Best Luxury Hotels in USA

Over a century old, The Brown Palace is especially popular with pop and rock and roll royalty, counting the likes of Taylor Swift, the Rolling Stones, Cindy Lauper, Metallica, Jon Bon Jovi and Pearl Jam among its past patrons. Instantly recognisable by its red sandstone facade, the building contains 241 bedrooms (whose showers tap water from an artesian well), a tavern, a cigar bar, a coffee shop, a fine dining restaurant, a high-end spa and a network of secret passages. Be sure to take its traditional afternoon tea, served beneath the stained-glass skylight of the impressive wood-panelled atrium lobby.

Are you travelling for work? The Ritz-Carlton’s Central Business District location just 30 minutes drive from the airport, will be ideal. It boasts the largest standard rooms in the city and a complimentary house car to take you anywhere you wish (within a five-mile radius). Elway’s, the hotel’s popular steakhouse, is named after a Denver Broncos player and provides a true taste of Colorado. 202 bedrooms come with 400-thread-count Frette linens, Frette robes, coffee makers and iPod docking alarm clocks. The spa has eight treatment rooms with Tempurpedic beds (including a couples suite and bathroom, and a Vichy wet treatment room).

Rising 45 storeys, this building is a landmark on Denver’s horizon. Its restaurant, Edge, is at the bottom, allowing diners to observe and soak in the streetside downtown buzz. A spa occupies the third floor, with a salon, hot tub and steam room. While up on the rooftop, you’ll find an outdoor pool, a whirlpool and an alfresco bar — overlooked by a state-of-the-art fitness centre. The Four Seasons’ skyscraper houses 239 guest rooms decorated in an urban-chic contemporary style, with huge picture windows (book a suite with a freestanding tub for a bath with a view).

Those planning to hit the shops will appreciate this Marriott hotel’s location, in Cherry Creek North, close to the city’s top boutiques. Rooms range from sleek doubles with soundproofed windows to a Presidential Suite with two TVs, mountain views and an open plan kitchen/living/dining room seating up to eight guests. Try some Central and South American cuisine at the Toro Latin Kitchen & Lounge; here you can order from the ceviche bar, or opt for small and sharing plates, accompanied by hand-muddled cocktails. A 24-hour fitness centre is equipped with Peloton bikes and hydro rowers.

Two rows of underlit palm trees line the walkway to the Marriott’s entrance in a frontage that’s typically Sunshine State. The hotel is located in the downtown area of Boca Raton and boasts a gorgeous walled outdoor pool area with a hot tub and chic cabanas accented by vibrant cushions and loungers. Neutral bedrooms also have pops of colour in the form a wave-style blue wall panel calls to the nearby coast. The Marriott’s restaurants, Sonrisa and Drift, serve the brand’s own take on Caribbean food, described as “Floribbean”. There’s also a fitness centre and a wealth of amenities on the doorstep.

This recently opened design-forward property is found in the palm-flanked Pineapple Grove Arts District. The tropically inspired building by González Architects is accented with living walls, huge sculptures and a “floating glass cube” function space/yoga studio. Indeed glass plays an intrinsic part in its makeup, creating allowing the outside in. The Rosewood Rooftop houses a bar, restaurant and pool; Stingers is the coffee shop, Ember Grill serves US-style food and there’s a Japanese restaurant, Akira Back, led by a Michelin-starred chef. Bedroom interiors are by Virserius Studio and art installations are found throughout the public spaces.

Perched on Deerfield Beach, this hotel was the first Relais and Chateaux property in Florida. Originally the work of film and theatre producer Edward Walson, it now welcomes guests in its 12 polished bedrooms, each with balconies and Nespresso machines and displaying Walson’s own curated collection of original art. The Royal Blues’ Chanson restaurant is something very special indeed, with fine food prepared using local ingredients, served beside wide open ocean views and a huge overhead saltwater aquarium. Beside this is a wine lounge, with an extensive array of wines and a tapas tasting menu.

Stay downtown at this AAA Four-Diamond resort perched on the Caloosahatchee River. The 12-storey building was completed in 2020 and is just a couple of blocks from the beach with views across the marina. Terraces house the fourth-floor pool and a bar, while 243 rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows and urban chic decor, with artistic nods to the city’s illustrious “luminaries”. There are five places to eat and drink on-site; a seafood restaurant, a coffee shop, an American diner, a top-floor river-view cocktail bar and the latest addition, Oxbow Bar & Grill. The Luminary also accommodates a culinary theatre and indoor and outdoor fitness areas.

Striking and minimalist, The Sarasota Modern has been inspired by midcentury architecture. With 14 room categories, it caters to a diverse range of guests; from digital nomads (desks with USB ports are provided in each), to honeymooning couples and groups seeking self-catering facilities. It has a playful spirit, with its Wink Wink Modern Lounge and Wink Wink Modern Pool Bar, with the adjoining Tiki pool bar with overhanging palms. Order Polynesian-inspired or vintage-style smoking whisky cocktails. Beach chairs, beach towels, beach blankets and bicycles can be borrowed and there are ping pong tables, deck games and a pool table.

Celebrating all things creative and close to the Ringling College of Art and Design, the Art Ovation Hotel is a unique boutique property. Bedrooms and suites come equipped with sketchbooks, colouring pencils and a ukulele, there’s an Artist’s Studio for makers to work onsite, and an enthralling programme of installations, performances and workshops. Guests also benefit from the use of loaner two beach chairs, coolers, bicycles and kick scooters while staying. The Perspective Rooftop Bar provides views across the city, marina and park with a warming fire pit, while the Overture Restaurant is the place for modern American dining.

With all of its 266 rooms overlooking the bay, this hotel carries all of the classic elegance and British sensibilities you’d expect from the Ritz-Carlton group. The freeform pool features palm tree islands, thatched pagodas and provides views across the marina (the ideal spot to watch the sun set) and there’s a separate kids pool and club to entertain younger guests. Tennis courts and a Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole golf course are available and there’s a complimentary shuttle to the resort’s Lido Key Beach Club located. All bedrooms and suites at the AAA Four Diamond resort have balconies and are decorated using fine art, and contemporary and vintage furnishings.

Having opened in 1991, the island’s Ritz-Carlton became an AAA Five-Diamond resort, with its Sandcastle Concierge and direct beach access, an 18-hole championship golf course and an ocean-inspired spa offering a signature “Heaven in a Hammock” massage. Salt is the seafood signature dining venue (so named as it incorporates 40 different salts in the dishes); Coast is a casual alfresco eatery; Coquina is a poolside/oceanfront restaurant; and there’s Tidewater Grill for Lowcountry fare. First Call in The Lobby Bar provides a daily bourbon-based libation and First Drop serves coffee. The hotel has its own signature scent; Votivo 52, which you can buy and take home to recall the feeling of staying on Amelia Island.