27 city hotels worth crossing the world for.

Walled-garden boutique hotel of red sandstone haveli buildings and modern pavilions directly beneath Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur's old city.

Napoleon III château-hotel with private club heritage in the 16th arrondissement, offering around 50 rooms, a Guerlain spa, and rare gardens.

A 1540s cloister beside Arequipa's San Francisco basilica, eleven monastic suites carved from white sillar stone and lit by candlelight and volcano views.

Belmond's hillside bungalows above Santa Barbara's American Riviera.

Parisian brasserie glamour transplanted to Tribeca.

Thierry Gillier's intimate 32-room hôtel particulier — fashion-house Paris, done quietly.

Thirty-one-room boutique hotel occupying three whitewashed 17th-century mansions in Cartagena's walled old city, retaining original frescoes and colonial aqueduct.

Downtown's moody lobby-fireplace clubhouse on the Bowery.

Restored century-old Gion teahouse turned 23-room boutique ryokan, blending sukiya-style architecture with modern comforts and acclaimed dining.

Yves Saint Laurent's former clifftop villa, reimagined by Jasper Conran as a 12-suite hotel with gardens overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar.

Kerry Hill's final work, minimalist pavilions in a secret forest garden of moss and stone paths near Kinkaku-ji.

The castle on Sunset — Hollywood's discreet, storied hideout since 1929.

Mayfair's Art Deco landmark since 1856, the hotel of royals and couturiers, crowned by a new rooftop wing and painting studio suites.

Kit Kemp's first New York Firmdale on a cobbled SoHo lane, English maximalism, a sculpture garden and a screening room of its own.

Vanessa Branson's art-filled riad of interconnected courtyards, bold interiors and a rooftop bar beside the Koutoubia in Marrakech's medina.

Kit Kemp's theatrical Firmdale village off Piccadilly Circus, ninety one rooms around a tree filled courtyard with a 1950s Texan bowling alley below.

The Wirth family's grande dame above the Spanish Steps since 1893, where the Michelin-starred Imago looks out across every dome in Rome.

Paris's velvet-dark scene-maker on rue Saint-Honoré — candlelight, courtyard, and that soundtrack.

A Louis XV palace on the Place de la Concorde reborn under Rosewood, with suites by Karl Lagerfeld and a courtyard that hums at aperitif hour.

Rocco Forte's Roman flagship between the Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, built around Valadier's terraced secret garden.

An 1854 mansion off the Champs-Elysees dressed by Jacques Garcia in oxblood and velvet, home to the three Michelin starred Le Gabriel.

The grande dame of Faubourg Saint-Honoré — three-Michelin dining and a rooftop pool over Paris.

The first Six Senses in Italy, a Patricia Urquiola reworking of a fifteenth century palazzo with Roman baths below and a rooftop over the centro storico.

The Pink Palace — banana-leaf wallpaper, the cabana pool, and a century of Hollywood.

Mayfair's quietest grand hotel, home to Helene Darroze's three Michelin stars and the Connaught Bar's legendary martini trolley.

Jacques Grange's black and white striped 1927 landmark on the Upper East Side, the hotel that stages the Met Gala.

Tadao Ando's nine room ryokan on the Shirakawa stream in Gion, cedar and washi outside, Jean-Georges downstairs.