Renovated Hotel. Honestly, we don’t require 24-karat-gold–plated Sherle Wagner faucets in our hotel bathrooms, though there’s lots that’s pertinent in Fairmont’s $400 million remake of Henry Janeway Hardenbergh’s 1907 Beaux Arts icon. Savagely ripped out in the forties by then owner Conrad Hilton, the layout of the Palm Court’s famed stained-glass ceiling was re-created pane-for-pane, with the help of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Touch-screen AMX systems in the 282 guest rooms deliver on their promise to make easy the tasks of controlling lighting, contacting the concierge, and summoning your white-gloved butler. But the Plaza, still wet behind the ears since its March reopening, has a long way to go. Service is a little shaky (it took 39 minutes for an ice bucket to be delivered). We also regret that most of the Central Park views went to the building’s 152 new condos. (Try to score one of the Plaza or Deluxe rooms adjacent to an Edwardian Park Suite—they’re the cheapest ones partially overlooking the park.) Still, for a European-palace–style experience, this is the only game in town.