From the editors of Condé Nast Traveler:

An haute hideaway on Manhattan's Upper East Side since 1927, the venerable Mark reopened last fall with a radical new look, trading in its erstwhile French pedigree for Parisian pop. For starters, there's the traffic-stopping zebra-striped marble floor in the lobby and in the guest bathrooms—a wink, perhaps, at the hotel's Art Deco past. The designer, celebrity decorator Jacques Grange, turned the lobby into a gallery of sorts for Europe's top furniture designers, featuring Paul Matheiu's orange-velvet sofa and chairs, Mattia Bonetti's bulbous mirrors, and Ron Arad's dangling-sphere chandelier. Guest quarters are far more sedate, thankfully, with grass-cloth walls, pale-oak desks, and ivory-colored linens (Italian, naturally). A word of warning: Some of the 150 guest rooms are on the small side, though all the bathrooms are huge and hedonistic, with tubs built for two and small TVs tucked discreetly into the mirrors. Downstairs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten presides over the congenial new restaurant, serving everything from oysters to black-truffle pizza. For all the changes at The Mark, the service remains terrifically old-school: When our reviewer spilled a glass of red wine on the white carpet, housekeeping arrived at the room in minutes—and offered to fetch more wine.—2010 Hot List

Which room to book: Ask for an eighth-floor room overlooking Madison Avenue or 77th Street.