There's more to a travel bargain than price. In the case of city hotels, the best are a balance of style, value, and location. In 15 cities across the world, our editors prove the point with stellar finds. At a time when the buck is on a roller-coaster, these are very sure bets...

Jack London once worried that Waikiki would become "one long hotel," but he was only partly right. Resorts are certainly plentiful in the heart of the city's tourist district, but they're far from identical. Many flaunt distinctive personalities that range from funky and frugal to conventional but convenient. And "affordable" here no longer means rubbing SPF-ed elbows with package tourists. Roughly fifty million dollars in public renovations has revived the once famous urban verve of Waikiki. And there are bargains galore.

If you're looking for an Elvis apparition, hang at the Hawaiiana Hotel. The colorful gardens and the towering tiki that guards this low-rise complex conquer its cinder block construction for a real dose of old Hawaii (800-367-5122; hawaiianahotelatwaikiki.com; doubles from $95; w). Next door, The Breakers exploits a similar homegrown kitsch with the added flair of shoji screens (808-923-3181; breakers-hawaii.com; doubles from $94; w). Comfy and worn, the Royal Grove is Waikiki's other pink hotel (the plush Royal Hawaiian is the big pink), with poolside potlucks a long-standing tradition (808-923-7691; royalgrovehotel.com; doubles from $45; w). All three of these hotels have rooms with kitchenettes.

Beachside bargains begin at the Aston Waikiki Circle Hotel, a tubular building playfully decorated in a fish motif, where each room has a balcony and where crossing the street puts your toes in the water (808-923-1571; waikikicircle.com; doubles from $155; w). The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel has clean, bright rooms and a patio restaurant so close to the beach you may have to share your eggs Benedict with the sunbathers (800-356-8264; kaimana.com; doubles from $140; w). Stuffed with portraits of Hawaiian royalty, the Queen Kapiolani sits near the beach and the 108-acre Kapiolani Park (800-367-2317; queenkapiolani.com; doubles from $130).

Several blocks off the beach, a marble lobby, gilded furniture, and Romanesque statues make the Royal Garden feel like a Medici palace (800-367-5666; royalgardens.com; doubles from $150; w). Rooms at the Ilima Hotel are so big that they're more like apartments (800-801-9366; ilima.com; doubles from $129; w). Try to get past the prisonlike exterior of the Waikiki Sand Villa Hotel for the cozy rooms and youngish scene at the Sand Bar (800-247-1903; waikikisandvillahotel.com; doubles from $99; w).