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Dar al Masyaf is a tranquil boutique hotel at the end of a white-sand beach, away from the package-tour and convention crowds. It’s located within the sprawling Madinat Jumeirah complex of seaside resorts and a shopping souk modeled after a traditional Arabian walled city. It’s all set next to the Persian Gulf coastline within a Venetian-style network of man-made canals. Rooms, served by butlers, are accessible by footpath and electric dhow and occupy 29 two-story courtyard houses with the same traditional wind tower architecture and calm vibe of the resort’s shared Talise Spa. Closer to the resort water park are the seven freestanding Malakiya villas, with huge marble bathrooms and fully equipped kitchens for family life. Getting in and out of the resort grounds, whose more than 50 bars and restaurants are a Dubai nightlife beacon, can mean negotiating a madhouse traffic jam of taxis and high-end sports cars. But thankfully, noise does not penetrate the rooms. The palm-backed beach is large enough for guests to find private space, and evening terrace views of wind tower lights reflecting in the canals can be enchanting.

Beloved by artists and curators attending the annual Art Dubai fair, XVA Art Hotel wraps around the three courtyards of the restored 19th-century home of the Seddiqi family, prominent traders who became the emirate’s Rolex dealers. Longtime resident Mona Hauser, founder and owner of the XVA Gallery of contemporary art, decorated each second-floor room of the traditional wind tower house in collaboration with a regional designer or artisan such as Nada Debs, a Lebanese designer known for her custom mother of pearl inlaid furniture. The on-site alfresco vegetarian lounge café—praised by chef Gordon Ramsay as his favorite place to eat in Dubai—is a hangout for independent travelers and resident creatives who linger over mint lemonade, salads, soups, and cheesecake. There is a running trail along Dubai Creek and the hotel can recommend nearby beaches, as well as spa services and fitness centers at all price points.

Why we love it: A hip hotel known for its art, après-ski scene, and A-plus rooms

The Highlights:
- Homey yet luxurious guest rooms
- A lively après-ski scene
- An outdoor pool and two hot tubs

The Review:
Stepping into the Limelight’s lobby, you’ll feel as if you’re entering a hip bar and lounge rather than the hotel’s staging zone. During après-ski, local musicians play here, entertaining a relatively young crowd of 20-, 30-, and 40-somethings who gather on sleek banquettes surrounding the central flagstone fireplace. Overhead, an assembly of rustic wood and neon lights turns the ceiling into an art installation. For more art, explore the hotel’s ground floor, where the 23 major artworks were commissioned from such artists as Ed Ruscha and Raymond Pettibon, who riffed on the theme of topography (a fitting subject, given that many of the hotel’s 99 rooms and suites feature views of 9,151-foot Bald Mountain).

A sprawling, Euro-style breakfast buffet (the yogurt bar alone should win awards) is served in The Lounge, which doubles as the hotel’s main venue for après and dinner. Snack on pizza with the option of gluten-free crust, or follow a kale salad with bison meatballs and house-made ricotta gnudi sauced with wild mushrooms. The on-site ski and bike shop, Four Mountain Sports, lets guests get outfitted without schlepping all over town. Just don’t forget to pack a swimsuit—surrounded by pine-covered peaks, the hotel’s pool and two hot tubs are happening spots after skiing and hiking among the surrounding peaks.

Opened in 1963, Gene McCarthy’s is a Buffalo institution. Nestled in the shadows of towering grain silos next to long-abandoned railway tracks, it’s a snapshot of the city as it once was, done up in pub tables, Irish tchotchkes, and photos of favorite locals. While not much has changed in the past five decades, the tavern did switch hands in 2012, and new owners Bill Metzger and Matt Conron decided to expand the business by adding a brewery. Now, Old First Ward Brewing Company produces more than 40 different beers on-site, then offers some on tap in Gene’s. The whole operation is the opposite of flashy, but it’s exactly what you want from a Buffalo dive bar. Visit in summer and you can even sip your suds in the seasonal beer garden, which features live music every Saturday night starting at 7 p.m.

Why we love it: A hipster hotspot that’s as stylish as it is affordable

Highlights:
- A range of room types for all travelers
- Local hangouts like the on-site diner and pool bar
- A prime location in one of Austin’s coolest neighborhoods

The Review:
While locals are committed to keeping Austin weird, there’s nothing strange about the new East Austin Hotel, a soon-to-be hipster haunt where millennial pink accents and midcentury chic mix with details that embody the city’s independent spirit. Here, guests find a variety of accommodations to suit all types of travelers, from cabin rooms with shared bathrooms to poolside suites with private balconies, but all feature Scandi-inspired furnishings and quirky touches like turtle-shaped ottomans, Moroccan pillows, and retro Victrola radios.

Vintage pendants hang over the bar at on-site restaurant Sixth & Waller, a self-described “global diner” that serves international comfort food like family-style latkes, chicken-fried steak, and mango cream pie. Equally stylish is The Upside, a rooftop bar with cocktails inspired by the Caribbean and Central and South America, and Pool Bar, which welcomes both guests and locals with frozen drinks and Instagram-friendly dishes like gochujang queso and jackfruit bánh mi. The hotel also boasts a stylish gift shop with local gifts like handcrafted ceramics and leather goods, but if you’d rather venture out, stop by the concierge desk and grab a curated map that highlights neighborhood hotspots with live music, authentic food, and more.

In its seeming pursuit for consideration as the Platonic ideal of a dive bar, the Rec Room ticks off many boxes: the bar sits in the grimy shadow of a highway overpass, prides itself on selling more cans of PBR than any other bar in the U.S., and is truly dark inside. So dark. The majority of the illumination seems to come from television screens, pinball machines, the fluorescent fixture that hangs low over the pool table, and the light from the street when the front door opens to let in someone who’s been outside smoking. In short, the bar is deliciously down-market without being skeevy. You will find Charleston locals from every walk of life, especially on game days when the televisions—including one playing to the smokers the front patio—are all tuned to football. Come early or late, order a Pabst Blue Ribbon, watch a game, play some foosball or pool, order tater tot nachos, and experience the appeal of a dive bar in a town where propriety and manners rule.

Situated in the center of the USA’s largest Japantown, this Joie de Vivre Hotel unveiled a $32 million renovation in May 2018. While the property’s historic exterior hasn’t been changed—it was once a 1960s Community Center and the former Japanese Consulate—the interiors have been redone by Brooklyn-based MARKZEFF Design with custom leather furniture, shibori accents, and contemporary Japanese art. Each of the 13 new Garden Suites face the Japanese zen garden that includes a koi pond, firepit, and a custom Godzilla mural by San Francisco-based artists Yukako Ezoe and Naoki Onodera of Bahama Kangaroo. At the center of the renovation is the living-room like lobby decorated with mid-century couches and lit with vintage factory pendants. The seasonal cocktail menu at the lobby bar focuses on Japanese whiskey and sake, while the bar menu includes Japanese-inspired bites like shishito peppers and chicken katsu sliders. There are happy hour specials every weekday from 4 to 6 p.m. and every Monday between 5 and 6 p.m. the bar hosts a vinyl hour where you can pick a record to play from the hotel’s collection of classics. For wellness-minded travelers, the new 3,000-square-foot fitness center located one level below the lobby looks out onto an open-air tea garden and features a yoga room and a Peloton bike (guests also have complimentary access to the nearby Kabuki Springs & Spa communal baths).

A trailblazer of the boutique hotel scene, Hotel ZaZa has become a Texas-grown mini-chain over the last decade, with two properties in Houston and one in Austin. But this Uptown outpost remains a true original. The Mediterranean-inspired main building houses the bulk of the 168 accommodations, which include well-sized rooms with generous seating areas, plush king beds and, in some, private balconies. The real ZaZa flair, however, is reflected in the higher categories: 19 Concept Suites are done up in styles like “Bohemia,” “West Indies,” “Opium,” and “Shag-a-Delic;” upgrade further to a super-sized Magnificent Seven Suite (in themes like “Leonardo,” “Crouching Tiger,” and “Rock Star”), or one of the 12 one- and two-bedroom Bungalows, which are set in a 1930s-era former home away from the main hotel and feature individual touches like a vintage 1960s VW Bug tailgate, a 1940s TV fitted into a wooden cabinet, and furniture and artwork handpicked from around Texas. Guests of all rooms have access to free champagne and snacks in the lobby, the ZaSpa wellness retreat and gym, the lively Dragonfly restaurant, and the cabana-ringed pool, which turns into a party scene with DJs spinning after 10 p.m. Another ZaZa signature is the “Magic Carpet Ride,” the hotel’s version of a complimentary house car, which ferries you within five miles of the property in a decommissioned highway patrol car or a Cadillac hearse.

Very few people have the willpower to resist a candy shop. Anyone with curiosity about the candy making process will be drawn to Big Island Candies with the big picture windows into their production room. Their small batches ensure fresh shortbread cookies and chocolate truffles are distributed to their resellers and customers. The shortbread comes in several Hawaiian flavors like macadamia nut, pineapple, and kona mocha. There are so many chocolates to choose from, but my pick is the Hawaiian macadamia nut caramel cluster, with a side of milk chocolate macadamia nut toffee, and a last course of dark chocolate covered whole Kona coffee beans. If your candies make it home, they will be the perfect gift for friends and family.

After 80 some odd years as one of Houston’s most lauded and refined hotels, the historic Warwick Hotel went from Bach to rock, when new owners gave it a slick makeover and renamed it Hotel ZaZa in 2007. A bold beacon in the Museum District, the dimly lit hotel is a virtual playground for adults, with daring decor, baroque details, and an outdoor pool with private piazza-themed cabanas. While it maintains much of its original 1920s architectural elegance and details, including Baccarat chandeliers, the interior walls are splashed with modern art and iconic editorial-photo shots of beloved celebs.

Many rooms and event spaces are themed, including the space-inspired “Houston, We Have a Problem” Suite and the Conspiracy Room, which nods to Prohibition. A recent refresh includes newly renovated 11^th-floor meeting rooms, new mattresses, new carpet, spa and fitness center upgrades (including treatment room tweaks and the addition of innovative infrared saunas), and new in-room flat-screen TVs. Bottom line: even an overnight stay feels like a true escape.

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.

This airy, oceanfront restaurant can get crowded, so expect a wait whenever you go. It’s worth it, however, for the stellar menu of Hawaiian seafood dishes, plus the tropical cocktails. Pair a ginger mojito or strawberry piña colada with pupus (appetizers) like macadamia-crusted calamari and soy-ginger ahi poke, topped with local Surfing Goat Dairy cheese. Then move on to entrées like citrus-herb grilled fish tacos or the coconut-crusted catch of the day. If you’re not one for seafood, there are also excellent burgers and a teriyaki sirloin on the menu.

I couldn’t be a bigger fan of hotelier Liz Lambert and all that she’s done at El Cosmico. My last minute choice to head to Marfa meant that they were all booked up and I headed to the Paisano Hotel for a lovely, old school experience and one heck of a beautiful outdoor dining experience in the courtyard next to that sparkling fountain. A bike friendly location if you have one in tow, and famous for hosting the cast and crew of ‘Giant’ when filming in the 1950’s. Designed by architect Henry Trost, it was at first built to be lodging for cattlemen to make necessary business meetings and consultations. The space is warm, historical and classic and being in the heart of town it makes it easy to explore on foot at any point in your day. If you’re staying elsewhere in Marfa for your hotel, try to still bike or walk over to the Paisano Hotel for a drink and or dinner. The outdoor courtyard dining experience on a cool evening is a real treat.

The Fireside Lounge is unapologetically, gloriously tacky — which is why we love it. Tucked away inside the Peppermill Casino, the little corner bar can be a bit hard to find, so it’s usually less busy. The banquette seats around the water-filled firepit (imagine a hot tub with an Olympic torch stuck in the middle) get snapped up first, but the cozy booth seats have individual TV screens playing music videos. This is the kind of place where you can, and should, order a drink served in a fishbowl-sized glass with gummi worms hanging over the side. Happy hour is M-F from 4-7 pm and features free shrimp cocktails with your drink purchase, and there are late-night specials after midnight.

As a former Renoite, I now get to enjoy playing tourist when I return, which includes staying at a hotel-casino. For my money, the Atlantis is one of the best choices in town. It’s located a bit south of downtown, very close to the aiport and far away from the traffic chaos that festival weekends can bring. The decor theme is a surreal fantasy undersea wonderland, as befits the Atlantean name. Toucan Charlie’s is my favorite hotel buffet, setting out a particularly extravagant spread for holiday brunches and dinners. Guests get full access to the tropical-themed indoor atrium pool, hot tub, and outdoor pools. They’ve even made the skyway to the parking lot an attraction, packed with video slots, a sushi bar, and an oyster bar. As shown here, however, the hotel’s rooms are understated and peaceful, far enough from the noisy racket of the main casino floor to get a good night’s sleep.