Luxury Guide

Old World elegance takes on rich, vivid hues in this little Venetian jewel. Staying in one of the lilac (pictured) or magenta-appointed rooms is an experience akin to stepping inside a Renaissance painting.

Photo Credit: Bloom B & B

Quirky, futuristic and yet always stylish, the design hotels of Singapore are a story unto themselves. This hotel, dubbed a “left-field experiment” by its founders, is a good introduction. Rooms are categorized as “Pantone,” “Mono” or “Whimsical.” Pictured is a Pantone Deluxe, characterized by its vivid single hue. Pushing the design envelope much further, “Whimsical” loft-style lodgings feature motifs like “Typewriter” and “Space.”

Photo Credit: Wanderlust Hotel

One of the great joys of traveling to Morocco is exploring the riads. Halfway between a design hotel and a family-owned guest house, the riad blends traditional hospitality with contemporary Moroccan design. The latter tends to be incredibly artistic, even on a shoestring budget. Casa Lila (pictured) is one of many riads where, for under $100US a night, you’ll stay in surroundings that seem like they could have been styled by Elle Décor’s top team.

Photo Credit: Casa Lila

Ah, Paris—city of extremes. Just like you can find the world’s most decadent cuisine in the capital where “women don’t get fat,” this epicenter of understated chic contains some of the most over-the-top hotel decor in the world. Case in point, this lavishly be-swagged suite at L’Hotel. Bedding down here would be, we imagine, like nestling into a very cozy oversized Faberge egg.

Photo Credit: L’Hotel

Owned by Iceland’s official air carrier, this newly refurbished hotel has been around in one incarnation or another since the 1960s. Its rooms and suites mostly feature sleek, ultra-modern Scandinavian design that we think of as IKEA-Luxe, but the Pink Suite is the exception. Not only does it go wild with fuzzy soft furnishings and lavish silk wallpaper, but the bathroom (pictured) also features a rosy tone—not to mention a bathtub that’s positively lavish by Scandinavian standards.

Photo Credit: Icelandair Reykjavik Natura

Proving that Italians understand edgy elegance better than just about any other culture, this Italian-owned flagship showcases its namesake color in vivid splashes and accents, not with a top-to-bottom paint job. The effect is stylish, playful, and subtle enough to keep even macho men at ease.

Photo Credit: Rosa Grand

And yet another yellow! Yes, it might seem a bit odd to bed down in a room the color of an egg yolk…but according to popular lore, yellow is the color of happiness. It’s also one of the colors on the Brazilian flag. If that still isn’t enough to convince you, this hillside guesthouse has six other rooms, all showcasing a signature color: Green, Blue, Pink, Purple, White and Black.

Photo Credit: La Suite

Another fabulous example of more-ish Parisian décor. Behold, the 007 Suite, one of seven movie set-quality suites at this boutique Latin Quarter hotel. Just why the suave British spy would feel at home in this curvy, glowing purple, retro-futuristic hideaway, we know not—but the busty Bond Girl pinup sketch on the wall certainly hints at it. This hotel also has an Alice suite decked out with stuffed psychedelic rabbits, and a Marie Antoinette suite featuring dozens of jewel-colored silk cushions and a gauzy 360-degree canopy around the bed.

Photo Credit: Hotel Seven

Also in Paris, this suite décor scheme is a mixed bouquet of crimson, blush pink and cream. The lilac-colored plush pouf is a mischievous surprise, but the neutral-toned wallpaper and carpet remind you that at the end of the day, this hotel is a grand dame of city lodgings.

Photo Credit: Hotel Plaza Athenee

In the French Riviera, life is equally colorful as in the big city—but sometimes with a surprisingly futuristic twist. Take, for example, this “Techno Suite” studio lodging within Nice’s Hi Hotel. The screen separating the bed from the bath is actually a foldaway high-def TV, and internal speakers turn the sleek little couch into a “sofa-blaster.”

Photo Credit: Hi Hotel

Because Londoners deserve a posh lipstick-colored hideaway as much as their Continental neighbors, May Fair Hotel unveiled the Schiaparelli suite in 2006. Designed by the pioneer of “shocking pink,” it’s the spotlight-stealing favorite among the hotel’s many signature suites.

Photo Credit: May Fair Hotel

For little girls who love princess stories, tulle frocks and tween starlets of any era, the best room in the world can be found at the Plaza Hotel, where Betsey Johnson has brought the children’s classic story Eloise to life in a vivid and whimsical way. Through rates for the Eloise Suite are steeper than the average piggy bank can afford, many activities are offered via the Eloise at the Plaza program—including a costume closet in the Fashion Room and “rawther fancy” afternoon tea.

Photo Credit: The Plaza

An unexpected outpost of modern chic in oft-overcast Edinburgh, the first hotel by Missoni brings “fashion” lodgings to a city known for its medieval architecture and Royal Mile. Of course, the Missoni family is fashion royalty, of the sort that can sell out in Target stores nationwide, and then three months later, dazzle the Met Gala with red carpet couture. Missoni sets its own rules, design-wise, and this suite is pink and polka-dot proof.

Photo Credit: Hotel Missoni

If ever there was such a thing as a cool pink breeze, this is where you’d feel it. The newly unveiled suites within this Angeleno hideaway blend Beverly Hills elegance with that oh-so-Californian urge to kick off your shoes, throw open the patio door, and enjoy a glass of chilled Chardonnay in the sunshine.

Photo Credit: Peninsula Beverly Hills

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