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Exposed brick, dark wood and plenty of natural light beget the handsome space at Coquette, which occupies an unassuming corner on Magazine Street in the tony Garden District. Chef Michael Stoltzfus marries his Eastern Shore sensibilities (crab cake and soft shell crabs are frequently featured)with local ingredients to create an ever changing menu. The $25 3 course brunch is quite possibly one of the best deals to be had in New Orleans. Start your brunch with a scratch-made bloody mary or a craft soda (pineapple jalepeno has just the right kick) along with first course of crisp greens lightly featuring parmesan, bottarga and gougere croutons (which are a brilliant idea) or warm bowl of spicy gumbo. I’m never one to pass up a good egg dish so a traditional breakfast plate of scrambled eggs with bacon and creamy Anson Mill grits won out over the fried catfish. Warmly spiced gingerbread donuts with pumpkin ice cream pair perfectly with an espesso while lazing away the rest of your Sunday afternoon. Equal parts French bistro and American farm-to-table, Coquette is 100% delicious.

If you’ve dreamed of the New York loft life, the Andaz 5th Avenue hotel—an outpost of the Hyatt brand—is an enticing option. Located across the street from the iconic New York Public Library (with leafy Bryant Park at its rear), this property is known for offering some of the largest rooms in Manhattan, with furnished terraces the size of typical NYC apartments. The style is sleek and effortless from first encounter, and the minimal, serene rooms are filled with light thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows stretching 12 feet in height. These rooms are for pampering and romantic hideaways, enhanced by travertine marble bathrooms, and free nonalcoholic minibar and snacks.

High above Vail Valley, atop Beaver Creek Mountain, is the oasis that is the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch. You can’t beat the hotel’s ski-in, ski-out access, but a major makeover at the end of 2013 means the hotel offers even more perks. The new look (think rustic lodgepole pine beams and huge stone fireplaces) was inspired by the great lodges found throughout America’s national parks. The work of Colorado artists can be found throughout the hotel. In addition to a new restaurant called Buffalos, there’s the new Bachelors Lounge that caters to wine and spirits lovers and cigar connoisseurs. Stylish guests with an expense account can outfit themselves in fancy new gear sold at the outpost of the alpine shop Gorsuch. My favorite perk is returning to the hotel at day’s end and being greeted with a hot cup of cocoa.

Spend the night nestled under the Golden Gate Bridge in the most dignified of accommodations: the former living quarters of high-ranking officers in the U.S. Army. Cavallo Point is the result of the luxurious reimagining of a cluster of military lodges located within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, just over the bridge in Marin County. Today, the 142-room hotel serves as a retreat for in-the-know travelers and locals looking for an easy, elevated escape from everyday city life. Original brick fireplaces and beamed ceilings mingle with modern finishes and furnishings, such as butter-soft leather sofas and whitewashed Adirondack chairs. The expansive grounds are meant to be explored on foot or bicycle. The Wellness Weekend package includes all meals, prepared with an emphasis on health at Murray Circle restaurant, morning yoga classes, guided hikes, a spa treatment, nightly wine receptions, and plenty of free moments to soak in the serene meditation pool—the very best kind of boot camp.

Discreetly tucked downstairs at the Hay-Adams Hotel just a little more than a stone’s-throw from the White House, this aptly named bar invites customers to muse about the deals that must have been made within these scarlet walls. The caricatures hanging around the room create a sort of satellite to the National Portrait Gallery—is that Marion Barry hanging behind the bar? Or Ruth Bader Ginsburg presiding over that table by the window? Trying to identify the faces on the walls may distract you from seeing who’s sitting beside you. If you know your D.C. players, you’ll recognize the elite of national politics tucking into shrimp cocktails and great burgers during a working lunch or sipping Sazeracs after a long day on the Senate floor.