Creature Comforts

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Does all this solicitude come at a price? You bet. (And many of the patrons at these hotels hope you won't be able to afford them.) Rates are not beyond the reach of most top-executive expense accounts, but don't look for bargains. Biztique hotels in boomtowns like New York and Boston won't even look at you for much less than $400 a night. And XV Beacon's most expensive suite is $1,500. Yet suites at the Hotel Oceana start at a mere $325 a night, and rooms at the Soniat House can be had for as low as $195. But book early, particularly if you have in mind some Midwestern elegance and a lunchtime massage at the Claridge's Swan. Here are some more details on a selection of standouts:

Wired in Boston
XV Beacon is a 61-room hotel built by Boston developer Paul Roiff. It aims at the young digerati who jet between high-tech start-ups on both coasts. Rooms have three phone lines, high-speed Internet access, 330-thread-count Italian sheets and lots of mahogany. "There isn't a square of vinyl in the entire hotel," boasts general manager William Sander. Recent guests include film director Wes Craven, Viacom potentate Sumner Redstone and sundry chairmen of American and European banks. Rates start at $395 a night.

New York, New York
Once an apartment hotel, the Lowell, says recent guest McKillop, "is a haven of Old World civility in an otherwise binary world of tacky marble palaces designed for fashion spreads, not guests." Besides phone and fax lines and surround-sound systems, its 68 rooms and suites boast 33 working fireplaces and 10 terraces. The cozy Art Deco lobby is almost always presided over by chief concierge Mario, who has worked in 13 countries and speaks six languages--something always appreciated by his guests, mainly European CEOs, entertainment executives and world-renowned artists (who often do not register under their own names). Rates start at $395.

Oceanas Apart
There are lots of hotels with pools in Los Angeles, but not many great ones overlooking the beach. Media and entertainment execs with business in Hollywood and Century City say coming back to Santa Monica's Oceana makes the morning drive inland bearable. The all-suite hotel is designed to resemble a 1940s villa on the Cote d'Azur; the bright lobby is painted with whimsical floor-to-ceiling frescoes inspired by Jean Cocteau. Every suite has a full kitchen. Rates start at $325.

Chicago Swank
The Claridge in Chicago is a 13-story oasis of tranquillity just around the corner from the hopping eateries and watering holes of Rush Street. Built as a men's club in 1923, it has an intimate lobby grounded by Rooftops, a sweeping mural of a neighborhood in Nice, France--one of the hotel's several paintings by Impressionist William Olendorf. Off the lobby is one of the best bars in a bar town: Foreign Affairs, where white marble tables seat 14 in leather Eames chairs. The Swan specializes in traditional massage. Rates start at $145.

Southern Comfort
The Soniat House is tucked into New Orleans' French Quarter, but feels far from the boisterous crowds that roll through the neighborhood's bars at night. Its 33 rooms are appointed with European antiques and Oriental rugs. Freshly baked fluffy biscuits and homemade strawberry preserves with steaming cafe au lait are served for breakfast. Rates start at $195.

Texas Gold
Houston's Colombe d'Or has been around since proprietor Steve Zimmerman, a former trial lawyer, decided he had to get into the hotel business 20 years ago. The new ballroom includes original paneling from the Countess Greffulhe's grand salon in Paris, carved in the 1730s in the rococo style of the period. The hotel's six original suites each include a private dining room, and nine new suites across the street have private gardens. The 2,000-sq.-ft. penthouse features a lavish marble bathroom, original art and antiques. Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen got engaged while staying at the hotel several years ago. Rates start at $195.