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The 1926 brick building that houses Hotel Ändra has an interesting history: Originally built as efficiency apartments, it served as a transfer station for the Women’s Army Corp from 1945 to 1947. Although this downtown site has operated as a small hotel since the 1970s, it was fully redesigned in 2004 to become the Hotel Ändra, now a showcase of design using Pacific Northwest materials like wood and stone, combined with Scandinavian style—a nod to the city’s Nordic roots. Even though it’s at the nexus of the city, the hotel feels cozy. The fireplace in the living room–style lobby and the casual, inviting atmosphere make it a refuge from the buzz of the streets outside. The restaurant, Lola, is a partnership with one of Seattle’s best-loved celebrity chefs, Tom Douglas, making Hotel Ändra an excellent home base for those in town to experience Seattle’s abundant local restaurants.

Craft cocktails and modern Asian cuisine reign at this hip noodle bar in Honolulu‘s Chinatown. Dig into a bowl of ramen, garnished with sesame seeds, green onion, ginger, a soft egg, and wakame (dried seaweed). From there, things get lively with additions like oxtail won tons and togarashi shrimp with housemade kimchi. Other standouts include lamb lumpia and pork belly bao (buns). Adventurous eaters should try the uni gnocchi—made with creamy urchin gonads—enhanced by leeks, tomatoes, and butter cream sauce. A popular late-night stop, Lucky Belly serves its full menu until 12 a.m. every night except Sunday. Its takeout window serves specials—announced via @_dawindow on Instagram—until 2 a.m., Thursday to Saturday.

Built in 2009, Vdara, a condo-style, all-suites hotel, is a tower of serenity in a neighborhood not known for it. Despite its location, at CityCenter, just off the Las Vegas Strip, Vdara has no casino, no celebrity-chef restaurants, no glittering stage productions, no over-the-top pool and nightclub scene, and—like its neighbor, the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (but rare for Las Vegas) no smoking permitted anywhere on the property. What it does have, worked into its minimalist, contemporary design, are spacious rooms, kitchenettes, washers and dryers, and a residence club–like feel that puts many guests in no hurry to leave. At 1,495 suites, the Vdara is too big to be called a boutique hotel, but with a high level of service (pool cabana reservations, anyone?), its size isn’t a liability.

A current trend in Las Vegas is toward smaller, hotel-within-a-hotel, luxury boutique properties, and the Hotel 32 Monte Carlo is a prime example. Only 50 rooms on the 32^nd floor of the much larger Monte Carlo, Hotel 32 is essentially a concierge-level block of rooms with its own identity. It offers its guests special perks, including VIP check-in, personal suite assistants, access to an exclusive lounge, and complimentary airport limo service. The Monte Carlo itself is an upper mid-range hotel, but with many amenities and services Hotel 32 guests can take advantage of: restaurants, spa, outdoor pool, casino. At 400 square feet, the Studios are small by Las Vegas luxury standards, but the other options are much bigger, up to 1,600 square feet. And there is no having to ask for a high-up floor.

Business travelers might help keep it quiet enough during the week, but when the weekend rolls around, the W Scottsdale earns its rep as a party hotel. By day, a young, trendy, and sometimes noisy crowd hangs at Wet, the rooftop pool, keeping well oiled with sunscreen and bar drinks. By night, the scene remains trendy, and noisy, at the lobby’s Living Room Lounge, or at Shade Lounge upstairs by the pool, often to a background of live music or a DJ, until the revelers are off to bed, or off to some of the many bars and clubs within walking distance. Rooms have all the tech gadgets, and the use of color and frosted glass makes them feel light and playful without going overboard.

Bear Mountain Lodge has had many lives since it was first built in 1928. Back then, it was a school for unruly boys from the East Coast; later it became a country club and hotel for the well-heeled; and before artist-turned-innkeeper Linda Brewer bought the property five years ago and turned it into a 10-room lodge, it was owned by the Nature Conservancy. It’s fitting, then, that nature is the main attraction at the lodge, which sits on 178 acres and has horses, cows, and chickens, plus birds and butterflies and a pond that’s home to the endangered Chiricahua Leopard Frog. The Gila National Forest—at 2.7 million acres, the largest wilderness area in the Southwest—is the lodge’s back yard. If you find yourself missing civilization, Silver City is just over three miles away, but escape is really the point here. And while there is Wi-Fi, there aren’t any televisions.

For guests at the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, there’s no mistaking that they’re in the High Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona. There are the saguaro cacti, the cooing quail in early morning, the black-velvet skies at night, and, rising directly behind the resort, the Tortolita Mountains, whose granite boulders are inscribed with graffiti-like messages that have been there for a thousand years. Visitors so inclined can get equally lyrical about the 27-hole Jack Nicklaus–designed golf course, the 17,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, the three swimming pools, or the dishes made visible in the open kitchen of the resort’s main restaurant, the Core Kitchen and Wine Bar. The pervading feeling is that this is a place people have been coming to for refuge, rest, and replenishment for a very long time (since before 2000 B.C., according to some experts).

In 2001, hotelier Ian Schrager tapped French designer Philippe Starck to reconceptualize The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel’s wildly modern interiors. A complete contrast to the building’s historic facade, the lobby is dark, edgy and filled with a quirky smattering of cool furniture—among them chairs by Ray and Charles Eames, a coffee table by Salvador Dali, and a surreal stool by Renee Marguerite. Upstairs, splashes of lavender brighten more neutral rooms, which feature wheelbarrow-shaped chairs and sleigh beds designed by Starck. Merino wool blankets are primed to battle foggy nights, while MALIN+GOETZ bath products soothe well-traveled skin with natural ingredients and science. Downstairs in the Redwood Room, a see-and-be-seen crowd nurses drinks. The swanky lounge sports sleek backlit shelves, its original redwood paneling, and a bar supposedly crafted from a single redwood tree. Though The Clift sits just up the street from Union Square, it feels far away from the tourists.

Immediately adjacent to Loews Regency, the Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar is one of the latest outposts of this popular group of New York, by way of Milan, restaurants. The original Milan restaurant opened in 1936, and there are now three others in Manhattan, as well as one in Southampton. The Park Avenue coffee bar has an Italian art deco decor, bringing a little bit of Milan’s style to the neighborhood, and several outdoor tables. Choose from a panini or one of Sant Ambroeus’s famous pastries.

The bold color palette of this reimagined motel reflects the hues of 14 different desert wildflowers. Nearly every room has a balcony or patio and art installations and photography from local artists can be found throughout the hotel. The young crowd hangs by the pool, which has two hot tubs and a poolside bar. The Saguaro also has two restaurants: El Jefe offers small plates inspired by the street food of Mexico City, while Rocco’s Electric serves Mexican-inspired brunch every day.

An antique collective with hipster flair, Uncommon Objects lives up to its name, starting with the giant jackalope with light-up eyes perched atop their sign. Inside, you’ll find meticulously arranged displays organized by theme and color, including everything from taxidermy mounts and buckets full of antlers to medicine bottles and wreaths made of human hair. There are plenty of suitcase-sized trinkets under $20 if you’re looking for an unusual souvenir to bring back. If you can’t make it to the store, check out the delightfully creepy photo gallery on their website.

At Forage, a two-plus-hour tasting menu is built around trout roe, wild mountain grass, Siberian elm seed pods, and other ingredients foraged within a 500-mile radius. $87, plus $45 for wine pairings. HOW TO SCORE A TABLE: The wait for reservations is around two months. Call on a weeknight and there’s a good chance you can fill a cancellation. INSIDER TIP: This summer, cofounder Viet Pham will open a more casual restaurant called Ember and Ash that he says will “use lots of fire and a very technical, refined cooking style.” Book now. This appeared in the May 2014 issue.

The end to a perfect day in Bozeman is waiting for you somewhere on the doorstep of the beautiful Lehrkind Mansion Bed & Breakfast, quite possibly the most picturesque building in all of Montana. The Victorian marvel is a perfect base for a few days of exploring Bozeman, with a great library filled with inspiring tomes and photography books that will stir your Montana wanderlust further. Each of the mansion’s nine rooms has its own unique character, though The Muir Room is where you want to stay if you’re a writer looking for a spark.

Originally constructed in 1884, this narrow gauge railroad was an engineering feat of its time and one of the first attractions ever for early visitors to Colorado. Today, the restored railway is part of a great historic preservation effort, offering a two-mile ride between the small communities of Georgetown and Silver Plume during the summer. It is a fun, easy activity, great for families and a nice way to see the mountains. The Georgetown Loop Railroad is located just off Interstate-70 as you approach the Eisenhower Tunnel from Denver. Look for first class parlor cars, dinner trains, and holiday specials; purchase tickets online.

The meal, drinks, and bar car are only part of the experience. Getting to stand out on the viewing deck while perched over the rushing Arkansas River, then passing under the Royal Gorge Bridge, all while enjoying a pint of Fat Tire or Colorado wine ... well, it’s a pretty unique experience and the worth the money (from $39 coach adult tickets). Look for special events like murder mysteries, Santa Express, and, pictured above, the four-course dinner train with its extensive wine list, and the train’s own micro-brew, Royal Gorge Rogue. Season begins in early March.