{"id":105687,"date":"2025-12-09T21:18:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/?p=105687"},"modified":"2025-12-10T20:30:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T01:30:03","slug":"the-floor-is-yours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.tablethotels.com\/en\/2025\/12\/the-floor-is-yours\/","title":{"rendered":"The Floor Is Yours"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Sparrows
Sparrows Lodge \u2014 Palm Springs, California<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We’re pleased to reveal the highest-rated hotels in our twenty-five year history, picked by the people who matter most: you.<\/h4>\n

Skip down to the hotels<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Tablet launched in 2000, our founders knew we had to be more than a curated selection of hotels. They knew our clients would be more knowledgable than the average traveler, and that their feelings about hotels would be more insightful. So, like other sites, we started collecting post-stay ratings from Tablet guests.<\/p>\n

Unlike those other sites, though, our selection only features the top 1% of hotels, and it was clear the typical 10-point rating scale wouldn\u2019t suffice. We needed something more compatible with our standards and the standards of our users. One of our founders was Parisian, and for inspiration, he turned to the 20-point scale used in French academic grading.<\/p>\n

This larger scale allowed for more nuance, giving us room to ensure elite hotels are graded on the proper curve. It also acted as an early warning system. In the French scale, scores over 15 are rare. In ours, if a hotel\u2019s guest score dips below 15, we reevaluate whether it should even remain in the selection. The 20-point feedback scale has served us well over the past quarter century. Which brings us to this: your top-rated hotels over that time.<\/p>\n

\n

For those who enjoy the inner workings of things, here’s how we compiled this list: <\/p>\n

\u2014 First, we isolated the hotels that had guest feedback scores of 19.5 or above (out of 20).
\n\u2014 Then, we identified which of those were booked and reviewed the most (yes, that means hotels that are incredibly far afield or incredibly expensive are at a disadvantage).
\n\u2014 Next, we applied a little recency bias: even though this list is meant to encompass our entire history, the hotels can\u2019t coast through on former glories.
\n\u2014 Finally, when tiebreaks were needed, bigger personalities got preference.<\/p>\n

And now, a list twenty-five years in the making. Guests, hotels, the floor is yours.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

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#15. Tourists<\/a><\/h2>\n
North Adams, MA, USA<\/h5>\n

\"Tourists\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Berkshires revival is well underway. Thanks in part to the redevelopment that\u2019s accompanied MASS MoCA, the contemporary art museum, the formerly industrial town of North Adams is living a second life as a booming cultural destination. Outside the town center you\u2019ll find another piece of reclaimed Berkshires heritage: TOURISTS, a Sixties motor lodge reborn as a very modern, very hip little country boutique hotel.<\/p>\n

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#14. Alma Barcelona<\/a><\/h2>\n
Barcelona, Spain<\/h5>\n

\"Alma<\/a><\/p>\n

All that Gaud\u00ed architecture has set the bar rather high for Barcelona\u2019s builders, and the Alma Barcelona proves it\u2019s very much up to the challenge. It\u2019s no cathedral, but its interiors, all minimalist subtlety, epitomize the quieter side of Barcelona\u2019s visual style, which is at its best in the largely residential Eixample. It\u2019s the next best thing to keeping your own pied \u00e0 terre.<\/p>\n

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#13. Sparrows Lodge<\/a><\/h2>\n
Palm Springs, CA, USA<\/h5>\n

\"Sparrows<\/a><\/p>\n

Sparrows Lodge is not aiming for the mainstream. Recycled from the Fifties and refreshed for a style-conscious clientele, this woodsy hideaway is the kind of place where people play horseshoes, swing wooden tennis rackets and read books by their private campfires. It\u2019s like a dreamy hipster version of the summer camp of your childhood \u2014 and it proves there\u2019s certainly a place for a rustic-chic ranch in this corner of the desert.<\/p>\n

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#12. Soprarno Suites<\/a><\/h2>\n
Florence, Italy<\/h5>\n

\"Soprarno<\/a><\/p>\n

The eclectic, bohemian, vintage-inspired style that\u2019s currently all the rage in the United States is also, you\u2019ll find, all the rage in Europe \u2014 and in Italy, where the word \u201cvintage\u201d covers several hundred more years of history, the resulting style is rich indeed. For an illustration, you could hardly do better than Soprarno Suites, a small, quiet, intimate little ten-suite hotel right in the heart of Florence.<\/p>\n

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#11. Saint James Paris<\/a><\/h2>\n
Paris, France<\/h5>\n

\"Saint<\/a><\/p>\n

Suffice it to say that the Saint James is anything but typical. In Paris an h\u00f4tel particulier<\/em>, a freestanding house, is unusual enough \u2014 something like the Saint James, almost a country-style ch\u00e2teau, surrounded by a wall and garden, is vanishingly rare. It\u2019s fresh off a thorough renovation by Laura Gonzalez, who has updated its unique interiors for a new decade.<\/p>\n

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#10. The Hotel Chelsea<\/a><\/h2>\n
New York City, NY, USA<\/h5>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hotel Chelsea is where just about every artist of any significance lived, stayed, or at least hung out; from Mark Twain to Madonna. Its walls are still adorned with artworks donated by generations of well-known visual artists. And what\u2019s perhaps most impressive about the freshly renovated Chelsea is how much of this romance remains intact, even as it\u2019s been updated for 21st-century boutique-hotel travelers.<\/p>\n

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#9. Witt Istanbul Hotel<\/a><\/h2>\n
Istanbul, Turkey<\/h5>\n

\"Witt<\/a><\/p>\n

The design of Witt Istanbul is by Autoban, the local firm that\u2019s responsible for quite a lot of the contemporary-style interiors you\u2019ll see around town. Their look for the Witt is modernist-inspired but also lush and luxurious, space-age lines expressed in rich textures of wood and leather. Each suite is outfitted with apartment-style comforts, including separate living rooms and kitchens.<\/p>\n

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#8. Loden Hotel<\/a><\/h2>\n
Vancouver, Canada<\/h5>\n

\"Loden<\/a><\/p>\n

You can think of Coal Harbour, on the north edge of Vancouver’s downtown, as stadium seating for the breathtaking panorama that unfolds across the Burrard Inlet. It’s there, in a sleek glass tower, that you\u2019ll find the Loden. Rooms at Loden are available in five levels of understated fabulousness, the pinnacle of which is the Halo Suite, which comes complete with wrap-around terrace for superb mountain-ogling. <\/p>\n

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#7. Hotel Unique<\/a><\/h2>\n
Sao Paulo, Brazil<\/h5>\n

\"Hotel<\/a><\/p>\n

The structure of Hotel Unique is by Niemeyer proteg\u00e9 Ruy Ohtake (himself one of Brazil’s most famous architects) and takes the form of a half-disc, flat at the top. Controversially, Ohtake was not allowed to design the interiors, but designer Jo\u00e3o Armentano’s gain is ours as well \u2014 his restrained spaces balance Ohtake’s flair for the dramatic, and the result is harmonious and relaxed.<\/p>\n

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#6. La Minervetta<\/a><\/h2>\n
Sorrento, Italy<\/h5>\n

\"La<\/a><\/p>\n

Contemporary design on the Amalfi coast \u2014 that alone makes La Minervetta worth noting. The hotel\u2019s twelve guest rooms are bright and sunny \u2014 literally, with views through full-length windows over Sorrento, the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius, and figuratively as well, clean-lined and decked out in vivid tones, anywhere from lime green and turquoise to simple, almost Nordic primary colors.<\/p>\n

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#5. The Whitby Hotel<\/a><\/h2>\n
New York City, NY, USA<\/h5>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Whitby brings the warmth and coziness of English hospitality to a neighborhood that\u2019s already got plenty of American-style luxury hotels, and proves that Firmdale can compete with anyone in the world on comfort, while looking just that much more stylish and charming while they\u2019re at it. Here, as usual, owner-designer Kit Kemp puts her stamp on things, with trademark bold colors tuned to complement Midtown\u2019s slightly muted palette.<\/p>\n

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#4. Ett Hem<\/a><\/h2>\n
Stockholm, Sweden<\/h5>\n

\"Ett<\/a><\/p>\n

Even if Ett Hem\u2019s aesthetic isn\u2019t strictly homegrown \u2014 designer Ilse Crawford is London-born, to a Danish mother \u2014 the fact is, it\u2019s probably the finest example anywhere of the current tendency in Scandinavian boutique hotel design: away from the kind of modernism that\u2019s synonymous with \u201cScandinavian\u201d design and toward something much warmer, a luxe, eclectic, stylish sort of coziness.<\/p>\n

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#3. The Capitol Hotel Tokyu<\/a><\/h2>\n
Tokyo, Japan<\/h5>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a rare Tokyo hotel where you\u2019re in touch with nature, but the Capitol Hotel Tokyu is anything but typical. Here, surrounded by greenery on the edge of the Imperial Palace, guests can use the local flora as their calendar: camellias mean winter, cherry blossoms spring, and the red-orange-yellow leaves of the maple tree are a sure sign of fall. A total rebuild by master architect Kengo Kuma offers the clean lines and minimalist aesthetic that typifies a certain Japanese style. <\/p>\n

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#2. Haymarket Hotel<\/a><\/h2>\n
London, UK<\/h5>\n

\"Haymarket<\/a><\/p>\n

Our second Firmdale hotel, the Haymarket Hotel comes with its expected share of public and semi-private places \u2014 a conservatory, a drawing room, a private dining room \u2014 as well as a fine restaurant serving brasserie-style modern English cuisine, and a full-service spa. Where it steps out ahead of its sisters, however, is an 18-meter swimming pool, complete with a poolside bar and a booming sound system. <\/p>\n

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#1. Crosby Street Hotel<\/a><\/h2>\n
New York City, NY, USA<\/h5>\n

\"Crosby<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, a third Firmdale hotel. Pretty amazing. According to the data, we could’ve reasonably considered three more Firmdales on this list. We’ll just mention them here: The Soho Hotel<\/a>, The Charlotte Street Hotel<\/a>, and The Covent Garden Hotel<\/a>, all in London. Learn more about the whole brand in our appropriately titled feature profile: Firmdale First<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for the Crosby Street, it was Firmdale’s first in New York. The arrival of Kit Kemp\u2019s eclectic design eye, ultra-vivid color sense, and affinity for prints and patterns may in fact have been what put an end to the downtown Manhattan mania for minimalist, monochrome luxury-hotel spaces. Crosby Street\u2019s warehouse-style windows are a fine fit for industrial-influenced SoHo. But behind them: the strong dose of English town-meets-country luxury New York didn\u2019t know it needed.<\/p>\n

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