Hotels Cary Grant Has Stayed At

A dining room dating to 1919, dressed in blue with gold moldings and crystal chandeliers, captures El Palace Hotel Barcelona’s enduring taste for ceremony. The former Ritz, a short walk from Passeig de Gràcia, puts that heritage to work at Amar Barcelona, where chef Rafa Zafra’s seafood-focused cooking includes nods to the hotel’s earlier menus. Afternoon tea brings live piano music to the historic main hall, while breakfast is served in El Jardín, an indoor garden with black-and-white décor and wrought iron details. Upstairs, the Rooftop Garden adds another dimension: greenery, open-air dining and a guest-only swimming pool, with views across Barcelona toward the Sagrada Família.

A Chihuly chandelier in the Foyer gives Claridge’s a fitting introduction: design is central to this Mayfair hotel, where Victorian grandeur and Art Deco geometry shape the public rooms. The bedrooms carry that range further, spanning Victorian, Deco, and contemporary styles rather than following a single decorative template. Afternoon tea in the Foyer & Reading Room remains one of the hotel’s defining rituals, while the intimate Fumoir has been serving cocktails since 1929. The spa adds another architectural draw, with a heated pool beneath a multi-vaulted ceiling supported by stone columns. Outside, Brook Street and Davies Street place guests among Mayfair’s shopping streets, within easy reach of Hyde Park.

Edwardian rooms in gray and tangerine and Art Deco rooms in gold and caramel give The Savoy two distinct visual identities, reflecting the eras that shaped it. The theatrical connection runs deeper than the decor: the hotel was built to accommodate travelers coming to see Gilbert and Sullivan at the Savoy Theatre. Today, its private approach off the Strand puts Covent Garden and the West End within a short walk, while river-facing rooms look across the Thames. Inside, floral sculptures rise above the lobby’s black-and-white marble floor, afternoon tea unfolds beneath Gallery’s glass dome with live piano, and the American Bar makes cocktails part of the hotel’s enduring social life.

From Aduana, its seventh-floor restaurant, Gran Meliá Fénix looks out over Madrid’s Salamanca district—a useful introduction to the neighborhood around it. Calle Serrano’s shops and the Paseo de la Castellana are close by, with the National Archaeological Museum among the nearby cultural stops. Inside, neoclassical rooms establish the hotel’s formal character, while Balmoral carries that mood into a bar serving cocktails, traditional tapas, and Mediterranean dishes. Dining is a particular draw: Zuma adds contemporary Japanese cooking, a robata grill, and a sushi bar. For a more private view of the city, select RedLevel accommodations have terraces with outdoor whirlpools.

Palm Court’s crystal canopy sets the tone at Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid, a Belle Époque palace where the dining rooms are as much a draw as the address. Beneath it, the all-day restaurant serves contemporary interpretations of Ritz classics under chef Quique Dacosta’s direction. His two-Michelin-starred Deessa occupies the Alfonso XIII room, with a terrace overlooking the Ritz Garden. The hotel sits between the Prado Museum and Retiro Park, placing art and open space close at hand. Upstairs, accommodations range from courtyard-facing rooms to suites overlooking the Prado and Plaza de la Lealtad, with marble bathrooms and a classic approach to interiors that carries the palace’s character into the private spaces.

A stained-glass dome made from 1,875 individual panes gives The Palace its architectural centerpiece, with a palm-shaped chandelier suspended beneath it. Each pane was dismantled, cataloged and restored as part of the renovation that brought this 1912 hotel into The Luxury Collection in 2025. Designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán’s interiors draw on the Belle Époque and Roaring Twenties, alongside preserved marble, historic tapestries and original architectural details. Beneath the dome, La Cúpula serves contemporary Spanish cooking and afternoon tea. Outside, the hotel’s Plaza de las Cortes address places Madrid’s museums within walking distance; selected rooms overlook the Neptune Fountain or the Spanish Parliament, giving the city a presence well beyond the public rooms.

The Pierre’s Rotunda makes a theatrical centerpiece: Edward Melcarth’s hand-painted trompe l’oeil murals, added in 1967, sit beneath a ceiling depicting bright blue sky. That appetite for grand rooms defines this Fifth Avenue hotel, which opened in 1930 directly across from Central Park. Its French Classical architecture gives it a palatial character, while Two E Bar & Lounge offers a more residential setting. Originally the gentleman’s library, the space was redesigned by Alexandra Champalimaud to evoke an Upper East Side home and now hosts live jazz. At Perrine, French-American dishes share the menu with Indian cuisine—a fitting expression of a New York institution that is also Taj’s North American flagship.

Private terraces overlooking Sixth Avenue and 54th Street give some of the Warwick’s accommodations an unusually expansive relationship with Midtown. The hotel’s Renaissance and Art Deco architecture sets the tone for a stay with a decidedly traditional streak: marble bathrooms, suites with separate living areas, and Randolph’s Bar & Lounge, where dark wood paneling frames the seating. Breakfast takes place amid the artwork at Murals on 54. Built by publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst in 1926, the Warwick still makes architectural character part of its appeal. Its address also puts the Museum of Modern Art nearby, with Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue, and Central Park within easy reach.