Hotels Grace Kelly Has Stayed At

The Connaught’s martini trolley makes a ceremony of a drink, with guests choosing aromatic bitters to shape their preferred version. That attention to individual taste gives a useful introduction to this Mayfair hotel, where original art and traditional craftsmanship bring character to the interiors. A historic wooden staircase anchors the public spaces, while suites include personal butler service and, in some cases, private terraces above the city. Hélène Darroze’s three-Michelin-star restaurant makes dining a substantial part of the draw. Outside, the Mount Street neighborhood puts boutiques, Bond Street and Hyde Park within easy reach, giving a stay here a distinctly Mayfair frame.

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.

The 1893 World’s Fair clock is back at the center of the Waldorf Astoria New York’s lobby, a fitting anchor for a hotel whose recent restoration makes its architectural heritage central to the stay. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon restored its exterior and interior spaces, preserving the scale of the Art Deco architecture. Upstairs are 375 redesigned rooms and suites; the King Room includes a seating area, writing desk, and deep soaking tub. Downstairs, Peacock Alley returns alongside Lex Yard, chef Michael Anthony’s brasserie. The Park Avenue address places guests in Midtown, near Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center, and Fifth Avenue’s shops.

Seventeenth-century furniture and artworks collected by hotelier Emile Wolf still shape Hotel Lancaster’s character today. Housed in an 1889 private mansion on rue de Berri, steps from the Champs-Élysées, the hotel retains the residential spirit of the house Wolf converted in 1925. Antiques sit alongside contemporary pieces by Studio Jean Philippe Nuel, with individually decorated rooms extending that eclectic approach upstairs. Downstairs, Monsieur Lancaster serves neo-bistro cooking built around ingredients from small local producers, with dishes designed for sharing. CopperBay brings its cocktail-making expertise to the bar. Together, these spaces give the Lancaster a character rooted as much in the pleasures of a Parisian household as in its century of hotelkeeping.

Le Relais Plaza’s Art Deco dining room takes its cues from the first-class restaurant aboard the ocean liner SS Normandie—a telling detail at a hotel with such a strong sense of occasion. Opened in 1936, the brasserie remains part of Hôtel Plaza Athénée’s character on avenue Montaigne, where fashion shapes the surroundings and the hotel itself. Christian Dior staged shows and photo shoots here; today, the connection continues through the Dior Spa. Red geraniums mark the façade, while the vine-covered courtyard offers another distinctive setting for a meal. Between the avenue-side terrace, afternoon tea in La Galerie and suites with Eiffel Tower views, the hotel gives guests several ways to settle into this corner of Paris.

Le Bristol Paris has a yacht above its rooftops: naval architect Cäsar Pinnau designed its sixth-floor indoor pool with teak decking and a trompe-l’oeil stern, with views toward the Eiffel Tower and Sacré-Cœur. That playful space adds a distinctive chapter to this grand hotel on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, whose rooms and suites follow an elegant Parisian style. A 13,000-square-foot courtyard garden gives guests room to linger, while the kitchens reveal how much is made here: the hotel mills its own flour, bakes its bread, and produces chocolates in-house. Three-Michelin-starred Epicure anchors a stay in which French cooking deserves as much attention as the address.

Versailles provides the architectural cue for Le Meurice’s Alain Ducasse restaurant, where Philippe Starck reinterpreted the château’s Salon de la Paix. That interplay of classical grandeur and artistic invention gives this Paris hotel its character: Starck also designed Le Dalí, drawing on the surrealist’s playful imagination. Facing the Tuileries Garden on rue de Rivoli, with the Louvre a five-minute walk away, Le Meurice puts art within easy reach both indoors and out. Food is an equally compelling reason to linger, from the two-Michelin-starred restaurant to Cédric Grolet’s pastries sculpted to resemble fruit. In the evening, Bar 228 offers deep leather armchairs and live jazz—a more intimate setting within the hotel’s ornate world.