serious city, quite lovable... Read More
Apostrophe Hotel: Paris, 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
Aquapetra Resort & Spa: Telese Terme, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Historical beauty meets high-end aquatic wellness. Up in the hills of Campania, on the edge of the sulfur-spring town of Telese Terme, the remnants of a deserted village still stand. The limestone manor house, the one surrounded by olive groves: that’s the reception hall — and these rough-hewn... 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
Aram Yami Hotel: Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; View | Reserve; Much like Salvador, the city it calls home, Aram Yami is an eclectic mix of colonial style and contemporary accents. Surrounded by the vibrant colors of the historic old town, the hotel is a boutique housed in a 19th-century residence, affording views of the Todos os Santos Bay that bring to mind a... 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
Armani Hotel Dubai: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; Be honest: if we told you there was an Armani Hotel, and that it wasn’t in Milan, your next guess would absolutely have to be Dubai, wouldn’t it? Not just anywhere in Dubai either, but in the towering Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building, the pride of the city. To say it’s the... Read More
Armani Hotel Milano: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; Some hotels need to be seen to be properly understood. Other hotel concepts, though, more or less speak for themselves. Simply at the mention of the Armani Hotel Milan one knows what one’s going to get: a bold and tasteful elegance, a certain richness in texture and materials, and of course an... 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
Asaba: Izu City, Shizuoka, Japan; View | Reserve; They’re all pretty traditional, but some ryokan are more traditional than others. Asaba has not only the tranquil atmosphere and the stunning natural setting you’d expect from a top country inn, but it’s got three hundred and fifty years of unbroken history behind it as well. In fact, if you wanted... Read More
Asclepios Wellness & Spa: El Cacao, Alajuela, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; If your idea of a Costa Rican getaway involves a zip line and bottomless mojitos by the poolside, this might be a bit of a curveball. This isn’t the typical beach resort, where overindulgence is a rule: Asclepios is a green refuge, situated almost in the shadow of Alajuela’s Poás volcano, a... Read More
Astarte Suites: Santorini, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Astarte Suites is open seasonally from April through October. Children under 13 years of age are not permitted at the hotel... Read More
Astoria7: San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain; View | Reserve; San Sebastián is an underratedly glamorous city, especially in September, during film festival season. It’s this connection that Astoria7 trades on, and the large-format film-star portraits in the guest rooms are only the most conspicuous example. Locals will pick up on the name’s connotation; the... 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, 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
Atempo Hotel: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; In the time since Tablet went online we’ve seen Buenos Aires boom; at the turn of the millennium there were some fine hotels, to be sure, but a decade later it’s one of the boutique-hotel capitals of the world. It’s got big ones, small ones, funky ones, refined ones, and the general level is... Read More
Au Coin du Feu: Megeve, Alps, France; View | Reserve; The hotel is seasonal, open from mid-December thru the end of March... Read More
Auberge de la Vieille Tour: Gosier, Guadeloupe; View | Reserve; The island of Guadeloupe doesn’t quite share St. Barthélemy’s upscale reputation, and its accommodations tend to lean more toward comfort than cutting-edge style. Auberge de la Vieille Tour isn’t exactly reinventing hospitality in the French West Indies, but it does resort-style luxury very well... Read More
Auberge du Vieux Port: Montreal, Quebec, 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
Avalon Beverly Hills: 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 onetime... Read More
AVIA Savannah: Savannah, GA, USA; View | Reserve; Savannah is a historical city, but that doesn’t mean it’s stuck in the past — it’s an art-school town as well, and there’s some appetite here for a bit of experimentation. So a contemporary-style boutique hotel like the Avia is certainly not out of the question... 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
AYANA Resort and Spa: Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Bali is gorgeous enough at sea level that one can’t help but feel slightly guilty at the splendor of AYANA’s clifftop views. But once in a while a (literal) change in perspective is exactly what’s called for. Some of you may know the AYANA from its past life as a Ritz-Carlton, and while its name... 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
Azur Real Hotel Boutique: Córdoba, Argentina; View | Reserve; Despite being known as a manufacturing base and financial hub, Córdoba has the youthful heart of a college town. Three historic universities line the city’s Jesuit Block, a gorgeous display of Latin American baroque architecture. Minutes away is a century-old townhouse that served as a drugstore... 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, something like the B... Read More
Babuino 181: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Just off the Piazza del Popolo is the Via del Babuino, named for a statue of Silenus that somehow found itself informally christened “the baboon.” This was an artists’ quarter which has since gentrified — a common setting for a stylish little boutique hotel, no less so for the fact that the... 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, 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 hotel in... Read More
Bagues: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; There’s more to Barcelona, architecturally speaking, than just Gaudí. Hotel Bagués is a fine example, a nineteenth-century edifice in the Romantic Classical style, an aesthetic that’s as eclectic as its contradictory name would suggest. In its current incarnation it’s a luxury boutique in a style... 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
Banke Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Paris is famous for its uniformly elegant architecture: the Belle Époque buildings lining the boulevards, the medieval houses on narrow lanes, the manicured gardens, the glazed corner cafes. No matter how elegant, though, one does occasionally need a break from the uniformity. And this is where a... Read More
Barcelo Asia Gardens: Benidorm, Alicante, Spain; View | Reserve; There is such a thing, in the travel business, as a destination becoming a victim of its own success. It’s not that the Costa Blanca isn’t beautiful in itself, because it is, and the climate, of course, is paradise. But thanks to an excess of development in the coastal towns, many of us don’t... Read More
Barcelo Cairo Pyramids: Cairo, Egypt; View | Reserve; Cairo today is a cosmopolitan and sophisticated city, massive and dense, arguably the capital of the Middle East — so it’s a city with plenty of demand for stylish and contemporary hotels. There was a time, of course, when it was the center of all civilization. The Barceló Cairo Pyramids makes the... 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
Bardessono: Yountville, CA, USA; View | Reserve; A decade or two ago, Napa Valley was the place to go for a little slice of Renaissance Tuscany. It made sense at the time, with the California wine industry really hitting its stride, for the architecture to aspire toward a classic European sort of gravity. These days, however, Napa is ground zero... 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; Please note: Baudon de Mauny has a 2 night minimum stay policy... Read More
Bauer Il Palazzo: 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
Baur au Lac: Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; View | Reserve; It doesn’t get much grander than a 19th-century palace hotel in Europe’s banking capital. Baur au Lac, a Zurich institution since 1844, played host to pretty much anyone who was anyone, from royalty and heads of state to artists and Alfred Nobel. It’s kept itself in fine shape, and its... Read More
Be Playa: Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; It takes all kinds of hotels to properly lodge all the Riviera Maya’s visitors, and in this crowd, a strong point of view is perhaps the best way to stand out. To that end, one could do a lot worse than a bold and graphic little all-suite boutique a few blocks from the beach. Here the Mayan... Read More
Be Tulum: Tulum, Mexico; View | Reserve; Be Tulum does not allow children under 12 years old... 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
Belgraves - a Thompson Hotel: London, UK; View | Reserve; Belgraves - a Thompson Hotel is now available for stay dates beginning February 1, 2012... Read More
Belmont Hotel: Dallas, TX, 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
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
Bertrams Hotel Guldsmeden: Copenhagen, Denmark; View | Reserve; It’s becoming a bit of a theme here: if you go to the Nordic countries expecting a mid-century Scandinavian modernist style, you’ll come away quite puzzled indeed. The Guldsmeden hotels are a fine example of modern Copenhagen’s eclectic stylistic palette, and just west of the city center the... Read More
Bettei Otozure: Nagato, Chugoku Region/Western Japan, Japan; View | Reserve; Though we’re great admirers of many of Japan’s urban hotels, we urge anyone who will listen to get out of the city for a bit and check into a ryokan. This is taking that advice quite literally. All the way out in Yamaguchi Prefecture, at the extreme western end of Japan’s main island of Honshū, is... Read More
Bettei Senjyuan: Tone-gun, Tokyo Suburbs, Japan; View | Reserve; Just a few years ago a trip to a ryokan almost certainly meant a trip back in time — architectural time, at least — as the traditional ways of hospitality went hand in hand with traditional ways of building. Bettei Senjyuan, by contrast, is obviously of a more recent vintage, and it’s proof that... 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 Rock Oceanfront Resort: Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada; View | Reserve; On the theory that there are enough rustic, woodsy old lodges in coastal British Columbia, the Black Rock Oceanfront Resort opted for a more contemporary approach; they hired a big-time modern design firm, the Vancouver/Seattle–based VIA Architecture. It’s a decision that would have to be judged a... 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 must... Read More
Blancaneaux Lodge: San Ignacio, Cayo, 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
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
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; Bloomfield Lodge does not accommodate children under 10 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: Elounda, Crete, Greece; View | Reserve; Greece used to be known as a bargain holiday spot, a fact that may seem astonishing, given its almost unbearable natural beauty. Today Greece is home to some of Europe's finest hotels, whether in Athens, Santorini, or the breathtaking island of Crete, home to the Blue Palace Resort... 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
Bomans Hotel: Trosa, Sweden; View | Reserve; By now you’re probably well aware that there’s much more going on in Scandinavian hospitality than chic boutiques and mid-century modern design. A certain rustic coziness, and a certain respect for tradition, are among the markers of Sweden’s best luxury inns. Trosa, less than an hour’s drive along... Read More
Borgo Egnazia Hotel Ville Spa Golf: Savelletri di Fasano, Italy; View | Reserve; There’s not a lot of green on the sun-drenched Puglian coast, but the San Domenico golf course is a notable exception. And just off the course, surrounded by gardens and olive groves, is the sort of full-spectrum resort that’s equally uncommon in this part of the country. This is, if you’ll indulge... Read More
Boundary: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The outer frontier of London’s hospitality world moves inexorably eastward — we fully expect some future Tablet incarnation to beam news of a desperately hip boutique hotel somewhere in the North Sea directly to your cerebral cortex. That day’s a long way off, alas — for now Shoreditch, and Terence... Read More
Boutique 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
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: North Bovey, Devon, 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
Bristol Hotel Frankfurt: Frankfurt, Hesse, 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
Brown TLV Urban Hotel: Tel Aviv, Israel; View | Reserve; Viewed from the right angle, Tel Aviv looks as sophisticated as any of Europe’s style capitals. One such angle is framed by the rooftop lounge of the Brown TLV Urban Hotel, which frames the skyline’s nighttime panorama. Or from more or less anywhere inside the Brown, come to think of it — from the... 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
Buddha-Bar Hotel: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; You might be prepared for a new hotel venture from a famed nightclub group to rather emphasize nightlife at the expense of old-fashioned hospitality and in-room luxury and comfort. Prepare to be enlightened. The first of what’s intended to be a series of Buddha Bar hotels has opened in Prague, not... 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 the spa or pool area... Read More
Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, Bali: Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; How do you follow up a hotel like the Bulgari in Milan, where the architecture, the design, and the stunning, secluded city-center ex-monastery location conspire to produce one of Europe’s finest modern hotels. Rather than hope to work the same magic twice, they’ve set out for the other side of the... Read More
Bundarika Villas & Suites, Phuket: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; There was a time when the way to do Phuket involved backpacks, hostels and dog-eared guidebooks. These days the action is elsewhere. If you’re going to find an experience worth remembering you’re going to have to break away from the pack a bit, and on this island that can only mean a move towards... Read More
Bunga Raya Island Resort & Spa: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia; View | Reserve; Malaysia might not quite top the list when it comes to famous holiday destinations, but Bunga Raya is proof that this sort of luxe island paradise knows no national boundaries. But rather than some over-water lagoon resort, this one is closer to the hidden-cove fantasy of something like The Beach... 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
Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amista: San Pietro In Cariano, Verona, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amista is closed annually mid-November until the beginning of March... Read More
C-Hotel & Spa: Cassago Brianza, Italy; View | Reserve; The typical Lake Como experience — if indeed there is such a thing — would involve some opulent little villa, built, if possible, no later than about 1900. Regulars may look slightly askance at something as modern as C-Hotel, in the hills a dozen or so miles from the lake’s shores. But this hotel... Read More
Cadogan Hotel: London, England, 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
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
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
Camperio House: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Camperio House will be closed for the month of August... Read More
Can Bonastre Wine Resort: Masquefa, Penedes Wine Region, Spain; View | Reserve; Please note: Can Bonastre Wine Resort accepts reservations only on Friday and Saturday nights... Read More
Canal House: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; It’s about time somebody synthesized Amsterdam’s two divergent stylistic threads. Visitors in search of precious, historical canal-house charm have never had trouble satisfying their needs, and devotees of modern Dutch design likewise find themselves well served — just never at the same hotel. The... Read More
Canouan Resort at Carenage Bay: Canouan Island, St. Vincent & Grenadines; View | Reserve; It’s not the most novel idea under the sun, but when it comes to unplugging it’s hard to beat a Caribbean beachfront luxury-villa resort. And it’s equally difficult to come up with a more inspiring setting than Canouan Island, a speck of a place in the Grenadines whose lush, forested landforms are... Read More
Caol Ishka Hotel: Siracusa, Sicily, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Zafferano, the restaurant at Caol Ishka Hotel, will be closed for the season until March 31st, 2012... Read More
Cap Rocat: Cala Blava, Spain; View | Reserve; Please note: Cap Rocat is open for the 2011 season from April 1st - October 31st. What’s so special about Mallorca? The Mediterranean isn’t exactly hurting for islands, and Spain is blessed with stunning landscapes and balmy climes almost from bottom to top. Have a look around Cap Rocat, though, a... 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 Kidnappers: Hawke's Bay, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Where else but in New Zealand would you actively seek out a working sheep ranch for a bit of rural high luxury? This is lodge country, where plush interiors and rugged exteriors go hand in glove. And this particular sheep ranch, the Farm at Cape Kidnappers, lies not on some dull green hillside but... Read More
Cape Royale Luxury Hotel and Residence: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; Rugged colonial romance be damned: this is Cape Town at its most cosmopolitan and sophisticated, a spot of old-world Europe in the south. With Table Mountain behind and the Atlantic in front, Cape Royale couldn’t be in a much more scenic position. And behind that classic, somewhat Parisian-looking... Read More
Capella Ixtapa: Ixtapa, Guerrero, Mexico; View | Reserve; Overdevelopment has taught many of us to approach Mexico with dampened expectations. Here’s a resort that will certainly change the cynics’ tune. We know Capella from places like Schloss Velden in Austria, and it turns out their take on the Pacific coast of Mexico is every bit as compelling as... Read More
Capella Pedregal: Cabo San Lucas, Baja Peninsula, Mexico; View | Reserve; To get to the Capella Pedregal, you must pass through a tunnel blasted through the mountains that abut the beach — an unconventional approach, and the first of many reminders that this isn’t your crazy younger cousin’s spring-break Cabo. Here, you’ll get foot rubs and cool treats by the pool... Read More
Capella Singapore: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; The thought of Capella in Signapore might at first strike one as slightly odd. This is a smallish collection of carefully crafted luxury resorts, not exactly the sort of thing you’d expect to see sprouting up in an urban setting. But on Sentosa Island, just across the channel from Singapore proper... Read More
Cappadocia Cave Resort & Spa: Nevehir, Cappadocia, Turkey; View | Reserve; Even the most jaded jet-setter would have to agree that Cappadocia is a magical place. Tucked deep into Turkey’s central countryside, the region is covered with sedimentary stone cliffs, eerie caves, unearthly “fairy chimney” rock formations, and antique chapels and houses carved deep into the soft... 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
Carducci 76: Cattolica, Emilia Romagna, 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
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
Carmel Valley Ranch: Carmel, CA, USA; View | Reserve; To a certain type of traveler, the fact that San Franciscans seem so focused on migrating northward, to the Napa and Sonoma valleys, makes California’s Central Coast all the more appealing. Among them, apparently, is the partnership of investor John Pritzker and the Joie de Vivre boutique-hotel... Read More
Casa Angelina Lifestyle Hotel: Praiano, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Casa Angelina Lifestyle Hotel is open annually April through October. They will also be open for select dates over the New Years Eve period... Read More
Casa Bonita: Barahona, Dominican Republic; View | Reserve; Punta Cana may be the Dominican Republic’s best-known holiday destination, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that it’s often possible to go very right by lighting out for less familiar territories. Barahona is one of those places; here, on the southern coast of the island of Hispaniola... Read More
Casa Camper Barcelona: 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 Camper Berlin: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; For some of us, the name is all the description this one needs. But for those of you who demand a little more explanation than simply Casa Camper Berlin, we’ll elaborate. It’s a sequel to the Casa Camper in Barcelona, owned by the Spanish footwear brand, and it brings the same youthful irreverence... Read More
Casa de Carmona: Carmona-Sevilla, Spain; View | Reserve; People go to Andalusia to see the “real” Spain, the old Spain, less modern than what one sees in the bigger, more cosmopolitan cities of Barcelona and Madrid. This is the region where Moorish architecture still stands alongside Catholic cathedrals and Renaissance palaces like this... 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 del Horno: Panama, Panama; View | Reserve; It’s not necessarily the owners’ Italian heritage per se that makes Casa del Horno one of Panama’s top boutique hotels. The house is an architectural treasure in its own right, dating back to the French colonial days, and its rough-hewn stone provides the backdrop against which its sleeker, more... Read More
Casa Morada: Islamorada, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Children over the age of 16 are welcome... Read More
Casa Turquesa: Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; Please note: Children 14 and older are welcome... Read More
Casa Zinc: Punte del Este, Uruguay; View | Reserve; As Punta del Este continues to boom, cementing its status as the Uruguayan Riviera, the region’s longtime devotees can’t help but mourn the loss of character that inevitably accompanies an exploding market. One of them, fortunately, decided to do something about it. Aaron Hojman owns a local... 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
CastaDiva Resort & Spa: Blevio, Lake Como, Italy; View | Reserve; The “diva” in CastaDiva Resort has two meanings: it refers to the opera star, Giuditta Pasta, who once lived there, and it refers to the way the staff and surroundings conspire to make all guests, maschio and femmina, feel special... Read More
Castel Monastero: Castelnuovo Berardenga, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Castel Monastero is open annually from the end of March through December... Read More
Castello di Vicarello: Cinigiano, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Castello di Vicarello will be closed January 8th through March 16th, 2012... Read More
Castiglion Del Bosco: Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Castiglion Del Bosco will open for season in April, 2012... Read More
Castille Paris: Paris, France; View | Reserve; It doesn’t get much more central than this for a Parisian hotel, around the corner from the Ritz, just off the Jardin des Tuileries, the Champs-Elysées, and everything that’s anything on the Right Bank, big and small — including Coco Chanel’s original atelier, which is still right next door. The... Read More
Cavallo Point Lodge: Sausalito, CA, USA; View | Reserve; San Francisco Bay and its environs offer a wealth of swanky lodging options, and there’s a lot of variety, from urban Union Square to pastoral Napa Valley. However, that famous, shimmering bay can act as something of a moat — meaning you’e either in San Francisco or you’re quite a ways out of it... Read More
Cavo Tagoo: Mykonos, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; One point of view in Cycladic tourism holds that there’s no point in indulging in any architectural fireworks — nothing man-made can compete with the landscape (and seascape) of the Greek islands. Fortunately not everyone subscribes to that theory. Cavo Tagoo’s new owner is an architect, and he and... Read More
Ceres Am Meer: Ostseebad Binz, Germany; View | Reserve; The advent of air travel is enough to make one indulge in a bit of nostalgic worry for the resorts along the Baltic Sea, places which must necessarily have seen some decline in attendance now that it’s half a day’s flight from Munich to the Maldives. The island of Rügen, however, is still going... 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 its... 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
Chalet Dolce Vita: Madonna di Campiglio, Trentino, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Chalet Dolce Vita is open annually from December to April and from June to September. Minimum stay requirements apply over the winter period... 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
Charles Hotel - Munich: Munich, Bavaria, 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 enough to... 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
Charming House IQs: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; Not IQs, as in Intelligence Quotient — though you will indeed feel smart staying here — but i Qs, Italian for, well, “the Qs.” This is an annex, or perhaps more precisely a satellite property, belonging to Charming House DD.724, and its four exceedingly stylish suites stand about twenty minutes... Read More
Charming Luxury Lodge & Private Spa: San Carlos de Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina; View | Reserve; There’s more than one resort on the shores of Argentina’s Lake Nahuel Huapi, and maybe, given the extraordinary setting, a certain humility is called for on the part of the local hotels. Still, we’d say the name of Charming Luxury Lodge & Private Spa rather undersells the product. Make no mistake... 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 and... 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 closes for the winter season November 1st and reopens April 1st... 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 no... Read More
Chateau Marmont: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; There is a two-night minimum stay requirement on weekends for bungalows, cottages, premier cottages, premier suites, 2 bedroom suites and Penthouses... Read More
Chateau Yering: Yering Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia; View | Reserve; Though the Victoria countryside, about an hour from Melbourne, may seem an unusual spot for something calling itself a chateau, this 1854 heritage homestead radiates old-world class. Chateau Yering’s luxe period style — less common in the Commonwealth than in old Europe — is the result of... Read More
Chem Chem Tarangire Lodge: Arusha, Babati District, Tanzania; View | Reserve; We could talk a bit about Chem Chem Tarangire’s striking modern-rustic interiors style, but it should be apparent that here, more than most places, they’re somewhat beside the point. The main attraction here has to be the setting itself, on the migration route from Tarangire National Park to Lake... Read More
Chewton Glen Hotel: New Milton, Hampshire, England, 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
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 distinctly... Read More
Chromata: Santorini, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Chromata will be closed for the season beginning September 23rd and will reopen in April 2012... Read More
Chrome Hotel: Kolkata, India; View | Reserve; It’s one of the seven deadly clichés of travel writing to call any place a “land of contrasts,” but is there a country in the world whose hotels vary more widely than India’s? While the stately old palaces might dominate in the public perception, when Indian hotels go modern, they really go modern... 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
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
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; 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
Columbus Monte-Carlo: Monte Carlo, Monaco; View | Reserve; In the popular imagination, Monaco is a monument to excess, and, to be quite fair, there’s a lot of truth in that. But there are also exceptions, of course; anyone expecting a little Dubai-by-the-Med is going to be bowled over — or whatever the opposite of “bowled over” is, when it’s subtlety... 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
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 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
Consolacion: Monroyo, Aragón, Spain; View | Reserve; Spain is bigger than you think — big enough for more than one world-class metropolis, as well as a handful of famous tourist regions and several different official languages. And there’s still room for some seriously out-of-the-way places, of which the Aragonese province of Matarraña is just one... Read More
Continentale: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Continentale will be closed January 19th-February 28th, 2011... Read More
Copacabana Palace: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; Please note... 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, Jalisco, 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
Cotton Tree: West Bay, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; View | Reserve; It’s as good a demonstration as any of the appeal of an independent hotel. The stunning Caribbean beach views and the discreet Grand Cayman privacy are indeed perks. But the key is ultimately the ownership: hotels run by travelers often function more thoughtfully than those run by corporations. And... Read More
Covent Garden Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; On a narrow side street in the bustling and chic Covent Garden district of London’s West End, this splendidly theatrical small hotel’s exclusive atmosphere and central location make it the perfect London pied-à-terre for visiting actors, professional shoppers, and savvy yet indulgent travelers. The... Read More
Cowley Manor: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, 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
Coworth Park: Ascot, Berkshire, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Dorchester hotels have, up till now, been an urban phenomenon. But lessons learned at the Plaza Athénée, the Beverly Hills Hotel, the original Dorchester in London, pay off in the Berkshire countryside at Coworth Park, the Dorchester group’s first country-house hotel... 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, 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
Cristallo Hotel Spa & Golf: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Belluno, Italy; View | Reserve; High in the Dolomites, in the most northerly reaches of the Veneto, is the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of northern Italy’s classic alpine towns. This, of course, is the part of Italy that looks the least like Italy — in fact when tourism here first started to take off, it was part of Austria... Read More
Crosby Street Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; In general it’s true that we’re skeptical about the idea of hotel chains. But we tend to forget our principles when we’re talking about the Firmdale group. Their six London hotels are six of the best hotels anywhere, and they can’t help but be similar; aside from the obvious fact that they all... Read More
Crossing Condotti: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Hoteliers in Rome seem to feel the pressure of thousands of years of civilization — most hotels strive to be as monumental as the city they serve. A place like Crossing Condotti, by contrast, shows there’s wisdom in more modest ambitions. It’s hardly a hotel at all; but then again, five swanky... Read More
Crown Metropol: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; View | Reserve; ‘Ambitious’ might not even cover it. The Crown Metropol is a purpose-built 600-plus-room luxury hotel in a chic modern style, towering 28 floors over Melbourne — this, in just about any city, is the kind of project that’s becoming more and more rare. Which is a shame, considering the results. It’s... Read More
CuisinArt Resort and Spa: Rendezvous Bay, Anguilla; 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
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
Damai: Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; You may feel as though you’ve already seen Bali from a few different angles. But it’s fair to say that until you’ve been to Damai, your knowledge of the island is partial at best. Around the north side of Bali, on a mountainside above the cliffs of Lovina Bay, stand fourteen mod-Balinese villas... Read More
Dan Boutique Jerusalem: Jerusalem, , Israel; View | Reserve; The boutique hotel concept has taken a little longer to arrive in Jerusalem, and the Dan Boutique is not exactly your typical boutique hotel. It helps that it was originally laid out as an apartment house — the rooms, while hardly sprawling, never feel cramped. And the style, an eclectic blend of... Read More
Dan Hotel Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv, Israel; View | Reserve; The Dan group runs a small empire of glittery resorts around Israel, but with a new boutique facility smartly up and running in Jerusalem and now the Dan Tel Aviv, a new age of hotel style is dawning over the Holy Land. It’s a look that grows on you: the hotel building itself is a massive, concrete... 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 Darma: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is a 2 night minimum stay requirement at Dar Darma. Children are welcome but due to large internal windows, an unsupervised courtyard pool and lots of antiques, parents traveling with children may want to consider other accommodations... Read More
Dar HI: Nefta, Tunisia; View | Reserve; The ownership team that brought you the Hi Hotel in Nice are at it again, this time in a place that, French influence aside, would seem to have very little in common with the Côte d’Azur. Fortunately, both for the brand and for fans of eccentric hotels, they brought designer Matali Crasset with... Read More
Dar Les Cigognes: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; Dar Les Cigognes welcomes children over the age of 5... Read More
Dar Sabra: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; The Marrakech medina is something special, but when you’re in the mood to spread out a bit the Palmeraïe, with its wide open spaces and gently swaying fronds, is the ideal solution. Here you’ll find experiences you just couldn’t have in the dense old city — Dar Sabra’s three pools, for example... Read More
Dar Warda: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is perhaps no more authentic way to see Marrakech than to stay in a riad, a private house in the medina (the old town) that faces inward, organized around a central courtyard. Dar Warda couldn’t be more intimate—a mere four bedrooms—nor could it be less like a hotel, or more like a private... Read More
Das Kranzbach Hotel & Wellness Retreat: Kranzbach (near Garmisch-Partenkirchen), Bavaria, Germany; View | Reserve; Don’t call it a ski resort. Das Kranzbach may be located an hour from Munich in the shadow of some of the most imposing peaks of the Bavarian Alps, but it’s not about rowdy tourists shedding their cold-weather gear in the hallways. This is a four-season wellness retreat, and while you can certainly... Read More
De Witte Lelie: Antwerp, Belgium; View | Reserve; There are hotels that bowl you over with their undeniable hotel-ness: the doorman, the bellhop, the smiling concierge and the hustling waiters, pushing room service carts up and down the corridors. And then there are places that are barely hotels at all, little more than a comfortable and... Read More
Del Carmen Concept Hotel: Guadalajara, Mexico; View | Reserve; Mexico’s second-largest city tends to go about its business rather quietly, so the fact that Guadalajara has been cornering the market on cutting-edge yet soulful design hotels isn’t exactly common knowledge. However, the recent addition of Del Carmen Concept Hotel can’t help but raise the city’s... 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 workshop... Read More
Demetria Hotel: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico; View | Reserve; The Lafayette district, the artistic nexus of the Guadalajara, is a fitting location for a modern design hotel that interacts so completely with the local art scene — besides displaying and selling the work of Jalisco-based artists in its shop, and a library specializing in illustration and graphic... Read More
Desa Seni: Canggu, Bali, 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, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Deseo does not allow children or pets... Read More
Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara: Abu Dhabi, UAE; View | Reserve; Five miles off the coast of Abu Dhabi, out there in the waters of the Gulf, there’s a resort that just might change your perception of what’s possible in Emirates tourism. In spite of its name, Desert Islands Resort is just one island, the Sir Bani Yas nature reserve — and to look at the verdant... Read More
Desert Palm: 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 later... 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, Patagonia, 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
Diamant Hotel Sydney: Sydney, Australia; View | Reserve; It’s not the most naturally picturesque tourist district, but there’s a reason people who visit Sydney choose to stay in the King’s Cross district: wildly eclectic, easily accessible nightlife. Whether your particular brand of after-dark fun involves leisurely upmarket dining, wine tasting... Read More
Discovery at Marigot Bay Hotel: Windward Islands, 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
Discovery Shores Boracay: Boracay Island, Philippines; View | Reserve; It’s true that Boracay is no longer the undiscovered paradise that it once was. But a visit quickly reveals that the natural charms that made it famous are still very much in evidence. There are still plenty of beaches covered in feathery white sand, and Discovery Shores has a nice swatch all to... Read More
Distrito Capital: Mexico City, Mexico; View | Reserve; Another year, another impressive entry from the Habita group, Mexico’s high-design boutique-hotel juggernaut. This one, the Distrito Capital, makes its home in the city’s Santa Fe quarter, a district of high-rise buildings and high-ticket retail — so it’s no surprise that this hotel should be one... 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 De Capelongue: Bonnieux, Provence, France; View | Reserve; This is why people started going to Provence in the first place. On a hilltop looking towards the Luberon mountains is the ancient hill village of Bonnieux; and on the next hill over, looking out over Bonnieux from the landscaped gardens that surround its outdoor pool, is the Bastide de Capelongue... Read More
Domaine de Verchant: Castelnau Le Lez, Languedoc-Roussillon, France; View | Reserve; By now you know everything there is to know about the south of France — from the farmhouses and vineyards of Provence to the waterfront glamour of the Côte d’Azur. Less storied, perhaps, though no less worthwhile, is this bit of the Languedoc countryside just outside of Montpellier, a place where... Read More
Dome Hotel & Spa: Riga, Latvia, Latvia; View | Reserve; With all the newly minted boutiques opening in Riga, the phrase “Latvian design hotel” no longer elicits confusion and surprise. The old-world-meets-modern-luxe design philosophy has been given a careful revitalization in a city poised to take its place among the great tourist capitals of Eastern... Read More
Domes of Elounda Boutique Beach Resort: Elounda, Crete, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Domes of Elounda requires a three night minimum and is open annually from April 24th until October 31st... Read More
Donovan House: Washington, DC, 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
Dos Lunas: Cordoba, Argentina; View | Reserve; With so much else to do in Argentina — dancing tango in Buenos Aires, drinking wine in Mendoza, seeing the penguins and glaciers of Patagonia and the Iguazu waterfalls in the far north — the small city of Córdoba isn’t everyone’s top priority. And that’s a big part of the reason it remains so... 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 Downtown: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; If it’s not an outright contradiction in terms, we’d suggest that the Dream Downtown — new though it is — is best seen as a piece of New York hotel history. It’s just around the corner from the Maritime, and its historic building shares both an architect and a porthole-scored seafaring motif. And... Read More
Dream South Beach Hotel & Spa: Miami Beach, FL; View | Reserve; Sometimes it seems as though the supply is unlimited. Another South Beach Art Deco classic, this time the old Palmer House, is reborn as a modern boutique hotel. This one, the Dream South Beach, is proof that in hotels, as in much of life, there’s something to be said for focusing one’s ambitions... 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, Emilia Romagna, 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 at a youth... Read More
Duque Hotel Boutique & Spa: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Another bride, another groom, another boutique hotel in Buenos Aires. In a city crowded with hip places to stay, you have to do something to stand out from the crowd. Duque Hotel Boutique is one of those rare places that doesn’t need a gimmick or even a high concept: they just do all of the little... 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 Palace: Halkidiki , Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Eagles Palace is open seasonally, April through October... Read More
East: 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, 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
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
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 Palauet Living Barcelona: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; It’s a hotel, but only just — El Palauet Living’s six suites are all two-bedrooms, and they do enough long-stay business to quote their rates by the week. That’s about how long it takes to exhaustively shop the Passeig de Gràcia, and that’s got to be more than just a coincidence. Anyway it’s hard... Read More
El Silencio Lodge: Costa Rica; View | Reserve; Costa Rica was doing ecotourism before anyone else was, so it’s no surprise that this most socially-minded of tropical paradises would be among the first to update the industry to fit the very current trend of green-luxury fusion. El Silencio Lodge, deep in the country’s mountainous jungle region... Read More
Ellington Hotel: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; The Ellington is, at least on one level, a throwback to a couple of Berlin’s golden eras. Its reconstructed Weimar-style facade fronts a block-long office building dating back to 1932, and it owes its name to a frequent guest at Badewanne, the famous West Berlin jazz club that stood behind these... Read More
Elounda Peninsula: Elounda , Crete, Greece; View | Reserve; The Elounda Peninsula is less a hotel than a small village dedicated to leisure, each of its rooms in fact an airy multi-room suite defined by breathtaking views of the Aegean Sea. The most modest of these feature jetted tubs, private sundecks and heated salt-water pools, while the more lavish also... Read More
EME Catedral Hotel: Sevilla, Andalusia, Spain; View | Reserve; Lately this mix of modern and historic architecture is something of a Spanish trademark. Look no further than the EME Catedral Hotel, in the heart of old town Sevilla, just across the way from the ancient Giralda cathedral. Here what’s most notable is the mix of ornate arabesque patterns, a... Read More
Encanto: Acapulco, Mexico; View | Reserve; In Acapulco’s Hotel Encanto, the walls of the guest rooms are completely bare. Architect Miguel Angel Aragones relies on the interplay of natural light and shadow — with a healthy assist from lighting designer Gustavo Avilés’ sumptuous pastel washes — to create a unique art-hotel experience for... Read More
Entre Cielos: Vistalba, Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina; View | Reserve; Most wine-producing regions are known for their rustic style, their chateaux and farmhouses, and we do love a good farmhouse hotel. But we like a surprise as much as the next traveler. Entre Cielos is a working vineyard, producing Malbec a short distance outside the city of Mendoza, but it’s about... Read More
Eremo della Giubiliana: Ragusa, Sicily, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Don Eusebio Restaurant will be temporarily closed, January 9th through March 1st... Read More
Esencia: Playa del Carmen, Quintana 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, Baja Peninsula, 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, New South Wales, Australia; View | Reserve; Children are welcome in the hotel, although... Read More
Estancia Cristina: El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina; View | Reserve; If you’re going to go to the trouble of embarking on a Patagonian trek, you may as well get deep, deep in it. And if remoteness is the new face of luxury, then Estancia Cristina deserves eight or nine stars. From El Calafate you board a small boat for a three-hour ride across the deep blue Lago... 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
Estancia Peuma Hue: San Carlos de Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina; View | Reserve; Please note: Estancia Peuma Hue is closed during the month of June... Read More
Estancia Vik Jose Ignacio: Jose Ignacio, In and around Punta del Este, Uruguay; View | Reserve; Estancia Vik Jose Ignacio isn’t exactly what you’d expect of a high-end Uruguayan ranch. It’s not in the jet-set capital of Punta del Este, for starters — the hotel is located a mere twenty kilometers away, just outside the laid-back beach community of Jose Ignacio — and the aesthetic is a notable... Read More
Estancia Villa Maria: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Old-fashioned ranches called estancias dot Argentina’s vast countryside. Though some remain private homesteads, many have opened their doors to guests while continuing the day-to-day operations of a working ranch — particularly in the province of Buenos Aires, within easy driving distance of the... Read More
Etnia Pousada & Boutique: Trancoso, Bahia, 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
Europa House Apartments: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Obviously there are plenty of reasons to put up with central London’s overheated hotel market. In the name of geographic convenience we’re often moved to pay quite handsomely for a room that’s, at best, a step or two bigger than snug. But if you’re at all all flexible with your location — or... Read More
Evason Ana Mandara Nha Trang: Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province, 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 Ma’In Hot Springs: Madaba, Jordan; View | Reserve; If you’re like us you might not think of Jordan first when it’s time to plan a spa getaway. But there’s really no way to go wrong with a location like Ma’In — to say nothing of your hosts, Six Senses, whose Evason spa resorts are a model of high-end consistency. Put it all together and you get the... Read More
Evason Phuket & Bon Island: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; Of all the Evason resorts, the Evason Phuket & Bon Island 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 five-star... Read More
Excelsior Hotel Ernst: Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, 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
Excelsior Pesaro: Pesaro, Marche, Italy; View | Reserve; The fact that the Adriatic coast is so often overlooked isn’t a reflection on the Adriatic coast itself, so much as it is a reflection of Italy’s embarrassing wealth of extraordinary places. In any other country Pesaro might be a household name — here it’s the next resort city, a few towns down the... 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
explora Atacama: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile; View | Reserve; The Hotel Explora en Atacama is an oasis in the unearthly high desert of northern Chile, eight thousand feet above sea level, surrounded by salt flats and volcanic formations. Clearly you’re not here for the night life (unless you’re an astronomer) or for a business meeting (though conference rooms... Read More
explora Rapa Nui (Easter Island): Easter Island, Chile; View | Reserve; Striking modern hotels in far-flung, exotic locales are an Explora specialty. But there’s no more dramatic example of that tendency than their hotel on Rapa Nui — or, to give it its more familiar name, Easter Island. They’re calling it the Posada de Mike Rapu, after a diver and entrepreneur who’s a... Read More
Faena Hotel and Universe: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Buenos Aires’s Faena Hotel + Universe, brainchild of Argentinean fashion designer Alan Faena, is unafraid to make 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 Monte Carlo: Monte Carlo, Monaco; View | Reserve; Though it might have been strange to say so a few years ago, the Fairmont Monte Carlo Hotel as it stands today is a building of some architectural distinction. This Seventies-vintage zig-zag of a modernist hotel behemoth has climbed out of the stylistic uncanny valley, the aesthetic no-man’s-land... 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. White-glove luxury it most definitely is not. But just as youth is wasted on the young, a hotel this cool... Read More
Farmhouse Inn: Forestville, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Not exactly a household name, Forestville lies some ways off the most heavily beaten path of the Napa/Sonoma wine country, partway from Santa Rosa to the Russian River town of Guerneville. As such it’s something of an escape within an escape, a break not just from the city but from all the... 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, 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
Fasano Las Piedras: La Barra, In and around Punta del Este, Uruguay; View | Reserve; The Fasano family’s Brazilian hotels are both about as fine as a luxury boutique hotel can get, and in the luxe out-of-town playground of Punta del Este, they might very well have been tempted to repeat the formula. Instead they’ve opted for something a little more private — rather than a high-rise... Read More
Fawsley Hall: Fawsley, Northamptonshire, England, UK; View | Reserve; There’s history, and then there’s history. Fawsley Hall has had its share of famous guests, but its Queen’s Suite is dedicated to none other than Elizabeth I, who last checked out in 1575. The old house has Victorian, Georgian and Tudor wings — all of which were contemporary at the time they were... Read More
Fazenda Sao Francisco do Corumbau: Ponta do Corumbau, 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
Finca Adalgisa: Mendoza, Argentina; View | Reserve; It’s not quite Burgundy yet, but the Argentinean wine region of Mendoza is catching up quickly. More evidence for this proposition can be adduced from the fact that, with hotels like the Finca Adalgisa, Mendoza has grown past the young, flashy, ostentatious stage, which most burgeoning destinations... Read More
Finca Cortesin: Casares, Andalucia, 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
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
First 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
Five Hotel & Spa: Cannes, France; View | Reserve; For all the Riviera’s fame as a holiday destination, the boutique hotel revolution was a long time coming. Maybe it’s because the archetypal Cannes experience has always been about old-fashioned white-marble luxury. These days, however, the big old palaces are no longer the only game in town... Read More
Follonico Suite B&B: Torrita di Siena, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Although the Tuscan farmhouse that owners Suzanne Simons and Fabio Firli have converted into this four-room bed-and-breakfast dates back to the ninth century, any residual medieval gloom has long since been excised, making room for contemporary minimalist décor and spacious rooms awash in natural... 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
Forty 1 North: Newport, RI, USA; View | Reserve; Unless you can somehow transport yourself to Jay Gatsby’s world of grand estates and garden parties, Newport, Rhode Island is your best bet for evoking jazz-age elegance. The town is famous for its mansions, lovely to drive by and gawk at, but the urban waterfront is the heart of the Newport... Read More
Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest: Budapest, Hungary; View | Reserve; Four Seasons Gresham Palace? On Roosevelt Square? Names aside, everything else about it is pure home-grown Art Nouveau Budapest romance. It’s in one of the city’s most auspicious locations, just off the Pest side of the Chain Bridge, and the square provides a perfect vantage point for taking in the... Read More
Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole: Teton Village, WY, USA; View | Reserve; Somehow, at this late date, Jackson Hole remains more or less exactly what the name sounds like: for all the fame, at heart it’s still a rough-edged Rocky Mountain hideaway. Its rugged beauty is still very much intact, but a little bit of the rough has been smoothed away — today it’s a place where... 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
Fusion Maia Resort: Da Nang City, Vietnam; View | Reserve; As Da Nang jumps with both feet into the tourism market, this joint deserves extra points for restraint and composure. Glossy resort options are popping up all over the place and Fusion Maia, by contrast, remains always on the side of good taste, with its sexy, clean lines and unobtrusive, gabled... Read More
G Hotel, Penang: Penang, Malaysia; View | Reserve; Far from the sprawling capital, George Town lies on the east coast of Penang Island, which, to give you a taste of the local geography, happens to be the next island down from Phuket. It’s by no means a big city, but it is a picturesque one, and to put things in perspective, nobody ever complained... 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
Galapagos Safari Camp: View | Reserve; This is what the movie business calls “high-concept” — a hotel based on an extraordinary idea, where the name tells you more or less everything you need to know about the place. Galápagos Safari Camp brings the tented luxury camps familiar across southern Africa to the Americas, and allowing for... 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 Park Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; If you’d said a few years ago that one of the cornerstones of the Meatpacking District nightlife and hospitality scene was going to pick Murray Hill for a sequel, most of us would have scoffed. That may be why most of us aren’t successful real-estate developers. Some people, though, were savvy... Read More
Gayana Eco Resort: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia; View | Reserve; Take a twenty-minute boat ride from Malaysian Borneo’s Kota Kinabalu and you’ll find Gayana Eco Resort fringing a small cape on Gaya Island’s northern coastline. With its thatch-roofed villas and sprawling decks, the Gayana is wholly faithful to the over-water genre, on equal footing with its... 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
Gigli d'Oro Suite: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Gigli d'Oro Suite requires a two night minimum over the weekends... 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
Goldeneye: St. Mary, Jamaica; View | Reserve; Please note: 3 nights minimum stay... Read More
Goldman 25hours Hotel: Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany; View | Reserve; As they expand across Germany, one thing the 25hours group can’t be accused of doing 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... Read More
GombitHotel: Bergamo, Italy; View | Reserve; We could all learn a trick or two from Italy when it comes to integrating modern design into ancient and historic environs. Bergamo, in northern Lombardy, is perhaps typically Italian in that it’s oriented around a central old town, whose stone structures are six, seven, eight centuries old. And... 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 Beijing (formerly Yi House Art Hotel 798): Beijing, China; View | Reserve; Overall the story of Beijing’s recent development is one of practicality over aesthetics. One place that’s not entirely true is the 798 Art Zone, the designated arts district — think of it as something a little like New York’s SoHo, except a little more spread-out, a little more organized, and... Read More
Gramercy Park Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; You can call the Gramercy Park Hotel a “hip hotel” if you want to — it’s just that these days hip means something very different from what it used to. Nowadays interiors as cold and white as upholstered ice are commonplace, and a hotel just isn’t a proper boutique unless its lobby is overflowing... Read More
Gran Hotel Son Net: Puigpunyent, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, 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
Grand Hotel Bagni Nuovi: Bormio, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Minimum night restrictions may apply... 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 Bordeaux & Spa: Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France; View | Reserve; If you were measuring strictly by the number of quality hotels, you might conclude that the city of Bordeaux is little more than a backwater. For a city of a million, it’s a bit short on noteworthy hospitality experiences — which is why the re-opening of the city-center Grand Hôtel, just across... 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 is every... Read More
Grand Hotel Europe: Saint Petersburg, Russia; View | Reserve; There are some hotels about which, simply by pronouncing their names, you’ve said just about everything there is to say. The Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg is one of these. It’s the very picture of the classic European luxury hotel, from the days when its guests traveled by horse and... Read More
Grand Hotel Imperiale: Forte dei Marmi, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Grand Hotel Imperiale requires a 7 night minimum June 1st-September 4th... Read More
Grand Hotel Miramare: Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy; View | Reserve; Portofino is magical enough, but it’s not the only destination on the Italian Riviera. Just next door is Santa Margherita Ligure, which, as classic seaside towns go, is scarcely less picturesque. And it’s got hotels to rival some of the best in Portofino; most notable among them, standing over the... Read More
Grand Hotel Parker's: Naples, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Naples is probably best known for its thrillingly chaotic urbanity, but the Grand Hotel Parker's belongs to another side of the city — the side exemplified by the graceful curve of the waterfront, the splendid architectural treasures, and the hilly neighborhood slopes, a bit like stadium seating... Read More
Grand Hotel Savoia & Spa: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Veneto, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Grand Hotel Savoia is open seasonally December through April... Read More
Grand Hotel Tremezzo: Tremezzo, Lake Como, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Grand Hotel Tremezzo Palace is open annually from April through October... 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
Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg: Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, 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
Gregans Castle Hotel: Ballyvaughan, County 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, 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
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
h2hotel: Healdsburg, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Just three or four decades on from the beginning of the great Northern California wine boom, and already the wine country, in places, is beginning to look dated. Italian and French architecture made sense in the early years, when the wineries of the Napa and Sonoma valleys were still striving to be... 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 Sepulveda & SPA: Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, Mexico; View | Reserve; Hacienda Sepulveda is a country estate located just outside the small central Mexican city of Lagos de Moreno. Originally a 17th-century ranch, the property has been transformed by the Serrano family — owners for three generations and counting — into a rural boutique hotel that retains much of the... Read More
Hamadryade Lodge: Misahualli, Napo, Ecuador; View | Reserve; Like the mythological wood nymph who lends her name to this remarkable Amazonian eco-resort, Hamadryade Lodge is inextricably tied to its surroundings. Owners Melanie and Sebastian Cazaudehore were determined to help revitalize their 64-hectare property overlooking the Napo River, scarred from the... Read More
Hansar Hotel Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; Luxury hotel designers in southeast Asia have a thing for imposing towers. From a basic architectural standpoint, Hansar Hotel Bangkok is no different, looming over a tony section of Rajdamri Road. But taking into account the comparatively low-slung glass-and-steel frontispiece, it’s clear that... Read More
Hansar Samui Resort and Spa: Koh Samui, Thailand; View | Reserve; We’ll spare you the spiel about Koh Samui’s unchecked development, and simply point out that Bophut Bay bucks this trend with a charming fisherman’s village, a few seaside bars and restaurants, and little in the way of commercialization. On this relatively unspoiled section of the island sits... 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; Haymarket Hotel is Firmdale group's most recent London creation. You may be wondering why we mention the group - or shall we call it a family? We’re disposed to think of Number Sixteen, the Knightsbridge, Soho Hotel and all the rest of the group's other London hotels as instant classics... Read More
Hazlitt's: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; From April 2nd to the 27th, Hazlitt's is carrying out restoration on the rear of building. During this time scaffolding will be in place. Whilst the hotel hopes this work will not affect guests the work may take away from the Hazlitt’s experience. To reflect this they are offering special rates... Read More
Heidelberg Suites: Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; View | Reserve; Germany’s urban centers are magnets for hospitality experiments, for cutting-edge art and design. Heidelberg, by contrast, is a trip back in time. This is the Oxford of Germany, if you like, and the university, the churches, and Heidelberg Castle are exemplars of a long-ago Germany that’s... 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
Heritance Kandalama: Dambulla, Interior, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; At the moment it seems the global travel industry has its sights set on Sri Lanka, and why not? The splendid climate, lush landscapes and pristine beaches make it a natural choice, now that the political situation has settled. But the action isn’t only happening down on the coasts. Dambulla, in... Read More
Hezen Cave Hotel: Urgup, Turkey; View | Reserve; Hezen Cave Hotel will be closed from December 1, 2011 to March 15, 2012... 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
Hi Matic: Paris, France; View | Reserve; The danger with superstar designers is that they’ll descend into self-parody, what was once a personal vision becoming little more than branding. It’s hard to imagine that happening to Matali Crasset. You’d know simply by the ultra-saturated color palette that Hi Matic bears at least a family... Read More
Hidden Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; You would think the first rule of establishing a truly hidden hotel would be, Don’t put a sign over the door that says “Hidden Hotel.” But some allowances must be made, we suppose, for the necessity of commerce — and even with that sign over the door, the Hidden Hotel is practically invisible... 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
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
Hollmann Beletage Design & Boutique Hotel: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; When a hotel like the Hollmann Beletage opens, skeptics reach for their calculators. Spacious rooms, high modern style, in the center of old-town Vienna, all at a relatively modest price — it couldn’t possibly add up, could it? Probably best to leave that question to the accountants. However they... Read More
Holm House: Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, UK; View | Reserve; It all sounds too precious to be true: an Arts and Crafts mansion dating back to the Twenties, in a town called Penarth, in a place called the Vale of Glamorgan — if you don’t know your Welsh geography, you could get the impression it’s some kind of gingerbread house, in some kind of enchanted... Read More
HOMA Chateau: 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
Honeyguide Tented Safari Camps: Manyeleti Reserve, South Africa; View | Reserve; Bordering on South Africa’s famed Kruger National Park is the Manyeleti Game Reserve, encompassing nearly a hundred square miles of wild bush, populated by all manner of game, up to and including the Big Five. It’s home to some humans as well, namely the Mnisi tribe, who own and manage the lands... Read More
Hope Springs Resort: Desert Hot Springs, CA, USA; View | Reserve; There is a 2-night minimum stay requirement for all stays at Hope Springs Resort... Read More
Horned Dorset Primavera Hotel: Rincon, Puerto Rico; View | Reserve; Horned Dorset Primavera Hotel does not allow children... 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 Las Casas del Rey de Baeza: Sevilla, Andalusia, 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 Maricel: Mallorca, Balearic Islands, 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, Andalusia, 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, Communidad Valenciana, 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; Please note: Hospes Villa Paulita is closed on weekdays from November 1st to December 2nd, 2010, for renovations. Reservations are still being accepted for weekends during this time... Read More
Hostal Nicolas de Ovando: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; View | Reserve; This very modern hotel occupies a compound of buildings that includes the former home of Nicolas de Ovando, which dates back an impressive 500 years — obviously, this is one of the oldest Spanish buildings in the New World. This sense of history is what makes Santo Domingo unique, setting it... 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 A Quinta da Auga: Santiago de Compostela, Spain; View | Reserve; Situated in a bucolic hectare of countryside just outside the Galician capital city of Santiago de Compostela, A Quinta da Auga is probably the most charming and accommodating paper mill you’ll ever have the pleasure of visiting. That’s former paper mill, of course, one old enough to have acquired... 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 Adagio: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; By some measures, it’s the busiest hotel town in America, but San Francisco has resisted the full-scale boutique-hotel invasion seen in places like New York and Los Angeles. There are, however, quite a few independent hotels looking to change that — and one of the likeliest contenders, in the... Read More
Hotel Albergo Villa Marta: Lucca, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Albergo Villa Marta will be closed December through February 19th 2012... 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 Americano: New York City, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Hôtel Americano’s location is one that’ll have more than a few guests checking their maps — some to verify that the Mexico City–based Grupo Habita has indeed set up shop in New York City, and others to check that there is indeed a bit more of Chelsea west of 10th Avenue. It could have been risky on... 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 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 Be Angkor: Siem Reap, Cambodia; View | Reserve; Say what you will about their politics, but the monarchists sure knew how to pick a location. Rising up from the foliage around Siem Reap is Angkor Wat, twelfth-century Khmer king Suryavarman II’s huge homage to Vishnu. At its apogee, the temple complex housed around a million people; today, twice... Read More
Hotel Beaumanoir: Biarritz, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Beaumanoir is closed from mid-November thru early April... Read More
Hotel Bel Air: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Built in 1946 in a style that can only be described as romantic Mediterranean, the Hotel Bel-Air, with its rose-colored mission-style bungalows, is about as elite a hideaway as you can find. Hidden by bougainvillea, ficus, orange blossom, and fern, on eighteen acres right in the middle of LA’s most... Read More
Hotel Birger Jarl: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; Named for the city’s founder, the Hotel Birger Jarl is a chic, upscale vision of Stockholm, 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 furniture is custom designed by someone native, as are the staff... Read More
Hotel Boca Chica: Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico; View | Reserve; A few short years ago the Habita group was a promising upstart, bringing the design revolution to Mexico, which sorely needed it. Now they’re a bona fide mini-empire, and as they’ve hit their stride, their approach has grown looser and more confident. For proof one need look no further than the... 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 Brick: Mexico City, Mexico; View | Reserve; .A neighborhood modeled on one of Europe’s great capitals deserves a hotel modeled on Europe’s most stylish boutiques — and so La Roma, with its wide, tree-lined avenues and artsy vibe, has Hotel Brick. It’s located on a handsome street, almost equidistant from two lush parks. Nearby are the... 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 Brunelleschi: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Brunelleschi will be closed December 1st-January 31st due to the renovation of their lobby which includes the restoration of the Church of San Michele in Palchetto which it is build upon... Read More
Hotel Butique Quinta das Videiras: Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil; View | Reserve; Florianopolis, the capital of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, evokes tropical beauty through its mellifluous name alone. Boasting an enviable quality of life and some of the most desirable coastline in Brazil, the city is a natural fit for the kind of intimate experience you’ll find at... 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 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 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 Charleston Bogota: Bogota, Colombia; View | Reserve; Consider it a “business boutique,” for lack of a better phrase. The Hotel Charleston dates back to the 1980s, which means it anticipated by some years the boutique hotel boom. And yet with its modest size (64 rooms) and its emphasis on style and design, a boutique hotel it most certainly is... Read More
Hotel Charleston Santa Teresa: Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, Colombia; View | Reserve; Monasteries and convents make great hotels. For while their ultimate purposes — one otherworldly, the other earthly — could scarcely be more at odds, in terms of day-to-day operation they’re actually quite similar. Both require a room with a bit of peace and quiet, a setting that inspires... 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: Málaga, Andalusia, Spain; View | Reserve; Hotel Claude Marbella is closing for refurbishment during the winter season and will reopen in March 2012... Read More
Hotel Cocoon & Lounge: Salvador, 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 Costantinopoli 104: Naples, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Naples, once Europe’s largest city, still sprawls—though long since surpassed in size, it remains a jumble of piazzas, ancient churches and winding streets. In the middle of all of this, in the heart of the Centro Storico, lies an 18th-century neoclassical house, and within, 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 Daniel Paris: 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 Dar Rhizlane: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; While most of Marrakech’s best hotel options lie inside the medina or way out in the palmeraïe, it’s by no means a universal rule. Dar Rhizlane, for example, is in the Hivernage quarter, an upscale residential district just outside the winding alleys of the old town. And while a purist might object... Read More
Hotel das Cataratas: Foz do Iguacu, Brazil; View | Reserve; There are only a few natural landmarks on the planet as astonishing as Iguazu Falls. Standing before the thundering series of more than 275 waterfalls — and hiking the jungle-like paths around them to take in the gushing water from various angles — is a heart-stopping experience for even the most... Read More
Hotel de Bourgtheroulde: Rouen, Normandy, France; View | Reserve; Plenty of ink continues to be spilled about the south of France, but there’s plenty worth seeing up north as well. Rouen is the ancient capital of Normandy, perhaps best known for Notre Dame, a gothic cathedral which dates back as far as the 12th century. It’s this historic side of Rouen that the... Read More
Hotel de Crillon: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Parisian luxury hotels are well known for their historical bent, but when measured against the Hôtel de Crillon, the rest of them are practically brand new. This massive stone edifice at the end of the Place de la Concorde has been a luxury hotel since before the Revolution, and can honestly claim... Read More
Hotel De L'Europe: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; Leave the hostels and cafés to the backpacking crowd. The Renaissance-style facade of this century-old grand hotel — property of the Heineken family, incidentally — is a reliable indicator of what’s to follow inside. It’s hard to get more central than the Hotel De L’Europe, on the banks of the... Read More
Hotel de la Paix, Geneva: Geneva, 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, Luang Prabang: Luang Prabang, Laos; View | Reserve; Luang Prabang is one of those destinations where you hardly need an extraordinary hotel to have an extraordinary experience — which makes the fact that there are several of them feel almost gratuitous. Not that we’re complaining. In the case of the Hotel de la Paix it means a rare conjunction of... 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 Las Letras: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Suddenly Madrid is so full of minimalist modern hotels it’s impossible to make a decision — all over town you can have a room in any color, as long as it’s white. Bucking the trend is the De Las Letras Hotel & Restaurant. Like more than a few Madrid boutiques, this one (a younger relative of the... 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 DeBrett: Auckland, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Over the last couple of decades Auckland has become a truly cosmopolitan city, and it’s a transformation that’s reflected in the Hotel DeBrett, in the capital’s historic city center. Not only is it surrounded by creativity — galleries, theaters and boutiques line the streets — but it’s filled with... Read More
Hotel del Casco: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; In the last few years in Buenos Aires, boutique hotels have been popping up left and right. Some are perfectly stylish urban havens, while others are minimalist knockoffs that miss the mark. The Hotel del Casco, steeped in genteel history, doesn’t fit into either category. The palazzo was restored... Read More
Hotel des Academies et des Arts: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Please note: There is a 2-night minimum stay requirement for Friday & Saturday nights... 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 du Vin Edinburgh: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK; View | Reserve; It may occupy a former asylum building, amidst the distinctive, weathered stone architecture of the capital city’s Old Town. But the mood at the Hotel du Vin Edinburgh is less mad-house and more Scottish enlightenment. There are other stylish hotels in town, but none with so light a touch — the... Read More
Hotel Eclat Taipei: Taipei , Taiwan; View | Reserve; With all the new hotel action in China proper, it’s high time Taipei stepped up its game. There are a couple of absolute gems in the Taiwanese capital, but there’s always room for more: the home-grown Hotel Éclat is a worthy addition to the city’s hotel landscape, a shamelessly luxe and... Read More
Hotel Erwin: Venice Beach, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The very eclectic San Francisco–based Joie de Vivre group has been building its presence in Southern California, including Venice Beach, itself quite possibly the most laid-back place in the United States. And the Hotel Erwin does its level best to fit in — with a restaurant called Hash and a... 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 Fauchere: Milford, PA, USA; View | Reserve; It’s often said that Pennsylvania is a microcosm of all of America — one big city on each end, and three hundred miles of farms, mountains and small towns in between. To look at the exterior of the Hotel Fauchère, in Milford, which looks straight out of American Gothic, you’d think you’d found the... Read More
Hotel Felix: Cambridge, UK; View | Reserve; Here on the edges of staid, sedate Cambridge, it is surprising indeed to find a bit of London boutique chic — all the more so for the fact that the main building is vintage Cambridge, a Victorian mansion built for a local surgeon in 1852... 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 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 Gabriel Paris Marais: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Some Parisian hotels aim to sweep guests up in the bustling romance of this great city. The Gabriel, by contrast, is for guests who can get quite enough bustling romance outside the hotel’s doors. It’s more like a pocket-sized spa resort than a city boutique, and the fact that it’s located at the... Read More
Hotel Gasthof Rote Wand: Lech am Arlberg, Arlberg, Austria; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Gasthof Rote Wand is closed during May 1-July 8, 2011... Read More
Hotel Gault: Montreal, Quebec, 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 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: Monterrey, 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 Hacienda Na Xamena: Ibiza, Spain; View | Reserve; The typical vision of an Ibiza getaway is the relentless pounding of a dance floor, punctuated by the occasional bleary-eyed bit of sunshine. Accommodations are sometimes almost beside the point. Clearly we don’t subscribe to that approach — and neither, thankfully, does the Hotel Hacienda Na... Read More
Hotel Havana: San Antonio, TX, USA; View | Reserve; The opening of a new Bunkhouse hotel, by the Austin-based hotelier Liz Lambert, is news around Texas, naturally, but it’s also news beyond the borders of the erstwhile Republic — there are people, to be frank, for whom San Antonio has just become an option, now that the Hotel Havana is open. Our... 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 Holos: Sevilla, Andalusia, 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 Home: Florence, Tuscany , 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, North Rhine-Westphalia, 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 J: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; Just to the east of Stockholm proper is the island suburb of Nacka Strand, a place where the living is truly easy, even by Swedish standards. Here, just outside the city, is where you’ll find Hotel J, a modernist seaside structure housing a boutique hotel as well as a restaurant that’s popular with... 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 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 Kanra Kyoto: Kyoto, Japan; View | Reserve; The lazy stereotype had it that Tokyo was the modern one and Kyoto the traditional one. There’s a grain of truth there, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. Hotel Kanra Kyoto is an unmistakably modern design hotel, but one that’s deeply rooted in the nation’s urban culture and in Kyoto’s... 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 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 now one of... Read More
Hotel La Suite Kobe Harborland: Kobe, Japan; View | Reserve; It’s only Japan’s fifth-biggest city, and it happens to be located (almost literally) in the shadow of Osaka, a pair of circumstances that conspires to keep Kobe off many foreign visitors’ travel radar. It’s got its share of corporate headquarters, though, so this is the rare case where business... Read More
Hotel Lancaster: Paris, France; View | Reserve; In general if it’s classic Parisian pomp you’re after, you’re headed to one of the big luxury hotels. This town has no shortage of them, and they’re among the most opulent in the Western world. The boutique hotels tend to be more contemporary, often a bit minimalist — but one boutique in particular... Read More
Hotel Le Germain Calgary: Calgary, Alberta, Canada; View | Reserve; Its sister hotels in Montreal and Toronto are no less sleek, no less luxe — but when it comes time to measure them against their in-town competition, it’s the Hôtel Le Germain Calgary that comes out ahead. Calgary’s long since outgrown its cowboy phase, but it’d be a stretch to call it a cultural... 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 Grand Balcon: Toulouse, France; View | Reserve; Unless you’re an academic, an aerospace engineer, or, you know, French, you probably don’t pay a huge amount of attention to what goes on in Toulouse. The south gets more tourist traffic than the southwest, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to see here: a look at the Hôtel Le Grand Balcon... Read More
Hotel Le Notre Dame: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Christian Lacroix’s name pops up in all sorts of places these days, but in the case of the Hôtel Notre Dame, the Parisian designer gets to play the role of the hometown hero. Here, practically in the shadow of the Notre Dame cathedral (and literally in its shadow, a few mornings a year), a... 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 Le Six: Paris, France; View | Reserve; In Paris, perhaps more than anywhere else, the difference between a boutique hotel and a luxury hotel is not one of scale so much as one of kind. Hôtel Le Six, however, rather blurs the distinction. It’s a 41-room boutique, decidedly intimate and unmistakably contemporary in style. Typically if... Read More
Hotel Les 5 Djellabas: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; From a traveler’s perspective, Marrakech is in some ways a tale of two cities: there’s the old medina, with its winding streets, its market stalls and traditional riad houses; and there’s the Palmeraïe, the palm grove on the outskirts, a loose network of resorts, better suited to golfers and anyone... Read More
Hotel Les Trois Rois: Basel, 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 Londra Palace: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; It’s hard to beat this location; one entire side of the Hotel Londra Palace opens onto a stunning view of the lagoon and the island of San Giorgio, a view which, as the hotel is quick to point out, kept Tchaikovsky inspired during the creation of his Fourth Symphony... 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 Gardens in the upscale Paroli... 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 Majestic Cannes Barriere: Cannes, France; View | Reserve; No hotel market is immune to change. But the scene in Cannes along La Croisette has looked more or less like it does now for the better part of a century. And among the grand old luxury hotels along the beachfront promenade, the Majestic is one of the most celebrated. This Art Deco palace dates... Read More
Hotel Manrey: Panama City, Panama; View | Reserve; It’s not the first city you’d check if you’re in the market for a high-design boutique hotel, but it certainly fits the bill — Panama City’s Hotel Manrey is as visually extravagant as anything in the region. From the glossy black monolith of a façade to the gleaming chrome of the entryway to 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 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 Matilda: San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico; View | Reserve; Located in the central Mexican highlands, the peaceful town of San Miguel de Allende enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a relaxing yet cosmopolitan destination. A longtime home for young artists on the rise and expatriates of all ages, it’s the kind of place that’s full of chic throwbacks to the... 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 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 Meninas: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; Boutique hotels that can accommodate a traveler on business, a couple on a romantic get-away or an adventurous family are somewhat rare, but the Hotel Meninas has somehow pulled this all together under one very hip roof. It’s the quintessential Madrid hotel: a repurposed nineteenth-century... Read More
Hotel Metropole: Monte Carlo, Monaco; View | Reserve; Note: The Pool and Spa at Hotel Metropole will be closed for renovations from November 1st, 2011 - May 1st, 2012. Work will be underway daily from 10:00 AM-12 NOON (and) 2:00 PM-6:00 PM. The hotel will take all necessary precautions to ensure that hotel guests are not disturbed during this time... Read More
Hotel Metropolitan: Bologna, Italy; View | Reserve; There are plenty of reasons to be fond of Bologna, from its status as Europe’s oldest university town to its extremely well-regarded culinary scene. Sophisticated and urbane twentieth-century design, however, has not commonly been held to be among Bologna’s attractions. You’re much more likely, in... Read More
Hotel Mirador de Dalt Vila: Ibiza, Balearic Islands, 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 Missoni Kuwait: Kuwait City, Salmiya, Kuwait; View | Reserve; Like its big brother in Edinburgh and its soon-to-be-born siblings in Muscat and Bahia, the Hotel Missoni Kuwait projects the Italian fashion house’s glossy and riotously colorful aesthetic on to the ordinarily blank screen of a high-end luxury property. Lines zig and zag and dots are scrambled and... Read More
Hotel Monasterio: Cusco, Peru; View | Reserve; "Now with oxygen enriched rooms" - Hotel Monasterio... Read More
Hotel Mont Blanc: Megeve, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Mont Blanc is open year-round (with the exception of the month of May... Read More
Hotel Montalembert: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Most Parisian hotels, for better or worse, fit comfortably into one category or another — the bohemian boltholes, the lavish luxury hotels, the impeccably styled minimalist boutiques. But like a lot of the best hotels, the Hôtel Montalembert defies categorization. It’s on the Left Bank but it’s far... Read More
Hotel Montefiore: Tel Aviv, Israel; View | Reserve; This Twenties mansion in the White City section of Tel Aviv has to be seen to be believed. Even as a building, irrespective of what’s inside, it’s impressive enough; it’s an authentic and well-preserved Twenties mansion in a hybrid Bauhaus-Ottoman style, a style that’s novel to those of us who... Read More
Hotel Murmuri: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; At one extreme Barcelona’s got bold avant-garde architecture and streaming Mediterranean sunshine. And at the other it’s got quiet, chic little hideaways like the Murmuri, a 53-room boutique hotel just off the Passeig de Gràcia, in Barcelona’s central Eixample district... Read More
Hotel Neiburgs: Riga, Latvia; View | Reserve; It’s almost impossible to overstate how far Latvian tourism has come in the two decades since independence. When the pioneering boutique hotels were opening in New York and London, Riga was still operating under a command economy. But once the gates were thrown open, it didn’t take long for a very... Read More
Hotel Nelligan: Montreal, Quebec, 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 Neri: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; On the outside, the Neri Hotel is a weathered 18th-century palace, deep in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, overlooking St. Felip Neri Square, right alongside the cathedral. This is the historic district, dating back to Roman times, so the rakish modern architecture on display elsewhere in... 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 neighborhood, the... Read More
Hotel New Otani Tokyo - Executive House ZEN: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; Anyone who’s stayed in the Club Level of an East Asian luxury hotel is familiar with the idea of a “hotel within a hotel,” a section of the hotel that’s as different from the rest of its offerings as first-class flying is from economy. In Tokyo’s Hotel New Otani we’ve found what’s perhaps the most... Read More
Hotel Ocean Drive: Ibiza, Islas Baleares, Spain; View | Reserve; One look at the exterior of this place and it’s clear the name Ocean Drive is hardly a coincidence. It’s pure Miami Art Deco, right down to the lettering on the side of the building. Which makes the views from the balconies — of Ibiza’s hills and rooftops, or the yachts in the marina on the... Read More
Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara: Santo Barbara, CA, USA; View | Reserve; In some ways Santa Barbara feels like what certain parts of Los Angeles might once have been, or could have been, before Hollywood and all that came along with it — just a pleasant, pretty little enclave on the Pacific coast, all palm trees and Spanish-style villas, and an unhurried pace to suit... 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 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; Tablet Hotels review... Read More
Hotel Opera: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; From the name it could be an overstuffed baroque fantasy; from the outside it could be a bank. The location, just across from the Royal Opera, accounts for the name, and the Los Austrias district, nearby the Royal Palace, is obviously an upscale one. So it’s all the more surprising that Madrid’s... Read More
Hotel Ormelune: Val d’isère, France; View | Reserve; Please note: this hotel is seasonal, and is open from December until the end of April... Read More
Hotel Paradies: Ftan, Graubünden, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Like a lot of things in Switzerland, Hotel Paradies keeps one foot solidly planted in tradition. Hotel Paradies began life a century ago as an artist’s residence by the painter Hans Walter Bayer, and it doesn’t take a painter’s eye to discern the appeal of its location. It’s been allowed to evolve... 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 Rudolph Valentino... 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 President: Budapest, Hungary; View | Reserve; Somewhere between a stately, old-fashioned grand hotel and a fun, funky little boutique hotel, there’s a gray area where you’ll find the President Hotel. Not literally, of course — try telling that to your cab driver and we can’t be held responsible for where you’ll end up. Best just to mention... 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 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 Buenos Aires: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Sister to the Pulitzer in Barcelona, the Buenos Aires version bears a pretty distinct family resemblance. With a bit over a hundred rooms it’s on the large side for a boutique, but on the small side for a business hotel. And though it’s a new build, and decidedly modern in aspect, its monochromatic... Read More
Hotel Pulitzer Roma: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; The smart and stylish 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 historical charm it makes up for in personality — this... Read More
Hotel PUR: Quebec City, Quebec, 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 Quintessence: Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, 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 Quote Taipei: Taipei , Taiwan; View | Reserve; If the presence, for a time, of the world’s tallest building wasn’t quite enough to cement Taipei’s world-capital bona fides, then the Hotel Quote should do it. Perhaps we exaggerate, but only a little — though it’s not as noticeable as a 101-story office tower, the presence of a first-rate... Read More
Hotel Recamier: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Please note: For selected weekends throughout the year, the hotel has a two (2) or three (3) night minimum stay requirement... Read More
Hotel Rector: Salamanca, Spain; View | Reserve; Another day, another gorgeous ancient Spanish city, another stunning landmark building turned into a clever, stylish little boutique hotel. Not that we’re complaining. The Hotel Rector in Salamanca is the sort of thing that keeps one coming back again and again. You can only do the major capitals... Read More
Hotel Renew: Honolulu, HI, USA; View | Reserve; Hiring the precocious San Francisco–based designer Jiun Ho to create the interiors for Honolulu’s Hotel Renew was a fittingly audacious choice for this upstart boutique. Any hotel that thumbs its nose so flagrantly at island-resort convention is bound to stick out among the palatial mega-hotels of... 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 Rosa Alpina: San Cassiano, Alps / Dolomites, Italy; View | Reserve; Everyone’s got a mental picture of Italy, but in the Dolomites the edges go a bit blurry. Only here, at the foot of these craggy peaks, could you find an Italian hotel that looks for all the world like a Bavarian mountain lodge. Or at least a broadly Germanic one, as strictly speaking it’s a lot... 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; Please note: The restaurant at San Anselmo will be closed for renovations beginning December 1st, 2011... 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 Santa Caterina: Amalfi, Campania, 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, 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 Signum: Salina, Aeolian Islands, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Signum is open seasonally, March through October... 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 Skeppsholmen: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; The uninitiated traveler most likely imagines Stockholm’s boutique hotel scene to be a haven of modern minimalist design. Those with a finger on the Scandinavian pulse, however, would know to expect a deep vein of cozy, almost rustic tradition. When it comes to the Hotel Skeppsholmen they’d both be... Read More
Hotel Spa Mizpe Hayamim: Rosh Pina, Galilee, Israel; View | Reserve; Hotel Spa Mizpe Hayamim has the hedonistic treatments and fine dining you’d expect from a contemporary luxury boutique hotel. What you might not expect, however, is the amount of comestibles and beautifiers grown on site. Or made, baked, dried, skimmed, picked, pickled, fermented, and so on. 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 Square: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Square offers their private parking garage for guests with automobiles. The fee is €25/night... Read More
Hotel St Moritz, Queenstown: Queenstown, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Visitors to New Zealand might find themselves (understandably) eager to get out of town and into the wild — the success of the small-lodge phenomenon is proof of that. But Queenstown is no ordinary town. It may feel urban by comparison with the rest of New Zealand, but its location on the shores of... 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. Stylish contemporary... 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 Terra: Teton Village, WY, USA; View | Reserve; Please note: Hotel Terra is currently closed and will reopen for the winter season November 25th... Read More
Hotel Therese: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Please note: For selected weekends throughout the year, the hotel has a two (2) or three (3) night minimum stay requirement... Read More
Hotel Toca do Marlin: Santa Cruz Cabralia, Bahia, Brazil; View | Reserve; There was a time when travel to Brazil, for the uninitiated at least, meant a choice between São Paulo and Rio. But it’s a big country, and with a little development, the coast of Bahia is coming into its own, tempting visitors northwards into Brazil’s warmer and wilder reaches. It’s a venture... Read More
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
Hotel Tres: Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, 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 Unico: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; By now the idea that Barcelona is the fun one and Madrid is the serious one is simply a long-dead stereotype. But there is something to be said for the way that Madrid’s gems often lie hidden beneath a stately and sober exterior. Hotel Unico is a case in point: behind an elegant 19th-century... 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; Please note: The unheated rooftop pool is open for guests all year, however pool chair and towel services are provided only during summer, when the terrace bar is open... Read More
Hotel V...: Vejer de La Frontera, Cádiz, Spain; View | Reserve; Safe to say you’re not likely simply to be passing through Vejer de la Frontera, looking for any old place to stay. This picturesque little Andalucian village is the perfect location for a chic little destination hotel, something like the Hotel V…, a twelve-room converted townhouse that’s a bastion... 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 Valley Ho: Scottsdale, AZ, 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 Veritas: Cambridge, MA, USA; View | Reserve; As the first hotel to open its doors in Harvard Square in over two decades, the pressure to offer ultra-modern high luxury must have been hard to resist. Luckily Veritas opted for the boutique route, a rambling Victorian townhouse that’s stately enough to look like it’s been part of the... Read More
Hotel Vertigo: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Back when it was called the Empire, this downtown San Francisco classic played a role in Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Now, after a very thorough renovation and re-branding, the film plays on a loop in the lobby. Recently, as the York, it was showing its age — but that was before the reins were handed to... Read More
Hotel Vila Selvagem: Fortim, Ceara, Brazil; View | Reserve; A design hotel on the beach in northeastern Brazil is going to create some pretty unique scenic juxtapositions, but Vila Selvagem, in the tiny fishing village of Pontal de Maceio, might have them all beat: from the comfort of modern apartment-style suites, guests can watch the graceful progress of... 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 Magna: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; A former palatial residence divided into spacious apartments for Spanish counts and countesses, the Villa Magna made the transition to its current five-star status after an extremely thorough renovation. The modernist granite exterior might not be exactly what you expect from a royal residence, but... 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 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 Viura: Villabuena de Alava, Spain; View | Reserve; Yes, those photos are real. Hotel Viura really is a precarious-looking cubist stack, an audacious modernist boutique planted in the soil of a traditional Spanish wine village in the Rioja Alavesa region. The contrast is only heightened by the fact that its next-door neighbor is an 18th-century... 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 Yasmin: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Prague has been one of Europe’s most talked-about destinations for some time now, but until lately, high-design boutique hotels have been a bit thin on the ground. Bit by bit, though, the city’s classic old buildings are getting a contemporary makeover — a case in point is the Hotel... Read More
Hotel Yountville: Yountville, CA, USA; View | Reserve; It’s arguably the culinary capital of the United States. The Napa Valley town of Yountville boasts more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the world — and it’s on its way towards having a hospitality scene to match. Here’s a prime example. Hotel Yountville’s modern forms... Read More
Hotel Zaza Dallas: 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; Hotelito Desconocido is a beachfront resort quite unlike any other. Where many resorts strive to offer an extravagant, high-consumption experience, this “small hotel” is a model of sustainable tourism, of ecologically sound hospitality. The location is the Playon de Mismaloya, a marine turtle... 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
Hutton Hotel: Nashville, TN, USA; View | Reserve; This ain’t your grandma’s Music City. Though Nashville still answers to that old nickname, today you’re more likely to hear Jack White and Karen Elson than Vince Gill and Amy Grant. The biscuits are artisanal, the blue suede shoes totally vintage. Low-key hipness has arrived. Here’s how the Hutton... 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 Hotel Canberra - A Park Hyatt Hotel: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; View | Reserve; In a townscape ruled by geometry, the Park Hyatt Canberra has landed smack in the middle between the London Circuit hexagon and State Circle. The building itself is a radial plan that hints at some intended posh governmental design vestige from Canberra’s early days. And unlike the slick Diamant... Read More
Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort & Spa: Hakone, Kanagawa, 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 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 Rocks House at Pikes Hotel: Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain; View | Reserve; Ibiza Rocks House at Pikes Hotel is closed from late Fall to early Spring... Read More
Ibrahim Pasha Hotel: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; It’s deep in the Sultanahmet, surrounded by all of Istanbul’s major sights, as well as all the usual tourist traps you expect from this heavily traveled district; but the Hotel Ibrahim Pasha is a breath of contemporary fresh air. And though it’s named for the neighborhood’s most famous resident... 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 Salviatino: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; You can have your design hotels. This fifteenth-century villa, on the Fiesole hillside overlooking Florence, has undergone a thorough renovation for the purpose of converting it into a modern boutique hotel — but a look around the place will confirm that it was more a restoration than a redesign... 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
Imanta Resorts Punta De Mita: Riviera Nayarit, Mexico; View | Reserve; In Mexico the big resorts might be the path of least resistance, but at this late date anyone who’s looking for something with a bit more personality has no excuses. With so much coastline it can’t all belong to the big developers — some of it, thankfully, goes to more sensitive proprietors, people... Read More
In Fashion Hotel Boutique: Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Heaven knows Playa del Carmen could use a bit of fashion. This Riviera Maya beach town isn’t exactly off the beaten path, and its hotels and resorts — with some notable exceptions, of course — are a mixed bag. Still, it’s not Cancùn, not by a long shot; and the proliferation of small, distinctive... 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
Infinity Residences & Resort Koh Samui: Koh Samui, Thailand; View | Reserve; Chances are, the “infinity” in Infinity Residences & Resort refers to the seemingly endless views out into the Gulf of Thailand. But it could equally refer to how far this corner of northwestern Koh Samui feels from the rest of the island’s booming tourist business. If you’re feeling social you’re... Read More
Inis Meain Restaurant & Suites: Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland; View | Reserve; Inis Meain Restaurant & Suites will close for the season on Sunday the 16th of October 2011... Read More
Inkaterra La Casona: Cusco, 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 Pueblo Hotel: CUSCO, 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; 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 as far as you can get from the shiny glamour of the big-money hotels, and miles more... 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
Insolito Boutique Hotel: Armação De Buzios, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; Insólito is Portuguese for “remarkable” — a confident moniker, considering that this beachfront boutique hotel is just one of many fashionable places to hang your hat in the Brazilian resort escape of Buzios. Sleek decor and a relaxed, intimate vibe? Check. Egyptian cotton, beautiful people dressed... Read More
Internacional Design Hotel: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; Sometimes, when it comes to hotels, the name more or less says it all. The Internacional Design Hotel in Lisbon does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. This classic colonnaded building on Rossio Square may be traditional on the outside, but inside it’s the archetypal contemporary-design... Read More
International House: New Orleans, LA, USA; View | Reserve; About the International House Hotel:International House Hotel is a newly renovated luxury boutique hotel in New Orleans. International House Hotel is located two blocks from the French Quarter in the historic Central Business District of New Orleans. It's recently opened restaurant Rambla from... Read More
Iriarte Jauregia: San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain; View | Reserve; Iriarte Jauregia is located twenty-five minutes south of San Sebastián — close enough for guests to explore the vibrant city, but sufficiently removed to provide a deeply relaxing pastoral experience in the lush countryside of Gipuzkoa, a small, verdant Basque province. Housed in a fully renovated... Read More
Isle Of Eriska: Eriska, Argyll, Scotland, UK; View | Reserve; Isle Of Eriska has a two night minimum stay policy... Read More
Ista Amritsar: Amritsar, India; View | Reserve; Amritsar is best known as the spiritual center of the Sikh religion and the home of Harmandir Sahib — the Golden Temple — a few miles from the Pakistani border in northwest India. In recent years, an economic boom and a cycle of urban growth have given rise to gleaming, high-end shopping malls and... Read More
Ista Bangalore: Bangalore, Karnataka, India; View | Reserve; Though fast-growing Bangalore is India’s third most populous city, you’d never know it from the views at Ista Bangalore. More than just cityscape fills the windows; here, you’ll also see huge swatches of verdant umbrellas and the deciduous and flowering trees that help give the area its “Garden... Read More
Ista Hyderabad: Hyderabad, India; View | Reserve; It’s becoming something of a home-grown tradition: as India’s cities sprawl outwards, making space for a booming information technology sector, the high-end business hotels follow, resulting in luxury hotels — make that luxury resorts — on the fringes of the suburbs, placed there not for leisure... Read More
Ista Pune: Pune, Maharashtra, India; View | Reserve; The city of Pune is Mumbai’s cultured inland neighbor. Home to an enormous population of students, as well as the Marathi film industry (Bollywood’s sober cousin), Pune has a well-deserved reputation as a bastion of free thinking and tolerance. All this youthful energy makes the city a natural host... Read More
Jacare do Brasil Casas: Trancoso, Brazil; View | Reserve; Traveling to Trancoso on Brazil’s Bahian coast requires a bit more commitment than the old-style Brazilian beach vacation — it’s an hour’s drive from the nearest airport at Porto Seguro. So if you’ve already made the effort to escape the fun-in-the-sun overload that can make Rio or Sao Paulo seem a... Read More
Jade Mountain: Soufrière, St. Lucia; View | Reserve; That view of the Pitons from the wraparound infinity pool pretty much sums it up — this little corner of St. Lucia is one of the most stunning sites in the Caribbean. And now, with the opening of Jade Mountain, it’s got the small, intimate luxury resort that it’s always deserved... Read More
Jai Mahal Palace: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; View | Reserve; If you want eighteen acres of gardens in the middle of a city as bustling as Jaipur, it’s going to take a palace. Back in the 18th century it would have helped mightily to be a member of Rajasthan’s royal family, but in the 21st century all it takes is a passing familiarity with the portfolio of... Read More
Jakes: St Elizabeth, Jamaica; View | Reserve; The appeal of Jake’s, in a nutshell, is that it’s more or less exactly what you would want a Jamaican boutique hotel to be like. On an island whose tourism tends toward the tasteless and the all-inclusive, a place this mellow and unassuming is guaranteed to stand out... Read More
Jamahal Private Resort & Spa: Jimbaran, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Please note: For most periods of the year, there is 3-night minimum stay requirement at Jamahal Private Resort & Spa... Read More
Jamaica Inn: Ocho Rios, St. Ann, Jamaica; View | Reserve; Decades ago Jamaica was a high-class affair, with pronounced British overtones; Noël Coward and Ian Fleming lived here, and Winston Churchill and TS Eliot were known to visit. Parts of Jamaica have since moved on, and taken on a decidedly less stylish approach to anything-goes relaxation — which... Read More
Jashita Hotel: Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Just south of the mega-resorts of Cancun and the string of hip boutique hotels on Playa del Carmen is Tulum, one of the Riviera Maya’s quieter beach hideaways. Sure, there’s tourist traffic, but they’re here for the Mayan ruins, not the all-you-can-drink margarita special at the pool bar... Read More
Jedediah Hawkins Inn: Jamesport, NY, Long Island, USA; View | Reserve; Note: There is a 2-night minimum stay requirement over weekends... Read More
Jesmond Dene House: Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK; View | Reserve; Even allowing for all the progress Newcastle has made in recent years, it’s still quite safe to say it’s one of the last places that springs to mind when you think of a likely setting for a country house holiday. Unless, of course, you happen to be thinking of the Jesmond Dene House. It’s not... Read More
JIA Hong Kong: Hong Kong, Hong Kong; View | Reserve; Jia is Hong Kong’s first boutique hotel, and, surprisingly, the first in Asia for celebrity designer Philippe Starck—who, one presumes, was too busy opening hotels on three other continents to have got round to Asia any sooner. And though it’s a boutique, it’s anything but... Read More
JIA Shanghai: Shanghai, China; View | Reserve; Please note: JIA Shanghai is temporarily closed for maintenance issues... Read More
JK Place: Florence, Tuscany , Italy; View | Reserve; Florence is home to many old-fashioned palazzo hotels, and more than a few modern-design boutiques; and though JK Place falls closer to the latter category, it is something a little bit different. The architect designed the Lungarno hotels as well, so he’s no stranger to contemporary chic... Read More
JK Place Capri: Capri, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: JK Place Capri is open seasonally from April through October. There is a 7 night minimum stay requirement from mid-June until mid-September and all weekend stays have a 3 night minimum stay requirement... Read More
Jumeirah Zabeel Saray: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; It’s beyond our brief here at Tablet to speculate as to the sustainability (or otherwise) of Dubai’s stratospheric luxury scene. But it’s certainly a relevant thought, in so far as it contributes to the air of fantasy that shrouds the city. It’s as though you’re breathing something more rarefied... Read More
Jupiter Hotel: Portland, OR, USA; View | Reserve; Though there’s a certain family resemblance between a hotel like the Jupiter and the glossy high-design luxury boutiques you see in the design magazines, the small-market American budget boutique is an altogether different sort of place. The Jupiter, the Thunderbird or the Hotel San Jose in the... Read More
Ka'ana Boutique Resort: San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize; View | Reserve; From a trip to San Ignacio, in western Belize’s Mayan country, one expects ancient culture, stunning scenery, and a bit of outdoor adventure. Less common is the sort of small-scale full-service luxury experience that’s on offer at the Ka’ana Boutique Resort & Spa, a hotel which combines the typical... Read More
Kameha Grand: Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; View | Reserve; There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the sensory feast that is the Kameha Grand – the stunning wing-shaped building by Karl-Heinz Schommer and the cutting-edge interiors by superstar designer Marcel Wanders leave jaws permanently dropped. It’s intended for that most desirable demographic, the... Read More
Kanaya Hotel: Tochigi, Tochigi ken, Japan; View | Reserve; Japan’s countryside is full of hidden gems, but few are in as privileged a position as the Nikko Kanaya Hotel. Here in the town of Nikko, at the entrance to the famous Nikko mountain park, you’re not exactly off the beaten path — but there’s something to be said as well for staying in the sort of... Read More
Karakoy Rooms: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; “Rooms” more or less sums it up — there’s not much to Karaköy Rooms aside from the accommodations, but we think you’ll agree that with rooms like these, it’s hard to imagine wanting more. Especially in this neighborhood, just down the hill from the Galata Tower; just like so many Parisian hotels... Read More
Kauri Cliffs: Northland, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Kauri Cliffs is located at the northern edge of New Zealand's North Island, perched on a cliffside overlooking the Pacific and flanked by four thousand acres of rolling hilly farmland. Though it is perhaps best known for its world-class golf course, the resort's strengths are its remoteness and its... Read More
Kempinski Hotel Aqaba: Aqaba , Jordan; View | Reserve; Seen from the Red Sea at night, the Kempinski Hotel in Aqaba rises up like a retro monument to 1970s-style modernism. Furthering the effect, a rotating array of neon lights up the concrete, semi-concave shape. Jordan isn’t Nevada, of course, and still less is Aqaba Vegas, but you’ll be forgiven if... Read More
Kenoa Exclusive Beach & Spa Resort: Barra de Sao Miguel, Alagoas, Brazil; View | Reserve; What’s unusual about Kenoa Exclusive Beach Spa & Resort isn’t simply the style of the place — it’s the conjunction if its sleek, high-design style and its location, on the far east coast of the state of Alagoas, tucked in between the forest and the Atlantic. This isn’t exactly boutique-hotel... Read More
Kensington Place: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; Just outside Cape Town proper, in Higgovale, a quiet enclave overlooking the city from the foothills of Table Mountain, Kensington Place is about as intimate as they come — just eight suites, in a magazine-ready contemporary-luxe style, with all the bells and whistles, including sprawling king beds... Read More
Key Hotel: Izmir, Izmir Region, Turkey; View | Reserve; Modern-design luxury boutiques are nothing new in Istanbul, but with the advent of the Key Hotel, the western Anatolian coastal city of Izmir is getting in on the act as well. The Key’s cubic structure dominates its slice of the waterfront, and the wraparound terrace on the top floor is visible... Read More
Kimber Modern: Austin, TX, USA; View | Reserve; Amidst the hustle and bustle of South Congress Avenue, an oasis of therapeutic efficiency awaits even the most harried traveler at the KimberModern. Proprietors Kimber Cavendish and Vicki Faust strike a balance between local and global, commissioning Austin-based architects to design the Zen-like... Read More
King & Grove Tides: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; The Tides towers over South Beach, a 12-story monolith in gleaming white, vaguely nautical, like a moored cruise ship, complete with telescopes in the guest rooms for scanning the high seas (surely nobody uses them just for watching the girls on the beach). Distinctly un-ship-like in their... Read More
King David Hotel: Jerusalem, Israel; View | Reserve; One might very well expect a hotel called the King David, in Jerusalem, to be a pretty majestic affair. And it is. This is the original Jerusalem grand hotel, a classical edifice in pink limestone, dating back to the Thirties (and thus predating the state of Israel as we now know it... Read More
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa: Monemvasia, Peloponnese, Greece; View | Reserve; Between the island paradise of the Cyclades and the chic boutiques of the capital, it’s no wonder the international traveler has scant attention left for some of Greece’s lesser-known destinations. One imagines, however, that fans of these lesser-known destinations like it that way. Every booking... Read More
Kiridara Hotel: Laung Prabang, Laos; View | Reserve; A fine hotel can occasionally elevate an average destination, but the best hotel experiences are had in locations that are capable of elevating a fine hotel. Luang Prabang, with its stunning natural setting and its rich cultural history, is a city so extraordinary it hardly needs boutique hotels... Read More
Kirimaya Golf Resort Spa: Pakchong, Nakom Ratchasima, Thailand; View | Reserve; There’s more to Thailand than Bangkok and the beaches. Two hours inland from the capital, at the edge of Khao Yai National Park, Kirimaya sprawls over hundreds of acres of near-virgin forest, with picturesque views of the mountains in the distance. Here, far from the bustle of the urban centers and... Read More
Kivotos: Mykonos, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; To outsiders, the appeal of Mykonos has waxed and waned, cool one decade, uncool the next. For the record, it’s apparently cool again, but ask a local (or better yet, visit yourself) and you’ll find it’s the kind of place whose natural charms should transcend any concerns about relative coolness... Read More
Kkala Hotel Boutique: Salta, Argentina; View | Reserve; Ask an Argentinean where to go for an experience that combines rural customs with the conveniences of urban living, and one likely answer is Salta. This mid-sized city in the northwest corner of Argentina boasts a wealth of neoclassical architecture and a tradition of local craftsmanship that... Read More
Klaus K: Helsinki, Finland; View | Reserve; For a city with such a rich modern design heritage, Helsinki has precious little in the way of flashy contemporary hotels. This regrettable state of affairs is now one step closer to being remedied, however, with the re-opening of the Klaus K, in the design district at the top of the Esplanade... Read More
Knightsbridge Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Knightsbridge Hotel is the perfect modestly-priced entrée into one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the world. In fact the Knightsbridge is the ideal shopper’s hotel, a sort of junior version of its sisters, Covent Garden and Charlotte Street, with a correspondingly lower nightly rate... Read More
Kruisheren Hotel: Maastricht, Netherlands; View | Reserve; To put it a bit broadly, the Dutch are no strangers to recycling spaces and putting them to inventive use — close to half the country is reclaimed land, for a start. And here you’ll find cutting-edge design in some of the unlikeliest of places, like the fifteenth-century monastery... Read More
Ku' Damm 101: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; Some of the best shopping in Europe is to be had in Berlin, specifically on the Kurfürstendamm, the main commercial drag of what was pre-unification West Berlin. Perfectly placed for shopping excursions is the Ku’ Damm 101, quite prosaically named for its address, in a converted office block in the... Read More
Kumarakom Lake Resort: Kottayam, Kerala, India; View | Reserve; Along the coastal lowlands and backwaters of India’s south-western state of Kerala lies the vast Vembanad Lake, connected to the Arabian Sea by a network of canals, estuaries and rivers. And at the edge of Lake Vembanad is Kumarakom, a tiny town at the edge of a lagoon, crisscrossed by narrow... Read More
L' Heure Bleue: Essaouira, Morocco; View | Reserve; If Marrakech is a city that never sleeps — chaotic, colorful, romantic, and cramped — then Essaouira is a seaside town that would rather take a leisurely siesta in a hand-woven hammock. The old-fashioned port city has long drawn surfers to its stunning Atlantic beaches and the occasional... Read More
L'Agapa Hotel Spa: Perros-Guirec, Brittany, France; View | Reserve; Travelers in search of a unique French coastal experience — one that’s practically the polar opposite of the mob scene on the French Riviera — take refuge at Perros-Guirec in Côtes-d’Armor. Home to the otherworldly pink beaches and rock formations of Brittany’s Granite Rose Coast, Perros-Guirrec is... Read More
L'Albereta: Erbusco-Franciacorta, Brescia, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Gualtiero Marchesi is closed on Sunday nights, as well as all day Monday. Ristorante Benessere is open year round, seven days a week... Read More
L'Andana: Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: L'Andana is open seasonally April through October... Read More
L'Ermitage Beverly Hills: Beverly Hills, CA, USA; View | Reserve; From the outside, L'Ermitage hasn't changed from its days as a condominium complex circa 1970 — but inside is a different story. The lobby is an airy minimal paradise in mahogany and caramel. The bedrooms are boudoirs lined with gilded silk, with pale wooden screens that open into walk in closets... Read More
L'Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; “No two rooms are the same” — any hotel with even a modicum of personality is likely to include such a phrase somewhere in its promotional literature, and it is bound to be true, at least to some degree, of any hotel selected by Tablet (though there may be a Japanese capsule hotel in our future... Read More
La Badia di Orvieto: Orvieto, Umbria, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: La Badia di Orvieto will be closed for the season January & February, 2012... Read More
La Bandita: Pienza, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Like any of the world’s top travel destinations, Tuscany is capable of showing visitors a few different faces. Leading approaches include the lap-of-luxury grand-hotel treatment, and the theatrical and painstakingly authentic traditional-farmhouse treatment. Add to those a new angle, one that’s... Read More
La Bastide de Marie: Menerbes, France; View | Reserve; La Bastide de Marie is seasonal, open each year from mid-April thru early-November... Read More
La Belle Juliette: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Is it possible for a hotel to be a biography? La Belle Juliette might be the first: this stylish little boutique hotel in the Saint-Germain is a period piece, at the very least, conceived by the French designer Anne Gelbard as an homage to Juliette Récamier, a notorious Parisian beauty from the... Read More
La Casa que Canta: Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico; View | Reserve; La Casa Que Canta does not accommodate children under 16 year old... Read More
La Ferme Saint Simeon: Honfleur, France; View | Reserve; The ancient port of Honfleur, on the banks of the Seine estuary, has long been a magnet for artists, drawn to the spectacular waters and skies of the English Channel. The Ferme Saint Siméon itself was a gathering place for artists like Monet, Courbet, and Honfleur native Eugene Boudin... Read More
La Lancha: Tikal, Guatemala; View | Reserve; They take years to plan, scout and develop, and present so many logistical challenges along the way that simply to finish one, to say nothing of a whole trilogy, is possibly enough achievement for a lifetime. Of course we’re talking about movies, but it’s equally true of hotels — just ask Francis... Read More
La Maison: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; It’s a commonplace by now that Rio tourism is big business — it’s been a long time since Brazil was truly exotic or undiscovered, and the archetypal visit involves a stay at one of the the massive high-rise hotels that blot out the sun along Ipanema or Copacabana beach, an experience you’ll share... Read More
La Maison d'Aix: Aix-en-Provence, Provence, France; View | Reserve; Neither fish nor fowl, neither Riviera glitz nor Provence farmhouse rustic, the old Roman town of Aix-en-Provence isn’t easy to pigeonhole. Fitting, then, that one of its finest hotels should be such a unique one. The Maison d’Aix isn’t an attempt at false modesty — it really is essentially just a... Read More
La Maison de Rhodes: Troyes, France; View | Reserve; The town of Troyes remained mercifully intact during World War II, preserving an abundance of half-timbered buildings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. They’re a bunch of Johnny-come-latelys compared to La Maison de Rhodes. The foundation of this eleven-room hotel in the heart of the... Read More
La Mansion del Rio: San Antonio, TX, USA; View | Reserve; La Mansión del Rio is located deep in downtown San Antonio, on the banks of the Paseo del Rio, alongside its historic River Walk. The building itself is authentic Colonial, built in 1852, and home to St. Mary's College until 1966... Read More
La Minervetta: Sorrento, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Contemporary design on the Amalfi coast — that alone makes La Minervetta worth noting. And we’re not using “contemporary” as a euphemism for that faceless minimal international style, either; you’ll find little in the way of greys or cream tones in La Minervetta’s... Read More
La Passion Hotel: Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; View | Reserve; Passion doesn’t have to declare itself loudly. La Passion, an eight-room boutique hotel in a Spanish Colonial manor house in Cartagena, Colombia, is quiet, intimate, and about as elegant as it gets — and the adults-only policy certainly doesn’t hurt. At this size, it would hardly qualify as a hotel... Read More
La Pleta by Rafael Hotels: Baqueira-Beret, Lleida, Spain; View | Reserve; La Pleta is open seasonally from December to April... Read More
La Purificadora: Puebla, Mexico; View | Reserve; If not for the Grupo Habita, Mexico would be short about half a dozen very fine modern hotels. And if not for Habita’s newest, La Purificadora, the little colonial city of Puebla (on the road from Mexico City to Oaxaca) would likely be off our radar entirely... Read More
La Residence d'Angkor: Siem Reap, Angkor, Cambodia; View | Reserve; Somewhere between a mini-resort and a boutique hotel, La Résidence d’Angkor is just about as close as you can get to the literal heart of Siem Reap — which, in turn, is the closest city to what is for many Cambodia’s main attraction, the temples at Angkor. La Résidence stands right at... Read More
La Residence Hotel & Spa: HUE, Vietnam; View | Reserve; On the banks of the Perfume River, in the old imperial city of Hue, is a restored classic, an Art Deco–style boutique hotel: La Résidence. This was once the Governor’s mansion, a piece of colonial history, looking straight across the river at the imperial citadel. And today its colonial-chic luxury... Read More
La Residence Phou Vao: Luang Prabang, Laos; View | Reserve; Deep in the heart of northern Laos, along the banks of the Mekong, is the old royal capital of Luang Prabang, one of the better places in Southeast Asia if you’re looking to get away from the crowds and the bright lights of the established tourist destinations. And roughly two kilometers outside of... Read More
La Residencia: Deya-Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain; View | Reserve; Like most of the world’s fabled tourist destinations, Mallorca has seen its share of development, even verging in places on overdevelopment. This is to one extent or another the natural fate of any desirable locale, yet it need not be all-consuming... Read More
La Samanna: Saint Martin, French West Indies, France; View | Reserve; Please note:La Samanna closes annually in September & October, with opening scheduled for November 2nd, 2011... Read More
La Sommita Relais: Ostuni, Puglia, Italy; View | Reserve; The idea of Italy as a holiday destination brings with it certain expectations, certain familiar scenes — from the palazzos and canals of Venice to the streets of Rome, buzzing with motorbikes; from the red roofs and vineyard rows of Tuscany to the cliffside mansions of the Amalfi coast... Read More
La Suite: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; A chip off the La Maison block, La Suite shares an owner, and a concept — a tiny and impossibly stylish luxury guest house, far enough off the main tourist drag to escape the crowds, but close enough to feel like you’re in on the action. In La Suite’s case, this means Joatinga, one of Rio’s most... Read More
La Sultana Marrakech: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is a 3 night minimum stay requirement for all high season dates at La Sultana Marrakech... Read More
La Sultana Oualidia: Oualidia, Morocco; View | Reserve; Please note La Sultana Oualidia will be closed January 4th through the 9th of February... Read More
La Valencia: La Jolla, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Perched on a cliffside in La Jolla, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, La Valencia has been the grand dame of the San Diego area since 1926, its pink stucco walls and mediterranean-style terraces playing host to Hollywood's biggest stars from the silent era to the present. There are more modern hotels... Read More
La Villa Gallici: Aix-en-Provence, Provence, France; View | Reserve; Just five minutes from the city center, La Villa Gallici was created by three friends who, tired of lamenting Aix-en-Provence’s lack of a traditional country house hotel, took it upon themselves to create one. The result is delightfully excessive, more luxurious than most Provencal inns, and... Read More
Lagacio Mountain Residence: San Cassiano, Alps / Dolomites, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Lagació Mountain Residence requires a three night minimum stay... Read More
Lake Okareka Lodge by Lebua: Rotorua, New Zealand; View | Reserve; >The Rotorua region of New Zealand’s North Island is a verdant paradise dotted with lakes, with Okareka being one of the less tourist-besotted. Lake Okareka Lodge is a gated estate composed of just three suites, which can be rented singly or all at once, perched on the edge of a peninsula that juts... Read More
Langham Place: Kowloon, Mongkok , Hong Kong; View | Reserve; It’s been a while since a new major luxury hotel opened in Kowloon, the mainland peninsula side of Hong Kong — height restrictions prevented the construction of skyscraper-hotels like the 59-story Langham Place building. Now that they’ve been lifted, however, the path is clear for megahotels in the... Read More
Las Alamandas: Quemaro, Jalisco, Mexico; View | Reserve; The backstory seems too fantastic to be true, like something from a Roger Moore-era James Bond movie. Don Antenor Patino, the Bolivian tin magnate, plans a beachfront mega-resort, but does not live to complete it — so his granddaughter Isabel Goldsmith (English financier father, long story) takes... Read More
Las Alcobas: Mexico; View | Reserve; Now that the first generation of hip boutique hotels is firmly established in Mexico City, it’s time for a second, more luxurious wave. The chic enclave of Polanco, never a rough neighborhood in the first place, is home to a new crop of elegant, opulent boutique hotels, hotels like the impeccably... Read More
Las Brisas: Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico; View | Reserve; Much of the low-key glamor and exotic charm that made Acapulco the destination of choice for the beautiful people of the Fifties and Sixties has since been crowded out by a riot of speedy development. Today the seaside is alive with enormous megahotels and endless crowds. There are still a few... Read More
Las Casitas del Colca: Arequipa, Peru; View | Reserve; It doesn’t take a cartographer to notice that the Orient Express hotels have spread a bit beyond the reach of the original railway line. But there’ll be few complaints as long as they’re up to the standard of Las Casitas del Colca. The location would be impossible to find fault with — the Colca... Read More
Las Clementinas: Panama City, Panama; View | Reserve; Set aside reality for a second, and imagine what it is you’d want from a six-room boutique hotel in the historic district of a picturesque old city. Chances are your mental image looks a lot like Las Clementinas. It’s impossible here not to feel the pull of hundreds of years of history — but like... Read More
Le Bellechasse: Paris, France; View | Reserve; It’s often a bit of a gamble commissioning boutique hotel interiors from fashion designers, but one thing you can almost always be sure of is that you won’t end up looking at the same tired minimalism you’ve already seen in a thousand other hotels. Extravagant materials, bold colors, quirky details... Read More
Le Burgundy Paris: Paris, France; View | Reserve; It’s rare in any city, and especially in Paris, that a new hotel immediately becomes an instant classic. In the case of Le Burgundy, however, it’s not at all out of the question. Though more modest in size than some of the big-name grand hotels — the Burgundy is just 59 rooms — it’s scarcely any... Read More
Le Caméléon Hotel: Puerto Viejo, Limón, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; Location isn’t everything when it comes to hotels, but it’s not nothing either. In some countries Le Caméléon’s crisp, contemporary monochrome look might signal little more than membership in the local boutique-hotel scene. In Costa Rica, land of natural-finish eco-lodges and thatched-hut villas... Read More
Le Couvent des Minimes Hotel & Spa: Mane en Provence, France; View | Reserve; There’s a rich tradition in France of convents, monasteries and abbeys subjected to renovation and re-opened as plush luxury retreats. A fine enough example is the Couvent des Minimes, a 17th-century convent in the Provençal village of Mane converted into a high-end resort compound, one whose spa... Read More
Le General Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; It’s not just the design, by the Parisian architect Jean-Philippe Nuel, that’s turning heads — this stylish little boutique is garnering notices for its budget-friendly price tag as well. After all, it’s not every day that a new contemporary design hotel sets up shop on these staid old streets, and... Read More
Le Gray: Beirut, Lebanon; View | Reserve; Consider it an 87-room vote of confidence in Beirut. Opening a luxury hotel here is a proposition that’s not without its risks, but this town was practically crying out for such a place as Le Gray, and you have to admire Campbell Gray’s nerve in actually going through with it — this is the man... Read More
Le Lodge Park: Megeve, France; View | Reserve; Le Lodge Park is seasonal, open from mid-December thru the end of March... Read More
Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons: Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England, UK; View | Reserve; A stone path leads past the green grass, hedgerows, and delphiniums to a honey-colored fifteenth-century manor house. The damp air is sweet with the scent of hydrangea. In the lobby, chintz cushions soften the flagstone floors, fireplaces, and wood beamed ceilings. It couldn't be more English... Read More
Le Mas Candille: Mougins, France; View | Reserve; For the discerning traveler, Le Mas Candille is a welcome rest from the bustle of the Côte D'Azur. Though just seven kilometers from Cannes, the quiet hillside village of Mougins stands in stark contrast to the tourist mecca of the Riviera... Read More
Le Mas de Pierre: Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Cote d'Azur, France; View | Reserve; These days, with the Riviera as crowded as it is and Provence practically a borough of the city of London, the greatest luxury to be had in the south of France is a little privacy. The most sought-after experience is that of being a guest in a private home — which goes a long way to explaining the... Read More
Le Medina Essaouira Hotel & Spa: Essaouira, Morocco; View | Reserve; From the way the travel press tells the story you’d think Marrakech was Morocco in its entirety. But those who have the time for a bit of rambling often find themselves taking some time by the sea in Essaouira (formerly Mogador), a town that’s no less charming than Marrakech, but quite a lot more... Read More
Le Meridien Bristol: Warsaw, Poland; View | Reserve; This century-old grand hotel, next door to the Presidential Palace, was long the city’s most elegant lodging, before falling on hard times, along with Warsaw itself. Today, as Poland recovers from the twentieth century and joins the new Europe, the Bristol is once again its splendid old self... Read More
Le Pavillon De La Reine: Paris, France; View | Reserve; This chateau-styled boutique hotel is blessed with a remarkable location, on the Place des Vosges, in the Marais, in the heart of historic Paris. It is housed in an eighteenth-century mansion, and the décor is full-tilt historical — no stark modernism on display, and nothing that could reasonably... Read More
Le Pavillon des Lettres: Paris, France; View | Reserve; From the same family that brought you the Pavillon de la Reine, here’s another pavillon entirely, the Pavillon des Lettres. This one, in the 8th arrondissement, is styled as a literary hotel, each of its twenty-six rooms named for a well-known author, from Baudelaire to Zola, Ibsen to Kafka. But... Read More
Le Petit Hotel: Montreal, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; Although Le Petit Hôtel may be petit in size, it’s grand in luxury, in a style that evokes a lost bohemia of nineteenth-century Europe. The Antonopoulos Group have made a habit out of carving modern boutique hotels out of Vieux Montréal’s historic buildings, most notably the Nelligan and the... Read More
Le Petit Nice Passedat: Marseille, France; View | Reserve; France’s second city rarely tops anyone’s list of travel destinations, perhaps unsurprising given the competition along the neighboring stretches of Mediterranean coast. There’s plenty worth seeing, though, including Le Petit Nice Passédat, Marseille’s most exclusive hotel, converted from two... Read More
Le Place d'Armes Hotel & Suites: Montreal, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; Hotel Place d’Armes is a new addition to the historic district of Old Montréal, a modern boutique hotel within the renovated nineteenth-century Great Scottish Life Insurance building, and an ideal vantage point from which to witness the resurgence of this once-neglected neighborhood... Read More
Le Placide Saint Germain des Pres: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Though it’s the address — 6 rue Saint-Placide — rather than the adjective which lends this Saint-Germain hotel its name, there is a certain calmness about Hôtel Le Placide’s cool white contemporary interiors. The final effect, however, is anything but tranquilizing: it’s hard not to feel energized... Read More
Le Prieure: Villenuve-les-Avignon, France; View | Reserve; The sensibly named Le Prieuré was built as a priory in the year 1322, but since the Mille family bought the place in 1943, it’s been the site of a more worldly variety of quiet contemplation. The quiet life, once the purview of men and women of the cloth, is the perfect balm for the harried soul of... Read More
Le Relais de Marambaia: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; We go on and on about the need to expand one’s mental picture of Brazil to include more than just Rio and São Paulo. Well, in this case, it doesn’t need to be expanded by much. Barra de Guaratiba is maybe twenty miles outside of Rio proper, on the Atlantic coast to the southwest of town. But that’s... Read More
Le Relais Saint-Jacques: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Modern design hotels may be moving into Paris, but Hotel Relais Saint-Jacques is decidedly in the opposite camp. This is, in many ways, what one expects from a Parisian hotel — comfort, traditional style, and enough antique furnishings to start an auction house. This Hausmann-style building, near... Read More
Le Reve Hotel & Spa: Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; The Riviera Maya is nobody’s idea of uncharted territory. But in between the big luxury chains and the bare-bones motels there are some hidden gems, if you know where to look. One of these — recognizable, even sight unseen, for its against-the-grain linguistic preferences — is Le Rêve Hotel & Spa... Read More
Le Richemond Geneve: Geneva, Switzerland; View | Reserve; One of Geneva’s grandest hotels, the 130-year-old Richemond stands opposite the Brunswick Gardens, with views of the Old Town Cathedral, Lake Geneva (just 50 meters away) and beyond, the Alps. The style is a theatrical and imposing blend of Art Deco chic and Victorian elegance, decorated in... Read More
Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris: Paris, France; View | Reserve; The day the newly renovated Le Royal Monceau opened its doors was the day we had to stop saying most of the things we’ve been saying about Parisian grand hotels all these years. No longer is it sensible to say that Paris, when it comes to luxury hotels, is entirely a conservative town — not now... Read More
Le Saint Sulpice Hotel: Montreal, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; A few years ago we’d have never believed that Vieux Montréal would be the epicenter of an outbreak of chic and modern boutique hotels, but for whatever reason, that’s what’s come to pass; within the historic district of the walled old city, one finds some of the most inspiring small hotels in North... Read More
Le Savoie Hotel & Spa: Val d'Isere, France; View | Reserve; There was a time when Alpine hotel rooms could be counted on to be cozy, at best — when you’re virtually guaranteed to be spending your entire day on the slopes, or so the thinking ran, why waste space on expansive, luxurious rooms and suites? It’s a mindset you’ll still see replicated in certain... Read More
Le Sereno: Saint Barthelemy, French West Indies, France; View | Reserve; When it comes to a modern, living connection to Europe, there’s nothing quite like Saint-Barthélémy — it feels uncannily like a tropical island version of present-day France, like a little bit of 21st-century Paris on the beach. This urbane charm is Le Sereno’s bread and butter. Where most tropical... Read More
Le Serre - Suites & Apartments: 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 town a few... Read More
Le Sirenuse: Positano, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Children under the age of 8 years old are not allowed during high season... Read More
Le St James Hotel: Montreal, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; Montréal has recently seen a bumper crop of new boutique hotels—few, though, are as self-consciously opulent and relentlessly upscale as Hotel Le St-James. The building is, like so many in Old Montréal, a nineteenth-century landmark, a Second Empire bank building dating to 1870, an imposing and... Read More
Le Vigne Della Duchessa Country Resort: Soliera , Emilia Romagna, Italy; View | Reserve; There are at least as many different ways to experience Italy as there are historic regions — in some ways it’s still twenty different countries, and the traditional pictures of Tuscan hillsides or Roman villas are worlds apart from the inland plains of Emiliana Romagna. Out here, in the... Read More
Lebua at State Tower: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; Most of Bangkok’s hotels are unashamedly big deals — whether they’re high-rise towers or sprawling compounds, they tend toward the decadent and ostentatious, with miles of silk draperies and fawning service straight out of the colonial era. Refreshing, then, to find a place a little less... Read More
Lefay Resort & Spa: Lago di Garda, Gargnano, Italy; View | Reserve; Lefay Resort specializes in environmentally sensitive, extraordinarily well-appointed balm for souls made weary by the world. How well appointed? It’s got two swimming pools, five saunas, five meditation gardens, three relaxation areas, and twenty-five acres of parkland for anything from running to... Read More
Legado Mitico: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; The idea of a theme hotel is normally cause for some skepticism. Which makes the success of Legado Mitico in Buenos Aires so much more impressive. Its stylish guest rooms and public spaces pay homage to Argentina’s history in a subtle, intelligent manner, and the result is a quirky, cool hotel with... Read More
Les Alizes Beach Resort: Cap Skirring, Senegal; View | Reserve; It doesn’t exactly top the travel editors’ lists of “hot beach destinations,” but you’ve no doubt been around enough to know that’s not necessarily a true reflection of the quality of a place. The Senegalese coast hasn’t got the critical mass, perhaps, that a mass tourism destination needs to have... Read More
Les Deux Tours: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; Set in three acres of manicured garden in Marrakech’s Palmeraïe, Les Deux Tours is nothing if not an escape. Though your proximity to the old city means you’re anything but isolated, you won’t exactly feel the hum of the medina’s busy streets. Instead you’ll exult in the quiet that surrounds the... Read More
Les Etangs de Corot: Ville-d’Avray, France; View | Reserve; An elegant escape in a pastoral setting midway between Paris and Versailles — it’s not the toughest thing in the world to sell. This was as true for Corot and his Impressionist contemporaries as it is for guests of Les Etangs de Corot today, and the hotel bears their influence to this day, each one... Read More
Les Fermes de Marie: Megève, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Les Fermes de Marie is a seasonal hotel that is open from December-April... Read More
Les Jardins de la Villa: Paris, France; View | Reserve; The gardens are pint-sized, but then again so is the hotel. Paris is a city where a little greenery goes a long way, and it’s impossible to overstate the sense of expansiveness Les Jardins de la Villa’s little courtyard garden lends to this thirty-three-room boutique hotel, a few blocks off the Arc... Read More
Les Pleiades Hotel Spa: Barbizon, Ile de France, France; View | Reserve; Barbizon, nearly two centuries ago, was where the eponymous school of painters decamped to so that they might gain a greater understanding of France’s rural life. Today it’s rather the same situation, easels optional. Located thirty-odd miles south of Paris, at the edge of the Fontainebleu Forest... Read More
Les Suites de la Potiniere: Courchevel, Rhône Alpes, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Les Suites De La Potiniere is a seasonal hotel, operating from mid-December thru mid-April... Read More
Les Suites Orient, Bund Shanghai: Shanghai , China; View | Reserve; To read it from the newspapers over the last few years you’d think Beijing was unequivocally the capital of the Chinese building boom. But on the Bund in Shanghai, architectural expression has long been the order of the day. It’s here that Les Suites, in their first expansion from Taiwan to the... Read More
Les Suites Taipei Ching-cheng: Taipei, Taiwan; View | Reserve; The label "Made in Taiwan" used to carry a connotation of cheapness, of inferior goods imported from an inferior overseas economy. But as the fortunes of the region have risen, Taiwan has emerged as a tech powerhouse, one whose citizens probably now buy cheap knick-knacks with a Made in USA label... Read More
Les Suites Taipei Da-an: Taipei, Taiwan; View | Reserve; Though conveniently located right in the middle of downtown, surrounded by the shopping, business, and entertainment districts of Chung Hsiao and Dun Hua roads, Les Suites Taipei Da-an is a cozy and intimate boutique hotel, a worthy alternative to the city’s many enormous business hotels... Read More
Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon: Quy Nhon City, Vietnam; View | Reserve; With a name like Life Resort, clearly it’s intended to be a little bit more than just another night in a hotel. The setting is unmatched, just outside the south-central seaside town of Quy Nhon, a place that’s largely untouched by the tourist trade, mountains, sea, and ancient... Read More
Lilianfels Blue Mountains: Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia; View | Reserve; Please note: For Friday/Saturday arrivals, there is a 2-night minimum stay requirement... Read More
Lime Wood Hotel: Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, UK; View | Reserve; Some country-house hotels — especially those in areas where the manor-house lifestyle is a thing of the distant past — strive heroically to re-create the atmosphere of 1938. In this part of Hampshire, however, there’s nothing to prove, no chips on any shoulders. Perhaps that’s the key to the... Read More
Limes Hotel: Brisbane, Australia; View | Reserve; If you’re surprised to see something quite so cosmopolitan and sophisticated in Brisbane, don’t feel bad. Limes is the first hotel of its kind in this town, but to be honest it would stand out in Melbourne, in Sydney, or anywhere else. The design, by Alexander Lotersztain, is front and center, from... Read More
Linthwaite House Hotel: Windermere, Cumbria, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Lake District isn’t short of hotels or bed-and-breakfasts, but there are few that can compete on the level of Linthwaite House. Take a setting as striking as any (in this case an Edwardian manor house surrounded by fourteen acres of woodlands and gardens, looking out over the picturesque Lake... Read More
Llao Llao Hotel & Resort: San Carlos de Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina; View | Reserve; Llao Llao is one of South America’s best-known and most unique hotels, located in scenic northwestern Patagonia, between Lake Moreno and Lake Nahuel Huapi, at the feet of snow-capped peaks, offering postcard views in every direction. The hotel was built in 1940, in the style of one of Canada’s... Read More
Lloyd Hotel: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; There’s more to Amsterdam than hostels and canal houses, to be sure. And with Dutch design all the rage, it’s odd that something like the Lloyd Hotel hasn’t been attempted before. From the outside it’s anything but a design statement, a century-old former prison, a listed historic monument that... Read More
Locanda al Colle: Camaiore, Lucca, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Locanda al Colle requires a three night minimum and is open annually from the end of March to the beginning of November... Read More
Locanda Palazzone: Orvieto, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: 2 night minimum required June through September... Read More
Locanda Rossa: Capalbio, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Locanda Rossa is open annually April through December. Three night minimum required for stays in June, July and August. Two night minimum required for all other dates... Read More
Loden Hotel: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; View | Reserve; Many hotels in Vancouver can boast breathtaking views — this town is nothing if not topographically gifted. However, the district of Coal Harbour on the north edge of downtown has a slight edge on the rest. Think of it as stadium seating for the panorama that unfolds across the Burrard Inlet. Coal... Read More
Loft 523: New Orleans, LA, USA; View | Reserve; Loft 523 is an oddity in old-fashioned New Orleans — a boutique hotel in a completely modern style, one that would look at home in New York or London. Where many New Orleans hotels aim for a French mansion style, all antiques and ivy, Loft 523 is stark, minimal, contemporary. From inside, one could... Read More
Londa: Limassol, Cyprus; View | Reserve; Limassol, the south coast port town that’s Cyprus’s second city, has for years been on nobody’s list of fashionable travel destinations. It’s got the natural beauty, to be sure, and the infrastructure, but the hotel offerings have been largely confined to drab and unhip Seventies resorts... Read More
Longitude 131: Yulara, Ayers Rock, Australia; View | Reserve; Please note: Longitude 131 cannot accommodate children 15 years old and under and has a 2 night minimum stay requirement... Read More
Lopez De Haro: Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain; View | Reserve; The Guggenheim is far from the only thing worth seeing in Bilbao — but it is the key to the renaissance of this once-drab, industrial city. It is up for debate whether the museum is the cause, or merely an effect, of Bilbao’s new forward-looking attitude, but one thing that is not up for... Read More
Lords South Beach: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; There’s a certain logic to the fact that the first self-identified gay boutique hotel should occupy this particular stretch of Collins Avenue in South Beach (incidentally right around the block from the old Versace mansion) — it’s hard to imagine where it could possibly receive a warmer reception... Read More
Los Altos Beach Resort & Spa: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; High-end sustainability is de rigueur for newer Costa Rican hotels, and Los Altos Beach Resort and Spa is no exception. Situated along the Pacific coast on twenty-one acres of rainforest adjacent to the Manuel Antonio National Park, Los Altos is noteworthy for using a relatively small amount of its... Read More
Los Cauquenes Resort & Spa: Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina; View | Reserve; Among the many places that claim to be “the end of the world,” the Tierra del Fuego, at Argentina’s extreme southern end, might have the strongest case. It’s not that it’s really all that much more remote than some of the other contenders, but there might be no other place that can match this... Read More
Los Sauces Casa Patagonica: El Calafate, Argentina; View | Reserve; Argentina’s got some of the world’s most rugged terrain in the mountains of Patagonia, and some of the most sublime landscapes to boot, including the icy splendors of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. But even here, at the edge of the world, the typically Argentine dedication to the good life is very... Read More
Louis Hotel: Munich, Bavaria, Germany; View | Reserve; Anyone expecting today’s Munich to be heavy, gray and industrial is in for a pleasant surprise. These days Monocle has taken to calling it “Italy’s northernmost city,” and the contrast with the traditional picture of Germany — not just the weather, but the mood as well — couldn’t be clearer. It’s... Read More
LUMEN Paris Louvre: Paris, France; View | Reserve; A little explanation in order to properly introduce the new Hotel Lumen: Paris is in another league when it comes to hotels — its enormous volume of tourist traffic combined with its general scarcity of real estate places it in the same pricey bracket as London or Tokyo. Combine that with a... Read More
Lungarno Suites: Florence, Tuscany , Italy; View | Reserve; Lungarno Alberghi is the hotel division of Italy’s Ferragamo fashion dynasty—but while some fashion label hotels seem little more than marketing exercises, with the brand name splashed across every available surface, the Lungarno hotels deliberately downplay, even obscure, their... Read More
Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive: Beverly Hills, CA, USA; View | Reserve; At first glance, we must admit, we were skeptical—the Luxe Hotel is quite possibly the only storefront on Rodeo Drive that doesn’t belong to a luxury goods brand or a designer boutique. It seems the height of folly to establish a hotel here, on the world’s most famous shopper’s drive, and given our... Read More
Luxe Hotel Sunset Blvd: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; With a name like that it’s not hard to guess where they’re coming from. The Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard is luxe indeed, with a location that’s more upscale retreat than downtown hipster haunt — it’s spread over seven acres of parkland in Brentwood, near the Getty Center, where Sunset Boulevard is a... Read More
Luxx XL: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; There’s plenty of room for small boutiques alongside the five-star mega-chains of Bangkok’s outsized hotel industry. Inhabiting a prime location on the upscale Langsuan Road, Luxx XL is a fashionable alternative to glitzy opulence. In a city where the best hotels seem to be housed in towers, this... Read More
Lyall Hotel and Spa: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; View | Reserve; The Lyall Hotel and Spa is a converted apartment building in South Yarra, a highly fashionable and cosmopolitan district outside of the city’s center. Melbourne is already one of the world's most comfortable and enticing cities, and the downtown area is easily accessible by train — with a station... Read More
Lydmar Hotel: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; Some of you might remember another Stockholm hotel that went by the Lydmar name, a rowdy, almost painfully hip sort of place, where the focus was very much on the nightlife, and the revelers at times threatened to overwhelm the guests. Well, that was then, and this is now — around the turn of the... Read More
Macakizi: Turkbuku, Bodrum Peninsula, Turkey; View | Reserve; Please note Macakizi will be closed for the season until April 18th, 2012... Read More
Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge: Machu Picchu, Peru; View | Reserve; Clearly the attraction here is the proximity to the ruins of the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, hidden away almost eight thousand feet up in Peru’s Andes mountains. There are other places to stay in the general area of Machu Picchu, but there’s only one luxury hotel within the protected... Read More
Madinat Jumeirah Al Qasr: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; One doesn’t visit Dubai with an eye towards subtlety, or towards intimate scale. The Madinat Jumeirah complex is massive, somewhere around a thousand rooms, all scattered amid the terraced gardens by the side of the Arabian Gulf. It’s made more manageable, though, by the distinctly Emirati practice... Read More
Madison Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Conservatism casts a long shadow in the world of Paris hospitality, and the best boutique hotels seem to find compelling and original methods of reacting against tradition without indulging in some sneering postmodern wackiness. Step inside the lobby of the Madison Hotel, and you’ll see how it’s... Read More
Maduzi Hotel, Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; Bangkok’s boutique Maduzi calls itself a "conceptual hotel," but that doesn’t mean it's difficult. The concept is something like "luxury isolation," which is familiar enough. And the policy that guarantees absolute privacy is this: no walk-ins, and no visitors who don’t know the password. This is... Read More
Magnolia Hotel: Houston, TX, USA; View | Reserve; Houston's skyline is a collection of sleek glass air-conditioned towers, relics of the 1970s spike in energy prices and the resulting boom for the local petroleum industry. The Magnolia Hotel, by contrast, occupies the old Houston Post-Dispatch building, a 22-story 1920s original and a much more... Read More
Maison 140 Beverly Hills: Beverly Hills, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Maison 140 is essentially the boutique hotel take on the good old bed and breakfast, LA style, in a 44-room building that once belonged to actress Lilian Gish... Read More
Maison Couturier: Veracruz, Mexico; View | Reserve; Mexico’s a big place, with more geographic and cultural diversity than the travel industry might have you believe. The stereotypical picture of sun and surf is accurate, to a point, but it certainly doesn’t include this little French enclave in the Caribbean coastal state of Veracruz, home to a... Read More
Maison Moschino: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Maison Moschino will be closed for the month of August... Read More
Malibu Beach Inn: Malibu, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Malibu’s Carbon Beach is probably better known by its nickname, Billionaire’s Beach. The pristine stretch of southern California coastline is prime real-estate for movie stars and rich-enough-to-own-an-island moguls, with small plots of beachfront real estate hitting eight-figure prices. Unless... Read More
Mama Ruisa Boutique Hotel: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; Though it’s certainly off the beaten path compared to Copacabana and Ipanema, the neighborhood of Santa Teresa — once quaint and bohemian, now rapidly becoming the bairro of choice for chic travelers — isn’t exactly a secret anymore. But a few quiet street corners, clattering streetcars and... Read More
Mamaison All-Suites Spa Hotel Pokrovka Moscow: Moscow, Russia; View | Reserve; These days the first image that springs to mind about Moscow isn’t the scale of its monuments so much as the scale of its wealth. Those with the means in post-Soviet Russia are making up for lost time, consuming as conspicuously as possible. So the time is right for a place like the MaMaison... Read More
Mamaison Hotel Le Regina Warsaw: Warsaw, Poland; View | Reserve; Not to be confused with the British Malmaison chain — MaMaison, no L, is an Eastern European phenomenon, specializing in converting historical buildings to high-end boutique hotels. The markets they’re in are under-served in that particular category, to put it mildly; there’s nothing else in... Read More
Mamaison Residence Sulekova Bratislava: Bratislava, Slovak Republic; View | Reserve; Given the relative dearth of boutique hotels in this part of Europe, and in particular the tardiness with which international travelers have embraced Slovakia, it’s a bit surprising, honestly, to find that one of Bratislava’s first small contemporary design hotels is such a strong entry. But that’s... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; Some say that Bangkok's Mandarin Oriental is the most overrated hotel in the world. The rest of the world, however, simply says it's the best. It is, after all, the most famous of the splendid colonial hotels. And the most famous of the splendid colonial writers, Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene, and W... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Barcelona: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; Some gleaming, towering modernist glass monolith just wouldn’t play in lovely, historic Barcelona. That’s why the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona makes its home where it does, in a classic bank building that’s the better part of a century old. The stately facade blends well with its tony Eixample... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Bermuda: Paget Parish, Bermuda; View | Reserve; One fact about Elbow Beach is perhaps more illuminating than anything else we could say about it: it's a Mandarin Oriental... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Boston: Boston, MA, USA; View | Reserve; It may have been a long time coming but this new Mandarin Oriental, on Boylston Street in the upscale Back Bay, was exactly what Boston needed. It’s not simply that it’s a high-end luxury hotel — this town’s already got a few of those — but it’s the obsessive attention to the finer points of style... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi: Chiang Mai, Thailand; View | Reserve; Not at all the typical Mandarin Oriental, and in fact quite unlike just about any hotel anywhere — the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, on the outskirts of the inland city of Chiang Mai, is no high-rise city hotel but a bona fide resort, Mandarin’s first. And what a resort it is... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Geneva: Geneva, Switzerland; View | Reserve; The Mandarin Oriental (formerly the Hotel du Rhône) is what a business hotel should be. Anything but the usual faceless downtown office block, this one is located (as the old name may imply) on the right bank of the Rhône river, a picturesque situation, yet still convenient to Geneva’s business... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong: Hong Kong, Hong Kong; View | Reserve; The original Mandarin Oriental is back. Though it’s always been one of the best hotels in Hong Kong, if not all of Asia, this relic of the Swinging Sixties was beginning to show its age. Now, after a thorough rethink of its interiors (and not just a cosmetic one — we’re talking walls... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The old and rather serious Hyde Park Hotel is back after lengthy renovations as the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park; and like any Mandarin it’s astonishingly luxurious, impeccably staffed, and not at all hard on the eyes... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Jakarta: Jakarta, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Every parent thinks his or her child is above average — and, numerically speaking, some of them are bound to be right. Same goes for luxury hotels: every big business chain thinks its hotels strike just the right balance of style and comfort, of privacy and sociability, of traditional elegance and... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; View | Reserve; We love to root for the underdog as much as anyone, and we delight in exposing small independent hotels to a wider audience. But like the mainstream pop radio hit that, despite yourself, you just can’t stop humming, sometimes the big hotel chains get it exactly right... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas: Las Vegas, NV, USA; View | Reserve; There aren’t many cities where a luxury hotel as relentlessly high-end as the Mandarin Oriental would feel bracingly, refreshingly understated, but the desert-bound theme park that is Las Vegas is one of them. The brand’s clean-lined modernist design and discreetly professional service is appealing... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Miami: Miami, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Most of us hear the word “Miami” and our minds automatically fill in the word “Beach.” But Miami’s Mandarin Oriental proves there’s more to this town than the South Beach scene... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Munich: Munich, Bavaria, Germany; View | Reserve; ... Read More
Mandarin Oriental New York: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Located in the north tower of the $1.7bn Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, the Mandarin Oriental brings Far East hospitality to America's hottest hotel market. The Asian influence is apparent at a glance, with wood paneling, marble everywhere, and clean Zen-influenced design. And even the... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Paris: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Luxury-hotel junkies were licking their chops for ages before this one opened. Paris is a city that’s no stranger to high-end luxury hospitality, and it was long clear that a Mandarin Oriental would have to be something special, even by the company’s lofty standards, if it was going to make a dent... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Prague: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; The Prague we’re used to reading about in the travel press is one thing: youthful, edgy, affordable, bohemian (as well as literally Bohemian). Like any real-world city, though, it’s got other dimensions, one of which is inhabited by a hotel that’s pretty far from backpack/hostel... Read More
Mandarin Oriental San Francisco: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Mandarin Oriental hotels famously bring a taste of Far East ultra-luxury to American shores, and the San Francisco outpost goes even a step further; to the Asian-inspired décor and the top-flight service, add the simple fact that the Mandarin is San Francisco’s highest hotel, occupying... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Sanya: Sanya City, Hainan, China; View | Reserve; From a Western perspective the Mandarin Oriental hotels are largely an urban phenomenon — in most of the world’s major cities, among the top three or four luxury hotels is invariably a towering modern Mandarin. For their first hotel in the People’s Republic of China, however, the Mandarin group has... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Singapore: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; The bad news, if you like surprises, is that the Mandarin Oriental Singapore is pretty much exactly what you’d expect it to be. The good news, if you like hotels, is that you expect great things from a Mandarin Oriental. This is one area where being predictable is definitely not the worst thing in... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Tokyo: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; It feels like there should have been a Mandarin in Tokyo ages ago — maybe they were just taking their time to make sure they got it right. What matters more is that now there is; and get it right they have... Read More
Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C.: Washington, DC, USA; View | Reserve; DC’s brand-new Mandarin Oriental occupies an unusual location, in the Portals complex, a multi-use site on a concrete promontory near the 14th Street Bridge, at the confluence of the Washington Channel and the Potomac Tidal Basin. This may mean it’s a less convenient location than some... Read More
Mansion on Turtle Creek: Dallas, TX, USA; View | Reserve; The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek most definitely lives up to its name: it doesn’t seem like a hotel, but an extravagant house. The 143 room structure was built, in 1925, as a residence for cotton baron Sheppard King, and is the ultimate in old-fashioned Dallas opulence. Here, you live it up... Read More
Mansion Vitraux: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Don’t be fooled by the unorthodox location. Despite its address on a cobblestoned street in San Telmo, a barrio that’s deeply old-fashioned compared to the boutique-strewn Palermo, this is no glorified B&B. And while the name suggests traditional grandeur, Mansión Vitraux doesn’t feel like a... Read More
Marbella Club Hotel: Marbella, Spain; View | Reserve; Marbella is one of the Costa del Sol’s most storied destinations, and the Marbella Club is the quintessential Marbella resort — established by Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe in 1954 and playing host to the cream of the European aristocracy, titled and otherwise, ever since. And as the town has grown... Read More
Margutta 54: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Margutta 54’s bohemian street cred dates back to the 1850s, when the great-grandfather of the current owner established an artists’ colony. As the residents’ stature and influence grew — Picasso and Stravinksy lived and worked there, while Fellini moved in down the street — the shacks turned chic... Read More
Mario de Fiori 37 Boutique Hotel: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Mario de Fiori 37 is one of a small handful of boutique hotels owned by Alberto Moncada, whose skill at converting centuries-old townhouses into apartment-style hotels has resulted in some remarkable, intimate accommodations in one of Rome’s most vibrant — and tourist-saturated — neighborhoods. A... Read More
Maroma Resort & Spa: Solidaridad, Qunitana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Please note: During the high season (December to April) Maroma Resort & Spa does not allow children under 16. During the low season (May to November), Maroma does not allow children under 12... Read More
Marunouchi Hotel: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; From an urban planning perspective Tokyo’s Marunouchi district is something of a wonder: a massive development push resulted, seemingly overnight, in a brand-new commercial/retail district that’s, if vibrant isn’t precisely the right word, certainly thriving. And while some of the world’s top... Read More
Masseria San Domenico: Brindisi, Puglia, Italy; View | Reserve; Leave to the travel writers the question of whether or not it’s the new Tuscany; Puglia, by now, is familiar enough on its own, its dramatic and often sublimely bleak landscape just about as far as you can get from the postcard paradise of parts farther north. In contrast to the soothing spectacle... Read More
Masseria Torre Maizza: Savelletri di Fasano, Puglia, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: During the month of August, the hotel has a minimum age requirement (10 years... Read More
Matakauri Lodge: Queenstown, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Matakauri Lodge is a tiny hotel — comprising just three suites in the main lodge, and four villas nestled in the native bush, this is one of the most private and intimate hotels anywhere. And its location doesn't hurt a bit, to say the least; New Zealand has been a hot travel destination for some... Read More
Maya Villa: Aranwella Beliatta, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; To the ever-lengthening list of can’t-miss hideaways on the Sri Lankan coast, it’s time to add another: Maya Villa, on the south coast a few miles from Tangalle, is a stunning, secluded little escape, a five-room speck of a place on a century-old estate surrounded by paddy fields and unspoiled old... Read More
ME Madrid: Madrid, Spain; View | Reserve; In typical Madrid style, the new boutique on the block is actually an update of a classic building, or perhaps even an update of an update. This gorgeous 1923 building housed first a rough crowd of bullfighters and associates, then a more sedate and upscale haute-luxury crowd; now it’s the ME... Read More
Med-Inn Boutique Hotel: Gulluk, Bodrum Peninsula, Turkey; View | Reserve; Please note Med-Inn Boutique Hotel is closed until May 1, 2012 for the winter season... Read More
Medusa Hotel: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; View | Reserve; Quirky, stylish Medusa is a converted eighteenth-century Victorian townhouse in ultra-fashionable Darlinghurst, Sydney's gallery and boutique district. The award-winning design, by prominent Australian interior architect Scott Werner, is anything but Victorian; in fact, these daring, modern... Read More
meerSinn: Ostseebad Binz, Rugen, Germany; View | Reserve; The Mediterranean may be the image that first springs to mind when most of us imagine a European seaside holiday, but northerners have long known it’s far from the only game in town. And while the rest of the world is mounting a summer migration to the crowded southern beaches, the Baltic comes to... Read More
Metropole Hotel: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; Once an orphanage church in which Antonio Vivaldi gave music lessons, the Metropole was converted into a hotel at the end of the nineteenth century. It was known in Freud's day as the Casa Kirsch, and as the Metropoli was briefly enlisted as a military hospital during World War II. For the last... Read More
Metropole Taormina Maison D'Hotes: Taormina, Italy; View | Reserve; When it comes to Sicilian hospitality, glossy high design is hardly the first idiom that comes to mind. As the island’s economy has developed, Sicily’s general atmosphere of rustic earthiness has gone from stigma to selling point. That’s true of Taormina, whose old town center is as pleasantly... Read More
Metropolitan Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; The Metropolitan Bangkok is the sister hotel to London's Metropolitan — a sleek and contemporary boutique hotel, with staff outfitted in black designer uniforms, and lots of white paint and dark wood. One might be tempted to think that the sort of minimal, vaguely Oriental design that is all the... Read More
Metropolitan London: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Metropolitan is the apotheosis of the trendy boutique hotel concept—and we don’t mean ‘trendy’ in a pejorative sense, but rather as a simple statement of fact. Some hotels aim to impersonate down-home country charm, others old-money aristocracy; the Metropolitan, and the genre it stands for... Read More
Mezzatorre Resort & Spa: Forio D Ischia, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Mezzatorre Resort & Spa is open seasonally from April through October... Read More
Mill Valley Inn: Mill Valley, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, nestled between the waters of Richardson Bay and the slopes of Mount Tamalpais, Mill Valley is one of California’s most scenic small cities, equal parts upscale bedroom community and rustic redwood canyon retreat. A short walk from the town... Read More
Milliken Creek Inn & Spa: Napa, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Milliken Creek Inn & Spa is designed and operated for an adult clientele seeking a tranquil atmosphere, and is therefore unsuitable for children under 18. The property loves animals but asks that you do not bring them with you during your stay... Read More
Mine Hotel Boutique: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; At the moment the Palermo Soho neighborhood is the epicenter of everything creative that’s happening in Buenos Aires — and as such it’s where most of the new developments in the hotel scene are happening as well. Here, just off the Plaza Cortázar, is the Mine Hotel Boutique, a lively and... Read More
Miraflores Park: Lima, Peru; View | Reserve; In the context of airlines, "business class" means "how I would like to fly if someone else were paying the bill." The Miraflores Park Hotel is another example of the kind of elegance and pampering ostensibly intended to minimize the discomfort of business travelers, but also quite enjoyable as an... Read More
Miro Hotel: Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain; View | Reserve; As in Antonio Miró, the fashion designer, not Joan Miró, the late pseudo-Surrealist painter and sculptor — one imagines that if the latter were responsible for this hotel, Gehry’s Guggenheim might have had some competition for the title of most talked-about building in Bilbao. No surrealist... Read More
Modern Hotel: Boise, ID, USA; View | Reserve; The City of Trees, capital of the Gem State (or, if you prefer, the Potato State) — Boise has been bashful about asserting itself as a cool modern city. There are signs, however, in the opening of the Modern Hotel, which revises a former Travelodge motel into a mod micro-oasis... Read More
Mokara Hotel & Spa: San Antonio, TX, USA; View | Reserve; There’s more to San Antonio than just the Alamo. Deep in the heart of Texas though it may be, the Mokara Hotel & Spa is an international-caliber luxury hotel, the sort of place any substantial American city needs one of: business-friendly enough for CEOs and traveling salesmen, and plush enough... Read More
Mon Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; One might have thought there’d be more hotels in Paris like this one — a stylish and modern boutique hotel, one which edges quite close to luxury territory, hidden away behind the walls of a classic century-old apartment building. Mon Hotel manages to find space for a small spa and fitness center... Read More
Mondrian Los Angeles: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Fresh off a large-scale redesign at the hands of the designer Benjamin Noriega Ortiz, the updated Mondrian has done well to keep pace with the times. The intensely avant-garde interiors from the Starck days are all grown up now, the Mondrian adapted for a more refined taste... Read More
Mondrian Miami: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; With the Collins Avenue strip on the Atlantic side of South Beach pushing maximum density, it makes a certain kind of sense that the Morgans group’s next move would be to set up shop on the Biscayne Bay side. For one thing, it affords a bit of space to spread out: with over three hundred units... Read More
Mondrian Soho: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Finally a Morgans hotel in downtown Manhattan. The Mondrian Soho is the third in the iconic boutique chain’s youth-oriented Mondrian sub-brand, following the original in Los Angeles and an audacious sequel in South Beach. The design is inspired by Jean Cocteau’s surreal 1946 version of Beauty and... Read More
Montpelier Plantation Inn: Charlestown, Nevis, St. Kitts & Nevis; View | Reserve; Montpelier Plantation’s history goes back centuries, but it only became a hotel in the 21st century. Now they’re making up for lost time — what was, not all that long ago, a disused and overgrown sugar plantation is now the Montpelier Plantation Inn, one of the top options on the delightfully... Read More
Moonrise Hotel: St. Louis, MO, USA; View | Reserve; One of the items on our global wish list is that every major city in America should have a hotel like this one. In a landscape dominated by cost-cutting chain hotels, there’s an advantage to be had by showing a little bit of personality, something that the Moonrise Hotel, in St. Louis, Missouri... Read More
Moreno Hotel Buenos Aires: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; The trouble with boutique hotels, if you had to boil it down to just one thing, is that the very same stylish modern design that’s supposed to set them apart too often ends up feeling a bit samey, a bit rootless, a bit ‘where-am-I-this morning’. That’s a problem you won’t have with the Moreno... Read More
Morgans Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; About Morgans Hotel... Read More
Mosquito Beach Adult Hotel: Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Please note: Mosquito Beach Adult Hotel can only accommodate guests over the age of 16... Read More
Mosquito Blue: Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; Please note: Mosquito Blue can only accommodate guests over the age of 16... Read More
Mount Nelson Hotel: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; This hundred-year old British Colonial hotel is by most accounts the place to stay in Cape Town; at the foot of Table Mountain, surrounded by nine acres of lush gardens, the Mount Nelson was already the grande dame of the South African hotel scene when a young Winston Churchill came to stay while... Read More
Mume: Kyoto, Japan; View | Reserve; The conventional wisdom would have it that Kyoto is the center of all things traditional in Japan, the classic counterpart to hypermodern Tokyo. And in large part the hotels do tend to follow suit — the postcard image of a Kyoto hotel would be a traditional tatami-style inn. So a hotel like the... Read More
Museum Hotel: Uchisar-Nevsehir, Cappadocia, Turkey; View | Reserve; Situated as it is between Europe and Asia, Turkey is a land comfortable with dualities: east and west, religious and secular, ancient and modern. It’s no surprise that the Museum Hotel, in the Central Anatolian region, also blends two distinct hotel experiences: luxury and history. Recent visitors... Read More
Mykonos Theoxenia: Mykonos, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Mykonos may remind some of the swinging Sixties, as the playground of aristocrats like Jackie and Aristotle Onassis—but the island has had a resurgence of late. Some may still be trying to recapture the good old days of decades past, but hotels like Theoxenia have their eyes set firmly on the... Read More
Myojinkan: Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan; View | Reserve; Japan is justly famous around the world for its first-class luxury hotels and for a couple of very inspired boutique hotels. But there’s another, much more traditional side to Japanese hospitality, which few foreigners, up to now, have experienced: the ryokan, the traditional country inn, of which... Read More
Nadesar Palace, Varanasi: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India; View | Reserve; All of the Taj palace hotels are impressive in their various ways. But the Nadesar Palace, a mansion of a mere ten rooms in the holy city of Varanasi, is so luxurious you might find yourself wondering if there’s been some sort of mistake as to your identity. This was, after all, the Maharaja’s... Read More
Nafplia Palace: Nafplion, Peloponnese, Greece; View | Reserve; The location is something special: Nafplia Palace is within the walls of the old fortified city of Acronapflia, under an hour outside of Athens. Today’s visitors will appreciate the panoramic view of the Bay of Argolis and the Aegean Sea for its beauty rather than its strategic importance, and will... Read More
Naladhu Maldives: South Male Atoll, Maldives; View | Reserve; The Maldives are already pretty close to the Platonic ideal of the island escape. Thousands of tiny semi-private islands, ringed by soft sand beaches, surrounded by the crystal-clear Indian Ocean — by now you know the sales pitch by heart. It’s no wonder, then, that this place seems to lend itself... Read More
Naumi: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; The colonial style reigned in Singapore hotels for quite a long time. But today a new generation of design-conscious boutique hotels is moving in. In the place of what was once the Metropole, a fairly standard budget hotel, the Naumi now stands proudly clad in steel mesh, just down the street from... Read More
Nevai Hotel: Verbier, Valais, Switzerland; View | Reserve; Ski hotels were perhaps the last of all categories to embrace the modern-design boutique style. But more and more often these days they’re trading heavy lumber and hot cocoa for sleek contemporary style and an atmosphere that’s a bit more sophisticated than a bunch of overstuffed sofas gathered... Read More
New Majestic Hotel: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; Score one for truth in advertising: the New Majestic is new, converted from a classic ‘20s building (once the just plain Majestic hotel) by Singapore’s DP Architects, and is indeed majestic, its soaring spaces and cozy bedrooms designed in a sort of modern ironic high style by Ministry... Read More
New Sheridan: Telluride, CO, USA; View | Reserve; It’s been a while since the New Sheridan Hotel was actually new — 1895, to be precise, which, in Colorado terms, is something like the late Middle Ages. That, obviously, is the key to its appeal: if you want to see what sets Telluride apart from the Rockies’ bigger, busier resort towns, there’s... Read More
Nhow Berlin: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; There’s a case to be made that present-day Berlin’s main occupation is artistic and cultural production — which, in a way, means that the Nhow Berlin, in this town at least, is the ultimate business hotel. Where some more traditional hotels boast about their conference space, Nhow points out that... Read More
Nhow Hotel: Milan, Lombardia, Italy; View | Reserve; If we were writing a TV ad we’d say it’s Milan Fashion Week style at Zara prices; if we were proper travel writers we’d make some kind of pun in the headline. Hopefully we would think of something better than Right Nhow. (As it is, we get to write the pun and blame someone else.) And anyway, you... Read More
Night Hotel: New York , NY, USA; View | Reserve; For anyone tired out by the unrelenting tackiness of the neon-lit Times Square, there’s an alternative, this one in basic black. The Night Hotel, a new addition on West 45th between Sixth and Seventh, is, adjusting for the neighborhood, the model of fashionable composure, from the monochrome checks... Read More
Nimb: Copenhagen, Denmark; View | Reserve; International jet-setters may come to Denmark in search of modernist furniture. But they’ll inevitably be surprised to discover that one of Copenhagen’s best-kept secrets, the Nimb, is anything but a design hotel — the quiet confidence of this 13-room lodging leaves the hard-striving hipster... Read More
No. 1 Pery Square: Limerick, Ireland; View | Reserve; It’s all the way the other side of Ireland from Dublin, but the boutique townhouse hotel No. 1 Pery Square could, in a pinch, serve as a setting for a film of Joyce’s “The Dead.” Originally built in 1830 and restored with great precision, the hotel gets the aesthetic just right, from the ornate... Read More
No. 11 London: 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 No. 11 London 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 monument to... Read More
No. 5 Maddox Street: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Imagine the perfect apartment. If you were glamorous, talented, with piles of money and more aesthetic sense than you knew what to do with, yours would be rather like No. 5 Maddox Street. It’s not a conventional hotel, but a dozen or so very modern studios (complete with kitchens) in the heart of... Read More
Nobis Hotel: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; Long before the Swedish design trio Claesson Koivisto Rune reconfigured this 19th-century stone edifice into an eccentric modernist hotel, the site had achieved a certain notoriety; after a spell as a private residence it was home to a bank where, during a 1970s robbery, the term “Stockholm... Read More
Nojiriko Hotel El Bosco: Nagano , Japan; View | Reserve; Too many foreigners think of Japan as little more than a couple of massive cities connected by a high-speed rail line. While the hotels in those big cities are world-famous, the countryside is home to a wealth of very fine rural resorts, hotels that are immensely popular among Japanese city... Read More
Nordic Light Hotel: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; Under no circumstances should anyone be put off by the unashamedly dated exterior of this one-time office block. The Sixties are inevitably the new Fifties, and this populist-utopian strain of Sixties modernism is only just now distant enough to be coming back into fashion... Read More
Number Sixteen: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Number Sixteen is either the coziest boutique hotel in London, or the most luxurious bed and breakfast—we’re still not sure. The location, down a sleepy side street in South Kensington, is fairly well hidden; just a row of nineteenth-century Victorian townhouses without so much as a sign to show... Read More
Odette en Ville: Brussels, Belgium; View | Reserve; Odette en ville: Odette’s place in the city. A pocket-sized boutique in Brussels, named for (as best we can tell) a fictional character. As it turns out, you can infer quite a lot about the lady in question just from a quick look around chez Odette — the most suggestive detail, perhaps, is that she... Read More
Ohla Hotel: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; The façade of Barcelona’s Ohla Hotel blends seamlessly with the Catalan Gothic architecture that surrounds it, obscuring the fact that the interior takes its cues not from the spires and stone but from the clean lines of modern hotel minimalism. Ohla brings a ultra-personalized service and... Read More
Ohtel: Wellington, New Zealand; View | Reserve; It can be argued that New Zealand’s hospitality world is a victim of its own success in one important sense — thanks to the popularity of the rugged country lodges, the more cosmopolitan urban hotels end up neglected. Of course the urban hoteliers are working to put things right, and with hotels... Read More
Old Bank Hotel: Oxford, England, UK; View | Reserve; The first new hotel in the city centre in 135 years, the Old Bank Hotel sits on Oxford’s main street, the High. Behind the Georgian facade of the one-time Barclays bank building is a boutique hotel in a charmingly contemporary style, restrained in its elegance, as far from British... Read More
Old Parsonage Hotel: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Old Parsonage is unique in billing itself as a 17th-century boutique hotel, and we’ve got to admit they do have a point. This is a town, after all, whose university is so old as to resist any attempt at pinning down a precise date for its founding — in comparison it was practically just... Read More
Olissippo Lapa Palace: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; Far from modern-day Lisbon traffic, perched on a hilltop in the middle of the city’s most civilized district, sits a 19th century palace surrounded by fairytale gardens, fountains, flowers and century-old trees in whose branches birds are encouraged to nest... Read More
On the Rocks: Santorini, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; There’s no metaphor here. On the Rocks is literally on the rocks. Like the rest of the tiny village of Imerovigli, this elegant hotel balances atop the cliffs that overlook the famous caldera of Santorini. The only danger is in trying to decide when to move the umbrella shielding your deck chair or... Read More
One & Only Palmilla Resort: San Jose del Cabo, Baja Peninsula, Mexico; View | Reserve; The original Palmilla Resort, in its incarnation as a 1950s hot spot, played host to the A-listers of the day — people like Bing Crosby, Ernest Hemingway, even Dwight Eisenhower came here for a taste of the still-exotic, still-unspoiled Baja California. Today, after an $80m renovation, the Palmilla... Read More
One & Only Reethi Rah: North Male Atoll, Maldives; View | Reserve; Wherever it is, whether in Mexico or Mauritius or the Maldives, the One&Only experience is sure to be completely over the top. The newest installment, the Reethi Rah on North Male Atoll, is no different. Its location, of course, is blindingly beautiful in itself, impossible white sand beaches and... Read More
One Aldwych: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Please note the pool at One Aldwych will be closed from Jan 8 - Jan 22, 2011... Read More
ONE Bal Harbour Resort & Spa: Bal Harbour, FL, USA; View | Reserve; There are times when the most desirable destinations feel a little too desirable, and South Beach is no different. The very same glamour and buzz that make it one of the travel capitals of the United States can also leave guests badly in need of some peace and quiet. It’s a stretch to say, as the... Read More
Opus Hotel: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; View | Reserve; Please note: Opus Hotel is currently home to Cento Notti; a pop-up concept restaurant serving a sexy and irreverent mash-up of Italian influenced pop art and comfort food... Read More
Opus Hotel Montreal: Montreal, Quebec, Canada; View | Reserve; Fans of contemporary-design boutique hotels are already spoiled for choice in Montreal, but most often they’re confined to the scenic-but-sleepy old quarter. The Opus Montreal, by contrast, stands at the top of St. Laurent, what’s essentially the city’s main drag; maybe not where... Read More
Orange County, Coorg: Coorg District, Karnataka, India; View | Reserve; A country as big as India is going to contain plenty of variety; here in the Western Ghat mountains, among the hill country’s coffee and spice plantations, there’s a rural idyll that’s as yet untroubled by large-scale tourism. This is where you’ll find Orange County, Coorg, on 300 acres of working... Read More
Orange County, Kabini: Mysore District, Karnataka, India; View | Reserve; There are plenty of places to go in India if you want to be treated like royalty, but when it comes to eco-luxury, options are a bit thin on the ground. Inevitably, though, a country of India’s size is going to contain a little bit of everything, and here, a half-day’s drive from Bangalore, on the... Read More
Oriental Hotel Hiroshima: Hiroshima City, Hiroshima, Japan; View | Reserve; When it comes to attracting foreign travelers it’s certainly not quite in the same league as Tokyo and Kyoto, but Hiroshima, on the west end of Japan’s main island of Honshu, is a cultural attraction in its own right. So there’s clearly a need for a first-class luxury hotel, and even if it’s not... Read More
Orloff Resort: Spetses, Attica, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Orloff Resort is open seasonally, April through October... Read More
Ostraco Suites: Mykonos, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: Ostraco Suites is open seasonally from May through October... Read More
Otahuna Lodge: Tai Tapu, Christchurch, New Zealand; View | Reserve; As the New Zealand lodge boom shows no sign of slowing, perhaps it’s time to soberly take account of the situation, and note for the record that not all lodges are created equal. For one thing, there are lodges that pride themselves on being rustic, unfinished, homely and rough around the edges... Read More
Oustau de Baumaniere: Les-Baux-de-Provence, France; View | Reserve; Les Baux de Provence is perhaps one of the most spectacular and unsettling of nature’s creations. These white washed cliffs, dotted with medieval houses, will stun you with their proportion and their beauty. It has been the site of elegiac poetry—courtly nobles swearing their love to ladies and... Read More
Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; The brand-new Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt was met with a bit more enthusiasm than the typical big-chain luxury hotel. It’s at the same time an homage to the glory days of Buenos Aires, a Thirties mansion (from which it takes the first part of its name) connected to a modern tower. It splits the... Read More
Palacio Urgoiti: Mungia-Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain; View | Reserve; There’s more to Bilbao than heroic feats of modern architecture: though it’s home to the Gehry-designed Guggenheim (and the ripple of modern building that has followed in its wake), it’s also home to some classics, like this 17th-century palace — dismantled stone by stone three... Read More
Palais de la Mediterranee: Nice, France; View | Reserve; The Palais de la Méditerranée is back, to add at least another chapter to its already storied history. The “Méd” opened in 1929, just months before the great stock market crash—and what months those were, for its American owner Franck Jay Gould, as well as for... Read More
PalazzinaG: Venice, Italy; View | Reserve; If ever there were a city that needed a bit of the old Philippe Starck treatment it was Venice. Here a little design goes a long way — not that you could accuse the Palazzina G (formerly Palazzina Grassi) of being just a little bit designed. Here Starck is at full strength: masks on the bedside... Read More
Palazzo Abagnale: Sorrento, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; The Palazzo Abagnale, in Sorrento, like many small Italian hotels, begins with an aesthetic concept — but fortunately for all involved, it’s not the same “postcards of Tuscany” concept that’s given rise to so many identical, forgettable hotels... Read More
Palazzo Caracciolo Napoli: Naples, Italy; View | Reserve; We mostly know the Accor group for their business-luxury chain, Sofitel, and for their distant American cousin, the ultra-budget Motel 6. Both fine institutions, as far as they go, but neither one focuses on individual character and architectural distinction quite like the MGallery collection... Read More
Palazzo Versace: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; View | Reserve; Rather improbably situated on Queensland’s Gold Coast is one of the more eccentric hotel ventures we’ve ever seen — the Palazzo Versace, a monument to Milan-via-Miami haute decadence, is a joint venture between the eponymous fashion house and an Australian property developer, and is roughly one... Read More
Palihotel Melrose: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; After a successful dip into the hospitality pool with the Palihouse Holloway in West Hollywood, the Paligroup is back with what’s perhaps a more traditional vision, both in form and in function. The Palihotel operates like a classic boutique hotel, which means guests spend more time in the common... Read More
Palihouse Holloway: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Palihouse Holloway is a luxury long stay hotel. For negotiated rates on stays of 30+ nights, please contact customerservice@tablethotels.com... Read More
Palms Place Hotel and Spa: Las Vegas, NV, USA; View | Reserve; If your idea of fun in Vegas is an irony-drenched Fear and Loathing experience, then Palms Place just might not be weird enough. It’s a subset of the office-park-sized Palms complex, and its suites are among the most stylish in town, extravagant though they may be; if you’ve ever wanted a... Read More
Pangkor Laut Resort: Lumut, Perak, Malaysia; View | Reserve; One island, one resort — that’s Pangkor Laut’s motto, and it’s the key to its appeal. This secluded island resort, five kilometers off the Malaysian mainland in the Strait of Malacca, is surrounded by protected two-million-year-old rainforest, the kind of unspoiled natural paradise that it’s hard... Read More
Paradise Road Tintagel Colombo: Colombo, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; The references here are twofold: Tintagel is the name of this Thirties Colonial-era mansion — named for the castle in Cornwall where King Arthur was purportedly born — and Paradise Road is the design and lifestyle brand belonging to Shanth Fernando. Needless to say, he’s added a hospitality element... Read More
Paresa Resort: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; It’s a tribute to the vision of the hoteliers of the world that they are capable of putting a destination on the map all at once, as was the case with Phuket a couple of decades ago. But it’s another sort of tribute to the resourcefulness of the hoteliers of the world that they can find ways to... Read More
Park Hotel Amsterdam: Amsterdam, Noord Holland , Netherlands; View | Reserve; There’s something soothing even about the name. And while the Park Hotel Amsterdam is no relation to any of the other Park hotels you might have in mind, it’s a name that suits this understated, effortless, modern luxury hotel. The décor is vibrant and crisp, though never flashy, and the experience... Read More
Park Hotel Tokyo: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; Like many Tokyo hotels, the Park Hotel occupies part of a mixed-use skyscraper; in this case, ten uppermost floors of the Shiodome Media Tower, right in the heart of downtown. Architecturally, the Park Hotel is rather unique — the core of the building has been hollowed out, so that its 274 rooms... Read More
Park Hyatt Chicago: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; Never happy simply being America’s second city, Chicago is the sort of place that continually goes out of its way to remind you of its status as one of the world’s great cities — and from the Park Hyatt, just off the Magnificent Mile of North Michigan Avenue, it’s impossible to put up much of an... Read More
Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa: Goa, Goa, India; View | Reserve; It’s probably not, at first glance, what you’d expect a Park Hyatt to be. But then again Goa is probably not quite what you’d expect it to be. This hippie hideaway went mass tourism for a bit, but is now being rediscovered by a totally different breed of traveler, one that appreciates the idyllic... Read More
Park Hyatt Jeddah: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; View | Reserve; The group might be best known for its splendid high-rise luxury hotels, but the Park Hyatt Jeddah, on the city’s coastal South Corniche, takes a different tack. This Park Hyatt is strictly a low-rise affair, with perhaps a more leisurely bent than some of its cousins. Given the location, it’s not... Read More
Park Hyatt Mendoza: Mendoza, Argentina; View | Reserve; All of us are familiar with the caricature of Argentina: Buenos Aires, some cattle ranches, maybe Patagonia if we’re feeling outdoorsy. Too often forgotten is the wine country, and the Andes-side city of Mendoza — not a major metropolis by any means but a city that’s big enough to have at least one... Read More
Park Hyatt Saigon: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; View | Reserve; The only thing keeping the Park Hyatt Saigon off the list of historic Ho Chi Minh City landmarks is the fact that it’s brand new. But give it time. Not only is it already by a long way the top hotel in town, but its classic colonial-style facade fits seamlessly into the city’s central Lam Son... Read More
Parrot Cay and COMO Shambhala Retreat: Providenciales, Turks And Caicos Islands; View | Reserve; Please note: Parrot Cay and COMO Shambhala Retreat has a three night minimum stay requirement... Read More
Pelican Hotel: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Miami Beach is home to more than a few slightly over-the-top hotels, and it can be an unsettling experience trying to reconcile the total design excess with the pervasive atmosphere of high seriousness. Fortunately there’s one place that seems utterly self-aware; the Pelican is as flauntingly... Read More
Pennyhill Park Hotel: Bagshot, Surrey, England, UK; View | Reserve; A location a half hour’s drive past Heathrow from London means that Pennyhill Park is a good deal more convenient than the average English country-house hotel. It’s not exactly Downton Abbey, but having one foot in the modern age is key to Pennyhill’s appeal — though it dates back only to the... Read More
Perry South Beach: Miami, FL, USA; View | Reserve; The Perry South Beach is at the north end of the Collins Avenue hotel row, which gives it plenty of space to spread its wings. With 334 guest rooms across 18 floors, it’s decidedly un-cramped, and the height is used to great advantage. The Perry South Beach is centered around a rooftop pool lounge... Read More
Pershing Hall: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Pershing Hall is named for the American general John Pershing, who used this nineteenth-century mansion as his headquarters during the First World War. But anyone expecting this place to be some sort of museum, or a throwback to 1917 and before, will be in for a shock: the hotel as we know it today... Read More
Pestana Palace: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; Here “Palace” really isn’t an overstatement. The Pestana Palace, located in a tiny residential district just outside the city center, occupies the grounds of a century-old estate, a manor house (with modern additions) surrounded by lush gardens — not quite the most convenient hotel option for... Read More
Petit Ermitage: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Though the reference is likely lost on some of its visitors, the Petit Ermitage isn’t named for just any old hermitage. Here in the heart of West Hollywood is a boutique hotel that doubles as a tribute to Catherine the Great’s Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (that’s the one in Russia, but you... Read More
Pimalai Resort & Spa: Lanta Island, Thailand; View | Reserve; The main calculation in traveling to Thailand is where exactly on the continuum between civilization and seclusion you want to end up. Though there’s no real desert-island experience to be had anymore, there’s a compromise to suit just about any taste — from the domesticated ex-wilderness of a... Read More
Pink Sands: Harbour Island, Bahamas; View | Reserve; Pink Sands is an almost excessively cultured little place—the sheets are Frette, there are macadamia nut cookies in your mini bar, your bedroom is decorated with hibiscus and batik, and people tend not to stay up very late. In many ways, Pink Sands fits right in with Harbor Island, a community that... Read More
Planters Inn: Charleston, SC, USA; View | Reserve; Planter's Inn is at the corner of Meeting and Market streets, in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina. Built in 1844 as a dry goods market, and expanded to its present form in 1997, the hotel now resembles nothing so much as an authentic Southern mansion, with the hospitality to match... Read More
Playa Vik Jose Ignacio: Faro José Ignacio, In and around Punta del Este, Uruguay; View | Reserve; If the architecturally distinguished and phenomenally luxurious Estancia Vik was Alex and Carrie Vik’s idea of a small-scale country-house escape, then Playa Vik is their version of a low-key beach-house getaway. Which is to say it’s a bit like dropping in on an old friend’s vacation home, if your... Read More
Ponta dos Ganchos Exclusive Resort: Governador Celso Ramos, Santa Catarina, Brazil; View | Reserve; Due to local topography and assurance of total serenity, no one under the age of 18 is allowed at the resort... Read More
Portrait Suites: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; The flagship Ferragamo store at the foot of the Spanish Steps would already be something of a holy place, if you’re into that sort of thing. Less well known, but possibly more exciting, is what’s upstairs, in the top floors of this 19th-century townhouse: the Portrait Suites, the newest... Read More
Posada del Angel: La Antigua, Guatemala; View | Reserve; It’s not exactly topping any magazines’ lists of the season’s hot destinations. And its time as a regional capital is centuries past. This lack of attention, however, might make La Antigua more rather than less appealing — and the fact that development essentially halted after an 18th-century... Read More
Posada del Faro: Faro José Ignacio, In and around Punta del Este, Uruguay; View | Reserve; Come summer, South American society types and European jetsetters flock to Punta del Este, the glitzy resort and mini-city by the sea where yachts outnumber fishing boats. But if for some reason rubbing shoulders with Argentine twentysomethings in designer swimwear isn’t your thing, don’t fret: you... Read More
Postcard Inn: St Pete Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; You can set aside most of the mental pictures you have of Florida’s Gulf Coast. St. Pete Beach — not to be confused with the city of St. Petersburg, ten miles to the east — stretches along a barrier island whose endless white sand sets the perfect scene for the Postcard Inn’s retro beach-party... Read More
Pousada Picinguaba: Picinguaba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; View | Reserve; Picinguaba is located 30 miles from Paraty... Read More
Pousada Rancho do Peixe: Jericoacoara, Brazil; View | Reserve; Pousada Rancho do Peixe, located on the pristine and somewhat remote northern coast of Brazil, started out as the rustic beachfront getaway of a group of windsurfing enthusiasts. These days, there may be wifi access and fine linens on the beds, but the rugged look and convivial spirit survive — and... Read More
Pousada Vila Kalango: Ceara, Brazil; View | Reserve; If you stumble over the name Jericoacoara — or if you’ve never even heard of the place — you’re not alone. The idyllic stretch of sand and sea is located far, far away from Rio and Buzios on the quiet northern coast of Brazil; twenty-odd years ago, this mellow fishing village didn’t even have... Read More
Presidio Motel: Santa Barbara, CA, USA; View | Reserve; It doesn’t get much more Californian than this. The West Coast is blessed with a surplus of mid-century motor inns, in varying states of repair, and more and more of them are being reborn as something a little bit more stylish. The Presidio, in downtown Santa Barbara, is a case in point — its... Read More
Proximity Hotel: Greensboro, NC, USA; View | Reserve; Why Greensboro, North Carolina? Because that’s where the Proximity Hotel is — and a hotel like this deserves to get noticed no matter where in the world it’s located. It’s contemporary in design, it’s independently owned, it’s state-of-the-art in function, and it’s manageably small — all qualities... Read More
PUBLIC Chicago: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; While the world’s less clued-in luxury brands are still trumpeting their “exclusivity” to anyone who will listen, some of the hotel industry’s savvier players have come to recognize what a sour taste that concept can leave. Among them is none other than Ian Schrager, whose trailblazing boutique... Read More
Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai: Shanghai, China; View | Reserve; For many guests, the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel occupies the perfect location. The Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone is the heart of Shanghai’s financial industries, and the Shangri-La sits along the banks of the Huangpu River, overlooking the legendary riverfront buildings of the Bund and the... Read More
Pullman Barcelona Skipper: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; We’re obviously partial to independent little boutiques, but we freely admit that sometimes, big is beautiful. And so it is, in the case of the Hotel Pullman Barcelona Skipper. With some 241 rooms and suites, and existing as it does under the ownership of the French hospitality giant Accor, it’s no... Read More
Pullman Marseille Palm Beach: Marseille, France; View | Reserve; Mention Marseille and immediately thoughts turn to brawling sailors in the bars of the old port — in the popular imagination, it’s still a place to get in trouble, not a place to get away from it all. But today’s Marseille is something rather different, an urbane and cosmopolitan city, its idyllic... Read More
Punta Islita Resort and Spa: Nicoya Peninsula of Guanacaste, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; Four hours from San José, on a lush hillside overlooking Costa Rica’s Pacific coastline, Punta Islita is a tropical idyll, unspoiled and secluded, cut off from the mainland by dense jungle and difficult terrain. It’s a truly unique location, with the curving black sand beach a few hundred feet... Read More
Puri Wulandari: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Increasingly the action in Bali is moving ever farther from the beach, to idyllic inland enclaves like the artists’ colony of Ubud and the lush, unspoiled countryside that surrounds it. In this environment of rice paddies, lush tropical forests and spectacular valley views lies Puri... Read More
Purity at Lake Vembanad: Kerala, India; View | Reserve; “Backwater” is typically meant as a metaphor, and not a particularly kind one. But the Kerala backwaters are among the world’s minor natural wonders — this network of inland waterways along the southwest Indian coast makes for, if nothing else, a marvelous place to get lost. It’s here, on the... Read More
Puro Hotel: Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain; View | Reserve; Though there's certainly something to be said for the grand old mansion hotels, high on the Mallorcan hilltops, the once-overlooked capital city of Palma is making a resurgence, drawing a younger and more energetic breed of traveller. Maybe you're here for the nightlife, and want the easy downtown... Read More
Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara: Hameem-Abu Dhabi, UAE; View | Reserve; Until recently the Anantara resorts were pretty much confined to the lush environs of Thailand, the Maldives and Indonesia; their move into the United Arab Emirates comes as something of a surprise. And we’re not even talking about a hotel on stilts off some island in the Gulf — the Anantara Resort... Read More
QF Hotel: Dresden, Germany; View | Reserve; It’d be easy to miss the fact that the QF is a thoroughly modern luxury hotel — Dresden’s central Neumarkt district is a meticulous re-creation of its prewar self, with the result that this hotel, in the shadow of the Frauenkirche, a few blocks from the Zwinger Palace and the Semper Opera House... Read More
Qualia: Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia; View | Reserve; Please note: Qualia does not allow guests under 18 years of age... Read More
Queenstown Park Hotel: Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand; View | Reserve; It would be criminal to upset the natural beauty of NZ’s South Island with overbearing design, and this boutique hotel strikes a harmonious balance between the holistic and the hip. Positioned amid some of the world’s most dramatic topography, the Queenstown Park Hotel strives not to compete with... Read More
Quinta da Casa Branca: Madeira, Portugal; View | Reserve; Madeira, among certain demographics, is something of a well-kept secret. Lush and subtropical, it’s the sort of place that’s very popular indeed with an older generation of travelers. But its pervasive calm is its greatest asset — if it were heaving discos and all-night debauches you were after... Read More
Quinta da Romaneira: Cotas, Alijo, Portugal; View | Reserve; Please note: Quinta da Romaneira operates seasonally, closing in late fall and reopening in late spring. It wasn’t so very long ago that wine snobs were still scoffing at Portugal’s output — port was considered to be something rather different from proper wine, and the idea of a holiday in the... Read More
Quinta Real Monterrey: Monterrey, Mexico; View | Reserve; Forget sun, sand and surf: Monterrey is Mexico’s business dynamo, more likely a destination for a working holiday than a leisurely escape. No surprise, then, that one of its most impressive hotels should be the Quinta Real... Read More
Raas: Jodhpur, India; View | Reserve; We spend a lot of time in these virtual pages wrestling with the pros and cons of India’s two main hotel genres. On the one hand you’ve got the historic palace hotels, which make a virtue out of traditional architecture and traditional service. And on the other you’ve got the stylish... Read More
Rachamankha: Chiang Mai, Thailand; View | Reserve; The Rachamankha may have a semi-urban Chiang Mai address, but the serene boutique hotel feels miles away from the colorful chaos of northern Thailand’s largest city. The peace and quiet is partly due to the architectural design — the main building is modeled after a chapel of the Wat Phra That... Read More
Radisson Blu 1835 Hotel & Thalasso, Cannes: Cannes, France; View | Reserve; Please note: The pool at Radisson Blu 1835 Hotel & Thalasso, Cannes is located within the wellness center. Access to the wellness center is €25 per person/per day. During the months of July and August, entrance to the wellness center is €96 per person/per day. This fee includes a package of 3... Read More
Radisson Blu Le Dokhan’s Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; In the crowded and often ostentatious world of Paris hotels, Le Dokhan’s sets itself apart—the feeling is less grand hotel, more private mansion, one impeccably designed by the noted decorator Frédéric Méchiche, whose antique selection and keen eye for color make hospitable order from what would... Read More
Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Of some of the Radisson Blu hotels the best you can say is that, for a big business chain, they’re remarkably stylish and surprisingly individual. To say that of the Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan, however, would be understating the case by a considerable distance. This is a hotel that will have you... Read More
Radisson Blu Resort & Spa: Dubrovnik, Croatia; View | Reserve; The Croatian Riviera hasn’t been a Riviera for all that long, and you could be forgiven for thinking the evolution of the Dubrovnik hospitality scene might take place a little less quickly. But the Radisson Blu Resort & Spa ought to be all the proof you could want that things are moving along very... Read More
Radisson Blu Strand: Stockholm, Sweden; View | Reserve; First-time visitors to Stockholm’s hotels might be surprised to find that the modernist architecture and interiors for which Scandinavia is so well known seem to be produced for export only. Here classics like the Radisson Blu Strand, a 1912 Jugendstil palace topped with an oxidized copper roof... Read More
Radisson Edwardian Hotel Manchester: Manchester, England, UK; View | Reserve; In its former life as the Free Trade Hall, this stately old building bore witness to more than its share of historic moments, from political rallies and violent uprisings to, more recently, the Sex Pistols gig that spawned the Buzzcocks, the Smiths and Joy Division... Read More
Raffles Dubai: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; By Dubai’s standards this probably counts as understated. Here you can’t blame a luxury hotel for putting up a massive glass-tipped pyramid, as it’s the sort of thing you’ve got to do just to stay reasonably up to date. After all, Raffles is generally better known for unashamedly classic luxury... Read More
Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor: Siem Reap, Cambodia; View | Reserve; This hotel is a true period piece, more than seventy years old — and Raffles, its new owners, have turned back the clock a bit, with an extensive renovation, erasing some of the shoddy “modernisations” in the historic main building, as well as constructing two new (though convincingly old-fashioned... Read More
Raffles Hotel Le Royal: Phnom Penh, Cambodia; View | Reserve; Don’t laugh. Phnom Penh is a tourist destination once again. It is not a town for the faint of heart, however—it is dusty and challenging and strange - just ask the weary expat journalists who prop up the bar at the Foreign Correspondents Club. Meanwhile, lush antique silks line the bazaars, and... Read More
Rambagh Palace, a TAJ Hotel: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; View | Reserve; Since the Fifties this splendid, sprawling palace has been at the top of Jaipur’s luxury hotel market. Rambagh Palace began its life as a guest house for Rajasthan’s royals, and the more things change, the more they stay the same — it’s a part of the Taj hotel group now, and is more or less a guest... Read More
Ratua Private Island: Vanuatu, Fiji; View | Reserve; Once we’ve said that Ratua Private Island is, in fact, a private island — and in Fiji, no less — then we’ve said about ninety per cent of what needs to be said. But we’ll continue on, for the benefit of those who haven’t already skipped ahead to “book now.” Somehow, it gets better... Read More
Rayavadee: Krabi, Thailand; View | Reserve; Although it isn’t that far from the teeming, vibrant cacophony of Phuket — fifty miles as the crow flies — Rayavadee might as well be another planet. This is a place that trades in grand maximalist seclusion; a fact that should be fairly obvious, as the only way to reach the resort’s particular... Read More
Real Casona de Las Amas: Azofra, La Rioja, Spain; View | Reserve; No one image serves adequately to capture the whole of Spain — in some ways it’s almost best understood as several countries in one, divided not just by language and politics but by landscape as well. Far from stylish Barcelona, cosmopolitan Madrid, sun-drenched Andalucia or the beaches of... Read More
Recreo Resort: near La Cruz, Guanacaste, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; Bit by bit, Costa Rica’s tourist business is shedding its rather one-dimensional image. There’s a new crop of high-end hotels that’s out to attract an audience beyond the usual backpackers — which means it’s not necessarily all about the rainforest anymore. Even at Recreo, eco-tourism is never very... Read More
Reef Villa & Spa: Wadduwa, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; It’s not a design hotel, exactly — there’s not much about the Reef Villa & Spa that looks modern, or minimalist, much less futuristic — but its effect on the guest isn’t so very different from the one produced by its flashier cousins. Maybe the word is "theatrical"; from the entry, through the... Read More
Reid's Palace: Funchal, Portugal; View | Reserve; If you’re finding Reid an unlikely name for a Portuguese fellow you’re not wrong. Reid’s Palace was founded over a century ago by a Scotsman of that name, back in the early stages of what’s now a full-fledged relationship between the British and the Portuguese island of Madeira. After all there’s... Read More
Reina Roja Hotel: Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; With a location this close to Playa del Carmen’s main drag, Reina Roja wouldn’t get far with subtlety. The mesh-lined cages and neon red lights put to rest any element of shyness. If spending your days frolicking in the foamy surf and your nights in a bar bathed in darkness and red light produces... Read More
Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce: Bruges, Belgium; View | Reserve; If what you’re after is a picturesque medieval town, criss-crossed with canals, you should know that Bruges out-Amsterdams Amsterdam by some distance. And only in Bruges could you find a hotel like the Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce. It occupies a pair of gorgeous, delicate old timbered houses, and... Read More
Relais Christine: Paris, France; View | Reserve; A 16th-century abbey converted into a small and charmingly traditional boutique hotel would be special enough, were it located somewhere far out in the French countryside; in the heart of Paris’s Latin Quarter, however, it’s truly extraordinary. This is the Relais Christine, hidden away in a quiet... Read More
Relais Residenza d'Arte: Torrita di Siena, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; There’s an undeniable poetic quality to the Italian language. “House of Art” would land on the ear with a dull thud, not at all an appropriate sensation for a beautiful little hotel in the Tuscan country about an hour’s drive outside of Siena. But Residenza d’Arte: now that’s more like it... Read More
Remota: Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile; View | Reserve; For a big architectural statement, this one, at least from the outside, comes off awfully quiet. But then that’s exactly as it was intended to be. Remota, in Puerto Natales, an old fishing town in Patagonia, is the latest hotel project from the Chilean green architect Germàn del Sol — so the... Read More
Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe: Paris, France; View | Reserve; It’s not often the case that a hotel belonging to a big international chain can challenge the independents in the design stakes. But when it happens, we’re there, like a shot. From its name the Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe may sound like your classic tourist trap, but one look at the... Read More
Reserva do Ibitipoca: Lima Duarte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; View | Reserve; Plenty of stylish boutique hotels make vague gestures in the direction of rustic idioms, but few trade in contrasts so vivid as those on offer at the Reserva do Ibitipoca. A little over a hundred miles inland, due north of Rio, is the Ibitipoca State Park, a region that’s known for its stunning... Read More
Residence Hilda: Florence, Tuscany , Italy; View | Reserve; In the foreigner’s mind, Florence strains under the weight of so much history that it’s sometimes difficult to remember that it’s the 21st century there too. It’s not all Renaissance architecture and crumbling frescoes — modern life goes on there, just like anywhere else, and contemporary small... Read More
Riad 72: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is a 2 night minimum stay requirement at Riad 72... Read More
Riad Dixneuf La Ksour: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; For certain seasons of the year, there is 2 night minimum stay requirement at Riad Dixneuf La Ksour... Read More
Riad Due: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is a 2 night minimum stay requirement at Riad Due... Read More
Riad Farnatchi: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; The prevailing trend in Marrakech is toward riad hotels, walled-courtyard houses deep in the medina where guests hide out from the crowds and experience traditional Moroccan city living. Riad Farnatchi adds to Marrakech’s collection of upmarket riad boutiques, but with a twist — this is riad... Read More
Riad Fes: Fes, Morocco; View | Reserve; Please note that gym at Riad Fes is currently under construction and will reopen mid-March... Read More
Riad Kaiss: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; Let’s face it, the riad hotel is not a genre that thrives on novelty. Most of what there is to say about any individual riad is subsumed within the definition of the word. They’re all townhouse mansions, wrapping around quiet little courtyards, their inner opulence shielded from the city streets by... Read More
Riad Meriem: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; Monday thru Thursday, Riad Meriem has a 2 night minimum stay requirement. There is a 3 night minimum stay requirement for Friday thru Sunday arrivals... Read More
Rimrock Resort Hotel: Banff, Alberta, Canada; View | Reserve; Deep in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains is the picturesque resort town of Banff, surrounded by some of North America's best ski resorts and some of the most breathtaking mountain vistas this side of the Alps. The Rimrock Resort Hotel is designed to take full advantage of the views: the... Read More
Rincon del Socorro: Esteros del Iberá, Corrientes, Argentina; View | Reserve; A former cattle ranch, in the midst of a protected nature reserve founded by former North Face owner Doug Tompkins, provides the setting for Rincon del Socorro. This is the Argentinean estancia experience at its most authentic, complete with traditional quincho barbecue and horseback rides... Read More
Rio Hermoso Hotel De Montana: San Martin de los Andes , Argentina; View | Reserve; In the posh lake district of Argentina, big is beautiful. The postcard-pretty region of snow-capped mountains, virgin forests, mammoth ice-blue lakes and glamorous waterfront resorts is, after all, the gateway to the vast landscape of Patagonia. It’s also the place where Ted Turner and the Benetton... Read More
Riva Lofts Florence: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; In Italy even the most modern hotel has hundreds or thousands of years of architectural history to deal with; one hypermodern hotel in Rome has a working archaeological site in the basement. By these standards, Riva Lofts is on the young side: this 19th-century complex on the banks of the Arno... Read More
Riyad Al Moussika: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is a 3 night minimum stay requirement at Riyad Al Moussika... Read More
Riyad El Mezouar: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; Your first clue comes by way of the letter Y — Riyad El Mezouar’s slightly archaic spelling hints at the atmosphere of the place, which, while not exactly antique, is about as classic as they come in the world of Marrakech medina riad hotels... Read More
Rodavento Boutique Hotel: Valle de Bravo, Mexico; View | Reserve; The more typical destinations in Mexico have done such a good job selling themselves that it’s quite easy to forget what a three-dimensional country it is. Maybe that’s why it’s mostly travelers from elsewhere within Mexico who know the Valle de Bravo — this lush mountain valley defies all the... Read More
Romano House: Catania, Italy; View | Reserve; For fans of baroque architecture — churches in particular — the Sicilian coastal city of Catania is an absolute treasure trove. And in a city where a long scenic walk is among the most likely attractions, a centrally located base of operations is essential. Romano House, a 17th-century building... Read More
Romeo Hotel: Naples, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Italy, in general, is no stranger to contemporary design, to say the least, but Naples has always been a different story. Never the most forward-looking city, it’s nevertheless now developing a bit of a modern streak — and a hotel like the Romeo couldn’t have existed any sooner... Read More
Roomers: Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany; View | Reserve; We expect big things from German design and Roomers doesn’t disappoint. Oana Rosen, a leader of Frankfurt’s new wave of repurposing old work spaces into cozy living spaces, has transformed this abandoned office building into a monument of elegant modern hospitality design... Read More
Round Hill Hotel and Villas: Montego Bay, Jamaica; View | Reserve; Over the years Jamaica as a holiday destination has transformed from the British colonial retreat of the likes of Ian Fleming into a slightly more downmarket affair, and it’s easy to feel that the student backpackers and hard-drinking hedonists have taken over... Read More
Royal Garden Villas & Spa: Costa Adeje, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; View | Reserve; At this late date Tenerife isn’t exactly uncharted territory, which means that here, more than many places, it’s worth going a bit out of one’s way. Royal Garden Villas & Spa certainly provides a bit of that “city on a hill” feeling. Here, overlooking the Costa Adeje and the sea beyond, is not... Read More
Royalton Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; A lot has changed since the Royalton opened in 1988, both inside and outside its walls. This is arguably the original boutique hotel, having spawned a legion of imitators, many of which sought to duplicate the formula of stylish-enough bedrooms atop stunning public spaces — both, in the Royalton’s... Read More
Ryad Dyor: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is a 2 night minimum stay requirement at Ryad Dyor... Read More
Sacred House: Ürgüp, Cappadocia, Turkey; View | Reserve; If you know Cappadocia, in east-central Turkey, it’s because of the caves — here in the soft volcanic rocks lie any number of man-made spaces, from the humblest dwellings to the most ornate underground churches, frescoes and all. In this far-flung region the town of Ürgüp stands out as an oasis of... Read More
Saffire Freycinet: Coles Bay, Tasmania, Australia; View | Reserve; In a location as picturesque — and as unspoiled — as Tasmania’s Coles Bay, it would be criminal for a brand-new luxury resort to be anything less than completely green. Fortunately this is one statute Saffire Freycinet doesn’t have to worry about running afoul of. We’ll stop short of enumerating... Read More
Saint James Paris: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Suffice it to say that the Saint James is anything but typical. In Paris an hôtel particulier, a freestanding house, is unusual enough — something like the Saint James, almost a country-style château, surrounded by a wall and garden, is vanishingly rare. And now that it’s open for business as a... Read More
SALA Phuket Resort and Spa: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; It says something good about the robustness of Phuket’s tourist economy that even now, new hotels are continuing to open there. Sala Phuket, at Mai Khao in the island’s northwest, is a Thai beach resort in the modern mold: some seventy-nine airy loft-style modernist units strung along the coast... Read More
SALA Samui Resort and Spa: Koh Samui Suratthani, Thailand; View | Reserve; The serious novelty-seekers have probably moved on from Koh Samui, if not from Thailand entirely, in search of the next great undeveloped tropical paradise. That’s their prerogative, of course, but to give up now is to miss out on places like the Sala Samui, which brings a bit of much-needed... Read More
San Isidro Plaza: San Isidro, Argentina; View | Reserve; Walking down the quiet, tree-shaded streets of San Isidro, it’s hard to believe you’re just a quick train ride away from the noisy and traffic-congested center of Buenos Aires. For decades this leafy residential suburb has been synonymous with porteño wealth and exclusivity — it’s the kind of place... Read More
San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge: San Lorenzo di Sebato, Alto Adige, Italy; View | Reserve; South Tyrol is dotted with former hunting lodges, a Germanic tradition befitting a place that straddles Austrian and Italian culture, language, and lifestyle. More and more often they’re finding themselves converted into luxury boutique hotels, some of them quite contemporary in design. San Lorenzo... Read More
San Nicolas Resort: Lefkas , Ionian Islands , Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: San Nicolas Resort is open seasonally, May through October. Minimum stay requirements apply... Read More
Sanctuary Hotel New York: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; It’s not hard to see why, in the general vicinity of Times Square, a sanctuary is exactly what’s needed. The Sanctuary Hotel aims to provide what is, in one of New York City’s busiest locations, one of the greatest possible luxuries: a sense of calm, a break from the bustle of this most... Read More
Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain: Scottsdale, AZ, USA; View | Reserve; Scottsdale’s changed quite a bit in recent years, in a sort of Dorian Gray manner; as Phoenix’s cookie-cutter strip malls and unsightly cement surfaces sprawl farther into the desert, Scottsdale just gets younger, hipper, better looking. A prime example is Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain’s... Read More
Sanderson: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Though a rated historical building, the sixties office block that housed the Sanderson fabrics company is not the most elegant facade for a stylish boutique hotel. Fortunately the interiors find Starck and Schrager in rare form, raising their game a bit to stand out in this most competitive of... Read More
Sankara Hotel & Spa Yakushima: Yakushima, Kagoshima, Japan; View | Reserve; We tell everyone who’ll listen that it’s absolutely essential, when you’re in Japan, to get out of the city. Not because we’ve got anything against Japan’s cities, but simply because it’s easy to spend several visits chasing the sensation you felt the first time Tokyo blew your mind, and... Read More
Sant Cugat H&R: Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain; View | Reserve; Sant Cugat, the town, is an upscale suburb a few miles north and west of Barcelona proper; here, in a curvaceous modern building, is where you’ll find the Sant Cugat Hotel & Restaurant. Located adjacent to the cathedral, overlooking a park in the heart of the town, it’s in truth... Read More
Sant Joan de Binissaida: Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain; View | Reserve; Sant Joan de Binissaida is open each year from May - October... Read More
Sax Chicago - A Thompson Hotel: 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, Sax Chicago is a bit of a welcome departure, with soft, light... Read More
Scapes: Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan; View | Reserve; Please note: Scapes will be closed for renovations February 1st-29th... Read More
Schlosshotel im Grunewald: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; Located on a verdant, tree-lined suburban street, the only thing that distinguishes the Schlosshotel from the other mansions in the neighborhood is a small sign lit subtly in white lights. Not surprisingly, it started out as a private residence. Walther von Pannwitz, the original owner, was a... Read More
Secret de Paris: Paris, France; View | Reserve; After years of pining for more contemporary hotels in Paris, we’re finally getting what we wished for. Suddenly the place is awash in design-oriented boutique hotels. And not half measures, either. The Hotel Secret de Paris, for example, isn’t content with just one vibrant, contemporary look — not... Read More
Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa: Sedona , AZ, USA; View | Reserve; The aptly named Sedona Rouge offers sumptuous boutique accommodations in the middle of Arizona’s spectacular Red Rock Country. While the alien landscape, with its pockmarked spires and dusty crimson canyons, might evoke Mars, the hotel’s soft bedding and lovingly appointed spa evoke another type of... Read More
Seehotel Uberfahrt: Rottach-Egern, Germany; View | Reserve; With an alpine backdrop that could easily launch a thousand postcards, Lake Tegernsee in Upper Bavaria is a stunning year-round destination for hikers, bikers, skiers and beer worshippers. Catering to well-traveled, wellness-oriented guests, Seehotel Überfahrt is more than just its stunning... Read More
Sekitei: Hatsukaichi-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan; View | Reserve; Japan’s smallish size, somehow, doesn’t make its wildernesses feel any less remote. Forty minutes by car outside of Hiroshima and suddenly you’re at the edge of Japan’s Inland Sea, looking down on the famous Miyajima Shrine, whose iconic red gate floats over the water between the town and the... Read More
Semiramis Hotel: Athens, Greece; View | Reserve; One look and it’s obvious that Semiramis is a radical departure from the norm: bold swathes of day-glo color set it immediately apart from the icy cool of most modern boutique hotels, not to mention the monochrome white of the typical Greek luxury hotel. Puzzling, unless you happen to follow... Read More
Serena Boutique Resort: Buzios, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil; View | Reserve; With over twenty beaches and a global reputation bolstered by a vacationing Brigitte Bardot’s famous love affair with the place, the Brazilian peninsula of Buzios isn’t exactly a secret hideaway. But it’s far enough (160 kilometers) from the madness of the Rio resort scene to provide some respite... Read More
Serenity at Kanam Estate: Vazhoor, Kerala, India; View | Reserve; Most of the time you’ve got to be prepared to make certain allowances for hyperbole in the naming of hotels. But in the case of Serenity at Kanam Estate, it’s safe to let down your guard. This place might not literally be serenity itself, but if some latter-day Socrates were to ask you “what is... Read More
Seven Hotel: Paris, France; View | Reserve; See, we’re not the only ones who thought Paris’ hotels were looking a little bit too conservative. Even from the photos, with their neon palette and dramatic contrasts, you can tell that Hotel Seven is a different sort of place. But look closer. Those fiber-optic effects are coming from underneath... Read More
Seven One Seven: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; All the big stereotypes about Dutch hotels (freaky modernist design, low-budget student digs) are right out the window — Seven One Seven is as traditional and as haute-luxury as they come, just nine sumptuous rooms (six of them actually suites) in a landmark 19th-century house along the... Read More
Sextantio: Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Abruzzo, Italy; View | Reserve; To give it its full name, it’s Sextantio Albergo Diffuso; roughly speaking, the Sextantio Distributed Hotel. Which sounds a bit futuristic in English, but is in fact nothing of the sort — it’s a sixteenth-century village, the Abbruzzese mountain village of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, complete with... Read More
Sextantio Le Grotte Della Civita: Matera, Basilicata, Italy; View | Reserve; The phrase albergo diffuso might not yet be entirely familiar to English-speaking travelers — or, for that matter, to Italian ones — but the concept that it denotes is one we imagine will quickly catch on. Call it a “distributed hotel” if that makes it clearer — or just take Sassi di Matera as an... Read More
Sezz Paris: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Please note: The spa at Sezz Paris will be closed for renovations February 20th-26th. The steam room, jacuzzi, and massage services will not be available during this time... Read More
Sezz Saint-Tropez: Saint-Tropez, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Sezz Saint-Tropez is a seasonal hotel, open April through October... Read More
Shade: Manhattan Beach, CA, USA; View | Reserve; From humble beginnings as the quintessential SoCal beachside bungalow town, Manhattan Beach has gone upscale. Expensive homes, swanky restaurants, luxury retailers, and now, a boutique hotel. Though just three blocks from the beach, Shade is about interiors; these spaces, by the Discovery Home... Read More
Shangri-La Harbin: Harbin, Heilongjiang, China; View | Reserve; First-time visitors to Harbin might find themselves checking maps to see if this is really China. The distinctly Russian-style architecture (not to mention the wintertime Siberian winds) give the city a distinctly Northern European flavor. And the Shangri-La, the city’s top luxury hotel, follows... Read More
Shangri-La Hotel Singapore: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; Please note: The Garden Wing at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore will be closed and fully renovated from October 2011 - May 2012. The Tower and Valley Wings of the hotel will not be affected and all guest rooms and restaurants will be open for business as usual... Read More
Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; View | Reserve; It’s not the newest big-time luxury hotel in Kuala Lumpur, but the Shangri-La is not the sort of hotel that rests on novelty for its appeal. Everything that was impressive about this five-star downtown tower when it opened in the mid-Eighties is still impressive today (minor aesthetic and... Read More
Shangri-La Hotel, Paris: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Paris is one city that’s certainly not lacking for home-grown high-gloss luxury hotels. Of course there’s always room for another good one, and the Shangri-La group has spent decades honing its expertise in the major markets of the Far East, which has to be good preparation for Paris’s notoriously... Read More
Shangri-la Hotel, Vancouver: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; View | Reserve; The days of the purpose-built luxury hotel just might be behind us. The Shangri-La Vancouver is built, as is increasingly common, on the Asian model — as a part of a mixed-use skyscraper, incorporating offices, retail, dining and residential space in addition to the fifteen hotel floors. The big... Read More
Shangri-La Hotel, Zhongshan: Zhongshan, Guangdong Provice, China; View | Reserve; We’re not yet at the point where second-tier Chinese cities like Zhongshan have got cutting-edge design-oriented boutique hotels of their own. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some very fine places to stay. The Shangri-La group is known across Asia for high-end hospitality on a massive scale, and... Read More
Shorebreak Hotel: Huntington Beach, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The phrase Orange County puts some in mind of suburbia, but Huntington Beach is a different animal entirely. This is Surf City, quite possibly one of America’s mellowest places, and as such it’s finally got the hotel it deserves, courtesy of the San Francisco–based Joie de Vivre group: the... Read More
SIDE: Hamburg, Germany; View | Reserve; The favorite hotel and meeting place for Hamburg’s advertising and fashion players is a collaborative effort; Milan designer Matteo Thun’s interiors and the spectacular lighting effects of New York installation artist Robert Wilson combine to create an environment that puts to shame many lesser... Read More
Silken Gran Hotel Domine: Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain; View | Reserve; Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao, or GHDB as it is known to the locals, is just across from Bilbao's new Guggenheim Museum, and it's not surprising that some of the excitement and energy from Frank Gehry's design seems to have spilled over into this hotel. The hotel describes itself as "not just a hotel to... Read More
Sir F.K. Savigny Hotel Berlin: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; Sir F.K. Savigny may be an aristocrat, but he’s an aristocrat of the urban sophisticate variety. The Savignyplatz itself is a green idyll sprouting from the Kantstrasse, a block from the Kurfürstendamm, the famous shopping boulevard, and the Sir F.K. Savigny lies just around the corner. This... Read More
Sirayane Boutique Hotel & Spa: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; With its very successful homegrown vernacular style — the traditional courtyard-based riad — Marrakech has, up to now, been somewhat resistant to the idea of hotels as major modern architectural statements. That’s phrased in the past tense, however, thanks to Sirayane Boutique Hotel & Spa, designed... Read More
Sivory Punta Cana: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; View | Reserve; It’s not about the Dominican Republic so much as it is about a beach at the end of the earth. Sivory Punta Cana may as well be on its own desert island, so focused is it on the sand, the surf, and the horizon. And if you wanted to get away from everything else, it’s hard to imagine a more gorgeous... Read More
Six Senses & Evason Hua Hin: Pranburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand; View | Reserve; At least half of what we said about the Six Senses 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 resort... Read More
Six Senses Con Dao: Con Dao District, Vietnam; View | Reserve; The Six Senses properties in southeast Asia have perfected the fine art of designing the perfect private pool villa. In fact, when it comes to accommodations, that’s all they do — there are no mega-hotel high-rises that bear the Six Senses name, and no bare-bones beach bungalows, either. Just... Read More
Six Senses Laamu: Laamu Atoll, Maldives; View | Reserve; The Six Senses eco-resorts are consistently ranked among the very best in southeast Asia, and Six Senses Laamu is the undisputed champion of its particular location. Sure, it happens to be the only five-star resort on the Laamu atoll — an extremely secluded and unspoiled place, even by Maldivian... Read More
Six Senses Ninh Van Bay: Nha Trang, Vietnam, Vietnam; View | Reserve; Simply put, the differences between the Six Senses Ninh Van Bay and the nearby Evason Ana Mandara & Six Senses Spa are twofold. First, the branding: what’s important here is the word “hideaway,” which in Six Senses–speak denotes, sensibly enough, a heightened degree of privacy and exclusivity (this... Read More
Six Senses Samui: Koh Samui, Thailand; View | Reserve; In general we’re deeply mistrustful of pronouncements that one or another destination is the “new Bali,” for instance, or the “next Phuket.” We will, however, go so far as to say that Koh Samui, these days, is every bit as developed as Bali or Phuket — for better and worse. When you’re in town... Read More
Six Senses Yao Noi: Phang-Nga, Thailand; View | Reserve; The Soneva/Evason/Six Senses group’s relentless expansion across the Far East continues apace; as long as they’re this luxurious and well-located, though, then we’ll continue to welcome their arrival without complaint... Read More
Six Senses Zighy Bay: Sultanate of Oman, Oman; View | Reserve; If your mental picture of the Arabian Peninsula doesn’t include some stunning seaside resorts, then your travel knowledge is in danger of being out-of-date. Zighi Bay, on the northern end of Oman, just across the peninsula from Dubai, is the sort of desert-meets-the-sea idyll that the Middle East... Read More
Smyth, A Thompson Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; No matter how many stylish boutique hotels open in New York City, it seems it’s never quite enough. So to the Thompson group, who seem to be opening an endless stream of them, we can only say: keep them coming. New in Tribeca, surrounded by some of lower Manhattan’s top restaurants and shops, is... Read More
Sofitel Berlin Gendarmenmarkt: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; Berlin-Mitte is home to some grand and palatial hotels, like the old-fashioned Adlon and the stately Four Seasons. This upscale boutique joins the old boys on the Gendarmenmarkt (one of Berlin's celebrated squares) and has proved itself a worthy competitor, drawing guests who prefer a sleeker and... Read More
Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach & Private Island: Bora Bora, French Polynesia; View | Reserve; The Motu is just a three-minute boat ride from its sister property, the Marara—but its location, on a tiny private island, makes for a much more private and secluded atmosphere. Thirty bungalows, twenty of them on stilts over the water, make up the guest accommodations, and a restaurant pavilion on... Read More
Sofitel Brussels Europe: Brussels, Belgium; View | Reserve; Far from the chocolate shops and historical buildings of the tourists’ Brussels — well, not literally far, but you get the point — is the sparkling newish EU district, home, mostly, to endless ministry buildings and a stable of corporate chain hotels. And a few gems. The Sofitel Brussels Europe is... Read More
Sofitel Brussels Le Louise: Brussels, Belgium; View | Reserve; As the capital of the European Union the city of Brussels is something of a crossroads, and as such it’s got no shortage of high-end hotels — most of which, perhaps understandably, are a bit on the conservative side. Exceptions, however, are ever easier to come by. Previously an absolutely... Read More
Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge: Budapest, Hungary; View | Reserve; What was until recently a not-terribly-exciting business hotel is now the Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge, a new link in the very stylish Parisian chain. It’s not a sea change — the building won’t be joining the ranks of Budapest’s architectural monuments anytime soon — but it is a thorough redesign... Read More
Sofitel Buenos Aires: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; The Sofitel Buenos Aires dates back to the golden age of Argentinean style; this authentic Art Deco monument, the city’s first skyscraper, has towered over the historic heart of Buenos Aires since 1929. From the first look inside, though, you’ll be convinced it’s a modern reproduction, so... Read More
Sofitel Chicago Water Tower: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; Often a new city hotel has to settle for adapting an existing building, shoehorning modern interior design into a prewar skyscraper or hiding boutique flash behind an unassuming facade. Not so the Sofitel Water Tower. Architect Jean-Paul Viguier was allowed to start from scratch, and the result is... Read More
Sofitel Florianopolis: Florianopolis, Brazil; View | Reserve; Sometimes it really is all about location. In the case of the Sofitel Florianopolis it makes all the difference. What would ordinarily be simply a stylish, well-crafted luxury hotel, the sort of thing Sofitel can turn out without breaking a sweat, is elevated, by virtue of its situation, into... Read More
Sofitel Hamburg Alter Wall: Hamburg, Germany; View | Reserve; Not as edgy as some of Hamburg’s smaller boutiques, of course, but neither is the Sofitel Hamburg Alter Wall a typical luxury hotel. This is a group that’s got a little extra time for contemporary design, and it shows here, starting with the eight-story modern waterside building, its glass-walled... Read More
Sofitel Legend: Aswan, Egypt; View | Reserve; These days Northern Egyptian cities like Cairo and Alexandria feel less and less exotic, but Aswan, one of the world’s highest and driest desert places, still lies some distance off the beaten path — once there it’s worth checking in somewhere with some history, like the Sofitel Old Cataract... Read More
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi: Hanoi, Vietnam; View | Reserve; This is simply the place to stay in Hanoi. The hotel itself dates back to 1901, to the French colonial days, and it shows in every detail. In most East Asian capitals, the premier hotel is an ultra-modern Peninsula or Mandarin Oriental, or something like Singapore's Fullerton, a 21st-century hotel... Read More
Sofitel Lisbon Liberdade: Lisboa, Portugal; View | Reserve; Right on the Avenida Da Liberdade, the Sofitel isn’t exactly off the beaten path — but don’t hold that against it. We tend to shy away from the big luxury chains, in most cases, because while they typically offer methodical and attentive service (a big plus, obviously) there’s usually little to... Read More
Sofitel London St James: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Prepare for a slight case of culture shock — the old Cox’s and King’s bank on the corner of Waterloo Place and Pall Mall, just around the corner from the Picadilly Circus tube station, is now the place to go in London for a little taste of Paris. Today owned by the French Sofitel chain, it’s had a... Read More
Sofitel Los Angeles: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Sofitel Los Angeles is back, after the sort of renovation that makes most hotel facelifts look like little more than a good spring cleaning. Gone is the faded South-of-France style that looked almost defiantly out-of-place at the edge of Beverly Hills; this 295-room hotel is now decidedly a... Read More
Sofitel Luxembourg Europe: Luxembourg, Luxembourg; View | Reserve; The Sofitel chain is one we’ve generally got a lot of time for; they do many of the things we want from a chain (service, professionalism, above all consistency) and very few of the things we don’t (bland décor, dull atmosphere, that deflating feeling when consistency turns into sameness). And in... Read More
Sofitel Luxembourg Le Grand Ducal: Luxembourg, Luxembourg; View | Reserve; We’d be willing to bet that when you imagine five-star luxury hotel in the heart of Luxembourg City, the chances of your coming up with something that looks like the Sofitel Luxembourg Le Grand Ducal are slim indeed. Though Luxembourg is not exactly well known as a hotbed of modern interior... Read More
Sofitel Marrakech Lounge & Spa: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; The compromise position between the densely packed medina and the wide-open, suburban Palmeraïe is the Hivernage district; it’s less crowded than the old town, but closer to the center of it all than the sprawling out-of-town resorts. And there are a few very worthy hotel options in the Hivernage... Read More
Sofitel Munich Bayerpost: Munich, Bavaria, Germany; View | Reserve; It’s a bit like a microcosm of Munich itself, the Sofitel Munich Bayerpost: at first glance conservative, traditional as can be, but upon closer inspection surprisingly modern, even hip. The old post office building, just a hundred meters from the Munich city-center rail station, retains its... Read More
Sofitel New York: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Maybe we just have a soft spot for all things French. Or maybe it’s the case that for a big-business hotel chain, Sofitel seems to have it pretty well figured out — the consistent quality of a corporate hotel, but with the personality too many others lack, and an aesthetic sense that we may... Read More
Sofitel on Renmin Square: Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China; View | Reserve; With every decade that goes by China opens itself further to the West. By now Hong Kong feels like it’s right next door, and Beijing and Shanghai are quickly losing their air of exoticism. Even Xi’an, the eastern end of the Silk Road, is finding itself more and more accessible to foreign travelers... Read More
Sofitel Palais Jamai: Fes, Morocco; View | Reserve; The Palais is named for its original occupant, the Grand Vizier of Jamaï, and the original palace building dates back to 1879. It became a hotel in the Thirties, and a new wing, much larger than the original palace, was constructed in the Seventies — but in a style remarkably comparable... Read More
Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Le Faubourg comprises two landmark buildings on rue Boissy d’Anglas, close to the Place de la Concorde. One of them was previously the headquarters of the Marie Claire magazines, the other the former Hotel St. Honoré. The location is fantastic, adjacent to the US embassy and quite near the Louvre... Read More
Sofitel Philadelphia: Philadelphia, PA, USA; View | Reserve; Maybe we’re not entirely impartial, but to our eye, one of the best luxury hotel chains operating in America happens to be a French one. And where better for a Sofitel than Philadelphia’s up-and-coming French Quarter, in the old stock exchange building, a modern-era high-rise tower that’s a... Read More
Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa: Queenstown, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Perched as it is on the edge of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by the Remarkable mountains, Queenstown is the ideal focal point from which to experience New Zealand’s diversity of landscapes. As a haven for ruddy outdoorsy types and backpackers cruising through on the cheap, the city isn’t lacking in... Read More
Sofitel Rabat Jardin Des Roses: Rabat, Morocco; View | Reserve; If you went by what the travel press says you’d think Marrakech and Morocco were different names for the same place. But there are other cities in Morocco — one of them, Rabat, even happens to be the capital. It’s less a pure holiday spot than Marrakech or Essaouira, of course, but its seaside... Read More
Sofitel Santa Clara: Cartagena, Colombia; View | Reserve; Hotel Santa Clara is a converted seventeenth-century convent, a grand and historic hotel, easily the top lodging in the Caribbean coast city of Cartagena — which is, in turn, the destination of choice for travelers from elsewhere in Colombia; the young and the beautiful congregate here for a... Read More
Sofitel The Grand Amsterdam: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; Everything you’d expect from a hotel called the Grand, including a dignified old-world exterior, a location in the heart of the historic city center, every imaginable service and amenity, and a guestbook that reads like a social register, including captains of industry, heads of state, and... Read More
Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; It’s not quite on the level of the Stephansdom cathedral itself, but architecture buffs will want to set aside some time for the Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom as well. Pritzker winner Jean Nouvel re-thought the typical hotel shape, changing the ho-hum rectangle into a celebration of geometry. Glass... Read More
Sofitel Wanda Beijing: Beijing, China; View | Reserve; For better or worse, when you book a hotel that’s part of a chain, you know what you’re getting. In the case of Sofitel, this consistency is, in our eyes, a selling point — professional service, high-end comforts, and classic French hospitality mixed with contemporary-luxe elegance are things one... Read More
Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square: Washington, DC, USA; View | Reserve; It’s fitting, given Washington D.C.’s French heritage, that one of its top hotels would be a Sofitel. As the name may suggest, this fine 1920s Art Deco building is just off Lafayette Square, which is also bordered by the White House; it’s hard to imagine a more prestigious location, or one that’s... Read More
Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor: Luxor, Egypt; View | Reserve; In a place like Egypt, 1896 hardly counts as history. But the Winter Palace is a relic of a bygone era nonetheless. It was built for a new wave of upscale British tourists, and it comes by its colonial style in the most honest way possible. At the time it was simply devoted to importing a bit of... Read More
Soho Grand Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; On the outside, with its cheery pink brick facade, the SoHo Grand resembles a brand-new shopping complex. But inside is a different story. Cast iron dogs stand guard at industrial design central — square lights, molded concrete walls, a coffee table the size of a grand piano. There's mesh wire... Read More
Soho Metropolitan Hotel: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; View | Reserve; Toronto’s Soho Metropolitan is an example of what’s probably the most significant secondary effect of the boutique-hotel revolution: now, thanks to the eccentric small operators with their avant-garde establishments, the luxury market is moving in a design-forward direction. This is the sort of... Read More
Sol Arrayan Hotel & Spa: Villa La Angostura, Patagonia, Argentina; View | Reserve; While it’s often the Chilean side that gets the most attention, the Argentine side of Patagonia has its fair share of charms as well. Perhaps less otherworldly, Argentine Patagonia, where the plains meet the Andes, contains a mountain idyll by the side of Nahuel Huapi Lake, and the architecturally... Read More
Solage Calistoga: Calistoga, CA, USA; View | Reserve; It’s incredible that in 21st-century California a wine-country resort is still half-expected to look like something from 18th-century Tuscany. So it’s to Auberge Resorts’ credit that their newest creation, Solage Calistoga, calls on that most Californian of idioms: the bungalow. For though the word... Read More
Solar Do Castelo: Lisbon, Portugal; View | Reserve; The Castelo, of course, is St George's Castle, once a fortress and now a walled-off, pedestrians-only district, and one of Lisbon's hippest — the coolest shops, bars, and cafes are within walking distance of Solar do Castelo... Read More
Solitaire Lodge: Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand; View | Reserve; In the scheme of things New Zealand’s luxury lodges are probably more similar than different — or at least, the difference between the luxury-lodge experience and just about any other kind of hospitality is so vast as to overshadow the individual personalities of the lodges. But if you look... Read More
Soneva Fushi by Six Senses: Baa Atoll, Maldives; View | Reserve; The Maldives are an oddity, a vast archipelago of a thousand tiny islands seemingly tailor-made for tourism — and this particular island, home to Soneva Fushi, is perhaps the archetypal Maldives destination. Here a spectacular soft white sand beach rings a modest expanse of jungle and looks out... Read More
Soneva Gili by Six Senses: Male Atoll, Maldives; View | Reserve; On one level, trying to discern the differences between the upscale Maldives island resorts feels like an exercise in hair-splitting. Baby-powder white-sand beaches, the gently lapping turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, and thatched-roof bungalows stuffed to the rafters with sleek high-end... Read More
Soneva Kiri by Six Senses: Koh Kood, Thailand; View | Reserve; Please note: Rates at Soneva Kiri by Six Senses are all-inclusive and cover accommodations, transfers, meals, house brand alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, minibar, laundry service, butler service, internet service, and more... Read More
Soniat House: New Orleans, LA, USA; View | Reserve; Please note: Children under the age of 12 are not permitted at Soniat House... Read More
Sonnenalp Resort of Vail: Vail, CO, USA; View | Reserve; The idea of Bavaria in the Rockies may raise eyebrows, but it’s no gimmick — this remarkably authentic Alpine-style resort is owned by the same Faessler family that opened the original Sonnenalp hotel in Ofterschwang in the years immediately following the First World War. It’s the sort of... Read More
Southern Ocean Lodge: Kangaroo Island, Australia; View | Reserve; Bringing crisp minimal design out of the city and into the wild, Southern Ocean Lodge is a shining example of very modern and very Australian architecture: clean open spaces, neutral tones and tons of glass wrapped in an environmentally-friendly package. Located on Kangaroo Island just off the... Read More
Spicers Balfour Hotel: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; View | Reserve; In some cities a hotel this small could get lost in the shuffle, but it’s key to Spicers Balfour’s success that it’s perfectly matched to the scale of Brisbane itself. You’re just around a bend in the Brisbane River from the central business district, and yet tucked quietly away in New Farm, in a... Read More
Sri Panwa: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; It’s the fate of all successful holiday destinations, sooner or later. Now Phuket is certainly nobody’s idea of a hard time, exactly, but it’s not uncommon to be troubled by the nagging suspicion that what began as a place to escape to is slowly becoming a place to escape from. Fortunately it’s... Read More
St Martins Lane Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; St Martins Lane was the first Ian Schrager/Philippe Starck collaboration on English shores, moving into Covent Garden a few months ahead of its younger sister, Soho’s Sanderson. The concept (at both hotels) is Urban Resort, and there’s no question guests walk into a different world upon entering, a... Read More
St. George Roma: Rome, Lazio, Italy; View | Reserve; Rome offers up so much history that it’s sometimes hard for the traveler to remember that, antiquity aside, Rome is a completely current and connected city too. It’s a cosmopolitan town fueled more by academia and the film business than by industry, and top-rate hotels usually aim for grandiloquent... Read More
St. James's Hotel & Club: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; If you’re looking for a window into an earlier era of British hospitality you could do a lot worse than the St. James’s Hotel and Club. This gorgeous bright red Victorian house stands at the end of a cul-de-sac off St. James’s Street, and it aims to recreate some of the atmosphere of the... Read More
St. JOHN Hotel: London, UK; View | Reserve; The obvious thing to do, for an up-and-coming London hotelier, would be to stake out some distant, peripheral borough, in hope of riding a wave of gentrification. Then again, doing the obvious thing is rarely the path to memorable results. Restaurateurs Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver are more... Read More
Starhotels Anderson: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; There are hotels in Milan which are more centrally located than the Starhotels Anderson, and which inhabit more picturesque settings than this modern glass building around the corner from the central rail station. But not at this price. The Anderson isn’t for those trips where the client is picking... Read More
Starhotels ECHO Milan: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; Milan is a city that could use a bit of green. In a former life this was the Splendido, a fairly standard luxury hotel across from the central rail station, just northwest of the city center. In its current incarnation it keeps this location, of course, but it makes the most of the thin sliver of... Read More
Starhotels Rosa Grand: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; Twenty-first-century Milan is still an industrial center, but one that focuses on creative industry at the expense of manufacturing. So it’s no wonder the hospitality scene has been looking considerably brighter. Today’s business visitors, after all, are more likely to be designers, editors or... Read More
Starhotels Savoia Excelsior Palace: Trieste, Italy; View | Reserve; >We love an edgy, bohemian boutique or a glossy style experiment as much as anyone, but there’s something to be said for the pleasures of a classic grand hotel. Especially a classic grand hotel in a beautiful old European capital like Trieste, where the Starhotels Savoia Excelsior Palace stands... Read More
Stendhal Hotel Rome: Rome, Lazio, Italy; View | Reserve; Rome can be a bit overwhelming — surely there are less exciting places in the world to wake up than in Rome’s Hotel Stendhal, just yards from the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the high-end shopping district along the Via dei Condotti. This last, for the committed shopper, may just be... Read More
Stonefield Estate Villa Resort: Soufriere, St. Lucia; View | Reserve; Children under the age of 4 are not allowed at the resort... Read More
Stonehurst Place: Atlanta, GA, USA; View | Reserve; We’ve nothing against bed and breakfasts per se; they’re not simply small hotels, but something else entirely. Occasionally, though, we come across one that’s extraordinary enough that we’re forced to take notice, and this is one of those times. Atlanta in general does oversized nouveau riche as... Read More
Stowe Mountain Lodge: Stowe, VT, USA; View | Reserve; A new-build ski resort could be a dicey proposition — typically it’s all about proximity to the slopes, with little time for the traditional virtues of building. But that sort of thing would be out of place at Stowe, which is, if not the East Coast’s biggest ski resorts, certainly one of its most... Read More
Strawberry Hill: Irish Town, Jamaica; View | Reserve; Though the original Georgian house on Strawberry Hill was destroyed in the hurricane of 1988, the new building maintains a traditional feel. The bungalows are built to meticulous nineteenth-century specifications. You sleep in mahogany four-poster beds shrouded in muslin, and gaze out at the... Read More
Sumahan on the Water: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; And not just any water either; Sumahan on the Water sits on the Asian bank of the Bosphorus, in an upscale residential neighborhood full of vacation homes, looking across the strait at the city skyline over on the European side of Istanbul. The unobstructed view is what it’s all about — the hotel... Read More
Sundance Resort: Provo, UT, USA; View | Reserve; Yes, that Sundance. To many minds, this is just another aspect of the multi-faceted house that Robert Redford built, and the fact that it’s a first-class ski getaway is almost secondary. But as many a proud Utahn knows, once you ski Park City, you might never bother with Aspen (or Vail, or Tahoe... Read More
Sunset Beach: Shelter Island, NY, Long Island, USA; View | Reserve; Please note: Sunset Beach is presently closed and will reopen in May 2012 for the summer season... Read More
Sunset Marquis: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Hard to believe this is West Hollywood. The newly and massively renovated Sunset Marquis is so exquisitely private, and the Bar 1200 so strict with its admissions, that one need never be reminded of the throngs of celeb-watchers and velvet-ropers that beset most of LA’s other hot spots. This... Read More
Sunset Tower Hotel: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Please note that Sunset Tower Hotel will be hosting The Vanity Fair Oscar Party on February 26th. All guests will need to enter through a special undisclosed entrance. The lobby, Terrace, Tower Bar and pool will not be available to guests from 5pm on February 25th through 5am February 27th... Read More
Swissotel Bremen: Bremen, Germany; View | Reserve; In the Brothers Grimm folktale “The Town Musicians of Bremen,” the four elderly animal protagonists never make it to the smallish city — they end up waylaid by an empty house instead. Barring any such fairy-tale mishaps, you’ll be satisfied with what you find here. Like its quietly stylish siblings... Read More
Sydney Hilton: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; View | Reserve; Yes, Hilton — but gone (or at least all but unrecognizable) is the dismal Seventies tower that once went by that name. Today’s Sydney Hilton, fresh off a A$200m makeover, is a revelation, a modern business hotel done the way they all ought to be: prime central location, swanky modernist guest... Read More
Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort: La Fortuna, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; It’s no accident that Costa Rica is a hotbed of eco-resorts, with its volcanic highlands nourishing an extensive network of hot springs. And at a time when everyone with a recycling bin is boasting about green hospitality, it’s refreshing to discover a five-star that coexists so peacefully with its... Read More
Taj Bengal: Kolkata, West Bengal, India; View | Reserve; Likely Kolkata’s toniest hotel, the Taj Bengal is something of a throwback to the age of hotel architecture that’s so focused on achieving a dramatic interior atrium that the exterior begins to break a few laws of proportion. To its credit, the gardening staff ameliorates the hotel’s girth with a... Read More
Taj Boston: Boston, MA, USA; View | Reserve; For the quintessential grand-hotel experience, an obsessive homage to the French Riviera of the Thirties, there’s no competition — it’s got to be the newly renovated Taj Boston, at Newbury and Arlington, just across from the Public Gardens... Read More
Taj Campton Place: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Campton Place is tucked away as discreetly as a luxury hotel can be, just off Union Square and right in the shadow of some more famous big-chain hotels. These days it’s owned by the Taj group, but don’t expect a complete re-branding — this is a century-old San Francisco classic, and only the... Read More
Taj Cape Town: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; There’s no real shortage of opulence scattered across the Cape Town luxury-hotel scene, but there’s a respectably large amount of it concentrated under one roof, in a convenient location near the financial center and at the head of the city center’s pedestrian district, St. George’s Mall. This is... Read More
Taj Coromandel: Chennai, India; View | Reserve; Those whose work takes them to India likely know the Taj hotel empire well — with an outpost in every major city they’re a mainstay of the high-end business-hotel market, where efficiency meets luxury, and traditional Indian style meets contemporary international design. And those with business in... Read More
Taj Exotica Resort and Spa Maldives: Male, Maldives; View | Reserve; Though they’re known primarily for big-city business hotels, Indian palace hotels, and their specialty, big-city Indian palace-style business hotels, the Taj group has a healthy side line, under their Exotica label, in decadent barefoot island escapes. And where better for that sort of thing than... Read More
Taj Falaknuma Palace: Hyderabad, India; View | Reserve; When you see the Taj group talking about palace hotels, it’s best to sit up and take notice. It’s taking nothing away from their more contemporary business-oriented hotels to say that over-the-top fantasy hotels like the Taj Falaknuma Palace are where their comparative advantage lies. For one... Read More
Taj Lake Palace: Udaipur, India; View | Reserve; The Taj Lake Palace floats on the calm surface of Lake Pichola and was built in 1740 as a summer retreat, taking advantage of the cooling lake breezes. The Taj group took over in the Sixties, and the hotel has since become standard postcard (and Bond film) material.The standard rooms face inward... Read More
Taj Lands End: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; View | Reserve; It might not be exactly the end of the world, but compared to the manic bustle of central Mumbai, the swanky seaside suburb of Bandra feels quite comfortably distant. It’s also, not entirely coincidentally, a convenient location for travelers with business in the districts of Bandra-Kurla, Andheri... Read More
Taj Tashi Thimpu: Thimphu, Bhutan; View | Reserve; The luxury market in Bhutan’s capital is not a crowded space — if you’re in town looking to maximize your Gross Personal Happiness, there’s really no place quite like the Taj Tashi Thimphu. Consider it a reward for trekking through the mountains, or for simply getting through the country’s... Read More
Taj West End: Bangalore, Karnataka, India; View | Reserve; Luxury hotels in India tend to fall into one of two camps: the lavish Western-style resorts, with the sobering divide between corporate travelers and locals; and the new high-design boutiques, cool and intimate but strangely ahistorical. The Taj West End transcends both categories. Opened as a... Read More
Talaa 12: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is a 2 night minimum stay requirement at Talaa 12... Read More
Tamarind Village: Chiang Mai, Thailand; View | Reserve; From the inside, Tamarind Village feels like nothing so much as a countryside boutique resort — never mind the fact that it’s right in the heart of the urban hub of northern Thailand, the city of Chiang Mai. It’s a pretty good compromise for those who desire a bit of laid-back serenity along with... Read More
Taskonaklar - Rocky Palace: Nevsehir, Turkey; View | Reserve; It’s a concept we first saw in Italy: an entire village in a rugged natural setting, abandoned by its residents during hard times in the 20th century, rehabilitated and restored by an adventurous developer into a hotel that blends the best of the ancient and modern worlds, seasoning the modern... Read More
Tcherassi Hotel + Spa: Cartagena , Colombia; View | Reserve; Our 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 newly opened, then you’ll be rewarded with the chance to help decide whether the finished hotel will earn a place on Tablet... Read More
Telegraaf Hotel: Tallinn, Estonia; View | Reserve; Stylish boutique hotels are still pretty thin on the ground in Tallinn, which is understandable — it seems to take years for the Soviet gloom to properly recede from a place, and only once that’s happened can it properly count itself among Eastern Europe’s most desirable destinations. In this case... Read More
Temple Tree at Bon Ton: Langkawi, Malaysia; View | Reserve; Originally, Bon Ton was a fairly typical Malay villa resort; a lush little parcel of land near the beach on Langkawi island, furnished with ten classic century-old villas in the indigenous style. So far, so good. It’s when it came time to expand, however, that true inspiration struck. Instead of... Read More
Ten Bompas: Johannesburg, South Africa; View | Reserve; Johannesburg is a bit off the travel radar, for such a large city; whether it's geography (on a high plain, nowhere near a body of water) or much-publicized social issues (there are still neighborhoods that are not quite safe for tourists), no one can say for sure. But travelers who do brave the... Read More
Tenface Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; Is it just us, or does the name Tenface bring to mind a cartoon character, rather than a Bangkok boutique? A portly, helpful fellow, perhaps, who greets you upon arrival with essentials like a SIM card to insert into your mobile for local calls and an iPod to use while squiring yourself around the... Read More
Terranea Resort: Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA; View | Reserve; In case your sense of Southern California geography is a little bit hazy, it should be stated right up front: Rancho Palos Verdes isn’t some Orange County bedroom community, but an upscale enclave on a peninsula in southwestern Los Angeles — south of LAX and west of Long Beach. This makes the newly... Read More
Terre Resort and Spa: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; The classic Marrakech hotel concept is the riad, typically a mansion in the old medina quarter, a small-scale and intimate sort of hotel, however extravagant the hospitality. The Terre resort, the first from the American-owned Octogone group, takes this concept out of town, to the desert oasis of... Read More
Thatch Caye Resort: Dangriga, Coco Plum Range, Belize; View | Reserve; The idea of an eco-resort in Belize is not an unfamiliar one, and it’s appealing enough as it is. Thatch Caye, however, distinguishes itself with a private-island location, and a positively idyllic one at that — all the photos you see in the slideshow above were taken within a twenty-minute boat... Read More
The Address Downtown Dubai: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; There’s a case to be made that if you want to get to the heart of the new Dubai, this is the place to go. The Address Downtown Dubai is sandwiched between the sprawling Dubai Mall and the enormous Burj Khalifa, which will be for a time the tallest building in the world — and if there’s a city where... Read More
The Address Montgomerie Dubai: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; In Dubai, where bigger is typically better, it’s refreshing to run across a 21-room boutique-style lodging — to say nothing of a 21-room boutique-style lodging that’s set on a Colin Montgomerie golf course, surrounded by lakes, gardens and links. This is The Address Montgomerie Dubai, a human-scale... Read More
The Amala: Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Seminyak isn’t exactly synonymous with seclusion, given its reputation as Bali’s mecca of upmarket tourism. The Amala undercuts that stereotype; these twelve private villas are serviced by butlers, which, it hardly needs to be said, is not exactly the norm around here. This level of service extends... Read More
The Ambrose: Santa Monica, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Adjust your mental picture of Santa Monica: the Ambrose is more than a mile inland, leaving the beach to the high rollers, who inflate their prices accordingly. Here you’ll find that it is possible to get an excellent room in Santa Monica, at a charming little boutique, for about the price one... Read More
The Angler's Boutique Resort: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Well south of Lincoln Way on a formerly neglected stretch of lower Washington Avenue, the Angler’s is a bit of a departure for South Beach hotels; visually it’s a Mediterranean Revival standout in the midst of the Art Deco district, and in terms of atmosphere, this enclosed residential compound... Read More
The Annabelle: Kato Paphos, Cyprus; View | Reserve; The English have always known about Cyprus, but Americans have been slow to catch on — distance is a factor, of course, and the Mediterranean islands strain their limited knowledge of geography. And in decades past, they may not have been missing much; the island was lacking a bit in the hip factor... Read More
The Arch London: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; London’s poor old Marble Arch must still be feeling the sting of its demotion; this stone monument used to mark the entry to Buckingham Palace, and now it marks a glorified bus stop at the west end of Oxford Street. Surely there’s some small consolation to be had, however, from the fact that the... Read More
The Aubrey: Santiago, Chile; View | Reserve; Settled comfortably at the base of Santiago’s Cerro San Cristóbal, and overseen by the giant Virgin Mary statue at the summit, the Aubrey embodies the contrast of old and new that the specialty-lodging aficionado lives for. In a past life the Aubrey was a stately home for a prominent... Read More
The Augustine: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Seven linked buildings comprise this spectacular property in Prague’s picturesque Malá Strana. The hotel’s oldest building, the Augustinian St. Thomas’s Monastery, dates to the thirteenth century. Several monks still live nearby, sharing the landscaped paths with guests. But these days things have... Read More
The Back Bay Hotel: Boston, MA, USA; View | Reserve; It may have been easier to remember the name of this place back when it was called Jurys. But it’s worth noting that now, under its new name, it’s still family-run — the Doyle family not only owns but also operates the Back Bay Hotel, as well as a few others in Ireland and the UK, which is a... Read More
The Balmoral: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK; View | Reserve; The Balmoral opened in 1902 as the North British Hotel, long before referring to Scotland as North Britain became an outright slander. Today it’s a thoroughly modern operation, run by Rocco Forte, but this majestic old Edwardian landmark is still one of Edinburgh’s most elegant hotels... Read More
The Berkeley: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Berkeley does not boast the longest list of royal guests, the most storied history, or the richest collection of antiques and old master paintings. Nor does it have nightingales or a location in Berkeley Square. What it does have is comfort and under 200 rooms. It is not considered, by any... Read More
The Betsy Hotel: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; In Miami the flash hotels arms race has escalated to a point where a hotel like the Betsy is almost shocking in its restraint. We’re almost tempted to call it conservative, but with a disclaimer: the Betsy’s pre-deco plantation style means it’s got a personality all its own, and can’t help but... Read More
The Beverly Hills Hotel: Beverly Hills, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Pink Palace has, in true Hollywood fashion, had some work done; nothing shocking, just a hundred-million-dollar renovation in an effort to stay competitive with a new generation. It’s a success—this place could have slid gently into self-parody, but it’s every bit as fine as when Marilyn Monroe... Read More
The Bowery Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; The Bowery Hotel — the name alone pretty much sums it up. The first and only high-design hotel on this one-time skid row is the younger sister to the Maritime, over in the Meatpacking district, and is thus fueling fears among downtown purists that this little strip, bordering on the East Village... Read More
The Breakers: Palm Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Miami may be where you make yourself seen in a bid to get in the gossip pages; Palm Beach, though, is an altogether different sort of place, and no hotel encapsulates its essence quite like the stately Breakers. This hundred-year-old hotel, designed after the style of an Italian Renaissance villa... Read More
The Bryant Park Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; The American Radiator building is a strange and imposing landmark, a black-and-gold gothic skyscraper, towering above Bryant Park like something out of a comic book. How pleasantly surprising, then, to find that it houses a boutique hotel that is as sober and restrained as many of its competitors... Read More
The Burrard: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; View | Reserve; To put it a little simply, British Columbia is to the rest of Canada more or less what California is to the United States. For the most part, though, the laid-back West Coast side of Vancouver’s personality hasn’t been all that well represented in its hotel scene. The Burrard, though, is in a... Read More
The Carlyle: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; This is the old-world, old-money face of Manhattan, the Upper East Side, where the wealthy (including the occasional head of state) pass their time, leaving downtown to the trend-chasers and aspirants. For many of us a trip to The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, is as close as we can ever come to the... Read More
The Carneros Inn: Napa, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Finally a break from the Tuscan-Provençal style that seems to dominate the California wine country. Carneros Inn, at the south end of Napa, close to San Francisco, is rather more modern, its style a sort of rustic minimalism, its inspiration seemingly drawn not from Europe but from the American... Read More
The Caves: Negril, Jamaica; View | Reserve; The Caves is a collection of twelve private cottages atop a cliff, overlooking the ocean, with plenty of jumping-off points to impress one's companion and other guests. For those with a beach fetish, consider this: the sea looks better from higher up, and at The Caves it becomes your own private... Read More
The Cellars-Hohenort: Cape Town, South Africa; View | Reserve; It’s not the first image that springs to mind when you think of visiting the Cape, but maybe it should be. The wine country has as much to recommend it as the coast — more, one supposes, if you’re into wine — and hotels like the Cellars-Hohenort are a big reason why. The magnificent Table Mountain... Read More
The Chamberlain: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Deep in the heart of West Hollywood, on a quiet residential street between Sunset and Santa Monica, the Chamberlain is actually quite a bit cooler than it looks. This is no backhanded compliment — in a reversal of what seems to be the standard procedure in Los Angeles, the Chamberlain presents an... Read More
The Chatwal: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Of all the eras in New York’s history, there’s little doubt that the early 20th century is the most treasured. “Prewar” is the most desirable word in a real estate listing. And it’s this to era that midtown’s brand-new Chatwal aims to pay homage, in a turn-of-the-century building by Stanford White... Read More
The Chelsea: Atlantic City, NJ, USA; View | Reserve; If you’ve been thinking, as we have, that it would be nice if Atlantic City were a bit less of a punchline and a bit more of an actual destination, then you should be cheered by news of the Chelsea Hotel. Los Angeles hipsters never stopped going to Vegas — so why shouldn’t the Jersey Shore bask in... Read More
The Citizen Hotel: Sacramento, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Though it’s the capital of California, a state with an economy bigger than those of about 180 countries, Sacramento doesn’t get much respect — it’s often overshadowed by nearby San Francisco, much as Albany plays second fiddle to New York City. But in the Citizen Hotel, Sacramento might finally... Read More
The Clarence: Dublin, Ireland; View | Reserve; Let’s get the obvious out of the way: yes, the Clarence is owned by Bono and the Edge, of U2 fame. And yes, the Clarence is more or less the official stopover for actors, musicians and the like—but we’d argue that this has little to do with the owners’ marquee value, and everything to do with the... Read More
The Coeur d'Alene: Coeur d'Alene, ID, USA; View | Reserve; Golf may be the Coeur d’Alene’s primary raison d’être, but this lakeside resort at the northern edge of Idaho draws crowds from all over the American northwest as well as western Canada in search of a temperate summer getaway or a picturesque winter ski holiday. The lake is the... Read More
The College Hotel: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; One of Amsterdam’s most stylish hotels happens to be a student operation—the College Hotel, occupying a converted historic school building at the edge of the Museumplein, is managed by the Barcelona-based Franklyn luxury group, but owned by Amsterdam’s Hotel Academy, and staffed largely with... Read More
The Connaught: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; If there’s an up side to the enormously overheated London hotel market, it’s the competition at the top end: the Connaught is just one of a fraternity of clubby old grand hotels, any one of which would be by some distance the top hotel in just about any other town... Read More
The Conservatorium Hotel Amsterdam: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; Our 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 the... Read More
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas: Las Vegas, NV, USA; View | Reserve; When a hotel boasts a “restaurant collection,” it’s not going to be a quaint little bed-and-breakfast. And when the hotel in question towers above the west side of the Las Vegas strip, adjectives like “oversized” and “expansive” are woefully inadequate. There’s really no less-than-hyperbolic way to... Read More
The Crane: St. Philip, Barbados; View | Reserve; Location is everything. This is as true now as it was in 1887, when the Crane first opened, high on a cliffside above the sublime pink-white Crane Beach, on the secluded eastern end of Barbados. This is a spectacular stretch of sand, shielded by a coral reef and continually ranked among the... Read More
The Dharmawangsa: Jakarta, Java, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Jakarta on business makes perfect sense for a certain type of globetrotter, but as a destination for a luxury retreat, it’s slightly curious. Consider, though, that the Dharmawangsa is a Rosewood hotel, a sister or at least a cousin to New York’s Carlyle and erstwhile Martha Stewart... Read More
The Dolder Grand: Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; View | Reserve; The century-old Dolder Grand was impressive enough as it was, but it entered a new league following a massive renovation by the British architect Norman Foster. This isn’t just a new interior for an old hotel, but a complete re-design, with a bold contemporary addition wrapping around the original... Read More
The Dorchester: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The hotel business has of late become so fashion-oriented that it’s hard sometimes to remember there was life before the boutique hotel. But as the upstarts slowly move upscale, increasingly incorporating elements of old-world luxury alongside their trademark visual flash, one is reminded of the... Read More
The Dupont Circle Hotel: Washington, DC, USA; View | Reserve; In a town as traditional as Washington, a little bit of modern design goes a long way. The newly redesigned Dupont Hotel is, in its subtly stylish way, one of the hippest hotels in the nation’s capital. It’s the only hotel on Dupont Circle, in a neighborhood better known for dining, nightlife and... Read More
The Dylan Amsterdam: Amsterdam, Netherlands; View | Reserve; While its position on the Keizersgracht places it at Amsterdam's historic heart, the Dylan Amsterdam is an eclectic beast, its rich striped fabrics and dramatically ornamented rooms referencing the Netherlands' Asian colonial history, rather than canal-house kitsch or the watered-down Zen aesthetic... Read More
The Earth: Toba-shi, Mie, Japan; View | Reserve; It’s almost impossible to overstate how central the onsen bath is to the ryokan experience, a point which is underlined rather forcefully by a stay at The Earth, a sixteen-suite inn on the Pacific coast near Toba City, within the Ise Shima national park. It’s aptly named, as the immersion in the... Read More
The Elysian: Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; The days when Bali was innocently viewed as an undiscovered paradise are long since gone. These days travelers can expect something a little more worldly, and peace and quiet are increasingly hard to come by. Hence the appeal of a place like the Elysian... Read More
The Empire Hotel & Country Club: Brunei , Brunei Darussalam; View | Reserve; We’re not what you’d call believers in the star system, by which hotels are categorized according to a checklist of services and amenities. However we can’t help but smile at the sheer audacity of a hotel that claims more than five. One of just a handful of six-star hotels in the world is the... Read More
The Eugenia: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; In Asia, luxury hotels are generally supersized affairs, where everything from the continental breakfast spread to the dimensions of a bathtub exist on a grand scale. Bangkok, in particular, is home to a number of high-end hotels, each with nearly a thousand immaculately maintained rooms... Read More
The Fairmont San Francisco: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Fairmont hotels are known for their fairly conservative, traditional bent. But that’s not necessarily a criticism. The Fairmont San Francisco, in particular, is a historic gem, one of the original Big Four luxury hotels atop Nob Hill, at the confluence of the city’s remaining cable car lines... Read More
The Farm: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; View | Reserve; India’s got more than its fair share of grand old palace hotels and world-beating business hotels. But in the area of inventive, artistic little boutiques, it’s got a way to go. A place like The Farm, on the fringes of the city of Jaipur, is a signpost marking the way forward... Read More
The Fort Printers: Galle, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; In recent years Sri Lankan tourism has been heating up in a big way. And nowhere, it seems, has got a bigger share of the action right now than the Galle Fort, the south-coast walled city built by Dutch traders in the 17th century. Here on the winding streets of this historic district, hotels are... Read More
The Fortress: Galle, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; In recent memory Sri Lanka was a fairly obscure locale for a holiday. But now that seems a very long time ago. Today it’s an absolutely first-class luxury destination, especially the Dutch colonial town of Galle, on the island’s south coast. It’s home to a picturesque fortress, with battlements... Read More
The Frangipani Tree: Galle, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; Most of what makes southern Sri Lanka such a magical place to visit has to do with the conjunction of the climate, the landscape, the culture, the sea. But more than a little bit of it seems to come down to the architecture. Take a look at the best small hotels in the region, and in most cases... Read More
The Fullerton Bay Hotel: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; Singapore’s colonial-era grand hotels are gorgeous, yes, but one can’t help but feel that there are enough of them already— including the Fullerton Bay’s sister, the iconic Fullerton. So it’s very much to the Fullerton Bay’s credit that it’s not a straight-down-the-line reproduction. It’s every... Read More
The Fullerton Hotel Singapore: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; Singapore's Fullerton is, like Singapore itself, one-of-a-kind, at once a historical curiosity and a modern marvel. The iconic building, designed in the style of such classical Greek structures as the Parthenon, was a colonial landmark, indeed the last refuge of the colonial Governor at the dawn of... Read More
The George: Christchurch, New Zealand; View | Reserve; There’s more to New Zealand than just those rustic rural lodges. Though it may confound the narrative a bit, New Zealanders can do cosmopolitan style as well. The George, a 53-room boutique in central Christchurch, would look at home in any European capital, so chic is the pared-down modernist... Read More
The George Hamburg: Hamburg, Germany; View | Reserve; The gentrifying and newly hip Hamburg neighborhood of St. Georg is where the George gets its name — and you can bet there’s a sensible reason why they’ve anglicized it. Hamburg’s relationship with England goes back a long way — it’s no accident that the Beatles did their apprenticeship here — and... Read More
The Gore: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; If you need a respite from the corporate efficiency of London’s modern mega-hotels, you’ll appreciate the uniquely English spirit of the Gore. This charming boutique hotel is packed with history, its six floors abloom with Victorian eccentricity... Read More
The Gray: Milan, Italy; View | Reserve; While Milan may be the capital of Italian fashion, you would never have known it from its hotels — until recently, they have all come in two flavors: the over-the-top opulence of the palatial luxury hotels, and the carpeted blandness of the corporate chains. The Gray is representative of a new (new... Read More
The Greenwich Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; What do we already know about the Greenwich Hotel? It’s got a celebrity owner (none other than Robert DeNiro), a prime Tribeca location, impeccable design credentials courtesy of one of New York’s top firms, Grayling Design, and some truly obsessive construction having something to do with... Read More
The 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
The Harmony Hotel: Nosara, Guanacaste, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; If the hotel’s name sounds a little New Age, it’s no mistake: this sustainable resort on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast is dedicated to the green lifestyle, complete with yoga classes and vegetarian tapas. But the Harmony Hotel, despite its popularity with eco-friendly travelers and surfers, isn’t... Read More
The Hatton: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; View | Reserve; Set in a striking hundred-year-old Italianate mansion, the Hatton is an utterly up-to-date prestige hotel. Period features such as stained glass and stone archways are accented with bold colors and sleek contemporary furniture. The building has been completely renovated, the exterior painstakingly... Read More
The Hazelton Hotel: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; View | Reserve; Possibly the most luxe of Toronto’s new crop of luxury boutiques, the Hazelton is a sign of the times: both high-design, with interiors by the ubiquitous Canadian firm Yabu Pushelberg, and unashamedly high-end, with suites averaging six hundred square feet and outfitted with all the latest luxury... Read More
The Hempel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Many people find this hotel a strange way for Anouska Hempel to follow her celebrated Blakes Hotel. It isn't really. If Blakes represents how the West saw the Orient a hundred years ago—decadent, ornate, with long fingernails and opulent brocades—then the Hempel is how the West sees the Orient... Read More
The Henry Jones Art Hotel: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; View | Reserve; Tasmania’s known for unspoiled nature, but the port city of Hobart is Australia’s second-oldest. And it’s this old industrial history that the Henry Jones Art Hotel trades on; the property consists of a series of historic row houses and an old jam factory that have been restored to house a cool... Read More
The Hermitage Hotel: Nashville, TN, USA; View | Reserve; When the Hermitage Hotel opened in the heart of downtown Nashville in 1910, its rooms were billed at “$2 and up,” a statement which is technically still true today, at least the “up” part. Back then, two dollars is what you could expect to pay for the finest of hotels, at least in this town... Read More
The Hollywood Roosevelt: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Once a faded monument to a golden age long past, the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel is born again. In its current incarnation it’s a part of Jason Pomeranc’s New York–based Thompson hotel group, and its once slightly kitschy Old Hollywood personality has been toned down and classed up accordingly... Read More
The Horizon Hotel: Palm Springs, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Horizon Hotel has a 21+ policy for guests... Read More
The Hotel: Luzern, Switzerland; View | Reserve; “The Hotel” may seem a bit audacious as a name; but in Lucerne, there’s really nothing else like it. This is a design-oriented boutique, through and through, designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel around a simple organizing concept: each room’s ceiling is decorated... Read More
The Hotel Fouquet's Barriere: Paris, France; View | Reserve; New hotels open all the time; new boutiques, new design hotels, new chain hotels. It’s not every day, though, that the curtain goes up on a new grand dame. It’s a lofty goal, to be sure, but that’s exactly what the Hôtel Fouquet’s Barrière aspires to be... Read More
The Hotel Rialto: Warsaw, Poland; View | Reserve; There are plenty of big business hotels in Warsaw, but the Rialto is the Polish capital's first boutique hotel. Though brand-new, it's a masterpiece of Art Deco design, its retro décor and authentic antique furniture paying homage to the last time Poland was free — the 1920s and '30s... Read More
The House Hotel Bosphorus: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; The design hotel is alive and well on the shores of the Bosphorus, where the Autoban design partnership mixes ancient Ottoman influences with the clean lines and luxe materials of contemporary European practice. The third in their House Hotel series stands near the site of the owners’ original... Read More
The House Hotel Galatasaray: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; Football fans may know Istanbul’s Galatasaray district as the home of one of the world’s most intimidating sporting venues. From a hospitality perspective, however, this district could scarcely be more welcoming — especially now that the owners of the locally based House café concern have expanded... Read More
The House Hotel Nisantasi: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; The second of the Istanbul-based House hotels, and big sister to the Galatasaray establishment, the House Hotel Nisantasi is perhaps the slightly glossier and more modern of the two. The design, by the very same Autoban Design Group, is another modern classic in neutral tones, occupying a grey area... Read More
The Huntington Hotel & Nob Hill Spa: San Francisco, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Fairmont and the Mark Hopkins, both classic hotels (and tourist attractions) in their own right, sit just a block away — but for a quiet, classic elegance and a taste of old-world San Francisco there’s nothing like the Huntington Hotel. Atop Nob Hill, the Huntington is ideally situated... Read More
The Huntley Hotel: Santa Monica, CA, USA; View | Reserve; In years past this glorious location, a block from Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade and two blocks from the beach, was wasted on one of those boring old corporate hotels — or, truth be told, the location very nearly elevated a chain hotel into something special. Now, in a new life as the... Read More
The ICON Hotel and Lounge: Prague, Czech Republic; View | Reserve; Much is made of Prague’s medieval history, and to be honest, it’s inescapable. If you’re anywhere near the old town, a walk around the block is a trip to the Middle Ages. But there’s no reason why this historic city’s hotels need to be backward-looking — this place is firmly established as a travel... Read More
The Inn at English Harbour: English Harbour, Antigua, Antigua / Barbuda; View | Reserve; There’s not a lot of the old world left in the Caribbean. We’ve nothing against the egalitarian spirit, but there’s something to be said for the tony old establishments. It’s not exclusivity we’re after — terrible word, that — but personality, character, uniqueness. That’s something that’s hard to... Read More
The Inn at Perry Cabin: St. Michaels, MD, USA; View | Reserve; Alongside the Miles River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, sits a classic white Colonial mansion, built by Purser Samuel Hambleton after the War of 1812, and christened the Inn at Perry Cabin. Long known as the top hotel on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, this meticulously restored manor house is now... Read More
The Inn at the Roman Forum: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; Something of a sequel to the Inn at the Spanish Steps, the Inn at the Roman Forum takes a very similar approach. This one, like the other, is a charming and luxe little guest house, with a personality all its own — this one tucked away down a very minor alleyway, but like the other, right next to... Read More
The Iron Horse Hotel: Milwaukee, WI, USA; View | Reserve; If you’re in the upscale Midwestern Harley-riding demographic that The Iron Horse Hotel is aimed at (yes, you read that right) then chances are you already know about it. Not only is it a high-end boutique hotel in a contemporary urban-loft style, which is remarkable enough for Milwaukee as it is... Read More
The Istanbul EDITION: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; If there’s a better symbol of the assimilation of the boutique hotel into the hospitality mainstream than the EDITION hotels, fruit of Ian Schrager’s partnership with Marriott, we don’t know what it could possibly be. And while some may miss the elusive thrill of being in on a secret, it’s hard to... Read More
The James Chicago: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; Something richer than the average boutique, and more stylish than the typical luxury hotel — that’s the idea behind the James. The flagship in what’s to be a new chain, the James Chicago, it must be said, is a highly polished affair. The look is significantly more dressed-up than one might expect... Read More
The Kandy House: Kandy, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; The first upscale boutique hotel in Sri Lanka's interior brings new meaning to the phrase "instant classic." Though just opened in 2005, Kandy House has roots two centuries old — from 1804 on it was home to one of Sri Lanka's ruling families — and the stylish, newly renovated interiors stop a bit... Read More
The Keating: San Diego, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Keating has a 2 night minimum stay policy on Fridays and Saturdays... Read More
The Kensington Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; We’re not generally drawn to traditional hotels, and a Georgian townhouse hotel is about as traditional as it gets in London. But we make exceptions for conservatism in the name of something that’s worth conserving — and the old-school London luxury hotel is a tradition that’s worth hanging on to... Read More
The Kirketon: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; View | Reserve; Sydney’s hippest hotel is back. The Kirketon was part of the first wave of Sydney boutique hotels, and the design always turned heads. But while the urban grit of Darlinghurst is a welcome counterpoint to the sunny mellowness of the rest of the city, the Kirketon’s highly polished design was... Read More
The Landing: Harbour Island, Bahamas; View | Reserve; Some find the appeal of the Caribbean (soft sands, blue waters, and a gentle pace of life) is often diluted by intrusions of tackiness—from garish floral bedspreads and cheap overdevelopment to throngs of boorish tourists burnt lobster-pink by careless overindulgence... Read More
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental: Hong Kong, Hong Kong; View | Reserve; The original Mandarin Oriental on Hong Kong island just about cornered the market on over-the-top classic luxury. No surprise, then, that the Landmark, over in Central, is a little bit different. It’s a contemporary masterpiece in a town where tastes run conservative — the interiors by Adam Tihany... Read More
The Last Word Franschhoek: Franschhoek, South Africa; View | Reserve; It’s not the last word in boutique style, or in gilded luxury-hotel opulence, but if discreet comfort is the last word in hospitality, then The Last Word is aptly named. A high-end six-room guesthouse in Franschhoek village, in the South African winelands, isn’t exactly a hard sell in the first... Read More
The Legian: Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Please note: Suite renovations will take place February 15th - June 14th, 2012 at The Legian. During this time, the hotel will operate with only 35 suites. In addition, the hotel will build a new adult lap pool. The existing pool will remain in full operation, although the infinity view to the... Read More
The Levante Laudon: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; Let’s say you’re a fan of Vienna’s Bauhaus-luxe Levante Parliament, but you’re looking to trade a full-featured luxury-hotel experience for a more residential vibe. It just so happens that you’re in luck. Five minutes’ walk to the north is the Levante Laudon, which, like the Parliament, is an... Read More
The Levante Parliament: Vienna, Austria; View | Reserve; In a city as resolutely classical as Vienna, even the Bauhaus facade of the Levante Parliament hotel stands out as something stylistically extraordinary. Equally surprising is what’s inside — a contemporary take on the era’s obsession with monochrome and geometric forms that’s just as striking as... Read More
The Lodge at Tarraleah: Tarraleah, Tasmania, Australia; View | Reserve; From the dizzying heights of its cliff-top hot tub to the depths of its trout-filled lakes and streams, the Lodge at Tarraleah artfully integrates luxury living with breathtaking wilderness. Situated on 300 unspoiled acres in the Tasmanian highlands, the lodge is a heady offering, complete with a... Read More
The Lodge at Tikana: Southland, South Island, New Zealand; View | Reserve; The Lodge at Tikana cannot accommodate guests younger than 13 years old... Read More
The Lodge at Torrey Pines: La Jolla, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Designed in a remarkably authentic Arts and Crafts style, and patterned after some of Greene and Greene’s historic Pasadena houses, the Lodge at Torrey Pines shows a respect for history that’s rare on the prefabricated Southern California coastline. And all the more impressive is the... Read More
The London NYC: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Here’s a hotel that comes with some expectations. The London NYC hotel is fresh off a thorough re-imagining at the hands of the Irish interior designer David Collins, as well as the addition of a marquee name to New York’s culinary scene, in the form of the first Gordon Ramsay restaurant on... Read More
The London West Hollywood: West Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Think of big-time luxury these days and you’ll probably find you’re thinking of New York and London — so it’s only fitting that some of the best of what Los Angeles has to offer has roots in both. The London West Hollywood follows on the heels of the London NYC, bringing its trademark grown-up... Read More
The Lowry Hotel: Manchester, England, UK; View | Reserve; Located in Manchester’s Chapel Wharf development, on the Salford side of the River Irwell, at the foot of Santiago Calatrava’s forked Trinity bridge, the Lowry Hotel is without a doubt the queen of the Manchester hotel scene. From the outside, the building’s bowed glass face draws... Read More
The Luang Say Residence: Luang Prabang, Laos; View | Reserve; The Luang Say Residence has the air of a place that lived a thousand lives before becoming a luxury hotel, so it’s a credit to the architects and designers that this group of six pavilions was actually just constructed in 2010. The French Colonial style perfectly evokes the grandiloquence of an... Read More
The Madison: Memphis, TN, USA; View | Reserve; This 1905 Beaux-Arts bank building has been painstakingly converted into what may be Memphis’s most elegant small hotel. The renovation makes the most of the building’s heritage, with original features like the foyer’s ornate tiled floor or the lobby’s double-height windows... Read More
The Malabar House: Fort Cochin, Kerala, India; View | Reserve; Malabar House is an example of a hotel concept that’s vanishingly rare in South India, even as it thrives in Sri Lanka — the colonial-house luxury boutique hotel. This one is a Dutch-era mansion, located in the historic Fort Cochin district of the Keralan city of Kochi, and it’s been running as a... Read More
The Mandala Hotel: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; In the heart of Berlin’s shining new Potsdamer Platz, amid a sea of futuristic skyscrapers, and sandwiched between the Sony and Daimler Chrysler complexes, the Mandala is something of an oasis. Despite the bustle on the streets below, the atmosphere is anything but harried, with views over the... Read More
The Mandeville Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; With just shy of a hundred and fifty rooms, it would be pushing it to call the Mandeville a “boutique” hotel. But more than many high-end hotels, it’s got an aesthetic all its own. Call it a design hotel, but one for fashion designers, not architects and other monochrome types. These pleasant... Read More
The Manor: New Delhi, India; View | Reserve; The Manor is located in the upscale New Delhi suburb of New Friends Colony, a picturesque refuge from the gritty churn of the city proper — which, incidentally, has expanded its reach around and past the Colony, making the location more of a semi-urban enclave than a satellite suburb. Some fringe... Read More
The Mansfield Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; In New York real estate circles the word “prewar” is one that holds a special significance. This is the era stretching back from the start of the Second World War to, for all practical purposes, roughly the dawn of the 20th century. When buildings were buildings, elevators had attendants, and a... Read More
The Mansion on Peachtree: Atlanta, GA, USA; View | Reserve; Anyone who underestimates Atlanta hasn’t spent time there. This is the unofficial capital of the South, and it’s not only a cosmopolitan city, but an affluent one as well — an impression that’s reinforced by a hotel like the Mansion on Peachtree, A Rosewood Hotel, in the upscale northern suburb of... Read More
The Margi: Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece; View | Reserve; When you think of a Greek seaside getaway it’s only natural to think of the Aegean islands. But lately there’s beachfront bliss to be had around the capital as well. This is Vouliagmeni, the heart of the new Athenian Riviera, a newly upscale seaside district just south of Athens proper. And it’s... Read More
The Marine Hermanus: Hermanus, South Africa; View | Reserve; More than a few seaside resorts offer whale watching excursions. But at the Marine Hermanus, guests need not leave their rooms to watch the spectacle — this stretch of the southern coast of South Africa is a natural playground for the Southern Right Whales that breach near the shore from July to... Read More
The Maritime Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; The Maritime Hotel was designed in 1966 for the National Maritime Union; hence its name, and its nautical theme. Today it is one of New York's hipster hangouts, owing as much to its location (just off the Meatpacking District) as to the charms of the hotel itself... Read More
The Mark Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; It’s about as far as you can get — both figuratively and literally — from the funky downtown boutique hotels of lower Manhattan. The Mark is the very picture of classic, timeless Upper East Side poshness, in spite of — or maybe even because of — its recent, extremely thorough renovation. And in its... Read More
The Marmara Antalya: Antalya, Turkey; View | Reserve; What’s most often the main selling point of a seaside hotel — the view — is most often, in practice, its biggest weakness as well; lured by the promise of transcendent vistas, travelers too often find themselves relegated to the “garden view” or some such rooms, while the sea... Read More
The Marmara Bodrum: Bodrum, Bodrum Peninsula, Turkey; View | Reserve; The first rule of the Marmara hotels seems to be: build somewhere with a view. This is the Turkish mini-chain that brought you the world’s first revolving hotel building, high on a hillside above Antalya; the Bodrum outpost, fixed though it may be, is hardly less dramatic, on a rocky outcrop... Read More
The Marylebone Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Naming a hotel after a neighborhood is a clear sign that your aim is to more or less sum the place up, and in that the Marylebone Hotel succeeds. Once an outlying village, now part of central London, Marylebone itself is an odd mix: its quiet, rather posh residential neighborhoods and its smallish... Read More
The May Fair: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Children under the age of 16 are not permitted in the May Fair Spa sauna or steam room... Read More
The Mercer: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Located at the intersection of Mercer and Prince in SoHo, The Mercer hotel is New York's first loft hotel and captures the very essence of the area. Lofts are a uniquely SoHo phenomenon, pioneered by artists in the 1960s who took over the neighborhood's many abandoned warehouses. Loft living is... Read More
The Merrion: Dublin, Ireland; View | Reserve; Design plays an important role in the function of any environment, and it’s no secret that we’re suckers for a well-designed hotel. In fact, if you’re reading this, it’s probably true of you as well. The current obsession with ultra-modern interiors misses an important consideration, though: smart... Read More
The Met's Apartments: Bologna, Italy; View | Reserve; Hotel Metropolitan stands as a bastion of ultra-modern Italian minimalism in downtown Bologna — a refreshingly sleek, African-tinged design hotel in a city that tends to lay the classical richness on pretty thick. A quick walk from the hotel proper and you’ll find a quiet annex, Met’s Apartments... Read More
The Mira Hong Kong: Kowloon, Hong Kong; View | Reserve; Kowloon’s new Mira Hotel adds some serious artillery to the north/south rivalry surrounding Hong Kong Harbour. Slick without being slimy, the Mira is a cutting-edge modern property that lives up to its position in a true global capital without having to have a Hong Kong Island address. It’s proof a... Read More
The Mirror: Barcelona, Spain; View | Reserve; No one could accuse The Mirror Barcelona of false advertising. With an interior aesthetic devoted to all things glass and reflective, and a radiant whiteness to the furniture and décor that borders on obsessive, this ultra-modern boutique gives off a positively Kubrickian vibe. While this brand of... Read More
The Modern Honolulu: Honolulu, HI, USA; View | Reserve; There’s plenty of fun to be had in discovering some obscure little boutique hotel, and its eccentric creator. But there’s also a lot of pleasure to be had in seeing yesterday’s edgy ideas working their way into the mainstream. Hawaii, in particular, could use a bit of boutique-hotel funk, as its... Read More
The Monarch Dubai: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; All the rhetoric about Dubai being the city of the future may seem a bit overblown, but it’s quite possible, at least, that this is where you’ll find the future of the five-star business hotel. One of these days it may even challenge Tokyo as the capital of the skyscraper-bound luxury-hotel world... Read More
The Montpellier Chapter: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK; View | Reserve; It’s a century-and-a-half-old Regency building in the tony spa town of Cheltenham — but don’t go leaping to any conclusions about what sort of hotel you’ll find in the Montpellier Chapter. For this stately old hotel, in its new guise, shares ownership with the Upper House in Hong Kong and the... Read More
The Nam Hai: Hoi An, Vietnam; View | Reserve; If Thailand’s feeling a bit crowded, fear not — this is the dawning of the age of the Vietnam beach resort. The Nam Hai, on the famous China Beach, just outside of Danang, will have you wondering why you hadn’t thought of Vietnam before... Read More
The Nolitan Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; There's some disagreement among real-estate types as to precisely what neighborhood this is. But while the ink has yet to dry on that argument, Nolita now has its first boutique hotel. And a sharp one it is. There’s more than a whiff of classic, elegant Manhattan modernism about the place, along... Read More
The Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi: New Delhi, India; View | Reserve; The Oberoi is regularly mentioned as a contender for the title of best five-star hotel in India. This is a superlative that is not thrown around lightly — they know hotels here, and the best hotel in India would be one of the top hotels in the world. Of course we don't pay much attention to who... Read More
The Oberoi Lombok: Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia; View | Reserve; For reasons we’re at a loss to explain, Bali is Indonesia’s holiday hotspot, home to any number of hotels of varying quality, attracting crowds of tourists year in and year out—while Lombok, the island just to the east, is undiscovered, unspoiled, and unpopular.Of course unpopular is often high... Read More
The Oberoi Mauritius: Pointe Aux Piments, Mauritius; View | Reserve; If the Oberoi name conjures visions of very conventional luxury hotels, then you’re about to have your mind changed. What’s true enough in India is something else entirely in Mauritius, where an all-star design team comprising the Thai architect Lek Bunnag and the American-born landscape architect... Read More
The Oberoi Rajvilas: Jaipur, India; View | Reserve; The Oberoi Rajvilas is, quite perfectly, the India of our imagination, with all her beauties distilled and dusted down, plus the conveniences and the luxuries that only a modern mind could dream of. Fortress walls gleam white in the moonlight, surrounding an 18th-century Hindu temple rising out of... Read More
The Oberoi Udaivilas: Udaipur, India; View | Reserve; In light of the recent incident in Mumbai, the security at The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur has been intensified. Amongst the measures strength of security personnel in and around the hotel has been increased and periphery patrolling has been enhanced. The hotel continues to operate normally... Read More
The Oberoi Vanyavilas: Sawai Madhopur, India; View | Reserve; Vanyavilas is an adventure resort, yes, and technically its 25 luxurious suites are tents, but you won't be roughing it here; these tents are as regally appointed as many hotels' penthouse suites... Read More
The Oberoi, Gurgaon: Gurgaon, India; View | Reserve; The fast-growing business capital of Gurgaon, just outside of New Delhi, is a natural choice for the Oberoi group, the home-grown chain whose luxury hotels are in the top tier of India’s hospitality business. Unlike some of the others, the Oberoi Gurgaon occupies a newly-built structure, rather... Read More
The Oberoi, Mumbai: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; View | Reserve; Mumbai may surprise you — it's a forward-looking, cosmopolitan, international city, modern where New Delhi is historical; and its hotels reflect this fact. This is, after all, Bollywood, home to India's film and entertainment industries (as well as its financial center), legendary for its... Read More
The Observatory Hotel: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; View | Reserve; The Observatory Hotel sits tucked away on a quiet side street near the historic Rocks district, an easy walk from any number of downtown destinations yet well isolated from the constantly developing Wharf and waterfront. Here, behind a stately Georgian facade, is one of Sydney’s most elegant and... Read More
The One Hotel Angkor: Siem Reap, Cambodia; View | Reserve; What at first seems like an oddly boastful name in fact turns out to be quite literally descriptive of the place. The One Hotel Angkor is named not for some outsized ambitions, like “one hotel to rule them all,” but for its fairly humble and unassuming reality — it’s a hotel with... Read More
The Opposite House: Beijing, China; View | Reserve; Though it’s called The Opposite House it’s not as high-concept as it may sound. Not a hotel where down is up, or the flat-screen TVs watch you, but a hotel named for the guest house that sits across from the main house in a traditional Chinese courtyard home... Read More
The Palace - The Old Town: Dubai, UAE; View | Reserve; In Dubai the basic hotel choice is between new and old — or, since everything’s really new, between old-fashioned and new-fangled. At the slightly over-named The Palace – The Old Town you can get a bit of both: the Palace is a classic antique-style hotel compound, in the middle of the Old Town... Read More
The Park Pod: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; View | Reserve; Pod cannot accommodate children under the age of 12... Read More
The Park, Bangalore: Bangalore, Karnataka, India; View | Reserve; The high-design boutique hotel has landed in India, and what better place to start than Bangalore, the center of the subcontinent’s booming computer industry and, to be honest, a city that’s as newly flush with cash as Silicon Valley was at the end of the ‘90s... Read More
The Park, Chennai: Chennai, India; View | Reserve; The Tamil Nadu capital formerly known as Madras may lag behind certain other Indian cities as a travel destination, but it’s not for lack of charms, including, for high-design hotel junkies, an outpost of the newly stylish Park Hotels mini-chain. The Park Chennai is built on the grounds of... Read More
The Park, Hyderabad: Hyderabad, India; View | Reserve; All of the Park Hotels are architecturally distinctive in one way or another, which is only fitting given their status as India’s first design-conscious boutique chain. But it’s hard not to agree that the Park Hyderabad has taken this tendency to a new level. The building, by the multi-national... Read More
The Park, Kolkata: Kolkata, West Bengal, India; View | Reserve; Though there’s hardly a shortage of ancient palaces and colonial grand hotels, you certainly can’t accuse the entire Indian hotel scene of remaining tethered to the past. The Park Kolkata is an unabashedly modern design hotel, the sort of chic boutique that wouldn’t look a bit out of place in New... Read More
The Parkcity Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; It’s a testament to the power of a coat of paint and a bit of new furniture. Actually it took slightly more than that — but finally at the Parkcity there’s a hotel that’s worthy of its splendid Victorian-era building. The update leaves the Parkcity looking contemporary, while remaining true to its... Read More
The Pavilions, Phuket: Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; Just how little do you want to do when you are on holiday? If you don’t want to cook, explore, push through crowds, or even leave a luxurious villa, then there are more than a few upscale Thai coastal resorts that will meet your needs. But if you don’t even want to bother putting on clothes in the... Read More
The Pearl: San Diego, CA, USA; View | Reserve; It’s an apt name for a hotel like this. The Pearl, in contrast with the rather more ostentatious boutique hotels of San Diego’s Gaslamp district, stands on Rosecrans, on the other side of the airport — the better to avoid the stretch Escalades and valet stands, one supposes. But in these... Read More
The Pelham Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The Pelham is a fine alternative to the flash and preciousness of some of London’s more overtly designed boutique hotels—it can be exhausting to spend time in a place that is striving so hard to be cool, and in contrast, it’s utterly refreshing to stay somewhere a little more restrained, a little... Read More
The Peninsula Beijing: Beijing, China; View | Reserve; The Peninsula Beijing is more or less exactly what one expects from a Peninsula hotel in the Far East. This should not be taken to mean that a stay is a predictable experience, in the way that the average chain hotel experience is canned and uninspiring; rather that a visitor here may rightly... Read More
The Peninsula Hong Kong: Hong Kong, Hong Kong; View | Reserve; Please note: January 8th-August 31st, 2012 all Tower suites and rooms (17th-22nd floor) will be closed for room enhancements. September 1st, 2012-March 31st, 2013 all rooms in the original building (2nd-6th floor) will also be closed for room enhancements. During these periods all restaurants... Read More
The Peninsula Tokyo: Tokyo, Japan; View | Reserve; Like Moses just back from the mountain, we’re here to tell you that we have seen the Peninsula Tokyo, and it is good. Actually, good is a bit of an understatement. This hotel, let’s not fool ourselves, is enormously expensive — but it’s as close to worth it as any luxury hotel we’ve ever seen. It’s... Read More
The Plettenberg: Plettenberg Bay, South Africa; View | Reserve; Set perched in the rocky headlands above its namesake bay, The Plettenberg’s whitewashed walls house 37 stately rooms and suites that could each play the set to a modern-day Merchant-Ivory film. Though a five-star through and through, it breaks the gilt mold, forgoing decorous opulence in favor of... Read More
The Pure Hotel: Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany; View | Reserve; The Pure’s former life as a textile factory leaves little trace on what’s now Frankfurt’s sleekest hotel. There’s nothing you’d call industrial-chic, no exposed brick or metalwork or funky old doors: this place is as smooth and white and cool as an eggshell. White... Read More
The Queensberry Hotel: Bath, Somerset, England, UK; View | Reserve; Long before that other Queensberry fellow lent his name to the rules of boxing, another marquis commissioned a row of townhouses from John Wood the Younger. Now these four Georgian houses, joined together, comprise the Queensberry Hotel — a result which, unless you’re a particular devotee of the... Read More
The Racha: Rawai Muang, Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; Please note: To access the island where The Racha is located, clients must comply with a strict speedboat schedule. When booking, please contact Tablet Hotels Customer Service for information... Read More
The Raleigh: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; The growing pains are over: The Raleigh has emerged from its most recent bout with restoration, and the result is a hotel that quite lives up to its exceptional public image. We are also happy to say the rooms are up to the level of the hotel’s impressive public spaces. Today there are other places... Read More
The Regent Beijing: Beijing, China; View | Reserve; Beijing is placing big bets on the future, with a wealth of high-profile building projects — Herzog & de Meuron’s Olympic Stadium and the Rem Koolhaas-designed CCTV tower, a new mammoth airport terminal by Norman Foster, and many more. And in advance of the expected surge in travel... Read More
The Regent Esplanade Hotel Zagreb: Zagreb, Croatia; View | Reserve; Surely it won’t be long before the contemporary-design boutique hotels move in to Zagreb, but there’ll never be anything in the Croatian capital to match the historic appeal of the Regent Esplanade. It dates back to the Twenties, to the heyday of the Orient Express, and its Art Deco interiors have... Read More
The Regent Palms Hotel: Providenciales, Turks And Caicos Islands; View | Reserve; More new upscale Caribbean than traditional mellow island funk, the Palms is a new addition to the pantheon of haute-luxury Turks and Caicos escapes. Don’t be fooled by the main house’s Palladian architecture; this place is a full-service luxury resort in the modern mold, with all that that... Read More
The Residence: Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa; View | Reserve; The posh Johannesburg suburb of Houghton is the natural place for a hotel like The Residence — in these upscale environs the seemingly understated name properly conveys the grandeur it’s aiming for. Clearly, this is no ordinary residence, but a luxury boutique hotel in the top league, and while by... Read More
The Residence Mauritius: Flacq, Mauritius; View | Reserve; Though a modern hotel, this Mauritius resort is something of a throwback, a reconstruction of the plantation houses at the turn of the last century, and featuring a standard of service that it’s easy to imagine doesn’t exist anywhere anymore. The Residence is rather true to its name, feeling quite... Read More
The Richardson Hotel and Spa: Perth, Western Australia, Australia; View | Reserve; If you can stand to be slightly outside the city center (and let’s face it, Perth isn’t exactly the first place you’d look for a quintessentially urban experience) then you’ll find, in West Perth, what’s probably the city’s finest luxury boutique hotel. Granted, there isn’t a ton of competition... Read More
The Ritz: Paris, France; View | Reserve; Paris may have older hotels, but in terms of glamour, it all starts here. Coco Chanel lived here for thirty years, Pamela Harriman clocked innumerable laps in its pool, Edward VII was one of its first guests, and Guillaume Escoffier was one of its first chefs... Read More
The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow: Moscow, Russia; View | Reserve; If, twenty years ago, you could have predicted that Moscow would today be the most expensive city in the world — well, you’d probably be staying at the Ritz-Carlton, on Tverskaya Street, with views over Red Square. Here caviar and champagne don’t literally flow from the bathroom taps, but maybe... Read More
The River Lee Hotel: Cork, County Cork, Ireland; View | Reserve; Some Irish hotels lean heavily on the historical atmosphere, but we’re always happy to find one that’s comfortable acknowledging the passage of time. In the city of Cork, the Irish Republic’s southern seaport, there’s plenty of heritage to hold on to, but there’s also a healthy dose of modern... Read More
The Rockwell: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; This Kensington boutique is something a bit different for the ultra-competitive London hotel scene — neither a chintz-laden country-house fantasy nor the deranged fantasy of an interior designer gone mad, the Rockwell is modern in a way that's sedate, restrained, maybe even a bit Scandinavian... Read More
The Rookery: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Hard to believe, but there was a time in London's recent past when there was practically nowhere worth staying this far east — unfortunate indeed when one considers that there is in fact a world outside the West End. It's a situation that's since been remedied, and these days City financial types... Read More
The Roxbury: Roxbury, NY, USA; View | Reserve; When we were young the Catskills were where our grandparents vacationed. But now, with flying growing more dehumanizing by the year, car-trip holidays are back in style. And it can’t be a coincidence that hip country hotels like the Roxbury are opening in unlikely places — this one in the town of... Read More
The Saguaro: Scottsdale, AZ, USA; View | Reserve; Now that Chip Conley’s Joie de Vivre group has more or less conquered California, they’ve got their eye on the rest of the West, exporting their particular boutique-hotel vision to the Phoenix area. It’s a vision that’s perhaps less nakedly aspirational than the original Schrager model, where... Read More
The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort: Kiawah Island, SC, USA; View | Reserve; Three cheers for stylistically sensitive development. A brand-new American golf resort too often means a bland and faceless building full of identical L-shaped bedrooms, but the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island just isn’t that sort of place. Instead imagine a resort with all the comforts and luxuries of... Read More
The Sarojin Thailand: Khao Lak, North of Phuket, Thailand; View | Reserve; The Sarojin is a hotel that almost wasn’t. This stunning beachfront boutique, on the mainland just north of the island of Phuket, faces right onto the Andaman sea — and was just about completed before the tsunami of 2004 undid an entire year’s work. The owners, however, weren’t lacking for vision... Read More
The Scent Hotel: Bophut, Koh Samui, Thailand; View | Reserve; You have to be pretty confident in your aromatherapy skills to name a boutique on the beach The Scent Hotel. On the other hand, oceanfront views mean, in this case, oceanfront fragrances, drifting into and out of the colonial-style property, causing long linen curtains to billow in the breeze... Read More
The Screen: Kyoto, Japan; View | Reserve; In a hotel as small as Kyoto’s The Screen, what matters most is the attention to detail. It’s not simply the fact that it’s a hybrid style, somewhere between a traditional ryokan and a modern design boutique — thought of course that certainly helps. In the end what makes it special is the sheer... Read More
The Sebastian: Vail, CO, USA; View | Reserve; With Vail’s established luxury names getting a little too comfortable, there’s a pronounced need for a place like The Sebastian, a hotel that, luxe as it is, manages to bring some youthful energy to this classic Colorado ski town. The Vail Village location is prime real estate, if perhaps less... Read More
The Sentosa Resort & Spa: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; Only in Singapore could there be a place like Sentosa Island, a government-established tropical paradise, just fifteen minutes from the financial district. At worst it could be (and in times past has been) a sort of Disneyland version of the Southeast Asia island getaway. These days, though, it’s... Read More
The Serai, Jaisalmer: Jaisalmer, India; View | Reserve; Sometimes you can tell, just by the sound of the name, that a hotel is going to be something special. Without knowing the medieval history of Jaisalmer, or even much about what a serai is, there’s a certain ring about it. The Serai, Jaisalmer. And if you’re aware of the ancient Kingdom of... Read More
The Setai: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; The long-awaited opening of the Setai was some of the biggest news to hit the South Beach hotel scene in a while. This is a town that’s not exactly hurting for over-the-top luxury accommodations, but the Setai manages to set itself apart by being even more over-the-top than the competition... Read More
The Setai Fifth Avenue: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; If the towering, opulent Setai in Miami is any guide — that’s meant rhetorically, by the way, of course it’s a guide — then you could safely expect the Setai Fifth Avenue to be a pretty big deal. And it is. This sixty-story skyscraper joins the Empire State Building on the Midtown skyline, and the... Read More
The Shilla Jeju: Jeju-do, Korea; View | Reserve; Where do Koreans go to get away from it all? One answer is Jeju, a volcanic island off the southern coast, a volcanic island that’s home to some of the country’s best scenery — and beaches. There’s no shortage of places to stay, but one of the biggest names is doubtless the Shilla Jeju, located on... Read More
The Shilla Seoul: Seoul, Korea; View | Reserve; To westerners Seoul is an uncommon travel destination; South Korea is unjustly viewed as Japan’s country cousin, and those in the mood for some culture shock tend to choose cosmopolitan Tokyo. And Korea’s temperate climate does little to attract the types of people who typically travel to balmy... Read More
The Sofa Istanbul: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; Cafe Sofa Restaurant at The Sofa Istanbul will be closed for renovations from August 17th thru August 27th, 2011... Read More
The Soho Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; London’s Soho Hotel is impossibly glamorous and opulent, a luxury boutique that is at once classic and original—classic in the now-familiar London sense of overstated and outsized comfort, robust and enveloping furnishing and fixtures (as compared to the papier-mache set construction in lesser... Read More
The Spire Hotel: Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Though you’d never know it from the mass media, there’s a lot more to New Zealand than luxury lodges, adventure sports and Lord of the Rings tours. Queenstown, for example, may be known for its alpine setting, a mecca for skiers and snowboarders, but it’s a cosmopolitan city as well, as amply... Read More
The Standard Downtown LA: Los Angeles, CA, USA; View | Reserve; It wasn't so long ago that downtown Los Angeles after six P.M. was a ghost town. This is the case no longer, and it's thanks in no small part to the Downtown Standard — in particular, the rooftop bar, with its astroturf, topiary gardens and waterbed loungers, a fixture on the downtown nightlife... Read More
The Standard Hollywood: Hollywood, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Standard Hollywood is the motel of your dreams. Sixties modernist, blinding white, with Astro-Turf surrounding the obligatory swimming pool. And the neighborhood — not some desert highway but the Sunset Strip, site of many a debauch, from Tallulah Bankhead’s Twenties exhibitionism to the... Read More
The Standard Miami: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Please note: Children under 14 years old are not permitted on the property... Read More
The Standard, East Village: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; For some time now the East Village has suffered from a certain imbalance — plenty of places to dine and drink, but nowhere to stay. It’s a situation that’s found some resolution in recent years, as a building boom in Manhattan’s south-eastern quadrant has made space for a new wave of modern... Read More
The Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa: Dallas, TX, USA; View | Reserve; This is the sort of thing America could do with a lot more of: the Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa is an Art Deco classic from the Roaring Twenties, thoroughly renovated in a contemporary-classic style and updated with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a modern high-end hotel... Read More
The Strand: Yangon, Myanmar; View | Reserve; Back at the turn of the twentieth century, when Burma was still a part of British-run India, the Strand was the finest hotel in town. Built by the brothers responsible for Singapore’s Raffles, the Strand was an elegant colonial palace hotel, a favorite of the British contingent and a symbol of... Read More
The Sukhothai Bangkok: Bangkok, Thailand; View | Reserve; Most of Asia’s grand hotels are ostentatious skyscrapers, but the Sukhothai breaks the mold—this low-slung and labyrinthine complex, designed by Ed Tuttle (of Amanresorts fame) sprawls over six acres, and functions as an island of calm amidst the bustle of that other City of Angels. Gardens... Read More
The Surrey: New York City, NY, USA; View | Reserve; The Surrey pretty well puts to bed any notions of the design-oriented boutique hotel being in any way a downtown phenomenon. Manhattan’s Upper East Side is known for conservative interiors, conservative architecture, and a conservative crowd, but a closer look at the newly renovated Surrey — and... Read More
The Taj Mahal Hotel: New Delhi, India; View | Reserve; New Delhi's Taj Mahal Hotel is a local landmark, a top-class international luxury hotel, located in Lutyens' Delhi, the historic city center that is home to India's senior government officials as well as a number of millionaires and CEOs. The architecture in this district is historical and unique... Read More
The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; View | Reserve; No, they haven't gone and turned the original Taj Mahal into a hotel — but this place is so impressive that it would be easy to forget about its namesake altogether. Conventional wisdom holds that this is the finest hotel in India, the equal of any luxury hotel in New York or Paris, and given... Read More
The Tides Zihuatanejo: Zihuatanejo, Mexico; View | Reserve; The old Villa del Sol, a Zihuatanejo beachfront classic since 1978, is now the Tides Zihuatanejo — it’s owned by Kor, the same group that owns the Tides in Miami Beach as well as a number of LA-area boutique hotels. New ownership hasn’t changed the essential appeal of the place one bit; it’s still... Read More
The Tsitouras Collection: Santorini, Cyclades, Greece; View | Reserve; Please note: The Tsitouras Collection requires a two night minimum and is open seasonally from March 10th through October 31st... Read More
The Twelve Apostles Hotel: Camps Bay, South Africa; View | Reserve; Think of a luxury hotel in South Africa and your thoughts may run to isolated safari estates, old-world colonial compounds, or opulent waterfront mansions. Rarely, though, would the mind conjure images of boutique elegance, of a smartly designed spot that would look equally at home in Miami Beach... Read More
The Upper House: Hong Kong, Hong Kong; View | Reserve; Hong Kong’s upscale hotels scale dizzying heights of luxury, and lately its more adventurous boutiques have been setting the bar high for style. And now there are hotels that do a bit of both: the Upper House, with over a hundred rooms, is bigger than a boutique hotel, and its crisp-edged Chinese... Read More
The Varsity Hotel & Spa: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK; View | Reserve; It’s a conscious rekindling of the romance once contained in the phrase “going up to the ’Varsity.” Established by a quartet of Cambridge graduates, The Varsity Hotel & Spa is a modern building, but through its floor-to-ceiling windows you’re steeped in the old Cambridge — you’re practically on... Read More
The Villa by Barton G: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; The old Versace mansion is back, this time as a luxury boutique hotel, under a new name: The Villa by Barton G. This patchwork Italian-style palace is still every inch a monument to excess; the difference being that these days it’s open to the public — or at least ten suites' worth of the public... Read More
The Waterhouse at South Bund: Shanghai, China; View | Reserve; When you put together an all-star team you don’t necessarily get all-star results — but then again, sometimes you do. The Waterhouse is the brainchild of one adventurous developer, in the person of Loh Lik Peng, the man behind Singapore’s New Majestic, and a pair of talented designers, the... Read More
The Weinmeister Berlin-Mitte: Berlin, Germany; View | Reserve; They’re calling it the Golden Cage, this distinctive, warm-toned, metal-clad modern building on Weinmeisterstraße in Berlin Mitte. The bit about the cage is meant to be ironic, we think, as the Weinmeister is very much the sort of place you’re supposed to want to be confined in. It’s so hard to... Read More
The Westbury Hotel: Dublin, Ireland; View | Reserve; There are bolder and brasher hotels in the Dublin city center, but guests who prefer a bit of classicism with their contemporary design find plenty to love about the Westbury, just of Grafton Street in what’s got to be one of the most desirable locations in town: not only is it yards from the... Read More
The Westcliff: Johannesburg, South Africa; View | Reserve; The Westcliff's 115 rooms are spacious enough, and handsome enough, to sustain the illusion that you are staying not in a hotel, but in the guest house of an aristocrat's country estate. Though this is a city hotel, the impression comes rather near the truth; Johannesburg is, of course, a wealthy... Read More
The White Barn Inn: Kennebunkport, ME, USA; View | Reserve; The White Barn Inn is one of America's finest country house hotels, an rustic and intimate inn (and now, a cottage compound) down by the waterfront in the Atlantic coast town of Kennebunkport, Maine. This is a town perhaps best known outside of the Northeast as a presidential summer home, but long... Read More
The Windsor Hotel Toya Resort & Spa: Abuta-gun, Hokkaido; View | Reserve; There are times when you want something a little more decadent than the ascetic charms of the ryokan. The Japanese countryside is home to some astonishing luxury hotels as well, the Windsor Hotel Toya among them. This Hokkaido hotel, with its mountaintop view of Lake Toya, hosted 2008’s G8 summit... Read More
The Zetter Hotel: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Clerkenwell, neighboring on tony Soho, the buttoned-up City and art-damaged Shoreditch, is ground zero for London’s design and creative communities, chock full of imaging labs, ad agencies, and design firms. Many of our customers will have business in and around Clerkenwell, and now they have a... Read More
The Zetter Townhouse: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; The very cool and very modern Zetter gets an expansion; and what’s the point of an expansion if it’s literally just more of the same? It’s a question that’ll remain rhetorical in the case of the Zetter Townhouse, as this early Georgian residence, just across St. Johns Square from its forebear... Read More
Thompson Beverly Hills: Beverly Hills, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The Thompson group continues its westward expansion with this Beverly Hills outpost, built from the bones of a Sixties-era chain motel on Wilshire Boulevard. Not that you’d notice — if the Thompson is retro, it’s retro of the Seventies chocolate-leather variety, rather than another revival of the... Read More
Thompson LES: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Over the last few decades the center of gravity of hipness in New York has tracked steadily to the south and east. And given how long these things take to make, it’s natural that only just now are we beginning to see high-end boutique hotels on the Lower East Side — among the first wave, the... Read More
Thompson Ocean Drive: Miami Beach, FL, USA; View | Reserve; Miami’s classic Hotel Victor is keeping its neon signs — in the historic district of Miami Beach, branding decisions are permanent — and the elevated courtyard pool is still one of Ocean Drive’s most remarkable outdoor spaces. But some changes are afoot, now that it’s the Thompson Ocean Drive: look... Read More
Thompson Toronto: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; View | Reserve; If there’s a North American city that suffers from a PR problem it’s got to be Toronto. It’s livable, vibrant, creative, multicultural, not all that cold, and it’s gritty and urban enough, in spots, to stand in for New York in countless film and TV productions. So why is it not generally regarded... Read More
Thorngrove Manor: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; View | Reserve; Quite a departure from the standard Australian lodge hotel — Thorngrove Manor is a fantasy version of a European castle, complete with turrets, towers and rough stone walls. The interiors carry on in the same baroque vein, with antiques, artworks and architectural details at every turn. Yet in... Read More
Tiara Chateau Hotel Mont Royal Chantilly: Chantilly, France; View | Reserve; File this one under city/country. The Tiara Château Hôtel Mont Royal Chantilly is a gorgeous 18th-century palace on a hilltop surrounded by scenic woodlands, a postcard vision of aristocratic country life. But the Chantilly Forest is just a half-hour north of Paris, which obviously makes the Tiara... Read More
Tiara Yaktsa: Théoule-sur-Mer, France; View | Reserve; Not every hotel perched on the edge of the French Riviera is a glitzy behemoth or an art-deco palace — although from certain vantage points it certainly seems that way. The Yaktsa is a small luxury hotel that places the glamour of the region into a more intimate setting. The hotel’s laid-back... Read More
Titilaka: Puno, Peru; View | Reserve; Split between Peru and Bolivia, the magnificent Lake Titicaca, considered by Incas to be the sacred birthplace of human civilization, is one of the largest, deepest, and highest bodies of water on the globe. Backpackers have long made the pilgrimage to the water’s edge; this, by contrast, is a... Read More
Tivoli Sao Paulo Mofarrej: Sao Paulo, Brazil; View | Reserve; It’s hard to think of a better location for a luxury hotel in São Paulo than the upscale Jardins district — not only is it ground zero for boutique shopping and trendy dining, but it’s the city’s hub for big business as well. The newly renovated Tivoli Sao Paulo Mofarrej is a 23-story hotel rising... Read More
Tomtom Suites: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; For the month of August, Tomtom Suites is offering a complimentary shuttle service to/from the Old City (Sultanahmet Area). Shuttle service is available at specific times each morning, noon and night... Read More
Topnotch at Stowe Resort & Spa: Stowe, VT, USA; View | Reserve; Though not blessed with the same natural gifts as some western resorts, Stowe offers some of New England’s finest skiing, and more than a few excellent hotels. Notable among these is the aptly named Topnotch, a perennial East Coast favorite occupying 120 acres of land between the town of... Read More
Torre di Moravola: Perugia, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Torre di Moravola is open seasonally from April to November... Read More
Tower 23: San Diego, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Poor overlooked San Diego — not even California’s second city, it’s long been overshadowed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, maybe even Orange County. Of late, however, overlooking San Diego means overlooking some ever more stylish hotels — Tower 23, for example, would turn heads even in the... Read More
Town Hall Hotel & Apartments: London, England, UK; View | Reserve; Town Hall Hotel & Apartments — that sounds central, doesn’t it? Not quite; it’s in Bethnal Green, considerably eastward of London’s traditional hospitality centers. It’s a much less unlikely location than it would have been a few short years ago, however, and a conveniently placed Tube station... Read More
Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; View | Reserve; If you’re going to stay in a city as busy as Kuala Lumpur, we always say, you may as well get the full megacity experience. (We’re always saying this.) If 571 rooms in the long, long shadow of the Petronas Towers sounds about your speed, then the high-rise Traders, a tastefully modern high-rise... Read More
Treetops: Rotorua, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Deep in an ancient forest overlooking Lake Rotorua, on more than two thousand acres of game reserve, Treetops is as close to Eden as any of us are likely to get. Outdoorsmen, particularly, are in paradise — the area around Rotorua is the trout fishing capital of the world, and the sheer... Read More
Tremont House: Galveston, TX, USA; View | Reserve; Before the hurricane of 1900 the Gulf Coast city of Galveston was on its way to becoming one of America’s great cities, a Victorian fantasy of a bustling port town and the center of Texas high society. Today the tourist trade is the city’s main business, and that 19th-century history is... Read More
Trianon Palace Versailles: Versailles, France; View | Reserve; There certainly are worse places to spend the night than at the edge of Louis XIV's Royal Estate, in a palace of cut stone, overlooking the park's lawns and gardens, with a view of the Chateau de Versailles or the Paris skyline. Since opening its doors in 1910, the hotel has hosted the leading... Read More
Tribeca Grand Hotel: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Tribeca is one of Manhattan’s oddest blends, a district mixing the arty downtown cool of Soho with the big-money sheen of midtown, the spot where 19th-century cobblestones meet sleek industrial architecture, with a dash of bright light courtesy of the sun going down over the Hudson, and several of... Read More
Trident, Gurgaon: Gurgaon, Haryana, India; View | Reserve; Suffice it to say that the Trident rather exceeds what one expects from Gurgaon — especially given this Delhi satellite city’s all-business reputation. You might expect some complicated value-engineering, but this place is anything but utilitarian, from the palatial dimensions of the common areas... Read More
Trident, Nariman Point: Mumbai, India; View | Reserve; As the beating heart of the Indian capital’s financial district, Nariman Point has been the Manhattan of Mumbai for quite some time. However, when it comes to pricey real estate, Nariman Point makes even the Big Apple look reasonable. If you take a moment to consider the value of a 550-room tower... Read More
Trump International Hotel & Tower: Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; There’s no danger at all you’ll accidentally overlook it — the Trump International Hotel & Tower is just a hair shorter than the Sears Tower, making it the second tallest building in America and, significantly, the tallest residential tower in the world. The topmost units, generally, are... Read More
Trump SoHo: New York, NY, USA; View | Reserve; Now there’s a name you probably weren’t expecting to see. Truth be told, we’re nearly as surprised as you are. But the bottom line is this: while there are plenty of perfectly valid ways to take issue with the concept of a Trump SoHo, in fact it’s pretty hard to find fault with the Trump as it... Read More
Tschuggen Grand Hotel: Arosa, Graubunden, Switzerland; View | Reserve; For 70-odd years this top-class Swiss mountain resort was strictly a ski-season getaway. But Arosa isn’t just for skiers anymore: as travelers everywhere embrace the sporting life, mountain playgrounds like Graubünden are becoming year-round options — and hotels like the Tschuggen Grand are... Read More
Twenty Three Palm Villa: Thalpe, Sri Lanka; View | Reserve; How small can a hotel be and still be a hotel? 23 Palm is just a single two-bedroom villa, and whether it’s one unit or two depends on the size of your party. And it’s hard to think of a purer way to enjoy the Sri Lankan coastline, with little more than a luxurious suite, a beachfront pavilion, and... Read More
Twin Farms: Barnard, VT, USA; View | Reserve; Please note: Twin Farms will be closed March 25th-May 2nd... Read More
Txai Resort: Itacare, Bahia, Brazil; View | Reserve; The popular foreign conception of travel to Brazil is limited to the beaches of Rio or the bustling city of São Paulo — but there’s plenty going on outside of the major cities. And while visitors line the beaches at Ipanema and Copacabana, Brazilians escape to the Bahia coastline... Read More
Tyrian Apartments: Melbourne, Australia; View | Reserve; We’re big enough to admit that sometimes a traditional hotel room isn’t the best option. Then again, all serviced apartments certainly aren’t created equal. If you’re overly interested in definitions then you might wonder exactly how serviced a serviced apartment has to be before it’s simply a... Read More
Ubud Hanging Gardens: Payangan, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Though a long way from Babylon, the Ubud Hanging Gardens might just be worthy of sharing a name with one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Consider the situation: a half hour outside of Ubud, Bali’s inland attraction, it clings to the edge of the densely forested valley, a situation so... Read More
Ultra Hotel: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; In Buenos Aires, the bar has been set high in the boutique hotel category – and that fact makes the new Ultra Hotel all the more notable. Centrally situated in the fashionable neighborhood of Palermo Soho, the Ultra looks intimidatingly dark from the street: the shadowy lobby, illuminated... Read More
Uma Paro: Bhutan; View | Reserve; Think of world travel hot spots and it’s unlikely that Bhutan is the first destination to come to mind. There’s a good reason for that: this tiny Himalayan kingdom strictly limits the number of tourists allowed to enter each year at just a few thousand, fewer than pass through some individual... Read More
Uma Ubud: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; Bali is back, as a holiday destination — many governments are finally easing their travel restrictions, and citizens of the remaining holdouts are, more and more, ignoring the warnings. Let's put things into perspective, Bali is easily safer than the subway systems of any major city. And, besides... Read More
Umaid Bhawan Palace: Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India; View | Reserve; There are palaces and then there are palaces. By which we mean, there’s no shortage in India of palace-style hotels, whose entire object is to convey the illusion that you’re an aristocrat’s guest. But Umaid Bhawan, as it happens, is still occupied by what remains of Jodphur’s old royal family... Read More
UNA Hotel Vittoria: Florence, Tuscany , Italy; View | Reserve; Florence’s UNA Hotel Vittoria is a masterpiece of ultra-modern hotel design, the handiwork of the improbably named Italian architect Fabio Novembre, and it’s a highly individual expression. If you turn up expecting yet another international-modern minimalist design hotel, you risk having your Zen... Read More
Unique Garden: Sao Paulo, Brazil; View | Reserve; What’s in a name? Well, in this case, Unique Garden pretty much covers it; the centerpiece of this country retreat, located within a state park fifty kilometers from São Paulo, is its garden — actually acre upon acre of gardens, managed by a team of agronomists and gardeners. If you’re... Read More
Urban Suites Recoleta Boutique Hotel: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; Buenos Aires is chock full of stylish boutique hotels, most of them geared towards chic leisure travelers. And then there are the “apart-hotels,” the all-suite properties that are aimed at the capital’s business travelers. Until recently, no one in Buenos Aires has attempted to bridge the gap... Read More
URBN Hotel Shanghai: Shanghai, China; View | Reserve; “Yes, well, I’m more worried about what China is doing.” It’s the last refuge of the unrepentant carbon-guzzler, who will, in the next sentence, go on to remind you that there are a billion people there, just in case you somehow didn’t know, and they’re all busily undoing whatever environmental... Read More
Usha Kiran Palace: Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India; View | Reserve; When the Taj group uses the word “palace,” it’s best to take them seriously, we always say (and it says something about their selection that we actually do say it rather a lot). Usha Kiran Palace, for example, is more than just an awfully luxurious hotel, though it certainly is that. First built as... Read More
UXUA Casa Hotel: Trancoso, Bahia, Brazil; View | Reserve; It’s quite obviously a hotel. And it was designed, it happens, by the creative director of Diesel, the Italian fashion brand — a man who can pretty safely be called a designer. But don’t call it a “design hotel.” Uxua Casa’s nine villas, though newly built, are traditionally Bahian in style, far... Read More
Vain Boutique Hotel: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; From a certain angle the current boom in Buenos Aires high-design boutique hotels can come off a bit pretentious. But when a hotel comes right out and calls itself the Vain Boutique Hotel it’s impossible not to cut it a little slack. This is the kind of humor that’s too often lacking in these sorts... Read More
Valamar Riviera Hotel & Residence: Porec, Croatia; View | Reserve; The Valamar Riviera Hotel is perched at the water’s edge in Porec, a 2,000-year-old seaside town encompassing 37 kilometers of pristine Adriatic coastline on the western edge of Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula. Once a beloved vacation spot for Habsburg monarchs, Porec is finding new life as a... Read More
Valdepalacios Hotel Gourmand: Oropesa, Spain; View | Reserve; There’s very little of the typical hotel experience about Hotel Valdepalacios, an hour and a half outside Madrid. Take the setting: the villa nestles among fields and orchards, as far as the digital camera’s eye can see. Nicely proportioned nooks, white wash, and soft light abound. But “villa... Read More
Varanda das Bromelias: Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul / RS, Brazil; View | Reserve; The town of Gramado is a singular stop along the aptly named Rota Romantica, a collection of small, picturesque towns that dot the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. A historically multicultural place, Gramado offers some strange and wonderful bits of off-kilter scenery, including a... Read More
Ventana Inn and Spa: Big Sur, CA, USA; View | Reserve; Ventana Inn and Spa is an adults-only resort. Children under the age of 18 are not permitted... Read More
Verdura Golf & Spa Resort: Sicily, Italy; View | Reserve; If golf isn’t quite the first thing you think of when you think of Sicily, you’re not alone. But don’t let that fact count against the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort; after all, if they’re successful, it’ll soon seem like the most natural association in the world. And while the olive country of... Read More
Viceroy Anguilla: Barnes Bay, Anguilla; View | Reserve; You may know the Viceroy hotels from Miami or Santa Monica or Palm Springs. We wouldn’t have bet money that their next expansion would be into the tonier end of the British West Indies, but that’s exactly what the Viceroy Anguilla is — and on 35 acres of land, alongside a private beach that spans... Read More
Viceroy Bali: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; View | Reserve; No relation, apparently, to any other Viceroy, in Los Angeles or anywhere else — the Viceroy Bali is a one-off, a family-owned hotel, a rarity at the high end of the resort market. The location is increasingly familiar, as more travelers discover the charms of inland Bali — the Viceroy is minutes... Read More
Viceroy Miami: Miami, FL, USA; View | Reserve; It’s almost implicit when you’re talking about Miami hotels that you’re really talking about Miami Beach, and most often South Beach in particular. So it may bear some spelling out: the Viceroy is in downtown Miami — as in, on the mainland, surrounded by tall buildings, trading easy beach access... Read More
Viceroy Palm Springs: Palm Springs, CA, USA; View | Reserve; It seems everything old becomes new again someday; who’d have thought Palm Springs could relive its glamorous glory days? Yet that’s just what’s happening, as a new generation of Angelenos skips out on Beverly Hills and heads inland to this desert oasis hideaway. And in Palm Springs, it doesn’t get... Read More
Viceroy Riviera Maya: Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico; View | Reserve; No children under 16... Read More
Viceroy Santa Monica: Santa Monica, CA, USA; View | Reserve; The green glow through translucent glass is the only clue that there’s anything out of the ordinary going on behind the discreet (and unsigned) facade of this seaside hotel. Inside, though, it’s something else entirely — the Viceroy is one of Santa Monica’s hottest spots, and the interiors are as... Read More
Viceroy Snowmass: Snowmass Village, CO, USA; View | Reserve; Ski hotels in general were a little bit late hopping on the design bandwagon. But you’d expect Aspen, more than most resort towns, to be sensitive to the aesthetic dimension of a winter holiday. And in some cases you’d be right — nowhere more so than the sparkling new Viceroy Snowmass, which lies... Read More
Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel: Interlaken, Bern, Switzerland; View | Reserve; For centuries Switzerland was the playground of Europe, and to this day it’s practically bursting with classic grand hotels — when it comes to old-fashioned luxury, these people know what they’re doing. In Interlaken, the grande dame is the Victoria-Jungfrau, a 19th-century hotel which, like its... Read More
Vila dos Orixas Boutique Hotel: Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, Brazil; View | Reserve; It wasn’t that long ago that travel to Brazil simply meant a choice between Rio and São Paulo. But with the general worldwide flourishing of small boutique properties — now that all you need is ten rooms and a beach — an awful lot of new places are on the map. The Brazilian state of Bahia is one of... Read More
Vila Monte: Algarve, Portugal; View | Reserve; The Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost province, is a destination seemingly ready-made for tourism. It’s covered with sandy beaches and sunshine, and just as places like New Zealand get comic mileage out of their ratios of sheep per capita, the Algarve seemingly has at least one hole of golf for... Read More
Villa Arguibel: Guethary, France; View | Reserve; Arguibel is an intimate manor home in the southwest corner of France, between the Pyrenées and the Atlantic, a few miles from the coastal city of Biarritz. This is French Basque country, and like Italy’s Tyrol, it represents a centuries-old blending of cultures that defies national political... Read More
Villa Belrose: Gassin, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Villa Belrose will be open from April 22 - October 23, 2011... Read More
Villa Caletas: Herradura, Puntarenas, Costa Rica; View | Reserve; These days the brief on Costa Rica generally involves a bit of adventure tourism, culminating in a zipline, perhaps, flying through the rainforest canopy. Not unappealing, if that’s the sort of thing that appeals to you. But it’s to a more elegant vision of Costa Rica that the French-inflected... Read More
Villa Crespi: Orta San Giulio, Piedmont, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Villa Crespi will be closed for the winter season in the months of January and February... Read More
Villa de l'O: Essaouira, Morocco; View | Reserve; Please note that Villa de l'O will be closed until December 16, 2011... Read More
Villa dei D'Armiento: Sant Agnello, Campania, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Villa dei D'Armiento is open annually, March through October... Read More
Villa del Sogno: Gardone Riviera, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Villa del Sogno is open annually, March through October. Two night minimum required June through August... Read More
Villa Fontelunga: Arezzo, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: Villa Fontelunga requires a two night minimum and is open seasonally March through November... Read More
Villa Kennedy: Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany; View | Reserve; You’d expect the top-flight business hotels in Frankfurt, the financial center of Germany, to be skyscraperish modern glass-and-metal affairs. And quite often you’d be right. The Villa Kennedy, though, is something a bit different. Though it’s a high-end modern business hotel... Read More
Villa Le Maschere Resort: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; The archetypal Florentine villa wears a patina of age, often applied at great expense with a damp sponge — and this, for some reason, is what passes for authenticity. Villa Le Maschere takes a different tack. In their vision, you get closer to the past by turning back the clock — and by cleaning... Read More
Villa Mangiacane: Florence, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: The SPA will be closed for renovations for the entire 2011 season. Massage treatments can be arranged in advance. Please contact CustomerService@TabletHotels.com with any questions about your stay... Read More
Villa Maria Cristina Boutique Hotel: Guanajuato, Mexico; View | Reserve; The scenic old town of Guanajuato is noted mainly for having been an old mining town (back when mining towns were picturesque) as well as the birthplace of the painter Diego Rivera. So it’s a little bit unexpected to find that it’s got a hotel of the quality of the Villa Maria Cristina — a fine... Read More
Villa Marie: Ramatuelle, Côte d'Azur, France; View | Reserve; Please note: Villa Marie is seasonal, open each year from late April thru early October... Read More
Villa Samadhi: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; View | Reserve; It seems impossible, but smack in the middle of Kuala Lumpur, a city that gives new meaning to the word “bustling,” is a serene, luxe little hideaway called Villa Samadhi. Plenty of hip hotels seek to put their patrons in the metropolis’s glittering, garish nerve center. Here’s where to stay if... Read More
Villa Sassolini: Moncioni-Montevarchi, Tuscany, Italy; View | Reserve; Staying at an upscale Tuscan villa no longer automatically means that you’ll be sleeping in an antique four-poster in a carefully weathered sponge-painted bedroom that’s trying to be both rustic and posh. The hilltop Villa Sassolini looks traditional from the outside, to be sure — the stone facade... Read More
Villa Spalletti Trivelli: Rome, Italy; View | Reserve; You wouldn’t believe how hard it is not to resort to clichéd phrases like “La Dolce Vita.” See, there we’ve gone and said it again. But it’s hard to see what the alternative is — life in a posh Roman villa is indeed sweet, and if ever there were a hotel that perfectly exemplifies the genre, it’s... Read More
Vintage Hotel Brussels: Brussels, Belgium; View | Reserve; The Vintage Hotel is a newly minted alternative to the ponderous corporate chains that swallow up business travelers and EU bureaucrats in Brussels’ European Quarter. Located a few metro stops away from the bustling administrative nexus, the Vintage’s charming retro-boutique ambience is a testament... Read More
Vitrum: Buenos Aires, Argentina; View | Reserve; There’s no shortage of boutique hotels in Palermo Viejo, widely considered to be Buenos Aires’ most fashion-forward barrio. There is, however, a dearth of boutique hotels that deliver the goods without looking like second-rate minimalist knock-offs or victims of last year’s trends. One that stands... Read More
Vivanta By Taj - Coral Reef: North Malé Atoll, Maldives; View | Reserve; Vivanta by Taj Coral Reef Maldives, in spite of (or perhaps by virtue of) its unwieldy name, is the sort of place that needs very little by way of explaining. It’s an overwater villa resort on a pocket-sized Maldivian island, and as is so often the case when it comes to this sort of hotel, in this... Read More
Vivanta by Taj - Malabar: Cochin, India; View | Reserve; The Taj group, though perhaps best known for a string of faultlessly competent business hotels, has a healthy sideline in time travel — the kind of meticulously preserved historical properties that make you feel as though you’ve stepped right into another century. Take the Vivanta by Taj Malabar... Read More
Vivanta by Taj - President: Mumbai, India; View | Reserve; Taj enthusiasts will be happy to know that the Vivanta sub-brand is more notable for its similarities with the Taj flagships than for its differences. The Vivanta by Taj - President occupies a modern tower in central Mumbai’s Colaba district, rather than a historic waterfront structure like the Taj... Read More
Vivanta by Taj - Whitefield: Bangalore, Karnataka, India; View | Reserve; In case it’s not immediately apparent from the checked blue and green glass of this hotel’s facade, Vivanta is Taj’s modern, more youth-oriented sub-brand. This one, the Vivanta at Taj – Whitefield, plays the role to a tee — Bangalore is India’s high-technology capital, and it’s no stretch to... Read More
Vivere Suites and Rooms: Arco, Trento, Italy; View | Reserve; Please note: 3 night minimum required. Open annually March through early November... Read More
Wakaya Club & Spa: Wakaya Private Island, Fiji; View | Reserve; “Legendary” might be a bit much, when you’re talking about hotels, but Fiji’s Wakaya Club & Spa is one of those places for which the ordinary bag of adjectives feels in some way insufficient. The combination of a dazzling natural setting, a shocking amount of physical luxury and a celebrity-heavy... Read More
Waldorf Astoria Chicago (formerly the Elysian Hotel): Chicago, IL, USA; View | Reserve; Go to sleep in the Elysian Fields, according to Greek mythology, and you’ll rest with heroes; go to sleep at the Elysian Hotel, according to us, and you’ll rest on a bed made by heroes — but more on that later. We’re not sure which myth to match to the huge English courtyard, or museum-like marble... Read More
Wanderlust: Singapore, Singapore; View | Reserve; Maybe Singapore’s once-conservative hotel scene is loosening up across the board. Or maybe it’s just Loh Lik Peng. Anyway there’s no denying the fact that hotels like the New Majestic have done their part to add a stylish and youthful dimension to Singaporean hospitality. Wanderlust, if it’s... Read More
Waters Edge Hotel: Tiburon, CA, USA; View | Reserve; This may be San Francisco Bay — Tiburon is located on the north side of the Golden Gate, just around Richardson Bay from Sausalito — but there’s something decidedly New England about Waters Edge. The view takes in what is quite unmistakably San Francisco’s skyline, as well as the nature preserve of... Read More
Wedgewood Hotel: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; View | Reserve; Unlike many of Vancouver’s hotels, the Wedgewood is a privately owned boutique, decorated and still overseen by its manager, a Greek-born Vancouverbusinesswoman. And in contrast to the modern business hotels, this place is all European-style pomp and old-world elegance, beginning with the... Read More
Wequassett Resort and Golf Club: Harwich, MA, USA; View | Reserve; According to many New England luxury travelers, this is Cape Cod’s top hotel, and when upscale Bostonians hit out for the coast, as often as not this is where they do it. Chatham, on the quaint little elbow of the Cape, is a classic, unspoiled seaside town, and the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club... Read More
Wharekauhau: Featherston, New Zealand; View | Reserve; Wharekauhau (pronounced, apparently, Forry-ko-ho) is New Zealand lodge living writ large — a spectacular location, a fantastic building, and all the manor-house luxury you can stand. The site, on the south coast of New Zealand’s North Island, is a short flight or a circuitous 90-minute drive from... Read More
Wheatleigh: Lenox, MA, USA; View | Reserve; The Wheatleigh is one of those uniquely American places; an Italianate mansion right in the middle of the Berkshires, once the country house of an American heiress and her husband, a Spanish count, it is now a small château-style hotel, just 19 rooms and suites, with a restaurant that is not to be... Read More
Wildflower Hall, Shimla in the Himalayas: Shimla, India; View | Reserve; Perched at an absolutely dizzying altitude of 8,250 feet, Wildflower Hall is a testament to the inadequacy of descriptive phrases like “panoramic views” and “majestic vistas.” And it’s not just its height, or its situation within twenty-two acres of mountainside cedar forest, that makes this... Read More
Willows Lodge: Woodinville, WA, USA; View | Reserve; Willows Lodge’s location, on the eastern edge of the Seattle suburbs (not far from a little town called Redmond) makes it an obvious choice for tech-industry corporate retreats. Of course what’s good for the salaryman is good for the leisure traveler as well — you don’t have to be on a... Read More
Windsor Court Hotel: New Orleans, LA, USA; View | Reserve; Despite its perch on the outskirts of the French Quarter, the Windsor Court doesn’t exactly ooze Creole charm. Forget buttery beignets and the strains of a saxophone wafting through the humid air; think instead of afternoon tea with raspberry scones and smartly dressed maids straightening... Read More
With the Style: Fukuoka city, Fukuoka, Japan; View | Reserve; Let’s be honest: the odds that our typical Western reader will just happen to breeze through Fukuoka in need of a place to stay are fairly slim. Sure, it’s Japan’s sixth-largest city, but unless you’re a traveling executive with regular stops all across Asia, that’s a bit like calling it... Read More
Witt Istanbul Suites: Istanbul, Turkey; View | Reserve; While other Istanbul hotels emphasize the city’s ties to antiquity, Witt Istanbul Suites is every inch the ultra-modern contemporary-design boutique hotel. Formerly an ad agency HQ, it’s close by to the central business district, as well as some of the best shopping, dining and nightlife in this... Read More
Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa: Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia; View | Reserve; The transition from civilization to wilderness is perhaps more abrupt in Australia than most anywhere else. Just three hours’ drive from Sydney, from city traffic to rough-and-tumble dirt roads, the Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa is about as close to the outback as most of us will ever need to get... Read More
X2 Kui Buri: Prachuap Khirikhan, Hua Hin, Thailand; View | Reserve; It may be fashionable to boast of having abandoned Thailand for parts less well-known, but deep down you know that as long as there’s still undeveloped coast, and thus new resorts to be opened, you’ll keep on finding reasons to come back. One compelling enough reason is X2 Kui Buri, set on another... Read More
X2 Samui: Koh Samui, Thailand; View | Reserve; Though it’s actually a bit more polished than its sister in Kui Buri, this one, the second resort in the X2 micro-chain brings a much-needed change of pace to Koh Samui. It’s a destination that’s been slightly over-civilized, to put it gently — the X2 approach, with its unfinished-looking surfaces... Read More
XV Beacon: Boston, MA, USA; View | Reserve; Boston needs to grow young, in the same way many of us need to grow up. Somber, red bricked, brown stoned, the keystone of New England dignity — it's almost as though the Puritans are still in residence. Enter XV Beacon (pronounced Fifteen Beacon, for those who forgot their Roman numerals), the new... Read More
Zaouia 44: Marrakech, Morocco; View | Reserve; There is a 2 night minimum stay requirement at Zaouia 44... Read More
Zen Namkhan Resort: Luang Prabang, Laos; View | Reserve; Please note: There is construction underway on the road leading to Zen Namkhan Resort. During the dry season, the journey from the Luang Prabang airport (and center of town) is approximately 20 minutes by car. The construction is projected for completion by the end of 2013. Please keep this in mind... Read More
Zoetry Agua Punta Cana: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; View | Reserve; The first bit of advice we can offer is to not take the Punta Cana label too literally. It’s really just a matter of Zoëtry Agua Punta Cana sounding a bit more poetic than Zoëtry Agua Northeastern Dominican Republic. Punta Cana at least puts you in mind of a familiar place, but it’s very much to... Read More
Zoetry Casa del Mar: San Jose del Cabo, Baja Peninsula, Mexico; View | Reserve; Flouting the twin conventions of stereotypical Mexican resorts — the one-size-fits-all mega-retreat for vacationing families or the rowdy, beer-soaked spring break hotspot — Zoëtry Casa del Mar is an eco/wellness retreat aimed squarely at couples, honeymooners, and the kinds of corporations that... Read More