Concierge.com's insider take:

Baur au Lac, which has been overlooking Lake Zurich since 1844, is something of a touchstone for travelers seeking old-school elegance. And a $50 million renovation, completed in 2009, burnished this plush, 120-room landmark's reputation. Twenty-five of the hotel's rooms have been reconfigured as 13 suites, 3 deluxe junior suites, 4 double rooms, and 2 singles that all seamlessly combine Deco, neoclassical, and Louis XVI styles. While the new rooms come all dressed up with black lacquered desks, pillowy couches, and padded leather headboards, even the original rooms, characterized by their own timeless luxe classicism, don't seem dated. And the large marble bathrooms partially compensate for the hotel's lack of a spa (there is a rooftop fitness club). French designer Pierre-Yves Rochon reformatted the Pavillon restaurant, which is now open year-round, so that the rotunda dining room is framed by picture windows looking out on the hotel's park. Rive Gauche restaurant offers a relatively casual alternative to the Pavillon's modern haute menu (although casual here means grilled quail breast and lobster risotto). When the Alpine sun shines, guests tend to gather at the hotel's open-air Terrasse, where the preferred drink at the aperitif bar is, of course, ice-cold Champagne, befitting this mecca of grande dame style.—Raphael Kadushin