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Located in the mixed-use West Bay complex, this Moorish-designed hotel showcases local white stone, latticework domes, geometric patterns, arches, columns, and palms galore, and the lobby is often bursting to colorful life with gorgeous floral arrangements. Rooms are clean, white, and neutral. Try the French- and Lebanese-inspired grand buffet at Elements, or ci**rs and single malts at the Library Lounge. Get a mineral body wrap at the spa, followed by snacks on the spa terrace.

When you enter this defiantly cool luxury property in the heart of downtown Dubai, you’re greeted with a wall-sized stained-glass window emblazoned with the phrase “Fortune Favours the Bold.” They take that motto very seriously here, with a design scheme that takes big swings: Think a bust of a chimpanzee in military regalia on your nightstand or oversized rubber ducky statues. The crown jewels are the twin infinity pools that sit atop the 75-story tower, which rank among the tallest in the world and offer jaw-dropping views out toward the Burj Khalifa and beyond. The SLS’s Italian eatery Fi’lia (which means “daughter”) is the first female-led restaurant in the region, with a menu broken down into three sections—Nonna (traditional dishes), Mamma (twists on classics), and Figlia (contemporary creations)—and it earned its first Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2022.

It’s appropriate that this D.C. hotel does luxury with a slightly French twist: The Sofitel overlooks Lafayette Square, which takes its name from the French hero of the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette, whom you might know from a little musical called Hamilton. Today, Gallic touches include the 1920s-inspired Paris Ballroom and the Opaline Bar & Brasserie, where you can rub elbows with power lunchers as you dine on cucumber mint vichyssoise, crispy duck confit, tarte flambée, and caramelized neufchâtel cheesecake. The Art Deco–tinged building dates back to 1925, and Armenian-American architect Mihran Mesrobian was responsible for many of the city’s grandest hotels of the day, including the Hay–Adams Hotel and the old Carlton Hotel, which is now the St. Regis. A 2014 design overhaul took inspiration from the 1960s renovations of the White House—just steps away—complete with grand columns, coffered ceilings, and brass inlay marble floors.

Built in 1962 as an outpost of the celebrated Drake Hotel on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, the Drake Oak Brook has always been such a trendsetter that it has attracted the likes of Frank Sinatra, Prince Charles, and Arnold Palmer deep into the Chicagoland ‘burbs over its six decades. There’s a masculine, mid-century edge to the newly renovated guest rooms, many of which feature herringbone oak-wood floors and well-stocked bar carts. The Colonial Room restaurant offers high tea in the afternoons and a menu of unmistakably retro dishes come dinnertime, from wedge salads to shrimp cocktail. And you could almost imagine Ol’ Blue Eyes himself slumping into one of the fireside leather chairs at the Polo Lounge and ordering a signature Drake Manhattan.