Each hotel is being equally honored in no particular order.
At Dallas’ swankiest new stay, Hôtel Swexan, I’m not surprised to be wowed. After all, the urbane retreat’s name blends the founders’ heritages — Swiss and Texan — to aptly telegraph the message that guests will experience a trove of Swiss efficiency and elegance, plus Texan-style bravado. This festive fusion harmonizes seductively in the bedazzling Kengo Kuma-designed hotel. Part of family-owned Harwood International, the hotel occupies a key spot in their uptown-sited, 19-block, walkable Harwood District, where office buildings, residences, museums, and restaurants attract a lively crowd in search of a European vibe.
My story could start with the hotel’s sleek exteriors, the canopy ceiling in the lobby, the human-sized candelabra beckoning at check-in, the retro martini bar just past reception that exudes Parisian moodiness, or the curtains draped sexily in the elevators. But why not shoot straight to Hôtel Swexan’s sublime bathrooms, aesthetic stunners that manifest the hotel’s artistic quintessence? Indeed, Hôtel Swexan’s 134 dazzling rooms and suites boast oversized bathrooms, each replete with immense soaking tubs (more on that below). But, what truly quickens this design lover’s heart is that 24 distinctive bathrooms of various sizes and themes pepper the 22-story building’s common areas. Each restroom reigns as a masterwork of whimsy, joy, hedonism, and canny chic. Not one powder room resembles another. Ranging from Moroccan-style comfort stations by the infinity pool (think: Moorish shapes and a freestanding engraved antique brass pedestal sink) to a men’s bathroom with . . . wait for it . . . repurposed French horns as urinals (plus a laugh-inducing sign that reads “Standing Room Only”), each Hôtel Swexan restroom achieves its goal to be an adventure in itself. Note: I love the girlie bathroom adjacent to the ballroom. With a playing-dress-up feel, it oozes princess-level glamor with pink onyx countertops, full-length mirrors aplenty, flower-shaped sconces, lucite chairs, and a drippy, crystal chandelier.
Hôtel Swexan’s En Suite Tubs, Dallas Texas
As in all Hôtel Swexan’s rooms (mine was a corner haven with riveting skyline views along two walls), bathrooms occupy a full 50% of the square footage — a design decision meant to pamper. That’s unheard of in classic guest rooms. My massive soaking tub sat against the window, which made bathing feel like floating among the rooftops. Best of all, the water flowed into the tub from the ceiling, creating a waterfall effect. Naturally, each of the hotel’s eight, one-of-a-kind suites feature unparalleled bathrooms on a whole other level. Those on a lovers’ tryst should opt for The Grand Swexan, a bright, airy suite. Its bathroom has a round, two-person soaking tub, a two-person shower, and a dry sauna, all encircled by white marble walls.
More extraordinary Very Best bathrooms include:
The Gainsborough Bath Spa, Bath England
Turn the spigot to let Bath’s famous thermal water flow right into your bathtub in The Gainsborough Bath Spa‘s divine Bath Spa Suite. A personal spa within a spa hotel, set in a renowned spa town, the Bath Spa Suite’s modern tub, set atop zen-like stones, might turn you into a recluse, never willing to leave your room. Only two unique rooms/suites at the healing hotel feature direct access to the thermal waters, once sacred to the Celts and beloved by the Romans. The room includes unlimited access to the hotel’s Spa Village and a silky eye pillow for sleep time. Note: All Gainsborough guests have the opportunity to soak at the hotel’s in-house Spa Village, experience its water course, and indulge in a variety of treatments. Gainsborough remains the only hotel spa in the UK with direct access to Bath’s historic thermal waters.
Willard InterContinental, Washington D.C.
Simply referred to as the Willard, this historic Beaux-Arts haven serves the most convivial social living room in the world’s most political city. Its buzzy Round Robin Bar remains the place to hear news before it happens. With suites named for its host of extraordinary regulars and historical figures, the Willard draws romancers and bath aficionados to its Jenny Lind Suite (the renowned opera singer loved the hotel). On the 12th floor, the suite vaunts riveting views of D.C., but none better than the one through the marble bathroom’s keyhole window, positioned above the tub, which showcases the Washington Monument as if it were close enough to touch.
Amangani, Jackson Hole Wyoming
Peer at snaggle-toothed peaks from your voluminous tub, entrenched artfully beside a panoramic window that overlooks the foothills of the Grand Tetons and the joy-boosting Snake River Valley. The first of Aman’s North American properties, Amangani’s design blends Western rough-hewn character traits with classic Asian elements of graceful spareness. Capping a hill, the hotel feels both otherworldly and as if it were rooted naturally into the landscape. Watch mule, deer, and elk in season frolic as you bathe, your mountain of bubbles soaring toward the big Wyoming sky. It’s the perfect antidote for ski-sore muscles after a day of conquering the slopes.
Ritz Paris, A Leading Hotel of the World, Paris, France
Considered the world’s first luxury hotel for its innovations and opulence, the pioneering Ritz Paris introduced en suite electricity, telephones, and capacious bathrooms, wowing regal guests when it opened on Place Vendome in 1898. Gilded and palatial, it set a hard-to-compete-with standard to never deny a guest’s request — no matter how bodacious. Painstakingly restored, Ritz Paris’ sumptuous suites and bathrooms still feature the hotel’s original on-and-off light switches — as well as its signature peach-colored towels, which founder Cesar Ritz insisted complemented everyone’s complexion. The splendid bathrooms bedazzle with floor-to-ceiling marble and their piece-de-resistance element: swan-shaped faucets in genuine gold-leaf festooning tubs and basins. Large tub lovers can thank bygone guests, a king and his mistress, for the hotel’s oversized tubs, which were instituted after the mischievous duo found themselves stuck in tubs not large enough for bathing a deux.
Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra India
The stuff of fairy tales and exactly what you’ve summoned from your dreams when contemplating a trip to enchanting India, Oberoi Amarvilas exceeds expectations the moment you walk through its grand doorways. Theatrically designed by the eminent Bill Bensley as a foray into Mughal majesty, the captivating, modern hotel might be a centuries-old residence of a maharajah, constructed to gaze upon India’s prime architectural treasure: the heart-quickening Taj Mahal. You’ll glimpse the storied monument from every hotel nook, but no vista compares to what you’ll experience in Amarvila’s magnificent Kohinoor Suite, where I stayed with my daughter not long after Kate and William enjoyed the room. Gold-domed ceilings and mirrored walls compete with the Taj itself, best viewed from the staggering white marble and granite bathroom’s array of windows, octagonal shower, and soaking tub, positioned to overlook the icon.
Drift, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico
Sometimes it’s not about the view but about how the aesthetics summon the quiddity of the property. Ensconced in artsy San Jose’s Gallery District, intimate 29-key Drift drew inspiration from the desert and sea that flank it. Sink slowly into the hotel’s Paradise Cove Suite’s oversized stone tub, imaginatively designed and custom-built by RIMA, a respected architectural firm local to San Jose del Cabo. Serving as the centerpiece of the room, the dominating tub calls to guests who need to float after a day spent surfing, gallery hopping, or fishing the rumbling sea.
Angama Mara, Kenya
For a bath maven, it seems apropos to bathe in Africa at Angama Mara, the hotspot where the sexy bath scene between Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in Out of Africa was filmed. Steps from the setting, I take my bath solo in a huge tub inside my luxury glamping tent atop a promontory. Calling it a bath safari, I peer passionately out the panoramic windows spotting elephants, giraffes, and baboons galore. The bathtub, the heartbeat of the magnificently appointed room, simply done up with African art and handmade furniture to allow nature to capture all the attention, serves as a lookout post and deftly cleanses away the dust of the day.
ESPACIO The Jewel of Waikiki Hawaii
Conceived to embody the Japanese concept of omotenashi (hospitality that perceives the customer as god, if you will), the astonishingly lavish ESPACIO on Waikiki Beach coddles travelers in just nine, 2,259-square-foot suites on nine floors — all with riveting views. Each residence holds three unrivaled Italian marble bathrooms. Oversized, with deep soaking tubs, separate glass showers and dry showers, they boast TOTO Washlets (bidets) for the win. Named after covetable jewels from ruby to diamond, each suite has marble accents and amenities — such as bathrobes — designed in hues to match its namesake gem.
Bad Ragaz, Switzerland
Edged by a wine region near where the Heidi books took place, Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in the Swiss Alps reigns as one of the world’s top wellness retreats. In the heart of a classic village, the resort — known for its spring-sourced mineral waters — holds two five-star establishments. One of them, Grand Hotel Quellenhof & Spa Suites, a spa destination for 150-plus years, coddles spa-goers and thermae soakers who like to pair their salubrity with luxury. The sumptuous Royal Suite on the top floor seals the deal with its sumptuous decor and circular marble bathroom, anchored by a dreamy whirlpool bathtub.
Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Ancient Romans were no strangers to extravagance and excess. High achievers on every level — those aqueducts alone! —they also needed their repose. Ergo, they built the most advanced bathhouses complete with hot and cold water — even fitness rooms. So, it’s no surprise that some of the best bathrooms can be found in Rome in modern times, as well. At Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the splendorous Penthouse Suite is fit for a Caesar. Baroque green marble accents the swirl of white marble that wraps walls, floors, and countertops. Polished wood floors gleam. Stand beneath a triple shower with tropical mist and aroma chromotherapy or soak in the jaw-dropping jacuzzi tub beneath a fetching portrait of Marilyn Monroe, part of the hotel’s elite art collection.
Cover image by Aman
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