Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong

Island Shangri-La has presence. "The Great Motherland of China," a 167-foot-high silk painting rumored to be the largest of its kind in the world, covers one wall of the central atrium, opposite bubble elevators that run all the way from the grandiose Island Ballroom to the roof garden. That’s not to say that the hotel caters just to art lovers, business travelers flock here for its business center and executive rooms. They loosen their ties at Café TOO (the hotel’s hallmark dining venue that features show kitchens cooking up various cuisines), or tuck in their shirts for a more formal affair at the Lobster Bar and Grill or Restaurant Petrus. But in Hong Kong’s stifling summers, the most welcome amenity of all is perhaps the hotel’s outdoor pool, an oasis for guests of all stripes.