Kimpton Las Mercedes by IHG

A 16th-century building in old Santo Domingo is not the most obvious place to put a boutique hotel, but here we are, and it works. Kimpton Las Mercedes folds platform beds and tropical art into rooms that toggle between colonial and contemporary. There are two bars, one shaded by oak and mango in the courtyard, one catching the breeze on the rooftop beside the pool, which covers most of the socializing you'd want to do.