Stay at These City Hotels When You Want to Be in the Heart of the Action

The Sunset Travel Awards celebrate the best in travel in the West. These hotels are the 2025 winners of the Where to Stay: City Stays. Check out the complete list of winners here. For our definitive and searchable travel directory to help you plan your next trip in the West, click here.

Thompson Palm Springs

One of the biggest hotel openings in Palm Springs in years, the Thompson is setting a new bar for hospitality with its expansive modernist complex with bungalow-style rooms, a rooftop pool, modern Middle Eastern restaurant and new bar experiences on deck, a HALL wine tasting experience, the breezy Italianate fantasia Bar Issi, and an extensive art collection. A chic addition to the scene.

Lotte Hotel Seattle

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A sleek and stylish hotel from luxury South Korean hotel brand Lotte. With interiors designed by Philippe Starck, the space is whimsically elegant and organic, the spa offers restorative treatments, and Charlotte Restaurant and Lounge serves up contemporary Pacific Northwestern cuisine and sweeping views of Elliott Bay. A uniquely refined retreat in Seattle.

The Global Ambassador

Almost a city in its own right, this sprawling resort is the hottest ticket in Phoenix. With exquisite and friendly service, opulent finishes, and superb restaurants bringing the best of European cuisine to every space from the lobby to the pool to the rooftop, this property thrums with energy, attracting locals who converge here on weekends and discerning visitors looking for the perfect blend of luxury and entertainment.

Drift Palm Springs

This minimalist desert retreat has some of the biggest rooms in Palm Springs (some suites even boast four bedrooms!), making it an ideal stay for groups and families. With a massive pool, excellent modernist Mexican restaurant Maleza, and dramatic desert landscaping, this is one of the town’s top spots.

Kimpton Canary Hotel

Kimpton Canary has everything you want in a hotel on the California Riviera: Spanish-style architecture, comfy four-poster beds, a rooftop pool, a farm-to-table restaurant, and easy access to shops, museums, and the beach. A just-right Santa Barbara stay.

Populus

With a goal to be carbon-positive, a regenerative food and drink program, and a structure inspired by Aspen trees, Denver’s striking new Populus is a marvel of biophilic architecture and possibly the most radical ecologically inspired hotel in the country.

The Sun Rose West Hollywood

If you haven’t gotten lost in the psychedelic vortex of LED art in the lobby by Anthony James, have you even visited L.A.? Encompassing a full city block along the Sunset Strip, with interiors designed by Martin Brudnizki, The Sun Rose West Hollywood (formerly The Pendry West Hollywood) blends California modernism and Hollywood glam into the guest rooms and dining concepts, the latter of which are helmed by none other than Wolfgang Puck. There’s also an ultra-vibey rooftop pool and bar that pops off in the summer months, plus a bowling alley, a state-of-the-art fitness and spa area, and a curated art collection.

Thompson Seattle

This modernist glass tower, designed by Pacific Northwest legend Olson Kundig, is one of the chicest spots to stay downtown. Mere steps from Pike Place Market and the ferries, the property offers stunning views of the city and Puget Sound from the well-appointed rooms and the Nest, the 4,500-square-foot rooftop restaurant and lounge. Experiences include top-talent tattoo bookings and truffle hunting to round out your sophisticated stay.

Hotel Lucile

This hotly anticipated new Silver Lake property from Casetta Hotels transforms a 1931 church into an urban escape where historic charm meets modern luxury. Instead of a complete teardown, the designers worked with the original bones, so you’ll find stained-glass windows framing the chapel-turned-restaurant and a rooftop bar with some of the sweetest views in the city.

Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco

Located in the heart of SoMa, this outpost of the Four Seasons has prime access to the city’s cultural and culinary icons, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Union Square. Guests can unwind in nature-inspired rooms, dine at MKT Restaurant and Bar, and enjoy skyline views from the Veranda Terrace—all with complimentary access to the Equinox Sports Club downstairs, in case getting those steps in on San Francisco’s hilly streets wasn’t enough.

Hotel Granduca Houston

The multi-million dollar renovation of this Italianate all-suite luxury hotel makes this an elegant hotel for guests looking for Old World hospitality in Houston. Spacious suites, some with terraces, verandas, and private entrances, make this a European-style home away from home. The restaurant Remi combines the best of Italian cuisine and American steakhouse traditions.