Certain hotels we visit over the course of the year deserve special recognition for excelling in one particular aspect of note. And while hotels on this list don’t necessarily have to have the best scores of the properties we reviewed, we had no trouble finding winners that also had high overall ratings. We would be very pleased to return to any of them.

Best City Hotel: Cheval Blanc Paris

Paris, France

Created from the art deco building that formerly housed La Samaritaine department store, offering iconic views of the Seine in the heart of Paris, this new 72-room hotel is the flagship property of the Cheval Blanc chain of hotels owned by LVMH. Cheval Blanc’s opening was the most talked about in the city for years, and its development tapped a who’s-who of notable names. New York-based architect Peter Marino designed the profoundly plush champagne-colored interiors; artist Michael Mayer created the mosaic walls of the indoor pool; and Rossano Ferretti (Kate Middleton’s favorite stylist) gave his name to the salon. With a Dior spa and four restaurants, one of which is chef Arnaud Donckele’s Michelin three-star restaurant Plénitude, Cheval Blanc is the new benchmark for luxury hotels in 21st-century Paris.