The Best Places in the United States

Point Reyes sits less than two hours from San Francisco but feels like a genuinely different world, which is the whole point of staying here. Olema House is a small 24-room lodge on the coastal highway, freshly renovated and one of very few places to sleep in the area. Marin County keeps tourist infrastructure deliberately sparse, so a comfortable base this close to the wild headlands and seascapes of Point Reyes fills a real gap.

The dunes outside the window make it feel like the edge of the map, even though Carmel is just a short drive south. This Monterey Bay resort keeps things low-slung and unfussy from the outside, then turns quietly luxurious once you're in, with gas fireplaces doing honest work on foggy coastal nights. Salt Wood Kitchen handles the seafood-forward meals. Beach yoga, a heated pool, and a spa round things out.

Five acres in Amagansett, which sits just past East Hampton for those who find East Hampton a little much. The Reform Club is a small luxury inn where the smallest room in the main house is a suite, cottages offer more seclusion, and a four-bedroom residence handles groups wanting to pretend they live here. Bvlgari amenities, owners' artwork on the walls, Pilates on the schedule. The Meeting House feeds guests and locals alike, which keeps it from feeling sealed off.

A barn and a cluster of 17th and 18th century cottages, beautifully preserved outside and quietly gutted into something minimalist and linen-forward within. This small hotel sits a mile inland from the beach on two pastoral acres, which makes it the anti-Hamptons Hamptons option, no oceanfront scene to perform for. Frette sheets, Matouk towels, Nespresso on the counter, old bones with a very considered interior. The Michelin Guide lists it among its selected hotels.

A boutique bed and breakfast on Woodstock's main drag, Twin Gables keeps a well-preserved Victorian exterior but drops any interest in period charm the moment you walk through the door. Inside, bold colors and graphic art fill rooms that share no common aesthetic with each other. Not every room has a private bathroom, and the ones that do book fast on weekends, so plan accordingly.

Bluetooth turntables stocked with actual records sit in every room at this boutique hotel, which feels like a fair summary of Woodstock's relationship with the past. The compound reads as its own little world despite being in the middle of town: modern lines, rustic textures, heated bathroom floors, colorful art. The Tannery café handles coffee and not much more, but the town is right there and seems happy to help.

Neon lights, pop art, and retro arcade machines set the scene at this smash burger shop on West Fourth Street. The whole vibe skews cheerfully unserious, which makes it easy to miss that the kitchen is doing something careful underneath it all. A James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, it draws a crowd that lingers longer than a burger run usually warrants. The Ladykiller, with its black garlic sauce and local pickle chips, is the one everyone orders first.

A Gulf Coast fish-and-chicken restaurant in Independence Heights from a pitmaster who clearly didn't want to choose between the smoker and the fryer. Catfish and chicken share the spotlight, with shrimp po'boys, chargrilled oysters, and a pork belly BLT on Texas toast for people who read the whole menu. Gumbo comes with a Brussels sprouts salad, which counts as balance. Lunch is a casual Tuesday-through-Saturday affair.

Red Plate is a Cantonese fine-dining room tucked away at the Cosmopolitan, small enough and quiet enough that you forget you're a few floors above a casino. Tea-based cocktails share the menu with evening dim sum and roast meats, and a whole suckling pig or duck can be ordered ahead if you're organized or celebrating. The chef was a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Southwest.

Seafood flown in daily from both coasts and the Sea of Cortez keeps this polished seafood restaurant on Camelback Road from feeling like a landlocked afterthought. The dining room leans comfortable and upscale, the kind of place where booths fill with date-night couples while the bar handles happy hour with enough seriousness to earn a Best Happy Hour nod from Phoenix New Times. The cocktail list gets the same care as the fish.

Tijuana-style street food from a truck usually parked outside Cobra Arcade Bar on Second Street, running until 2 a.m. on weekends for a reason. The chef behind the counter built a menu around classics like tacos al pastor and vampiros, then added birria ramen for anyone who wants to confuse their stomach in the best way. Phoenix New Times named it the top late-night Mexican food truck two years running, which tracks with the crowd spilling out of nearby bars.

A seafood counter tucked inside Fair Isle Brewing, La Marea brings Mexican coastal cooking to a city that usually prefers its seafood left alone. Hamachi and tuna arrive over tostadas, sliced with a precision that suggests sushi somewhere in the team's past. The scallop aguachile and chile morita aioli do not shy from heat. The brewery's farmhouse ales and saisons make good company, and the shared space keeps the whole thing loose.

The pastry case up front, stacked with crepe and box cakes in flavors like durian and chestnut, hints that this Aurora-border spot plays by its own rules. It's a small, easy-to-miss Hong Kong-style restaurant where the chef's special section does the heavy lifting, and several of the greatest hits aren't on the menu at all. Ask about the salt-and-pepper tofu, and call ahead if you want crab or lobster.

The smartest move Accomplice ever made was opening next to Taiwanese restaurant Little Fatty, so when the cocktails do their work, crab rangoon and shrimp chips are one door away. It's a moody cocktail bar in Mar Vista where the drinks lean into unexpected flavors, Japanese whiskey and oolong sharing space with goji berry and ginger. The 50 Discovery named it among their finds, which tracks.

The fried shrimp comes with aioli, the zucchini blossoms are stuffed, and the whole thing sits next door to Chez Panisse, which is either coincidence or not. Alice Waters is behind this too, a casual wine bar where the farm-to-table reverence is intact but the menu reads lighter and less ceremonious than its famous neighbor. The New York Times gave it two stars in 2026, which for a neighborhood spot serving butter beans is a lot to live down.

The pita comes straight from a pizza oven on the sidewalk, still puffed with steam when it hits the table. Yerord Mas is a tiny, no-frills Armenian restaurant in a former doughnut shop on San Fernando Road, and no, they don't do takeout. The chef pulls from diaspora kitchens across Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and beyond, treating the differences as a single, coherent argument for why Los Angeles exists. The New York Times put it on their 2026 Restaurant List.

The slices here are slender, which is a statement in a borough where bigger is considered better. F&F is a slice shop in Carroll Gardens running a quiet argument for restraint: a careful sauce-to-cheese ratio, toppings used sparingly and only when they add something. The New York Times put it on their short list of the city's best pizza places, and Grub Street agreed. Come hungry but not starving, because the line moves at its own pace.

Pizzeria Leopold is a Lakewood pizza shop that doubles as an Italian grocer, which means you can order a pie and leave with a jar of something imported. The sandwich menu has a cult of its own, led by a four-inch chicken cutlet stack that reads like a New Jersey deli trying to settle down in the Denver suburbs. Casual counter ordering, no dress code, and it turns up on Westword's list of the top restaurants in Denver.

An old tavern in Bucks County farm country, about an hour from Philadelphia, that has been turned into a boutique hotel without being stripped of its bones. The building has been around forever, and the team has leaned into that with a modern-retro style that's theatrical without tipping into theme park. Good for a weekend when the city stops making sense and you need a road that narrows before it gets quiet.

Shiplap walls, tapestries over the beds, and a vibe that reads surf hippie without trying too hard. This Montauk motel has been in the Daunt family for generations, and it wears that history lightly, skewing more beach-cottage cool than anything the word "motel" usually promises. Sandy feet are the dress code, the on-site restaurant The Bird has been here forever, and the Michelin Guide has taken notice of the whole operation.

The Graduate brand has a formula: find a college town with a forgettable hotel scene and replace it with something that actually knows where it is. In Annapolis, home to the Naval Academy and St. John's College, that means a colorful, niche-focused hotel that wears its setting without apology. The Michelin Guide has it in their Selected Hotels list, which tracks.

A boutique hotel carved out of an 1885 estate in Leesburg, a town that once hid the National Archives and later became a quiet retreat for Washington's political class. Fireplaces anchor multiple suites, the Rooftop Suite has its own outdoor terrace above the roofline, and the in-house restaurant runs a hunt-inspired dinner menu. Loudoun County's vineyards and equestrian estates spread out just beyond town.

A French Revival mansion on a sprawling private estate that a prominent local family eventually decided to share with the rest of us. Hotel Hartness is a luxury boutique hotel sitting inside that former family home, surrounded by 180 acres of preserved green space, which makes it feel less like checking into a hotel and more like being a very welcome houseguest at someone else's inheritance.

An 1890s Victorian mansion in Tannersville that has been stripped of its Victorian earnestness and refilled with modernist design pieces and rotating work by contemporary New York artists. The 18-room boutique hotel sits in the Catskills at a moment when the region is trading resort sprawl for something smaller and stranger. The result reads less like a period restoration and more like a well-curated apartment where the art keeps changing.

Fifteen acres of Texas Hill Country outside Dripping Springs, where your options range from a yurt to a full four-bedroom Ranch House depending on how many people you're avoiding or inviting. This boutique retreat leans rural without apology: modern-rustic cabins, Porch Houses with wraparound porches and kitchenettes, a bathhouse and pool, and enough nearby wineries and breweries to fill a long weekend without much effort.

Sand between your toes is apparently a design philosophy here, not just an oversight. Marram is a 96-room resort in Montauk built around the idea that "barefoot luxury" is a complete sentence, leaning into the town's old surfer looseness rather than polishing it away. Yoga, craft workshops, and weathered-cool décor all pull in the same direction. The in-house restaurant from a Uruguayan chef does seafood and is worth your attention.

Six championship golf courses occupy a resort that could easily have stopped there and called it a day. PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens is a full-scale luxury resort: 339 rooms, a 40,000-square-foot spa, a racquet club, and enough restaurants and bars that non-golfers can book a week and never feel like they wandered into someone else's trip. The Michelin Guide lists it among its selected hotels.

Narragansett has been a surf town forever, but The Break is its first boutique hotel, and it plays the part without reaching for rope coils and ship wheels. Rooms lean mid-century surf-shack instead, many with balconies and gas fireplaces, all with rain showers. There's a pool, a small spa, a bistro downstairs, and a rooftop lounge. The actual surf is a few blocks away, which is either a selling point or a warning, depending on your skill level.

Each of the four suites at this Woodstock inn is named for a rock and roll matriarch, so you're essentially choosing between Aretha, Carole, Joni, and Stevie. It's a small, sustainably minded boutique hotel with clawfoot tubs, wood-paneled bathrooms, and private patios throughout. Bikes and a hot tub are shared by all guests. Two suites welcome dogs, which feels on-brand for a place that already has strong opinions about who deserves to be on the walls.

Three thousand five hundred acres in Rhode Island, which sounds like a typo until you're fly fishing or clay shooting before noon. The Preserve is a wilderness resort built around outdoor pursuits, with lodging that runs from contemporary townhouses to off-grid tiny homes. Evenings go to cedar hot tubs and the spa. The country's longest indoor shooting range is here, which is either the selling point or the detail that makes you call a different hotel.

Crescent Beach sits right outside the door here, with Peconic Bay stretching out beyond it, and the Pridwin has been around forever. It reads more like an Adirondack lodge than a beach resort, which is either confusing or exactly right depending on your mood. The 49 rooms and scattered cottages have been renovated to keep the old bones while adding a cleaner, more considered feel. Shelter Island itself requires a ferry, which keeps the crowds honest.

Tropical Modernist design from Virserius Studio gives this Curio Collection boutique hotel a cleaner, less fussy look than the Art Deco crowd down in Miami. Rooms are crisp and contemporary with relaxed, eclectic touches. The fitness program runs to boxing classes and personal training, three restaurants include a rooftop lounge, and Michelin-starred Akira Back runs the modern Japanese kitchen downstairs.

A freshly overhauled resort on East Atlantic Avenue, the Seagate spans a beach club, an 18-hole golf course, and a spa across Delray Beach. The 157 rooms lean into handcrafted coastal details and locally commissioned art. Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak handles the serious dinner crowd, while Mr. Seas covers the oceanside fare and the Venetian Street Hotel Bar keeps things Italian-inflected for after. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels.

Vegetarian Indian cooking that doesn't feel like a consolation prize for anyone at the table. Besharam, tucked into the Minnesota Street Project arts complex, is a sit-down restaurant where the chef came up through La Cocina and brings a South Asian pantry to bear with real confidence. The pickles and chutneys alone could anchor a meal. Prices stay reasonable, which in this city counts as a minor act of defiance.

The Indian-spiced Southern fried chicken has drawn pilgrims to this Indo-Pakistani restaurant in Houston's Gandhi District for years, and chef Kaiser Lashkari keeps adding reasons to return. Pakistani pastrami, Indian quesadillas, Hyderabadi and Punjabi curries, Goan salmon, mango tres leches: the menu moves around the subcontinent without apology. Anthony Bourdain came through, which tracks. A James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas.

La Casa De Juliette is a relaxed Mexican spot in Centennial Hills, with big windows set into terra cotta walls and the kind of Tulum-style lighting that makes the northwest valley feel briefly coastal. The chef landed here after crossing paths with the Sand Dollar Lounge team over a bar. Expect street corn with bone marrow and an agua fresca that can be spiked with coconut rum.

This is a counter-service Hawaiian and Filipino spot in a Las Vegas strip-mall unit, decorated like a beach cottage that has never heard of the Strip, complete with an island mural and a "let your dreams set sail" sign. The cashier calls everyone sweetheart. Plates run big enough to split, and the Spam musubi travels well, which is useful if you're headed somewhere with a bar and a dim view of outside food.

This is a fast-casual smashburger counter in Centennial Hills, run by the same people behind Sorry Not Sorry ice cream, so the line-out-the-door routine arrived pre-rehearsed. Black Angus patties get pressed on a hot griddle until the edges go lacy, then land on a potato roll with American cheese and thin onions. The menu is short, the prices are fast-food friendly, and nobody is here to dress up for a burger.

A wood-fired pizzeria in the middle of Old Town Scottsdale that leans into the craft-beer-bar half of its personality as much as the pizza half. The dough is thin but sturdy enough to carry generous toppings without folding, and the homemade mozzarella shows up like it has something to prove. A serious Arizona craft beer list keeps the mood convivial. Ranked 29th on 50 Top Pizza USA, which is a lot for a place with a patio and wooden tables.

Nobuo Fukuda, a James Beard Award winner, runs this intimate Japanese small-plates bar in Scottsdale, where the menu reads like a quiet argument against doing anything halfway. Most dishes land under twenty dollars, from panko-fried tofu with green papaya curry to sunomono with watermelon radish. The sashimi spoons have their own cult following, and an omakase is available by reservation for when you're feeling like committing to the evening.

Fried chicken and Champagne share a menu at this retro-glam bowling lounge off Roosevelt Row, which tells you most of what you need to know about its vibe. A handful of lanes, a circular bar, pool tables, and DJs make it more of a night out that happens to involve bowling than the other way around. Sushi and nachos cover the snacking spread. Dress accordingly, because the decor is very much meant to be photographed.

The building is an old country store, white clapboard on a rural crossroads, and the back shelves still look the part, stocked now with natural wines, tinned fish, and housemade ferments. Up front, an ambitious farm-to-table restaurant turns out a local menu with sophisticated touches and zero attitude. The New York Times put it on their Restaurant List in 2024, and a James Beard semifinalist nod followed. Brunch is a fine excuse for the Midcoast drive.

The chef at this Brooklyn Vietnamese spot trained at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and it shows, though not in a pretentious farm-to-table way. Falansai is a tasting-menu restaurant where seasonal thinking meets recipes passed down from Saigon, the two pulling in different directions in ways that tend to be interesting. The New York Times gave it two stars and a Critic's Pick in 2026.

New York style slices done with the obsessive raw-material sourcing you'd expect from somewhere with a much more serious dress code. Pizza Baby is a casual pizza shop with two Charlotte locations, a tight Italian wine list, and bread good enough that they sell it separately. The pies run from a no-apology pineapple to a Sicilian, and the team landed a spot on 50 Top Pizza USA, which is exactly the kind of thing regulars mention while waiting for a table.

A wood-fired pizzeria on Mulberry Street where the margherita is the argument: light, airy dough with a properly blistered crust and ingredients that don't try to do too much. The room runs contemporary and lively, and on mild nights the outdoor patio makes the whole thing feel like a small favor from the city. The wine list is surprisingly deep for a pizza spot. Save room for the montebianco.

A Neapolitan pizza restaurant a few miles from Arlington Cemetery, run by the same Sicilian family for close to half a century. The pies follow STG rules, meaning a pillowy, charred crust, properly melty cheese, and a lot of the ingredients shipped over from Italy. The room skews elegant for a pizza place, and the menu stretches well past pizza into pastas and starters, with a wine list that takes itself seriously.

Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza in the middle of the Alps is a proposition that shouldn't work as well as it does. Acquaefarina is a pizza restaurant in Trento where the dough gets the serious treatment: slow-fermented, light enough to finish without regret, with a char on the crust that earns its place. The wine and beer list goes deeper than the usual pizza-joint afterthought. It ranked 32nd on 50 Top Pizza Italy, if you want a number to trust.

A plain wooden door down a sketchy Belltown alley opens into a speakeasy-style cocktail bar that fits maybe thirty people across two floors. Upstairs, the intimate bar puts you shoulder-to-shoulder with shelves stacked with cocktail books. The menu runs to eight drinks, but the move is Dealer's Choice: name your spirit, name your mood, and let the bartender figure out the rest.

Birch-paneled walls and deep green accents make it feel like the forest wandered indoors, which was clearly the point. Bluebird Cady Hill is a 55-room boutique hotel on Mountain Road, a redesigned riff on Stowe's old roadside lodges with considerably better taste in décor. Mt. Mansfield is minutes away, the Cady Hill trails are practically at the door, and the après-ski mood sticks around even when there's no ski to après.

A seventies ski lodge reborn as a boutique hotel at the base of Hunter Mountain, Bluebird leans into the fantasy of upstate New York without overselling it. The look splits the difference between retro summer camp and crisp contemporary design, with comforts that feel genuinely luxurious without tipping into fussy. Hunter Tavern keeps the hearty modern-rustic food you'd want after a day outside. A Michelin Selected Hotel, and the city crowd has clearly noticed.