AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

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Editorial Note: Glitter & Ivy Hotel Journal features are editorially researched unless otherwise identified as firsthand stays.

There are thousands of beautiful hotels in the world.

There are five-star resorts with enormous pools, city hotels with perfectly polished marble lobbies and beachfront properties where almost every room has a view.

But luxury alone isn’t enough to make a hotel interesting to me.

When I’m choosing properties for the Glitter & Ivy Hotel Journal, I’m looking for something harder to quantify.

Personality.

I want the hotel that makes me curious.

The hotel I remember after scrolling past thirty others.

The one whose lobby makes me enlarge the photograph.

The property that makes me immediately start investigating a destination I wasn’t even planning to visit.

That’s what I mean when I call somewhere Glitter & Ivy worthy.

It Needs a Sense of Place

One of the first things I look for is whether the hotel actually feels connected to its destination.

A hotel in Charleston shouldn’t feel exactly like a hotel in Phoenix.

A property overlooking Lake Como shouldn’t look interchangeable with one in Chicago.

The most memorable hotels use architecture, landscaping, food, art, materials or history to remind you where you are.

Maybe it’s a riad-style courtyard in Marrakech.

Maybe it’s tile and stone in Puglia.

Maybe it’s an old brewery incorporated into a San Antonio hotel.

Maybe it’s an English garden outside a London property.

Hotels become more interesting when they tell part of the destination’s story.

Design Should Have a Point of View

I’m not against beige.

I’m against forgettable.

One of the fastest ways a hotel gets added to my list is through design that makes an impression.

Wallpaper.

Pattern.

Interesting furniture.

Antiques.

Unexpected color.

Historic architecture.

Beautiful tile.

A spectacular staircase.

A lobby filled with books.

A pink exterior.

Striped umbrellas.

Give me something.

The hotels I remember tend to have visual details I could recognize later without seeing the hotel name.

[INTERNAL LINK: Hotels Around the World for Design Lovers]

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There Should Be a “Hotel Moment”

I think nearly every truly memorable property has one.

Sometimes it’s obvious.

Sunset cocktails overlooking the Mediterranean.

Afternoon tea beneath chandeliers.

Swimming in an infinity pool overlooking a lake.

Breakfast on a private terrace.

But hotel moments don’t have to be extravagant.

It might simply be walking downstairs in the morning and having coffee in a beautiful garden.

The best properties create little rituals that become part of the memory of the trip.

I Want Somewhere I’d Actually Spend an Afternoon

This may be my most important test.

Would I voluntarily spend a few hours at the hotel?

That doesn’t mean every hotel needs an enormous spa and seven restaurants.

Small boutique properties can be wonderful without endless amenities.

But there should be something inviting.

A courtyard.

A fireplace.

A pool.

A rooftop.

A library.

A beautiful restaurant.

A terrace.

A garden.

A view.

The hotel needs to offer some reason to return before bedtime.

[HOTEL LINK BUTTON: EXPLORE HOTELS WORTH TRAVELING FOR →]

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A Little Fantasy Doesn’t Hurt

One of the best things about travel is briefly stepping outside normal life.

I don’t normally sleep in castles.

Or eat breakfast overlooking the Mediterranean.

Or drink tea underneath chandeliers.

That’s why those experiences are fun.

The Glitter & Ivy hotel list will always have room for properties that are slightly ridiculous in the best possible way.

Pink palaces.

Historic mansions.

Lakefront grand hotels.

Jungle tents.

Over-water villas.

Converted monasteries.

Sometimes the hotel doesn’t simply accommodate the vacation.

It creates the fantasy.

Who Is Glitter & Ivy For?

This Journal isn’t meant to be a directory of every hotel in every city.

You can already find that elsewhere.

Instead, I’m curating hotels for travelers who occasionally choose a destination because they’ve fallen in love with where they could stay.

People who save hotel interiors on Pinterest.

People who appreciate a good lobby.

People who will absolutely pay extra for the balcony when the view justifies it.

People who believe afternoon tea is a legitimate vacation activity.

And anyone who has ever looked at a photograph of a hotel and thought:

Well, apparently we’re going there now.

What I’d Pack for a Hotel-Centered Weekend

A Good Weekender

Compression Packing Cubes

Compact Travel Steamer

Travel Jewelry Case

Portable Charger

The Glitter & Ivy Test

Before a hotel gets added to my bucket list, I ask:

Is there something about this property that I’d tell someone about when I got home?

If yes, it deserves another look.

And if one photograph sends me searching airfare?

It’s probably going in the Journal.

Why I Think the Hotel Can Be the Destination

[INTERNAL LINK: How to Plan an Entire Trip Around One Incredible Hotel]