New York - America does hotels well, be they stylish art deco gems in Miami, over-the-top palaces in Las Vegas or urban boltholes in the latest up-and-coming New York neighbourhood. Recently, developers have rediscovered their inner city and rebirthed it with panache.
Where better to start than Hell’s Kitchen? The area of Manhattan between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River was once a rogues’ gallery of wrong ’uns, but is now smart. The recently opened The Out has declared itself “New York’s first straight-friendly gay hotel”. A few blocks from Broadway and Chelsea, The Out has a roof space and seriously hip nightclub.
Elsewhere, The Jade in Greenwich Village features sumptuous art deco interiors.
However, if you want post-Manhattan cool, hit the bridge and join the hipsters in Brooklyn. Williamsburg is home to HBO’s Girls, and The King & Grove Williamsburg is the place to soak up the scene. It has a great outdoor pool, a roof deck with panoramic views of Manhattan and is right off über-cool Bedford Avenue.
Now let’s head south to Philadelphia. In the historic district, across the street from the Liberty Bell and Independence Park, the 15-storey Hotel Monaco Philadelphia has just opened. The 268-room boutique hotel offers street-side dining and the city’s only rooftop lounge.
Still on the East Coast, in Boston, the Revere Hotel is a cutting-edge hotel unleashed by the people who designed the W in New York. Located in the heart of the theatre district, the Revere’s oversized balconies offer commanding views over the city skyline and the hotel has a rooftop pool and bar.
In the capital, The Madison has completed a $20 million (R183m) facelift. Washington, DC’s, 356-room historic hotel has long served as a temporary home to incoming presidents, as they awaited their transition to the White House.
Sir Richard Branson makes his first foray into the hotel scene in Chicago next year: the 250-room Virgin Hotel will be in the historic 27-storey Dearborn Bank Building in the Loop.
In the meantime, head to the The Ivy, a new 15-storey, 63-room hotel, which opened in June and boasts the Sky Terrace for rooftop dining.
Due east in Detroit, Honor and Folly is a recently opened guesthouse. Conceived by a design writer, the décor is quirky and cool: exposed brick walls and furniture made in the city and its surrounds.
When the groundbreaking 21c Museum Hotel, an art hotel complete with a museum showcasing living artists, opened in historic downtown Louisville, Kentucky, it caused a splash of excitement. Now the owners are hoping to repeat that success in Cincinnati.
Time to head south. On Miami’s Collins Avenue, SLS has opened in the tallest art deco building on South Beach. In a building designed by Miami architect L Murray Dixon, Philippe Starck has created a set of signature interiors; the hotel also boasts a Hyde Beach day club and nightclub, which extends on to the sand.
As tourists flock back to New Orleans, new hotels pop up all the time. The Hotel Modern is on New Orleans’s Lee Circle, where you can hop on one of the city’s few remaining streetcars on the historic St Charles line. You’ll be greeted in the lobby by a parrot.
Way out west, California is blessed with both coastal and desert cities and a love of new hotels. A luxury beachside retreat in Santa Monica recently opened. The U-shaped Shore Hotel features a glass-walled lobby looking out at the ocean and 164 guest rooms.
If shopping is high on your agenda, head to Los Angeles. Here the Palihotel is Melrose Avenue’s first boutique hotel. Described as “more European inn than West Hollywood” and with just 32 rooms, the former youth hostel is ideally located.
A couple of hours east of LA is Palm Springs, the desert playground of Hollywood celebrities. If you like your colours bright and primary, The Saguaro Palm Springs is for you. Framed by mountains, the south-western colour palette is the work of architects Peter Stamberg and Paul Aferiat.
San Francisco has a range of character-filled hotels, but the new Inn at the Presidio is a gem. Housed in one of the country’s oldest military posts , it’s a hidden getaway in a national park, with the rich urban life of San Francisco just outside.
In Vegas, of course, they have to do things differently. The new big thing is a hotel within a hotel. Nobu has opened its first hotel in the old Centurion Tower in Caesar’s Palace and the Miami-born citadel of cool, The Delano, will open inside the Mandalay Bay late next year.
Pleasant dreams… – The Independent