Charles Hotel, Munich

Designed by architect and native son Christoph Sattler (who helped redevelop Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz), the Charles Hotel was inspired by the Belle Époque hotels of the Côte d’Azur. In the rotunda lobby, portraits by 19th-century Munich painter Franz von Lenbach are hung above crescent-shaped banquettes in velvet and faux snakeskin. Book a room overlooking the old botanical gardens or splurge on the presidential Monforte suite, which has its own steam room and grand piano.