Ace Hotel Kyoto: A Field Review of the Kengo Kuma Conversion
213 rooms in a 1926 telephone-exchange building reworked by Kengo Kuma, on Karasuma. Three nights testing the most ambitious design hotel in central Kyoto.
26 dispatches on the desk.
213 rooms in a 1926 telephone-exchange building reworked by Kengo Kuma, on Karasuma. Three nights testing the most ambitious design hotel in central Kyoto.
Two nights in Fulton Market. A sharp design hotel in the city's best-eating neighborhood, with a Stephanie Izard rooftop and rooms priced like a bargain.
Nine restaurants under one Lutyens ceiling and 250-odd rooms above. I paid for two nights at 27 Poultry to test whether the spectacle survives a quiet
The original Hoxton opened on Great Eastern Street in 2006 and arguably invented the modern lobby hotel.
Three nights in the old Pearl brewhouse. The best-restored hotel building in Texas, a great block, and service that earns the rate — with a couple of honest
Two nights at the Ace on Camden Street. A serious piece of architecture, a Michelin-listed restaurant downstairs, and a rooftop bar that runs the whole show.
67 rooms in an 1869 neoclassical building on the Gran Via, an early mover in Barcelona's design-hotel wave.
119 rooms in a 1906 building in Old Town/Chinatown, with a rooftop taqueria on top. I paid for two nights to test the Hoxton's most location-divisive US bet.
Two nights at the Hoxton on Wythe Avenue. Great block, honest rooms, a rooftop that earns its keep — and a few corners cut at the price it now charges.
Two nights in the Faena District's gilded flagship. A gold mammoth, a cathedral of murals, a great beach — and a theatrical experience that wobbles on the
192 rooms in a 1970s office block on the wrong side of the Aurelian Walls. I paid for two nights in Salario to see whether the Hoxton formula travels to Rome.
234 rooms off the Ku'damm in West Berlin, not the Mitte you expected. I paid for two nights in Charlottenburg to see whether the Hoxton read the city right.
Two nights in the city's most expensive hotel suite. The Aman delivers on almost everything — but the math, even at this price, has its limits.
172 rooms in a restored 18th-century mansion in the 2nd, built for a confidant of Louis XV. Three nights testing the best-value design hotel in central Paris.
Twenty-eight rooms, no destination restaurant, a 24-hour open bar nobody charges you for — and one of the quietly best-run small hotels in Saint-Germain.
Two nights in the Hudson Yards-adjacent tower. Excellent rooms, an art deco restaurant worth the trip, and a brand-new block still figuring out what it is.
Two nights in the Mid-Market flatiron. A jaw-dropping Kelly Wearstler interior and a great rooftop, dragged down by a block that the design cannot fix.
54 rooms behind the Royal Danish Theatre, built by a former ballet star to feel like a home.
111 rooms across five 17th-century canal houses on the Herengracht, once a mayor's home. Two nights testing whether the address lives up to the postcode.
32 Meilichzon-designed rooms in a Dorsoduro palazzo on the Zattere. I paid for two nights to see whether a Parisian cocktail group can do Venice right.
217 circus-themed rooms over a park, steps from the MuseumsQuartier. I paid for two nights to see whether the maximalism holds up against imperial Vienna.
266 rooms in a Brutalist former council building across from St Pancras, with a red external lift and a rooftop everybody wants in.
Two nights in the Second Street District tower. A Kelly Wearstler showpiece with a great rooftop pool and a rate card that has gotten ahead of the rooms.
The first Mama Shelter, a Starck-designed loud-box in the far 20th. I paid for two nights on Rue de Bagnolet to see whether the 2008 original still has the
196 rooms stitched from seven 19th-century warehouses off Magazine Street, with a French brasserie inside.
384 rooms in a brutalist tower at Wilshire and Normandie, with a greenhouse restaurant downstairs. I paid for two nights to test LA's most Koreatown hotel.