The Best Places in the United States

A Nani Chacon mural is the first thing you see, painted across the vintage facade of what used to be a 1965 roadside motor inn. Inside, the Palisociety has turned it into a sharp boutique hotel, with midcentury bones still visible beneath playful textiles and the kind of terracotta and turquoise palette that reads as genuinely Southwestern rather than gift-shop. Route 66 runs right outside, so the location earns its nostalgia without trying very hard.

Bare blond wood, a tight color palette, and an indoor pool that actually gets used set the tone at this boutique motel two blocks from Jackson's town square. It's a leaner, cooler alternative to the sprawling ski-lodge fantasy, with a café, a BBQ joint, and a Korean fusion restaurant on-site. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is a short drive, and Snow King is practically next door for anyone who needs slopes before breakfast.

Check-in happens at the bar, where you're handed a cocktail before you're handed a key. Moxy Richmond Downtown is a compact, design-forward hotel where the lobby runs as a full lounge with retro games and a soundtrack, and the grab-and-go station means nobody goes hungry at midnight. Rooms are small by intention, built around walk-in showers and clever storage. The crowd skews younger, but then, so does the playlist.

Trains still pull into the station, which makes this hotel in the South Main district one of the few places you can check in and watch an Amtrak roll past the window. The rooms sit inside a restored rail terminal, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, with a bar built around Memphis music history and a restaurant doing French brasserie cooking through a Southern lens. The neighborhood is mid-comeback, which keeps it interesting.

A converted midcentury motor lodge in Menlo Park, with the original redwood siding left right where it was. Rooms are small and honestly furnished, most opening straight onto a private patio or garden courtyard, some shaded by an old California oak. There's a fire pit, communal breakfast, and a pool, which covers everything the tech-adjacent guests here pretend they don't need before checking in anyway.

Renaissance Venice lands in Kansas City, which is either an unlikely choice or a completely logical one depending on how you feel about the Midwest's appetite for the grand gesture. The Fontaine is a boutique hotel with 132 rooms dressed in Carrara marble vanities and goose-down pillows throughout. Parker on the rooftop catches city views, and the poolside bar handles cocktails when the day tips over. The whole thing manages sophisticated without tipping into stuffy.

The Brulee Burger, with its torched sugar crust on the bun, explains the whole ethos of this Scottsdale burger shop in one order. The chef here treats fast-casual comfort food as an excuse to get weird in the best way, battering and frying patties, folding blueberry-habanero compote into guacamole, stacking corn-muffin fritters between the buns. Guy Fieri has been by, and the memorabilia is on the wall to prove it. Napkins: take several.

A family-owned resort on the edge of Mirror Lake, where the Adirondacks do their most photogenic work year-round. Gas fireplaces have quietly replaced the wood-burning ones, and the spa runs a salt-therapy room alongside a sixty-foot indoor pool. Two restaurants on-site, one more formal than the other. Lake Placid hosted the Winter Olympics, so the snow-sports infrastructure is serious, but summers here are no consolation prize. It holds a Michelin Key.

The burgers get a splash of red wine on the flat top, which is either the gimmick or the whole point depending on how you order. Harvey's is a neighborhood dive bar on 16th Street, bright green walls, pool table, jukebox, and cheap burgers that come with fries. Weekend happy hour runs weekend mornings, and last call stretches to midnight. The regulars who never needed a menu figured all this out a long time ago.

Perched on the edge of Payette Lake nearly a mile up in the Northern Rockies, Shore Lodge is a full-service resort where the rooms come with either garden or lake views and warm cookies waiting on your pillow at turndown. The lodge leans rustic but runs with real polish, and whether you're out on the water or tucked into the spa, the staff has already thought of the thing you were about to ask for.

A fish tail peeking out of a metal pot at the next table sets the tone at this no-frills Filipino homestyle spot in Woodside's Little Manila. The kitchen has been around forever, and the cooking skips any fuss: eggplant sealed in pork-threaded omelet, ginger-bright chicken soup, and chicken adobo that The Infatuation called one of New York's defining dishes. The New York Times put it at number 68 on its 2026 list of the city's 100 best restaurants.

Saguaro Corners is a casual Southwestern restaurant and bar that's been around forever, parked at the edge of the Rincon Mountains where the saguaros outnumber the strip malls. Wood-beamed ceilings, big windows, and a misted patio with live music make it feel like old Tucson rather than a theme park version of it. Comfort food with a Southwestern lean, roadrunners possibly watching you eat, and the kind of room that pulls in families and date-nighters alike.

The Arcadia Burger, topped with grilled onions, guacamole, and the house sauce, is the one to order at this drive-thru-only burger shoppe with no indoor seating whatsoever. The double-stacked patties are properly juicy, the fries are the obvious companion, and the milkshakes invite mixing flavors in combinations you'll immediately claim were your idea. Phoenix New Times put it in the top ten burger joints in town, and the neighborhood regulars roll through like they know something.

A few steps from Union Square, Ribalta is a Neapolitan pizza spot that takes its dough seriously, the kind of light, well-leavened crust that makes the New York slice feel like a different food entirely. The room is spacious and lively without being loud, and the menu runs well beyond pizza into appetizers and mains. It landed at number eight on 50 Top Pizza USA, which the regulars packing the tables on a Tuesday probably already knew.

A wood-fired Neapolitan pizza spot on Cotton Row, where the oven does the heavy lifting and the pies come out soft enough to fold the way Naples intended. The chef behind it earned 50 Top Pizza's Pizza Maker of the Year, and the restaurant itself lands at number nine on their USA list. In the Mississippi Delta, that's a sentence you don't see coming. Regulars settle in like they own the place, which is more or less the point.

Roman-style pizza by the slice is the draw here, baked in rectangular trays with a crust that's crispy on the bottom and genuinely airy inside. This is a counter-service slice shop near a hospital complex in Mineola, so the crowd skews commuters and med students who know what they're doing. Toppings lean contemporary, burrata and mortadella among them. It ranks on both 50 Top Pizza Slice USA and 50 Top Pizza World, which for a Long Island strip-mall counter is a fun fact to drop.

A cash-only Vietnamese lunch spot in a Bellaire Boulevard strip center that sets a giant pitcher of fish sauce on every table before you've said a word, which tells you what the afternoon holds. The specialty is bánh cuốn, soft rice paper crepes folded around mushrooms, grilled pork, and dried shrimp. You add the bean sprouts yourself and dunk accordingly. Bring bills, a loose waistband, and zero concern about your shirt.

A boutique hotel in the heart of Healdsburg that actually looks like it belongs in California rather than a Tuscan village someone imported by mistake. San Francisco architect David Baker designed it, and the modernist bones feel rooted to this specific corner of wine country in a way that faux-Provençal stonework never quite manages. Small, stylish, and selected by the Michelin Guide, it's a useful base for anyone who'd rather spend money on Pinot than on décor they've seen somewhere in Umbria.

A former telecommunications switching station in the Highlands district, The Bellwether is a boutique hotel where no two rooms are alike, each one designed with its own color story and character. Brick arches and vintage phones at check-in set the tone, and the French bistro downstairs layers burgundy banquettes under a salvaged police sign. The kind of place that photographs suspiciously well, but the bones are genuine.

Mid-century modern lines and a quieter perch on the west side of Vail set this upscale resort apart from the slopeside scrum. Skiing, mountain biking, and a yoga studio cover the recreation, while the 10th Mountain Lounge, a partnership with the Colorado distillery, gives drinking here a local anchor. The flagship restaurant blends American West cooking with Alpine mountain fare, which is exactly the overlap you'd want at this altitude.

A mid-century motel on the unfashionable side of the airport, renovated into a pocketbook-friendly boutique hotel well clear of the Gaslamp's stretch Escalades and valet theater. The bones are still gloriously kitschy, and the crowd skews young and loud in the best poolside sense. It's a Michelin Selected Hotel, which feels like a useful reminder that good taste doesn't always require a valet stand.

A short walk uphill from the Vineyard Haven dock, this boutique inn sits on a bluff inside an old Arts and Crafts house that once belonged to the island doctor. The new owners gutted the fussy interiors and replaced them with open living areas, polished hardwood, picture windows, and a serious art collection, Philippe Starck and Marcel Wanders among the contributors. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.

A grand old downtown hotel on West Markham that has been putting up presidents, celebrities, and assorted distinguished characters since the frontier era. The 94 rooms were fully redone not too long ago, and the property holds two dining rooms: Ashley's for serious, seasonal fare and the Capital Bar and Grill for cocktails and comfort food at lunch and dinner. One of Little Rock's few genuine historic stays.

A luxury resort planted deep in the red-rock canyon country near the Utah border, closer to Moab than to Aspen, which tells you something about the vibe. Rooms come with outdoor fireplaces and soaking pools, but the real draw is outside: fly fishing, river rafting, an equestrian center, and a car museum that makes the whole thing feel like it was assembled by someone with very specific passions. It was, actually, the Discovery Channel founder built it.

An old house in Tempe that may or may not be haunted, depending on how many drinks in you are. Casey Moore's is a seafood and oyster bar that's been around forever, and it draws the full cross-section of college town life, from freshmen to people who were freshmen here decades ago. The patio, the well-priced drinks, and the raw bar keep everyone coexisting peacefully, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.

A honky-tonk dive bar on the east side of Phoenix where the lineup might be line dancing one night and back-to-back rockabilly the next. The bar menu runs wings, burgers, and nachos, there's a daily food special, and happy hour runs weekday afternoons. Sports play on multiple screens for the crowd that isn't there for the boot-scootin'. An old-school institution that closed for a stretch and came back, which says something about how much the neighborhood wanted it back.

Karaoke spills out of this LGBTQ+ bar at Park Central before you even reach the door. Inside, Kobalt runs on the pleasant fiction that everyone already knows each other, with drag shows, RuPaul's watch parties, and trivia filling the calendar alongside the sing-alongs. Show tunes, '80s ballads, and early-aughts pop keep the room generous and loud. Cocktails hover around eleven dollars, which makes it easy to stay for one more song, then another.

Peticolas runs a split-level taproom out of an industrial building in West Dallas, with English, Irish, and Scottish-style ales brewed on-site. It's a semi-official FC Dallas supporters' bar, showing everything from Champions League to regional Mexican matches, which explains the noise level on a Tuesday. When there's nothing on the screens, the upstairs has foosball, ping pong, and shuffleboard to fill the gap.

A backyard in Park Slope and a margherita built on proper ingredients make Brooklyn DOP an easy neighborhood slice shop to fall into. The dough is treated with care, the format stays classic New York, and the beverage list is calibrated accordingly. The orange olive oil cake quietly outperforms every other decision you'll make that afternoon. It landed at number six on the 50 Top Pizza Slice USA list, which checks out.

Inside Chelsea Market, Filaga runs a counter-service slice shop where the tray pizza arrives crispy, well-seasoned, and loaded with ingredients imported from Italy. The kitchen, oven, and prep are all in plain sight, and the whole setup is designed for the market's constant foot traffic rather than a leisurely lunch. Seating is shared and wherever you find a spot. It ranked eighth on the 50 Top Pizza Slice USA list, which is the kind of thing that draws a line.

The wood-fired ovens at the back sit behind what regulars call "the cage," a signature touch from the Caserta-born pizzaiolo that followed him here to Wynwood. This is an upscale pizza restaurant with serious ambitions, dim lighting, designer furniture, and a wine cellar built vertically into the wall, scenic if a little unkind to whoever has to fetch the bottle. The menu runs from straightforward a la carte to a full tasting format. Ranked fifth in 50 Top Pizza USA.

Inside Chelsea Market, this Italian pasta restaurant is built around a dramatic oval table that frames an open kitchen at its center. The format isn't casual folklore but something more deliberate: the menu treats pasta as the whole point, cycling through seasonal and traditional preparations with the focus of a tasting menu. The wine list leans into Campanian producers. It landed at #16 on the 50 Top Italy world list.

Oak Cliff locals have been calling it "Barb's" for decades, which tells you everything about what kind of place this is. A low-key dive bar with a retro-cool vibe, it runs karaoke on Thursdays and Sundays and burlesque on the third Wednesday of every month, so there's always a reason the room is full. Between sets, the jukebox swings from disco to hip-hop without apology. Your bartender probably drinks here on their nights off.

A U-shaped bar, gold touches, and pink drapery tucked inside a Highland Park strip mall, which is either charming or deeply on-brand depending on your feelings about Highland Park. Coupes is a Champagne and wine bar with a serious poured-glass selection covering French bottles, Crémant, Blanc de Noirs, and Texas pours alongside cocktails for anyone not yet ready to commit to bubbles entirely.

Wood-paneled walls and old neon beer signs set the tone at Lee Harvey's, a classic Dallas dive bar that's been knocking the edge off long weeks for as long as anyone can remember. The patio is roomy enough to bring the dog, and the onion rings with chipotle aioli are the kind of thing you eat standing up and then immediately order again. Cold beer, no pretense, no dress code.

Pool tables in the back, a fireplace den up front, and a patio pulling double duty as meeting spot for both SMU students and regulars who've been coming since the place was one of Dallas' oldest bars. Under new ownership with a fresh look, Milo Butterfingers is a sports bar and neighborhood hangout that hasn't lost its original ease. Homestyle daily specials run cheap, and the booths are big enough that nobody has to go home.

Perched above the old Lakewood Theater, this dimly lit jazz bar has the kind of second-floor intimacy that makes the rest of Dallas feel very far away. The dance floor leaves just enough room for cheek-to-cheek, which is either charming or a fire hazard depending on your mood. Bring someone you want to know better, because the room will do the rest of the work. D Magazine named it the city's top jazz bar in 2025.

Rooms done in deep greens with JBL speakers and Nespresso machines signal that this Autograph Collection hotel in downtown Greenville has paid close attention to what boutique hotels have been doing. The Grand Bohemian Lodge sits near the Reedy River and pulls in both leisure travelers and the corporate crowd that Michelin's nearby US headquarters keeps sending through town. The restaurant, run by a chef with serious New York pedigree, is worth your evening.

A boutique hotel planted deep in Washington Heights, well over 100 blocks north of where Manhattan's design-conscious lodging usually stops. The building announces itself in color from the outside, and the interiors keep that energy going in a contemporary style that feels deliberate rather than decorative. It's the only stylish option in a neighborhood that doubles as the heart of New York's Dominican community, which is a reasonable argument for staying up here.

The rooftop bar, High George, looks out over a skyline that's been old longer than most American cities can claim. The Blake is a boutique hotel on the edge of downtown, where rooms are fitted with kitchenettes and bathrobes in a way that quietly invites a longer stay. Walking maps and neighborhood guides sit at the ready, a local art gallery runs on the ground floor, and the bathrooms are, apparently, very photogenic.

A boutique hotel planted inside Yale's campus, flanked by the schools of art, architecture, and drama, which sets a certain tone before you've even checked in. The lobby leans into it: armchairs, bookshelves, a color palette that whispers alma mater without shouting it. There's a café off the lobby and a restaurant, Heirloom, doing seasonal New American cooking that's frankly more ambitious than hotel dining tends to be.

Frosted mugs pulled straight from a freezer behind a bar draped in kitschy tchotchkes: this Grand Avenue tiki dive bar has been an institution since truckers were rolling through on Route 60. Wood paneling, tiki-style tables, a pool table, and a patio where the smoking happens. On Tuesdays a DJ spins vinyl, playing what the regulars call "funky mutant dance music," and somehow the night outlasts your intentions. Cash only, so plan accordingly.

The taco truck parked out front sets the tone before you even get inside. Charlie's is an old-school gay bar and dance hall on Camelback with a big outdoor patio, bleacher seating, two bars, and a dance floor that earns its own reputation after midnight on weekends. The calendar runs from drag nights and karaoke to Latin and country two-stepping, so the crowd varies wildly depending on when you show up, which is most of the fun.