1951 Best Hotels in USA

This peaceful ranch-style resort with more than 50 handsomely furnished cabins and lodge-style vacation homes that sleep from 2 to 15 guests lies a mere 4 miles from the East Entrance of Zion National Park and offers a variety of activities, including horseback riding, jeep tours, and guided hikes. Amenities vary a bit from cabin to cabin, but all have fireplaces, and many have kitchens and spacious sitting areas. The high-end restaurant, Cordwood, serves some of the tastiest food in the region. Note that Wi-Fi can be unreliable in some units, and although they have TVs, they have no reception and are only for watching DVDs, which you can borrow from the lobby.

A safe choice, the full-service Marriott caters to the business and convention crowd with spacious, tech-updated rooms that also serve vacationing families well. Welcome splashes of color enliven the public spaces, and the room furnishings are handsome and smartly arranged. All rooms have flat-screen high-def TVs and high-speed Wi-Fi and are stocked with nice bath products.

Step back into the Victorian era at this sumptuous inn on the National Register of Historic Places, which features fine antiques and reproductions, luxurious scented linens and down blankets on canopied beds; and a collection of original framed prints from Harper's scattered throughout. Ground-floor rooms are smaller but cozy, with exposed brick walls, beamed ceilings, and, in some cases, windows at eye level with the lush courtyard. Most rooms in the inn, which occupies an 1838 mansion that once served as a bordello, have working gas fireplaces, and three have whirlpool tubs. The aroma of fresh flowers permeates the air. Afternoon tea is served on fine china, the evening social hour features hors d'oeuvres, and a full Victorian bar stocks boutique wines. In-room massage treatments can be arranged.

The European-country style of this airport hotel—think poster beds and heavy wooden furnishings—is pleasant enough, but the selling point is the bayfront address, promising unsurpassed views out of the double-paned windows. In the entrance hall, guests play chess or read before the crackling fireplace, looking up from time to time to photograph planes that pass close by (strangely quiet) as they approach the runway.

This 1931 neocolonial home stands regally along M Street; rooms are appointed with antiques and big, soft beds. All rooms have Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs, and four have fireplaces. The immaculately landscaped 1½-acre property has fruit trees and grapevines. Breakfast is hearty and imaginative, featuring locally grown fruit and other ingredients. Across the street is a walking and bicycling trail that runs for a few miles beside the creek.

Utilizing quintessential California landscaping standards like redwoods, bougainvilleas, and palms sets this well-maintained inn's exterior apart from its peers. Paintings of retro California postcards enliven the otherwise smallish quarters, each with a work desk, wingback chairs, and tiled baths with showers. The on-site Terrace Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the subterranean lounge features a wall of windows that peek into the depths of the outdoor swimming pool. Other perks include an airport shuttle, Continental breakfast, a hot tub, an exercise room, laundry facilities, and free Wi-Fi and parking.

Amid a 15-acre valley on the north end of Inverness, this secluded getaway offers spacious one- and two-bedroom cabins with fireplaces and patios perfect for sunset barbecues and leisurely breakfasts. The cabins are tidy and well lighted, with large windows and impressive skylights. The inn is ideal for families who want extra space and a kitchen (or kitchenette) for cooking. Extras include a pool, a hot tub, lawn games, and tennis courts.

This stunning building (it used to be Joslins Department Store) sits right on the 16th Street Mall, which means everything downtown is a few blocks or a free Mall shuttle away. The lobby and public spaces are modern in theme, and the sparsely decorated rooms feature leather headboards and soothing earth tones and have city and mountain views. There's a Starbucks on-site.

This 1924 flatiron building smack in the center of Downtown contains a slice of Culver City's history—it was at one time owned by John Wayne, and also housed all 124 "munchkins" during the filming of The Wizard of Oz. The Grand Lobby restaurant, which doubles as a jazz venue, is decked out in wingback chairs and gilded paintings; gaze upward at the original murals and moulding along the ceiling. Rooms mimic the renaissance now occurring in Culver City, with antique furnishings set against modern artwork and flat-screen TVs. Rooms are airy with large windows and have rain-showers (but no tubs), Keurig coffeemakers, 24-hour room service, and free Wi-Fi. Splurge on the larger corner rooms, all of which are accented in purple and offer fun people-watching on Culver Boulevard.

The city's largest hotel, adjacent to the convention center, rises 15 stories above downtown. Rooms include free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs.

Once a series of cotton warehouses and factory offices that were built in 1852, this charming, pet-friendly inn has a handsome brick exterior, hunter-green shutters and awnings, and soaring 12- to 18-foot ceilings adorned with intricate crown molding. The interior design is tasteful and professionally done with details—notably the lavish drapes, done in a French toile pattern that looks remarkable against the shellacked brick—that put it a step above what you see in similarly priced properties, and the inviting guest rooms have one or two queen beds, a couch, and two comfy chairs. The Inn's restaurant, Tandem Coffee & Spirits, serves continental-style breakfast with signature coffee and espresso.

Fountains, lush lawns, and exotic plants provide a spectacular setting for this hotel. Occupying 7½ acres in Bakersfield's business district, it's a mile west of Highway 99. The large rooms come equipped with coffeemakers, irons, hair dryers, and free Wi-Fi access. The pool is just shy of Olympic size.

Next door to the Old Georgetown Railroad, this basic inn has rooms decorated with Western-style wood furniture and Southwestern blankets. A stone fireplace crowned with an elk rack greets you in the lobby, and a small indoor pool is a great place to soak after a day of skiing or exploring the high country. The three-room suite sleeps six and has a fully equipped kitchen.

Located directly across the street from Factors Walk, this former cotton warehouse has antique heart-pine floors that extend the length of the lobby. A long expanse of glass overlooks Bay Street, and a vintage bar add some character. Everything is just as contemporary as the interiors you'd find in some of the newer surrounding properties. The rooftop pool is a plus after a day of exploring.

Two blocks south of busy Colorado Boulevard, the Hilton Pasadena is still within walking distance of the city's vast convention center and close to Old Town's boundless options for shopping and dining. A light and airy sandstone lobby says California casual, as do the rooms done in soft beige and browns, complete with pillowy beds. Business travelers appreciate the chaise lounge with a movable desk to work from the chaise or standard desk area. Expect the typical technological gadgetry: flat-screen TVs, Wi-Fi, and plenty of outlets for devices. The rooms with balconies are best.

Stained-glass windows and homey accents throughout make this 1896 Victorian brownstone in Capitol Hill, the neighborhood immediately east of downtown, exceptionally appealing. Many of the rooms have overstuffed Victorian armchairs and such historic touches as furniture once owned by Baby Doe Tabor. Some units have tile fireplaces, others have small sitting rooms. Each room has a full kitchen, a holdover from the building's days as an apartment building, and full breakfast is included.

Once called Garcia's Trading Post, this well-kept hotel near Canyon de Chelly is less generic than you might expect: the exterior is "territorial fort" in style and the rooms have been updated with jewel tones and minimalist artwork. Off the lobby there's a gift shop stocked with local Native American arts and crafts, plus a decent restaurant.

The imposing Bavarian-style architecture of The Lodge, with its tower and dramatic details, has drawn all sorts of notable characters over the years, including Judy Garland, Clark Gable, and even the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The bar was owned by Al Capone at one point. The outside looks like an Alpine lodge, but the interior, with its dark-wood furnishings and plush carpeted stairways, seems to have come right from a Gothic novel. Rooms are furnished with antiques, fluffy comforters, and ceiling fans. Rebecca's Restaurant ($$$) serves Continental cuisine in a beautiful room that is full of sunlight during the day and romantically lighted with candles at night. Rebecca is the resident ghost of a chambermaid apparently murdered by her lumberjack lover in the 1930s in the hotel—and she's reputedly quite playful.

The Keller family has made a plush, stylish, and romantic bed-and-breakfast out of a dilapidated Highland apartment building originally constructed for a lumber baron and his family in the 1890s. Rooms are individually themed and geared toward romance, including Greco-Roman with a marble-lined bath area and Far Eastern with an ornate bed from Java. The elaborate breakfasts, cooked by an owner who is also a chef, can be brought to the rooms, all of which feature an in-room Jacuzzi tub, big-screen plasma TV, and iPad for guest use. For those who want a taste of the inn, but don't want to stay the night, Lumber Baron is known for its murder-mystery dinners.

In an often overlooked section of Chicago just east of Michigan Avenue, this hotel has a sublime 29th-floor indoor/outdoor bar with an enviable view of the city; its stylish guest rooms are contemporary and comfy. The lobby, renovated in 2013, features oversize seating and opens to a restaurant and bar offering sit-down service as well as to-go items. This place loves kids and pets and has packages tailored to both.

Though these brightly updated accommodations a few miles west of Mount Rainier National Park are of the standard motel-room variety, crackling flames from the massive stone fireplace lend warmth and cheer to the great room. Some rooms have a balcony and all have microwaves and refrigerators.

This 1930s art-deco motel lures families, dog lovers, surfers, and locals wanting to escape the hustle of the city and retreat to these quiet, spacious, wood-paneled rooms in the Outer Sunset neighborhood. The retro exterior hugs two landscaped courtyards, one with a Monterey pine and the other with a wooden play structure. Interiors are simple, though many units offer kitchens with sitting areas. The enclosed hot tub, free parking and Wi-Fi, and proximity to Muni and the San Francisco Zoo up the ante.

Guest rooms at the ever-bustling Sheraton are roomy and streamlined, with unfussy furniture and nice workstations that appeal primarily to the business traveler. An ongoing, $80 million remodel has spruced up the lobby, which has been opened up dramatically yet still retains a cheerful vibe, with an oversized fireplace and cozy sitting area. The beer-oriented Yard House ($$) offers a staggeringly varied menu of pub grub and upscale comfort foods and there's also a coffee shop with wine and beer for takeout in the lobby. Both the fitness center and heated outdoor pool are inviting.

This spacious stone-and-wood lodge in Custer State Park affords fantastic views of pristine Sylvan Lake and Harney Peak, the highest point in the U.S. east of the Rockies. The rooms in the lodge are large and modern, and there are rustic cabins, some with fireplaces, scattered along the cliff and in the forest. The Lakota Dining Room has an exceptional view of the lake; its lovely veranda is the perfect place to sip tea and enjoy an evening cocktail. On the menu are buffalo and rainbow trout. You can canoe, fish, and swim in the lake, and numerous hiking trails make this a great choice for active families.

This is the kind of down-to-earth B&B where you sit around after breakfast and share tips for hiking Point Reyes or linger around the living room and its stone fireplace and library. The Craftsman-style home is decorated in an unfussy modern country manner; some rooms have dormer ceilings with skylights, and all have fluffy bedding. The owners take pride in their breakfast spread, and afternoon refreshments are nice extras.

A palm-lined entrance and sparkling fountain welcome you to this bay-front airport hotel that caters mainly to business travelers and conventioneers. Uncluttered, soundproof accommodations have cream-colored walls, simple furnishings, and decent-sized work desks. About a hundred rooms have bay views, and all bathrooms are outfitted with double showerheads. An atrium with skylights encloses the pool and hot tub area, and the fitness center has circuit, free-weight, and yoga equipment. The Grill & Vine restaurant serves straightforward dishes like Black Angus New York strip steak and salmon with a miso-mustard glaze. The 24-hour business center has public computers, copiers, printers, a fax machine, and, for a fee, high-speed Internet access. The hotel provides complimentary dog beds for pets.