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After a five-year, $30 million renovation, The Adelphi is Saratoga’s grande dame once more. Housed in a stately building from 1877, the hotel takes its design cues from the Victorian era, featuring everything from ornate wall moldings to brass lighting fixtures and tufted-leather headboards. Modern conveniences also abound, including hidden storage cabinetry and marble bathrooms with freestanding tubs and glass showers. Downstairs, carved horseheads at Morrissey’s bar are the only reference to Saratoga’s racing heritage, but the area’s farmers get their due at the Blue Hen, the hotel’s farm-to-table brasserie, and Salt + Char, its rustic-chic steakhouse.

Short of visiting the iconic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque itself, you won’t find a better view of the whitewashed masterpiece than at this Shangri-La hotel, which shimmers like a jewel opposite Abu Dhabi Island on the mainland of the Arabian Peninsula. The rest of the hotel’s palatial appeal sprouts from a deep appreciation for Middle Eastern tradition, seen in spectacular carved archways, mosaic-tile baths in the rooms, and winding waterways navigated by an abra (local ferry boat). Hop on board to journey to the hotel’s contemporary take on a souk, where you can purchase clothes, jewelry, and other souvenirs before choosing between French, Vietnamese, and Chinese specialties at four on-site restaurants. Four pools ensure you won’t wilt in the desert heat, while a CHI spa provides soothing comfort for those beat from a day spent skyscraper hopping.

Think of the Pantone Hotel as a chance to reconsider your color scheme. A sleek concept hotel with the classic white backdrop and clean-lined, retro-inspired furnishings common among European design hotels, this venture from the iconic color company and two of Belgium’s top designers and architects lives up to its name. Bold splashes of the brightest Pantone colors exist throughout. Each room is themed according to its own color (don’t worry, each is identified, so you can stock up on mugs and other Pantone swag in the hotel’s shop) and decorated with original art photography of Brussels in which the specific Pantone hue has been found. Larger rooms combine complementary shades from the Pantone spectrum. The lobby lounge is a vibrant, airy space where geometric furniture and pops of color create an updated version of a 1970s aesthetic that incorporates the building’s original architecture into the modern conceit. Most entertaining of all, the colors don’t even stop at the food: sugar packets are filled with Pantone-tinted sugar for your coffee. Talk about obsessive.

When you travel to the Cappadocia region of Turkey you have to stay in a cave hotel. Sleeping in a room carved out of the area’s ‘fairy chimney’ rock formations is inherently cool. When you realize that your room is also literally cool—even in the midday heat—you suddenly have a better understanding of the clever ways people managed to live in a challenging environment for centuries. The hotel’s best feature might be the terrace, where you relax on pillows and eat a Turkish breakfast of apricots and yogurt as you watch dozens of hot air balloons rise from the valley below. From $76. This appeared in the August/September 2014 issue.

Renowned Costa Rican architect Ronald Zürcher looked to his country’s colonial past when designing this hacienda-style property—witness its central courtyard, arched doorways, and terra-cotta roofs. Set amid a 30-acre coffee plantation just outside the capital city of San Jose, the hotel’s 308 traditional accommodations follow suit with dark wood furnishings, but a modern aesthetic pervades renovated guest rooms with streamlined furniture, intricately patterned bathroom tiles, and expansive views that extend from green lawns to forested mountains and urban skyline; some include small balconies that overlook the hotel’s two pools. On-site dining options include gourmet takes on Costa Rican fare at Hacienda Kitchen, Peruvian specialties at La Isabela, and fresh-made sushi at La Castilla, as well as a sports bar and café. The open-air great room invites reading and quiet conversations, but if you’re up for something a little more energetic, there are tennis courts, a driving range, a fitness center, and invigorating coffee scrubs at the spa.

Formerly Meliá Hotel Doha,
The Meliá Hotel Doha is the first five-star Spanish hotel in the country. It is brand new and home to “Aceite,” a restaurant offering traditional Spanish tapas, and also to the award-winning restaurant “Signature” by Sanjeev Kapoor. It offers all the amenities a regular five-star hotel does with a posh twist called “The Level,” an exclusive floor reserved for guests looking for a new level of refinement. From personalized check-in and check-out in a private lounge, to a pillow menu, free ironing, limousine transport to and from Doha, and a menu of room aromas, The Level takes care of every detail. The best thing about all this pampering is the price. Rooms at The Level are less than $200/night under the Special Promotion Campaign.

First opened in 1893 as Grunewald Hotel, this historic building stretches an entire city block and has a storied past that’s equally expansive. The Roosevelt has played host to presidents and senators, duchesses and dignitaries, actors and actresses. Huey Long kept a suite here in the 1930s and could often be found propped up at the Sazerac Bar (where his go-to cocktail was the Ramos Gin Fizz). Entertainers from Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra to Tina Turner and Ray Charles have performed in the Blue Room.

A $145 million rehab, completed in 2009, restored the hotel to its former glory. Now part of the Waldorf Astoria Collection, the property combines the grandeur of yesteryear with all the trappings of a modern luxury hotel—including a lavish Waldorf Astoria Spa and a hip Italian eatery.

If you are coming to Genoa to find a luxurious seaside escape, get out of the urban city and make sure you stay at least one night at the Grand Hotel Miramare in Santa Margherita Ligure (roughly 45 minutes from Genoa by train). With a full service spa, massive saltwater pool, and breathtaking ocean views, this hotel makes a perfect base to explore the entirety of the Italian Riviera (including neighboring Portofino, the tiny villages of Cinque Terre, and the hidden beaches that dot the coastline). With these sea views, it is definitely worth splurging on an oceanfront room. (Unfortunately, this hotel is closed January through March, so you may need to plan accordingly.)

Affectionately nicknamed by locals as the “Castle in the City” for its copper-green, fairytale-like roof, the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver was once a Canadian Pacific Railway hotel—a fact that’s intertwined with the history of the city (and the railroad) itself. Guests can learn some of that story via displays in the vast lobby, where they sit alongside designer outlets like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. The lobby—as well as the Notch8 restaurant and bar, function spaces, Heritage Suites, and 507 guest rooms—recently emerged from a $55 million renovation done in advance of the hotel’s 80th anniversary. A revamp of the Fairmont Gold “hotel within a hotel” concept and lounge will launch in 2019.

The decor in the spacious rooms is sophisticated and classic, with dark woods, polished brass, and plush velvets accenting the crisp, white linens and muted palettes. Some suites even connect, making the Fairmont a solid choice for family travel. Enjoy Canadian dishes, afternoon tea, and bar bites—plus more railway travel nostalgia—in Notch8 (which is named for a train’s top speed), then work it off in the indoor pool or the well-stocked gym, which features Technogym equipment and a Kinesis wall. The Absolute Spa offers signature services using West Coast ingredients.

The best time to hit the mineral-fed pools at Indian Springs is just before closing, right around 9:30 p.m. Grab a float noodle, place it behind your neck, float on your back in the 102-degree water, and look up at the stars. No matter how cold the air might be, you will immediately relax. The Calistoga resort has been offering guests a similar experience for more than 150 years, though recent renovations have modernized the offerings and brought a new level of luxury and sophistication. The main attractions are the pools: one for all ages and another only for adults. Elsewhere on the property, an expansive spa offers massages and mud treatments; a restaurant—dubbed Sam’s Social Club—serves healthy California cuisine along with house-brewed beer. Accommodations vary widely, ranging from two-room cabins and expansive one-bedroom suites to multi-room bungalows and full-scale houses. Once you’ve had your fill of shuffleboard and bocce, walk into downtown Calistoga to shop at the local boutiques, or take the short trail to the top of the hill for a stellar view of the north end of the Napa Valley. Don’t miss: Perhaps the most spiritual part of the Indian Springs experience is the Wishing Tree in front of the spa. Write your wish on a card and tie it to the tree with the hundreds of others already there.

Prague’s centuries-old connection to music survived occupation by both the Germans and the Communists, so it’s fitting that those deep roots strike a chord at Aria Hotel Prague, where all of the rooms are named after famous composers or singers, from homegrown sons like Dvořák and Smetana to contemporary icons like the Beatles, Ella Fitzgerald, and Elvis Presley. The hotel even has a music director who can point you to the city’s best performances, as well as assist with suggestions in the music library; guests borrow CDs or concert DVDs to watch in their rooms, which are all outfitted with hi-fi sound systems that include Marantz speakers, plus flat-screen TVs, Blue-Ray players, iPads, and Apple TVs. All 51 accommodations were given a head-to-toe makeover in early 2018, resulting in sumptuous rooms decorated in shades of soft peach, dusty rose, and sandy taupe, and combining a pleasing mix of antiques and modern furniture. During summer, the superb CODA restaurant commands stunning rooftop views, while the Winter Garden Atrium is cozy perfection in colder months with its piano recitals accompanying afternoon tea or wine.

Grab breakfast at the Sheraton Hotel, located at the south-eastern end of the corniche. This newly-refurbished hotel, also known as The Pyramid of the Gulf because it’s shaped like an Aztec pyramid, offers breathtaking views of the bay and the city. Plus what a better way to start your day than having a scrumptious breakfast at one of the oldest iconic landmarks of the city?

Austin’s very own grand dame, this landmark hotel opened in 1886 as the city’s first iconic hotel, both a testament to and display of the success of cattle baron Jesse Driskill, who wanted to build his beloved frontier town a palace to rival those in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The city fared better than Mr. Driskill did; financial troubles forced him to sell the hotel just two years after opening, and he died of a stroke just another two years later. After some initial ups and downs, his hotel ultimately flourished, housing a rotating cast of Texas elite and hosting important political events in Austin—in particular, gubernatorial inaugural balls—in the 20th century. President Lyndon Johnson had an especially close relationship with the hotel, from his first date with his wife to awaiting presidential re-election results in one of the suites.

Multimillion-dollar renovations in 2008 restored the hotel to its original grandeur, maintaining its historic charm alongside all the amenities of a modern luxury hotel. Brave guests might request a room on the reportedly haunted fifth floor. And, no stay at the Driskill is complete without a cocktail in the elegant Driskill Bar, where cattle, oil, or railroad barons would still fit in.

For adventures in Old Strathcona, at the heart of Edmonton’s cultural, culinary, and nightlife scenes, book a night or three at the Euro-style Varscona Hotel on Whyte. Historic Old Strathcona is home to the iconic Stracona Railway Station (built in 1908), the Princess Theatre (the city’s oldest, built in 1915), and the Strathcona Hotel (built in 1891). The hotel has wonderfully appointed rooms, an excellent breakfast nook, a 24-hour business center, a fitness center, an “oak and leather” lobby with a chill vibe, and an attentive staff always at the ready with a recommendation for a cafe, coffee shop, or curio store. The hotel is within walking distance of Old Strathcona’s 100+ restaurants, cafes, bookshops, and music shops, and makes for a brilliant base for exploring Alberta‘s capital, especially when Edmonton is hosting one of its many festivals — one for nearly every day of the year, in fact, from the Edmonton International Fringe Festival (August 14-24) to Western Canada Fashion Week (September 18-25). [Flash traveled to Alberta courtesy of Travel Alberta.]

The minute you walk into the Hotel St-Martin Montreal, you’ll know it’s something special. You’ll notice the warm welcome, the “at-your-service” attitude, and the gorgeous decor. The hotel, despite a successful recent history, began controversially. It’s built where a legendary smoked-meat restaurant once stood. Mind you, the restaurant had been closed for several months before it was destroyed and upgraded into a 4-star hotel, but many locals held on to the thought that it was intrinsic to the Montreal identity and shouldn’t have been replaced, even though the building was rapidly decaying. To those folks I would say: Spend a night at the St-Martin, and see for yourself. As a Montrealer, I say that it was good for the city. The hotel’s restaurant, L’Aromate, can get quite busy at lunch and during happy hour, which proves the menu is as delightful as the ambience. And the brunches are particularly tasty.