Hotel Bristol, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Warsaw

This century-old grand hotel, next door to the Presidential Palace, was long the city’s most elegant before falling on hard times, along with Warsaw itself. Today, as Poland recovers from the twentieth century and joins the new Europe, the Bristol is once again its splendid old self: a neo-Renaissance masterpiece underscored with Art Nouveau elegance, lodging of choice for the Picassos and Dietrichs and Rubinsteins of the world.

An extensive facelift and new ownership have returned this hotel to its glory days. The interiors are all nineteenth-century grandeur, furnished with antiques and Polish artworks in immaculate homage to the hotel’s original owner, the concert pianist and prime minister Ignacy Paderewski. The guest rooms are delightfully old-fashioned, with ornate wall treatments and marble bathrooms, respectably refined to the last detail. Sizable pelmeted windows admit thrilling views of the Royal Route and its Old Town landmarks, as if looking both out and back in time.

All this, of course, without skimping on the trappings of a modern luxury hotel — high-speed internet access, business center, and an indoor pool and fitness center, complete with sauna and Turkish steam bath. As for restaurants, Warsaw is particularly rich with fine ones, and the hotel’s own are among the best in town; from the Mediterranean cuisine of Marconi to coffee and pastries in the prewar Vienna-style Cafe Bristol. Polish Belle Époque rises to a fever pitch at the Column Bar, the sort of charming old boy’s club where one imagines the biggest of Warsaw’s deals are discussed over cocktails against a cinematic backdrop of leather banquettes, original Otto Wagner lighting installations, and live piano.