New York City

Concierge.com's insider take:

You can feel the city's surging pulse from the moment you walk into I.M. Pei's soaring, minimalist marble lobby. More buzz hums from the power talk overheard at teatime in the ground floor lounge. Always smooth, the Four Seasons service attains an entirely different level here: The concierges can do the impossible, and this being New York City, they are asked to do so on an hourly basis. The 57th and Park location is central-central, and the 364 rooms are bright, with silk-lined walls and furniture of English sycamore. Aim high, if you can: Floors 40 and above have views of either the southern skyline or Central Park, to the north. The two Presidential Suites on the 51st floor, one facing in each direction, have been outfitted by society designer Peter Marino to feel luxuriously residential. And the forthcoming 52nd-floor suite is destined to be the most impressive in New York, with 23-foot-tall windows offering 360-degree views of Manhattan. Even if you're not staying here, come for L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. The famed Parisian chef's entrée into the New York dining scene (and currently its hottest ticket), offers up casual-but-intricate Mediterranean-style dishes in a black-and-red space.