The Lowdown: The Heywood is a small, stylish, boutique hotel hidden away in the hip Eastside of Austin. The house, an original Craftsman bungalow, dates back to 1925 and has been thoughtfully restored and modernized. With just seven rooms it is cozy and personable, and the staff are wonderful, but with it being this small, there is no breakfast, or any other meals for that matter, provided. Rooms: The seven bespoke rooms are comfortable and stylish. They differ in some features – some have bathtubs, some have outside space – balcony or patio for example but everything is quality here, across the board, from the original longleaf pinewood floors to handmade beds and Stearns & Foster luxury mattresses. Mod-cons include a minifridge and minibar, smart, cable TV, white noise machines, Squeezebox Internet jukeboxes with free streaming, and iPod/iPhone docks, and ‘digital concierge’ tablets to help guide guests around the local area. Prices & Availability: Enter your dates and check prices at Expedia.com here. Food and Facilities: There is no restaurant onsite and breakfast is not provided, though you have some snacks in your minibar, and there’s a coffee and tea station in the common area. Upon check-in, guests are offered a box of locally hand-crafted chocolates and complimentary beers from a local craft brewer. The Heywood offers free bicycles and it can organize various tour packages such as bicycle brewery tours, sunset lake paddles, food experiences, and arts & crafts making excursions. In-room massage and salon services are also available. Location: The Heywood is in the heart of East Austin, a neighborhood with a hip, independent vibe and many quality food outlets, cafes, bars and interesting shops within walking distance of the hotel. Downtown Austin is less than a mile away. Some Guest Reviews: “The room was clean and well furnished. The staff were all extremely friendly and the entire stay was perfect. I would absolutely book the Heywood again…..” “Loved the complete setup of the hotel. I especially enjoyed the outside patio area. Additionally, the extra treats that were left in the room were a nice surprise! The hotel is conveniently located to walk to the lake area or READ MORE

The Lowdown: The multi award winning Spectator Hotel’s famous lobby bar is a suave tribute to the Roaring Twenties. The rooms are a bit more modern in appearance, as are the exteriors, but the bygone-era like effect remains throughout. Service is legendary here – they have a small team of classically trained butlers wandering around, always at your service. The focal point lobby and bar serve as a kind of living room here for guests, and with such small numbers staying at any one time the atmosphere is intimate and friendly. It’s a very popular hotel, and also very small – it has just 41 rooms – so booking your stay in advance is recommended. Rooms: Just 41 rooms in total then but you have a deal of choice – from 377 sq. ft. entry level rooms to 538 sq. ft. Premier Penthouse Suites. Their entry level rooms are good value relative to the upper end suites we think, especially the ones with the balconies, and all the rooms seem to come with good views. None of them are particularly spacious though we have to say. But once that’s out of the way it’s very difficult to find fault with anything. They are bright, cheery and mainly dressed in white. They have king size beds, stylish lighting, plush carpets and velvet headboards alongside modern hotel amenities such as Nespresso coffee machines and cable TV. The bathrooms are white marble, and come with double vanity sinks, walk-in rain showers and locally made, Deep Steep luxury bath products. Prices & Availability: Enter your dates and check prices at Booking.com here. Food & Facilities: Surprisingly perhaps, there isn’t much in the way of food made at the hotel itself. Gourmet continental breakfasts are ordered in fresh from a local bakery and delivered to your room for example. There are many good restaurants nearby though, and your personal butler can pick up food from any number of them and deliver it to your room. There are drinks though in abundance at the marvelously atmospheric bar, which is also a popular spot with locals. It does snacks and small bites alongside its famous retro cocktails. READ MORE

The Lowdown: The Burgess Hotel, is Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead neighborhood’s only independent boutique hotel. It has a pleasantly refined atmosphere and, by all accounts, one of the city’s very best restaurants. It also has a bold, modern, international feel, with more than a touch of Asia – from its Hong Kong origin owners – the large dragon sculpture in the lobby for example, along with many oriental prints on the walls. Rooms: Your choices are as simple as it gets at the Burgess – you have either a room with a king bed or a room with two queen beds. All are spacious, clean and modern, they are minimalist in design but with bold bursts of color here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary for a luxury hotel is here but they are unmistakably chic and extremely comfortable. Check out all your room options here at Booking.com. Food, Drink & Facilities: The Burgess’ signature restaurant Fia, which creates wood-fired Western Mediterranean fare, is one of Atlanta’s most highly rated restaurants, while Mr. B, the hotel’s cozy library lounge, creates unique, highly inventive craft cocktails. The hotel’s pool sits in a lovely, green lush courtyard. It has its own outdoor bar and is a relaxing oasis for many guests when the weather is kind. The hotel’s state-of-the-art fitness center is a step above the vast majority of hotel gyms. Equipment includes Peloton bikes and Lateral X Ellipticals with adjustable 3D motion. Location: The Burgess is in Buckhead, near the PATH400 trail and surrounded by some of Atlanta’s swankiest businesses and most impressive-looking homes. Hal’s the Steakhouse, a veritable Atlanta institution, is nearby and some of the city’s best shopping can be found at Phipps Plaza and the Shops, Buckhead Atlanta. The hotel offers a complimentary transportation service for all guests within a two-mile radius. Some Guest Reviews: “We absolutely LOVE this property and the STAFF all around was AMAZING. Mark Hull was an incredible host/ bartender and a fantastic individual all around. Jacob at the front desk was a gem, as well as his colleague and the manager. A service on all levels. I wish I knew everyone’s name to give READ MORE

The Lowdown: The Bowery’s 17 floors tower over New York’s buzzy East Village allowing its rooms some of the very best views around. The hotel has a buzz all of its own too and is something of an A-list hang out. Photos are strictly prohibited in the lobby bar for example and its upper level suites are not available to be booked online, just to give you an idea. It’s not cheap by any means, and some guests do complain about the size of the rooms, but The Bowery has such an uber cool reputation that it doesn’t really need to care. The location is very convenient: you’re a short walk away from East Village, Greenwich Village, Chinatown, Little Italy, Nolita, SoHo, NoHo and the Lower East Side. Rooms: The Bowery has 110 rooms and 25 suites, with all but one type of suite – the 400 square feet studio suite – being unavailable to book online. Check out all your room options here at Booking.com. The rooms range in size from 250 to 350 square feet and are certainly comfortable, if not very decorative. They have something of a vintage feel too, and lots of dark woods combined with brightly colored upholstery and linens. The marble bathrooms are particularly vintage in style. Entry level rooms have walk in rainfall showers while higher up the chain you will also find bathtubs. All are supplied with luxury C.O. Bigelow or Lingua Franca bath amenities and terry robes. The views, as mentioned are a real highlight, from pretty much any floor. The floor-to-ceiling, warehouse-style windows can also take much of the credit. Prices & Availability: Enter your dates and check prices at Booking.com here. Food & Facilities: The Bowery’s signature restaurant is Gemma – a well-known celebrity hangout. It is a rustic, trattoria-style Italian located on the ground floor. The food is mainly traditional Italian with a seasonal menu and an extensive Italian wine list, but the menu is varied and doesn’t shy away from giant burgers, fries, strip steaks and the like. Its pizzas too are legendary. Guests of the hotel can happily order from the menu 24 hours via room READ MORE

The Lowdown: The Kimber Modern is another suave boutique hotel in Austin’s vibrant South Congress neighborhood. The design is sleek, colorful, and modern. The hotel has just 9 rooms in total and, with no staff for most of the day (though they are just a phone call away), it can feel more like a very upscale Airbnb than a hotel, though there is a great breakfast and an honor bar where you can socialize with fellow guests. Rooms: The Kimber Modern offers 9 unique guest rooms, each spacious and beautifully decorated in a relatively modern style. They are bright, clean and comfortable too with floor-to-ceiling windows that give ample natural light. Luxury amenities include soaking tubs, Frette linens, Malin + Goetz bath products, and Nespresso machines. Prices & Availability: Enter your dates and check prices at Expedia.com here. Food and Facilities: The Kimber Modern does not have a restaurant on-site, but you have a fine daily breakfast selection, making good use of fresh, organic, locally sourced ingredients. The hotel also offers a fully stocked honor bar, with a variety of beverages and snacks. For a meal outside, you won’t have far too go – some of the best restaurants in Texas are in the neighborhood, along with more casual eateries and food trucks. The hotel is a lovely space and all rooms surround a central courtyard and common area with a cozy fire pit and a soothing water feature. The hotel offers a state-of-the-art fitness center, complete with cardio and strength-training equipment, and they offer complimentary bikes. Location: The Kimber Modern is in the heart of Austin’s very lively South Congress neighborhood, a famous hub for music, food, culture, and shopping. It’s just a short walk away from some of the city’s most iconic attractions, including the South Congress Avenue shopping district, the Continental Club music venue, and the Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail. Some Guest Reviews: “This place is a true gem!!! As a single female, I felt completely safe. Incredible location right off of South Congress. Easy parking. The bars do have bands playing that you can hear from the complex BUT they were done by READ MORE

The Lowdown: Hotel Clermont, in the heart of Atlanta’s trendy Poncey-Highland neighborhood, is a celebration the city’s eclectic history. The hotel has a storied past, having once been a somewhat disreputable 1920s-era hot spot before it fell into disrepair. In recent years, it has been lovingly restored to its former glory, with both vintage-inspired decor and amenities that are thoroughly modern. Playful design details abound – like the goldfish bowl in the lobby and the neon pink sign on the rooftop bar that reads, “We are not a hotel, we are a refuge.” Rooms: Hotel Clermont’s 94 rooms are divided into several categories. Double rooms are cozy, yet stylishly appointed with a queen bed and whimsical touches like retro rotary phones. The Deluxe Double rooms are outfitted with two queen beds. Their King rooms then are a step ahead in size and with king beds instead of queen. Their top-of-the-range is the Clermont Suite, the hotel’s largest accommodation, with separate living and sleeping areas, a king bed, and a large balcony with sweeping views of Atlanta. Most economical, if you’re with a group are the bunk rooms which can sleep up to four on bunk beds. Check out all your room options here at Expedia.com Food, Drink & Facilities: Hotel Clermont has several dining and drinking options on-site. Tiny Lou’s is a chic French-American brasserie that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with dishes like lobster eggs Benedict, steak frites, and a rotating selection of house-made charcuterie. The restaurant’s intimate bar is a great spot for a pre-dinner cocktail or nightcap. For a more casual vibe, head to the Lobby Bar, which serves up creative cocktails and light bites. And, of course, there’s the rooftop bar, which is a destination in and of itself. It boasts stunning views of the Atlanta skyline, a pool, and an outdoor fireplace. Hotel Clermont also has a fitness center and a bike rental program. Location: Located on Ponce de Leon Avenue, one of Atlanta’s main thoroughfares, Hotel Clermont is surrounded by some of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods. Poncey-Highland is known for its indie shops, restaurants and galleries, and it’s just a few blocks from READ MORE