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The National Hotel Heatmap: Where to Stay Right Now

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Outrageously gimmicky suites and old-timey mainstays will always be an option for travelers, but hotel obsessives are just as curious about what's new, what's hot, which independent hotelier just converted an early 20th-century brothel into Rhode Island's coolest new boutique hotel, and where the Ace will expand to next. Thus, here now is the second edition of Curbed's National Hotel Heatmap, which chronicles the "it" places of the moment. The criteria for compiling this list were simple: properties had to have opened sometime after Labor Day 2013, and they must bring something to the table in terms of architecture, interiors, or (in the case of the only Vegas property on this list) urban development. Because room rates vary so drastically based on day of the week and season, prices are deliberately omitted—click on the URL provided next to each map entry to inquire about rates.

Check out the map of the country's hottest new hotels below, and as always, voice additions/deletions in the comments.


· All Hotels Week 2014 posts [Curbed National]

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The Epiphany

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The Epiphany, a Joie de Vivre property, opened in March as an eight-story boutique hotel carved into a remodeled 1960s building outside San Francisco. Fans of luxury furnishings will appreciate the Frette linens; those who can't quite figure out what the cloud is will appreciate Epiphany's "Technology Concierge."

Ace Hotel Los Angeles

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L.A.'s first Ace Hotel opened this winter in a 1920s building originally designed for United Artists, the film industry powerhouse founded by Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and others. The restoration, lead by the in-house design team along with Commune Design and GREC Architects, of L.A. and Chicago, respectively, "stripped the inside down to its concrete [...] and furnished with local goods," according to Curbed LA. "Outside, the terra cotta and plaster exterior was also stripped and cleaned, and the original iron grillwork was restored. [...] Every inch is packed with original art (like the pencil drawings by Simon and Nikolai Haas that decorate the lobby and the 1927-themed Mike Mills pieces in the rooms." As for the spectacular Spanish Gothic-style theater, adjoined to the hotel tower and built at the same time, that lives on as the Theatre at Ace, and will host concerts, screenings, and private events.

The Line Hotel

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The Line Hotel, a trendy new hotel built up out of the shell of a 1960s Hyatt, opened in January in L.A.'s Koreatown, and just as any boutique hotel in any up-and-coming neighborhood should, this one's got bold design choices, from walls clad with wallpaper meant to look like concrete to hybrid bed-desks. According to Curbed LA, each of the 388 rooms has a unique watercolor by L.A. artist Claire Oswalt, as well as knick-knacks by the Arts District shop Poketo.

Sparrows Hotel

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Named for the birds that made themselves at home during the renovation, Palm Springs' Sparrows Hotel boldly departs from the area's prevalent midcentury design, instead offering a 20-room "Desert Craftsman" retreat, as T astutely described it. The property, once home to a 1950s motel, now accommodates a lodging with redwood furniture, concrete floors, and enamel bath tubs made of 75-gallon horse troughs. “It was very simple and rustic—the way Hollywood wanted to live in the desert before midcentury modern,” the owner explains.

Downtown Grand Las Vegas

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Though these hotel rooms resemble many hotel rooms in Vegas—gaudy wall-to-wall carpeting, mass-produced commercial furniture, overly coordinated paintings—the Downtown Grand deserves a nod as the first hotel-casino to open in Downtown Las Vegas in 30 years. (In true City of Sin flair, the official ribbon-cutting was held on Nov. 12, 2013, at 2:15 p.m., or 11/12/13/14/15.) Set far from the Strip in the rapidly developing Fremont East District—home to chic little bars, restaurants, and clubs—the Downtown Grand, as HotelChatter points out, is not to be entirely overlooked in terms of interesting design details, from the myriad creative light fixtures to its clever gambling-themed art. Head to Eater Vegas for a rundown of the resort's dining options.

The Bivvi

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This new Breckenridge hostel "might be the nicest hostel you've ever seen," as Curbed Ski put it around the time of the Bivouac's (or the Bivvi's, as it's nicknamed) January opening. Sure, there are bunk beds, but hey, they're made from Norwegian pine. The reading lanterns, antler chandeliers, and beetle-kill tables (an furniture trend right now) add to the hipster mountain vibe.

Hotel Ella

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If a hotel catches the eye of Architectural Digest it's safe to assume that it's got noteworthy architectural history and some rather lovely interiors, and that's exactly the case with Hotel Ella, which replaced The Mansion at Judge's Hill in a landmark 1898 Austin building in January. Named for the wife of the building's original owner, the 48-room hotel boasts original moldings and columns that were sensitively preserved by local architect Michael Hsu. Eater Austin has the scoop on the restaurant.

Godfrey Hotel

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After six years of delays, the Godfrey Hotel finally swung open its doors on February 1. The 221-room hotel fills a building designed by the architecture firm Valerio DeWalt Train, which envisioned a "taut wrapping of cubist forms that shift inward and outward to reveal the building’s expressive structural frame," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. As for the interiors: they're unfussy and masculine, and they inspired the staff uniforms.

Thompson Chicago

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Thompson Hotels opened its first Chicago branch in October, with 247 rooms meant to be "kept as spacious as possible, embracing the city’s skyline with floor to ceiling glass windows of iconic Chicago views," explains interior designer Tara Bernerd in a promo. Bernerd selected "warm, yet edgy palettes [...] in a contemporary style mixing a vintage feel, highlighting craftsmanship and every bedroom benefits from bespoke furniture design.” For the public spaces, she aimed "to elicit the autumnal feel of vintage Saint Laurent encompassing seductive woods and petrol blues, the raw industrial edge still creates an immediate sense of invitation when you walk through the doors."

The 404 Hotel

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The smallest hotel on this list, Nashville's 404 Hotel opened two weeks ago and contains only five rooms, four with lofts, each furnished with vintage finds, custom pieces, handmade beds, and local art. Shortly before its opening a piece on Style.com—lovingly written by a friend of the owner—dubbed it "Music City's first boutique hotel." Eater Nashville has the word on the hotel's eponymous restaurant.

Hôtel Gaythering

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As one might expect from any American hotel that spells "hotel" with an accent circonflexe over the "o," Miami's newly opened Hôtel Gaythering rolled out of the gates with quite the marketing blitz, one featuring photos of male models "immersed in an Alex-In-Wonderland, theatrically eclectic, dark and mysterious homo-erotic fantasia while on vacay in South Beach," according to Curbed Miami. Still, Hôtel Gaythering, whose aim is to "nurture impactful experiences and relationships for the LGBT community and others," is making a splash, design-wise, too. The early word on Trip Advisor? An Art Deco hangout where "I felt like my room was part of an art gallery."

The Redbury South Beach

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With Rat Pack memorabilia, black-and-white photos, and vintage record players, the Redbury South Beach is an homage to Miami's cinematic history, particularly the the glamour of the 1950s. To further the silver-screen vibe, the 69-room hotel, which is owned by the folks behind the SLS Hotel South Beach and The Raleigh, has a lobby flanked by red velvet opera curtains. According to Curbed Miami, there's also a 12,000-square-foot pool on the roof, as well as egg-shaped bathtubs.

Metropolitan by Como Miami Beach

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Metropolitan by COMO just arrived stateside in early March—its other branches are in London and Bangkok—and occupies the oceanfront Miami Beach Art Deco building that was formerly the Traymore Hotel. One restoration and a bunch of delays later, the hotel now offers 74 rooms that take "aesthetic cues from the elegant 1920 and 30s," according to the official site, with "geometric silhouettes, playful tones of pastel pink and sea-foam green, cool marbles and shining chromes."

Broome Hotel

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The Broome Hotel selected Valentine's Day for its opening, and rather appropriately: it contains 14 guest rooms, each appointed with furniture from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, whose flagship is only a couple of blocks away. Once you're done "[recharging] "for New York’s legendary days and nights," relax with a drink on the hotel's patio, tucked into the inner central courtyard of this lovely 1825 building.

Viceroy New York

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The Viceroy tapped Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer, AKA Roman and Williams, for the façade and interiors of its first NYC outpost. And while 57th Street isn't exactly what comes to mind first when one thinks of the sea, the husband-and-wife design duo managed to carve a nautical little enclave in midtown, of all places, one stocked with wood-paneled rooms, brass finishes, Sferra linens (no seaman could sleep well without them!), artwork inspired by Montauk, N.Y., and a basement pool surrounded with porthole windows. Tour the space with the designers, right this way.

The Marlton Hotel

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The Marlton, the newest from hotelier Sean MacPherson, opened in October on a somewhat unbecoming block near NYU. The building itself used to belong to the university, but MacPherson and co. converted it into a 107-room lodging "that takes its style cues from a source both anachronistic and improbably charming: the Parisian hôtel de charme," according to a glowing profile in the Times Style section. Design details include Serge Roche sconces, Serge Mouille-inspired lighting, and other non-Serge things such as cerused oak shelving and chairs inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

The Dean

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Working on The Dean, a newly open 52-room boutique hotel filling a 1911 building that was once a brothel, allowed Ari Heckman to return to his native Providence, R.I. Heckman, co-founder of the NYC design and staging firm ASH NYC (and a member of the inaugural class of Curbed Young Guns) has said that the team obsessed over the hotel's every detail, from the branding down to the P-trap. "I don't think anyone will ever notice it, but when I walk into a space it's very obvious when someone's thought through these details—not necessarily every one of those details, but it's the sum of its parts," Heckman told Curbed last year. Inside, ASH's signature look (unfussy, neutral-colored furnishings, many of them vintage) take shape in the form of crisp Matouk linens, eclectic vintage seating, beadboard and wainscoting, and gold bathroom hardware, which all play off some of the building's original details. The mosaic-tile flooring, for example, was left in place. [Link]

The Epiphany

The Epiphany, a Joie de Vivre property, opened in March as an eight-story boutique hotel carved into a remodeled 1960s building outside San Francisco. Fans of luxury furnishings will appreciate the Frette linens; those who can't quite figure out what the cloud is will appreciate Epiphany's "Technology Concierge."

Ace Hotel Los Angeles

L.A.'s first Ace Hotel opened this winter in a 1920s building originally designed for United Artists, the film industry powerhouse founded by Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and others. The restoration, lead by the in-house design team along with Commune Design and GREC Architects, of L.A. and Chicago, respectively, "stripped the inside down to its concrete [...] and furnished with local goods," according to Curbed LA. "Outside, the terra cotta and plaster exterior was also stripped and cleaned, and the original iron grillwork was restored. [...] Every inch is packed with original art (like the pencil drawings by Simon and Nikolai Haas that decorate the lobby and the 1927-themed Mike Mills pieces in the rooms." As for the spectacular Spanish Gothic-style theater, adjoined to the hotel tower and built at the same time, that lives on as the Theatre at Ace, and will host concerts, screenings, and private events.

The Line Hotel

The Line Hotel, a trendy new hotel built up out of the shell of a 1960s Hyatt, opened in January in L.A.'s Koreatown, and just as any boutique hotel in any up-and-coming neighborhood should, this one's got bold design choices, from walls clad with wallpaper meant to look like concrete to hybrid bed-desks. According to Curbed LA, each of the 388 rooms has a unique watercolor by L.A. artist Claire Oswalt, as well as knick-knacks by the Arts District shop Poketo.

Sparrows Hotel

Named for the birds that made themselves at home during the renovation, Palm Springs' Sparrows Hotel boldly departs from the area's prevalent midcentury design, instead offering a 20-room "Desert Craftsman" retreat, as T astutely described it. The property, once home to a 1950s motel, now accommodates a lodging with redwood furniture, concrete floors, and enamel bath tubs made of 75-gallon horse troughs. “It was very simple and rustic—the way Hollywood wanted to live in the desert before midcentury modern,” the owner explains.

Downtown Grand Las Vegas

Though these hotel rooms resemble many hotel rooms in Vegas—gaudy wall-to-wall carpeting, mass-produced commercial furniture, overly coordinated paintings—the Downtown Grand deserves a nod as the first hotel-casino to open in Downtown Las Vegas in 30 years. (In true City of Sin flair, the official ribbon-cutting was held on Nov. 12, 2013, at 2:15 p.m., or 11/12/13/14/15.) Set far from the Strip in the rapidly developing Fremont East District—home to chic little bars, restaurants, and clubs—the Downtown Grand, as HotelChatter points out, is not to be entirely overlooked in terms of interesting design details, from the myriad creative light fixtures to its clever gambling-themed art. Head to Eater Vegas for a rundown of the resort's dining options.

The Bivvi

This new Breckenridge hostel "might be the nicest hostel you've ever seen," as Curbed Ski put it around the time of the Bivouac's (or the Bivvi's, as it's nicknamed) January opening. Sure, there are bunk beds, but hey, they're made from Norwegian pine. The reading lanterns, antler chandeliers, and beetle-kill tables (an furniture trend right now) add to the hipster mountain vibe.

Hotel Ella

If a hotel catches the eye of Architectural Digest it's safe to assume that it's got noteworthy architectural history and some rather lovely interiors, and that's exactly the case with Hotel Ella, which replaced The Mansion at Judge's Hill in a landmark 1898 Austin building in January. Named for the wife of the building's original owner, the 48-room hotel boasts original moldings and columns that were sensitively preserved by local architect Michael Hsu. Eater Austin has the scoop on the restaurant.

Godfrey Hotel

After six years of delays, the Godfrey Hotel finally swung open its doors on February 1. The 221-room hotel fills a building designed by the architecture firm Valerio DeWalt Train, which envisioned a "taut wrapping of cubist forms that shift inward and outward to reveal the building’s expressive structural frame," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. As for the interiors: they're unfussy and masculine, and they inspired the staff uniforms.

Thompson Chicago

Thompson Hotels opened its first Chicago branch in October, with 247 rooms meant to be "kept as spacious as possible, embracing the city’s skyline with floor to ceiling glass windows of iconic Chicago views," explains interior designer Tara Bernerd in a promo. Bernerd selected "warm, yet edgy palettes [...] in a contemporary style mixing a vintage feel, highlighting craftsmanship and every bedroom benefits from bespoke furniture design.” For the public spaces, she aimed "to elicit the autumnal feel of vintage Saint Laurent encompassing seductive woods and petrol blues, the raw industrial edge still creates an immediate sense of invitation when you walk through the doors."

The 404 Hotel

The smallest hotel on this list, Nashville's 404 Hotel opened two weeks ago and contains only five rooms, four with lofts, each furnished with vintage finds, custom pieces, handmade beds, and local art. Shortly before its opening a piece on Style.com—lovingly written by a friend of the owner—dubbed it "Music City's first boutique hotel." Eater Nashville has the word on the hotel's eponymous restaurant.

Hôtel Gaythering

As one might expect from any American hotel that spells "hotel" with an accent circonflexe over the "o," Miami's newly opened Hôtel Gaythering rolled out of the gates with quite the marketing blitz, one featuring photos of male models "immersed in an Alex-In-Wonderland, theatrically eclectic, dark and mysterious homo-erotic fantasia while on vacay in South Beach," according to Curbed Miami. Still, Hôtel Gaythering, whose aim is to "nurture impactful experiences and relationships for the LGBT community and others," is making a splash, design-wise, too. The early word on Trip Advisor? An Art Deco hangout where "I felt like my room was part of an art gallery."

The Redbury South Beach

With Rat Pack memorabilia, black-and-white photos, and vintage record players, the Redbury South Beach is an homage to Miami's cinematic history, particularly the the glamour of the 1950s. To further the silver-screen vibe, the 69-room hotel, which is owned by the folks behind the SLS Hotel South Beach and The Raleigh, has a lobby flanked by red velvet opera curtains. According to Curbed Miami, there's also a 12,000-square-foot pool on the roof, as well as egg-shaped bathtubs.

Metropolitan by Como Miami Beach

Metropolitan by COMO just arrived stateside in early March—its other branches are in London and Bangkok—and occupies the oceanfront Miami Beach Art Deco building that was formerly the Traymore Hotel. One restoration and a bunch of delays later, the hotel now offers 74 rooms that take "aesthetic cues from the elegant 1920 and 30s," according to the official site, with "geometric silhouettes, playful tones of pastel pink and sea-foam green, cool marbles and shining chromes."

Broome Hotel

The Broome Hotel selected Valentine's Day for its opening, and rather appropriately: it contains 14 guest rooms, each appointed with furniture from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, whose flagship is only a couple of blocks away. Once you're done "[recharging] "for New York’s legendary days and nights," relax with a drink on the hotel's patio, tucked into the inner central courtyard of this lovely 1825 building.

Viceroy New York

The Viceroy tapped Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer, AKA Roman and Williams, for the façade and interiors of its first NYC outpost. And while 57th Street isn't exactly what comes to mind first when one thinks of the sea, the husband-and-wife design duo managed to carve a nautical little enclave in midtown, of all places, one stocked with wood-paneled rooms, brass finishes, Sferra linens (no seaman could sleep well without them!), artwork inspired by Montauk, N.Y., and a basement pool surrounded with porthole windows. Tour the space with the designers, right this way.

The Marlton Hotel

The Marlton, the newest from hotelier Sean MacPherson, opened in October on a somewhat unbecoming block near NYU. The building itself used to belong to the university, but MacPherson and co. converted it into a 107-room lodging "that takes its style cues from a source both anachronistic and improbably charming: the Parisian hôtel de charme," according to a glowing profile in the Times Style section. Design details include Serge Roche sconces, Serge Mouille-inspired lighting, and other non-Serge things such as cerused oak shelving and chairs inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

The Dean

Working on The Dean, a newly open 52-room boutique hotel filling a 1911 building that was once a brothel, allowed Ari Heckman to return to his native Providence, R.I. Heckman, co-founder of the NYC design and staging firm ASH NYC (and a member of the inaugural class of Curbed Young Guns) has said that the team obsessed over the hotel's every detail, from the branding down to the P-trap. "I don't think anyone will ever notice it, but when I walk into a space it's very obvious when someone's thought through these details—not necessarily every one of those details, but it's the sum of its parts," Heckman told Curbed last year. Inside, ASH's signature look (unfussy, neutral-colored furnishings, many of them vintage) take shape in the form of crisp Matouk linens, eclectic vintage seating, beadboard and wainscoting, and gold bathroom hardware, which all play off some of the building's original details. The mosaic-tile flooring, for example, was left in place. [Link]