9 classic hotels to add to your bucketlist

This is where poet Joost van den Vondel premiered his famous play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, Antonio Vivaldi once conducted, and Rembrandt van Rijn made sketches. Now only the gate of Amsterdam’s first stone theatre, built in the 1630s and burned down in 1772, remains. It gives way to The Dylan Hotel, a five-star getaway with a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Perched on a hill overlooking the Sunset Strip, the Chateau’s secluded elegance has inspired generations of Hollywood creatives. From Fitzgerald to Sofia Coppola, Jim Morrison to James Franco, if the walls could talk they would tell many stories, and also sigh remembering John Belushi’s 1982 overdose in Bungalow 3.

Since 1755, this grand hotel has been hosts to royals, dignitaries, and celebrities. Today, Hotel d’Angleterre stands as a – recently renovated – monument to the golden age of travel and luxury. With its gorgeous rooms and suites, exceptional services, and prime location on the city’s most famous square, there is no more luxurious place to stay in Copenhagen.

The home away from home for the rich and famous. Enter past the top hat doormen, enjoy a fantastic White Russian at the bar and then think about what you’d like to do next: relax in your room or take on the fitness centre and indoor pool, or perhaps investigate the 24-hour dining options. Here, the world is your oyster.

This intimate hotel is one of the mythical hotels in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its impressive spiral staircase, the baroque and at times even downright theatrical decoration of the rooms, the private pool under the arches and the bar make for a meeting place where artists, actors and Parisian personalities contributed to the legend of this hotel where Oscar Wilde lived in 1898.

This traditional hotel, a genuine Lisbon landmark, was opened in 1892 at the confluence of two of Lisbon’s main squares, Rossio and Restauradores. It was Lisbon’s leading five-star palace hotel for many years, and it still has all of its Belle Époque charm and elegance. It’s next door to the iconic Rossio train station.

The world-famous Savoy hotel first opened its doors in 1889. It’s as luxe and high glamour now as it was then, when it was considered cutting-edge with its electric lights and hydraulic lifts. The hotel has always been popular with the royal family, actors, artists and celebrities – famous faces like Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Bob Dylan (to name a few) have snoozed here. Follow in their footsteps and take in The Savoy’s stunning interiors – each of the bedrooms pay tribute to the hotel’s fashionable past, with dreamy Edwardian and art deco designs.

The present-day Palmer House is the third version of Victorian-era developer Potter Palmer’s dream hotel, which became more opulent with each rebuild. This dazzling building with many art deco-era details hosts more than 1600 guest rooms.

Nice has its Negresco and Cannes its Carlton Hotel. A landmark, albeit that the Carlton is enormous: the hotel has 343 rooms, including 39 suites. The Carlton, which was built between 1909 and 1913 for the Swiss hotelier Henri Ruhl, derives its mythical status from the fact that it is the place to be seen during the annual Cannes Film Festival: film stars, directors and producers all like to stay here and it is also a convenient place for interviews. Alfred Hitchcock featured the hotel and its private beach in a number of scenes in To Catch a Thief (1955) starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. The scene near the floating platform in the water was also shot here. The Hotel Carlton also served as a location for There’s a Girl in My Soup starring Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn. In 1983, Elton John’s video clip for I’m Still Standing was filmed in and around the hotel. The Carlton is currently closed for renovation and expansion. It is scheduled to reopen in 2023.