Taj Campton Place

When the honchos from LVMH and Neiman Marcus come to town, the 110-room Campton Place is where they stay. The hotel is on the preferred (i.e., east) side of Union Square, convenient to their SF stores yet insulated from tourists and the dodgy Tenderloin. “Insulated” personifies the guest rooms in this pair of joined prewar buildings too; fitted with warm pearwood paneling, built-in dressers, and flat-screen TV’s, they feel plush and snug, like the staterooms on a ship. The restaurant has for years been one of the city’s best; after a months-long interregnum, Campton Place’s new owner, Taj Hotels, has appointed Srijith Gopinathan, of Taj Exotics Resort and Spa in the Maldives (and the former sous chef at Campton Place), to helm the kitchen—so far, the jury’s still out.