Words by Jake Emen with Deanne Kaczerski, Shari Mycek, Brandon Perlman, Ann Abel, and Kathryn Romeyn. Each hotel is equally honored in no particular order.
The best hotels often separate themselves via service and hospitality. But the small touches, unique inclusions, and oft-overlooked details that great properties offer are also powerful weapons in their luxury arsenals. How does a hotel stand out from the pack and become your new favorite choice in a given locale? With a one-of-one in-room offering that you’ve never seen or experienced before and can’t stop talking about afterward. These very best hotel amenities will have you rebooking on speed dial whether for a lavish staycation or an unforgettable stay anywhere around the world.
The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles, California
Inspired in part by its role as the official host hotel partner for the Emmys, The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles unveiled an indulgent new amenity offering guests the opportunity to get “red carpet ready” with an in-room beauty fridge. It’s part of the property’s tailor-made Sanctuary Service menu of high-tech beauty and skincare amenities curated by Spa Director Leslie Arevalo, and comes stocked with an array of products from brands such as Epicutis, including serums and face masks galore, as well as stainless steel cryo-globes for facial massages. Throw on your robe, treat yourself with some self care, and look and feel your best. Isn’t that what luxury is all about? Then go ahead and continue the R&R at the swanky rooftop pool or the full-service spa. Back in the room, the fridge’s inclusions are based upon your own skincare needs, goals, and desires, and whatever you love can be packed up and brought home with you.
The Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York City
Each and every detail of your guest room at The Fifth Avenue Hotel is the result of a careful, thoughtful process. The supremely layered and artistic environment is rich with detail and style, leaving much to explore and enjoy. If curated maximalism is representative of the décor, then perhaps it’s no surprise that rooms don’t have a mere minibar, but rather, the Maxibar. Housed in a huge, antique-grade wooden hutch or armoire are large-format bottles of wine and spirits, but best of all, you can call up your butler and request any bottle from the hotel’s cellar to be added to your personal stash. The gourmet snacks and soft drinks, meanwhile, are inclusive.
Arlo Washington DC
The new Arlo Washington DC, which opened at the end of 2024, has a number of creature comforts that makes it a smart choice for a stay in the capital. First and foremost, an in-hotel gourmet bodega, Bodega by Arrels, with food curated by its namesake restaurant (modern Spanish joint Arrels from chef Pepe Moncayo). In addition to typical coffee shop fare, and grab-and-go items for quick breakfast or lunch fixes, the shop showcases high-end delectables such as tinned fish, wine, and bottled cocktails. Build your own luxe picnic and take it with you to your private patio, where you can grab a seat and gaze at The Capitol while noshing on tasty treats you won’t feel too guilty about enjoying.
Tierra Patagonia, Chile
Set in the wondrous Torres del Paine National Park, home to some of the world’s best hiking and most iconic mountainscapes, Tierra Patagonia ensures you’re ready for a big day ahead. Guests are offered everything from hiking packs and walking sticks to refillable water bottles and take-home neck gaiters in their rooms. But the most memorable hiking amenity comes in the form of a trail mix station in the lobby. As you’re gearing up for your day’s activities, you’re encouraged to fill up a to-go pouch from a wooden trolley including a dozen different nuts and dried fruits to mix and match, along with some packaged snackable selections.
Four Seasons Hotel Boston, Massachusetts
At the Four Seasons Hotel Boston, a property with a spectacular position alongside Boston Common, each guest floor showcases a space known as The Vault. Within, a stocked pantry of complimentary snacks and drinks ensures you always have a quick bite or beverage when you need it, with no cost, no wait for room service, and no need to go find a shop. “Parents hate it, kids love it,” one staffer told us, but who said you can’t also grab yourself a movie theater box of Swedish Fish or your favorite flavor of chips right when the craving strikes? For an added bonus, there’s also a “mystery closet” hidden behind the front desk where the kiddos will find an array of toys and trinkets to deploy right when you need another helping hand. Then you can stop into the sixth-floor courtyard dubbed The Sanctuary and order a drink via telephone booth.
The Algonquin Hotel, New York City
First opened in 1902, The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection, oozes history. Take a peek at its historic placards and read up on the 1920s literary round table that included the likes of Faulkner and Dorothy Parker. But perhaps you want a deeper dive on your own history — or future — instead. The hotel has a unique partnership with “Cardsy B,” tarot card reader to the celebrities. Book a package that includes a personal reading with her, whether in person or virtually. Other offerings build on that memorable collaboration with, for instance, a “Hex and the City” overnight package including full-moon and astrology rituals. Don’t forget to give the hotel’s resident mascot cat, Hamlet VIII, a scratch.
Populus Denver, Colorado
Populus Denver was designed from the ground up as one of the most sustainable hotels in the world. The LEED Gold-certified property isn’t carbon neutral, sorry to say; it’s actually carbon positive, thank you very much. Use it as your jumping off point for a weekend of hiking in the Rockies while making use of a thoughtful check-in gift, a free one-month subscription to the All Trails+ app. Another bonus eco-amenity is included right with your room key: its card holder is studded with wildflower seeds you can plant, providing a lovely, blooming reminder of your stay. To top it all off, the hotel plants trees in a designated forest for every stay.
Etéreo, Riviera Maya, Mexico
Etéreo Auberge Collection is the type of resort that’s best experienced by eating and drinking your way across all of its venues and sampling its many immersive gourmet events and activities. That includes interactive agave tastings at the bar, for instance. But the fun continues in your guest room, where a stocked minibar includes a wide selection of spirits and snacks. Atop the fridge itself though is a large, wooden bar cabinet enclosure. It’s one part bar display, one part work of art, as you open the box to unveil full bottles of premium Mexican spirits set within bright tiles and backlighting. Traditional tasting glasses are on hand, too, of course.
Rosewood Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Aboard the Rosewood Amsterdam’s custom-built Salonboat, the city reveals its timeless beauty. The restored vessel features a Piet Boon-designed interior, gleaming woodwork, and plush seating for intimate canal tours. Guests can sip fine wines and Dutch delicacies while knowledgeable captains share the city’s rich history as spires and gables drift by. It is an experience that blends craftsmanship, serenity, and old-world romance. A quintessentially Amsterdam moment reimagined with Rosewood grace.
The Maldives
There are few places in the world where it is possible to snorkel (with complimentary gear perfectly sized) right off your overwater villa via a ladder into the sea. Or, in this case, the Indian Ocean. But it’s possible at two of our now-favorite Maldives resorts, the newly reimagined and recently reopened Valigandu Maldives Resort Island, and the new (just 50-villa) Kagi Maldives. After a floating breakfast in your private plunge pool (a must), slip on your fins and snorkel mask and, at whim, explore the house reefs teaming with neon-colorful fish, purple clams all in a row, starfish the size of ottomans, and yes, the occasional shark and manta rays which, no worries, swim off in the opposite direction.
Aman Nai Lert Bangkok, Thailand
The treats start instantly, even before arrival, in Aman Nai Lert Bangkok’s car service, where a little branded forest green box holds creamy-sweet Chonburi Thai Tea milk chocolate and Rayong dark chocolate made specifically for the hotel. It’s a small peek at the bountiful in-suite bar that’s included in every stay and ranges from Billecart-Salmon Le Réserve Champagne to compellingly beautiful bottles of spirits including Nikka Whisky from the Barrel and Saneha Luminous, which promises to embody “the zesty soulfulness of a Thai summer day.” At night, turndown service might include a hint from the housekeeper that you should tuck into the bottle of Aman Negroni Classico, set out on the dining table alongside cut crystal glassware, ice, gilded chocolate sculptures, and local fruit. It’s no surprise, but the bathrobes are the fluffiest and dreamiest around.
Six Senses Douro Valley, Lamego, Portugal
The Six Senses Douro Valley is unique among luxury hotels in Portugal’s most beautiful wine country in that it’s not affiliated with any winery. That means its sommeliers are given free rein to pour a variety of wines, not only ports and table wines from the Douro Valley but also vintages from all over Portugal. The wine programming is extensive, including daily tastings in the Wine Library, and a range of technical tastings, wine dinners, winery visits, and harvest activities. But the hotel’s niftiest feature is the Enomatic wine dispenser in the Wine Library. Guests can use their room key cards 24/7 to help themselves to a (perfectly stored) glass from any of the dozen or so bottles on display.
Banyan Tree Mayakoba, Mexico
Banyan Tree’s villas in Mexico come with a sense of abundance you feel the moment you step inside — a separate kitchen area stocked with snacks and thoughtful treats that make the space feel more like a personal hideaway than a hotel room. The bathroom continues that generosity with a spacious walk-in closet, soaps, lotions, bug sprays, heat tools, bath salts, and those light, airy robes you immediately want to live in, plus hats and other little touches that seem to appear exactly when you need them. There’s also an outdoor shower tucked into the greenery, a hammock strung near your private pool (not plunge, we’re talking swimmable), and personal bikes to help you get around the resort if you’d rather not wait for a golf cart escort.
Feature image, courtesy of The Fifth Avenue Hotel
