Illustration by: Bashel Lubarsky

Want an Instagram-friendly suite for the ages?

I recently stayed in a 36th-floor room at the Rosewood Hong Kong, the city's heart-stopping, zigzagging skyline traceable on the window. Down below, all manner

of boats plied Victoria Harbour, like toys in my son's bath. The hotel, which opened in 2019 and is now the flagship of the brand, takes up 25 floors of a 65-story tower in Kowloon. And with Hong Kong shaking off the doldrums of the pandemic, the Rosewood–and the city itself–is like a debutante prepping for her glamorous coming-out party.

At first glance, the height was what made the hotel a wow. But after a few days, I noticed it was the more subtle touches that resonated, like the lantern fixtures above the elevator call buttons or the octagonal sinks and soaps in the larger-than-life marble bathrooms (the number eight is auspicious in Chinese culture).

Form meets function meets grace: today's guiding principles of hospitality. You can build something dazzling, but it has to be purposeful, with a smart, invested team and community as your foundation. Right now I'm looking at places that follow this philosophy, including a head-turning 12-room villa in Tangier, once the home of Yves Saint Laurent; a 20th-century train station in the Spanish Pyrenees reborn for the 21st century as a hotel; and Sir Richard Branson's medieval-fortress turned resort on the Spanish Island of Mallorca–chosen by our editors as one of the best new hotels in the world for 2024.

I also don't want you to miss the T+L 500, the highest-rated hotels and resorts as voted by readers. The latest class proves that great hotels come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes, they reach for the sky with ambition.