MAP HOTEL

Once upon a time, hotels like this were rarely to be found outside of New York, London, and a few other global capitals. Progress, then, is something like MAP Hotel in a city like Nicosia, Cyprus — a city of great historical significance, but one that’s only recently become the sort of destination where you’ll find experienced, boutique-savvy, novelty-seeking travelers.

The building itself is a bold contemporary statement by local architects EKKY Studio, and contrasts vividly with the historical architecture on display elsewhere in Nicosia’s old city center. And the interiors are just as daring; mostly monochrome, with faint echoes of Bauhaus or Art Deco, they’re truly unique, a vision of the future embellished with splashes of pink and magenta and vivid contemporary artworks.

There’s substantial luxury to complement the boutique good looks, both in the rooms, with their state-of-the-art digital-era comforts, and in the Legend Spa, with its verdant interiors and Elemis products. Scale, the restaurant, might just be the MAP Hotel’s finest hour — here you’ll find inventive pan-Mediterranean cuisine featuring typically bold Cypriot flavors, served in a colorful and glamorous ground-floor setting.