12 Dazzling Interiors Every Traveler Should See

A stay at the iconic La Mamounia, located in the heart of bustling Marrakech, is an extraordinary visual experience. The five-star property, built in the mid-1920s, once hosted the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Winston Churchill, and many others. After closing for a complete three-year renovation led by French interior designer Jacques Garcia, the hotel re-opened in 2009 and now offers its guests unprecedented luxury among Moorish-inspired interiors.

From the moment you step into the lobby, you realize you're in for a treat. Baccarat crystal chandeliers hang from the hand-painted wooden ceiling while lanterns illuminate the space. The hotel’s signature cedar and fig scent, created by French perfumer Olivia Giacobetti, permeates the property. Arcaded openings, massive doors with intricate patterns, Majorelle ceilings, and countless columns clad in zelliges (each placed by hand) showcase traditional Moroccan craftsmanship. The hotel's 136 stylish guest rooms, 71 suites, and three riads are all designed with the same grandeur.

If there’s one word that best describes Versace’s ultra-luxury property in Dubai’s Cultural Village, it's opulent. Inspired by traditional 16th-century Italian palaces in the Neoclassical style, it has subtle Arabian influences and is the brand’s second hotel that took 12 years to build.

Why that long? To start, the lobby’s marble floor alone—a reproduction of Versace’s iconic Medusa logo—took Italian mosaic masters Fantini two years to complete. Every single piece of furniture and fabric in the hotel’s rooms, suites, and residences were tailor-made and designed by none other than the brand’s creative director Donatella Versace. Familiar motifs such as peacocks, falcons, and horses adorn the textiles throughout the property that overlooks Dubai Creek.

Each of the hotel’s eight restaurants also has a distinct interior. The Giardino, for example, has marble terrazzo flooring with walls inspired by the Jungle print from Versace’s wallpaper collection (in shades of green, light green, and ivory).

Located around the corner from Champs Elysée, among a slew of high-end boutiques on the renowned Avenue Montaigne, Dorchester Collection's Hôtel Plaza Athénée is the ultimate haute address in Paris. For over 100 years, the property has welcomed celebrities, politicians, and fashion's elite and treated them to breathtaking views of the Eiffel Tower.

And so it's unsurprising, then, that famed chef Alain Ducasse oversees the property’s five restaurants—the crown jewel of which is Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, a Michelin-starred eatery serving contemporary French cuisine.

After a complete renovation in 2014 (lead by Paris-based design duo Jouin Manku), Ducasse relaunched the restaurant with a new, seasonally-focused menu and a modern interior featuring mirrored stainless steel domes inspired by traditional domed plate covers, elegant low white leather chairs, and sofas with timber legs that match the solid oak tabletops. The only original piece of furniture left in the dining room is the dazzling Swarovski crystal chandelier that hangs from the ceiling and is reflected beautifully in the mirrored domes.

When the iconic Ritz Paris closed its doors for a complete renovation in 2012, many of its long-term guests and clients worried that the property, housed in an 18th-century building at the heart of Place Vendôme, would lose its historical charm. (Over the years, the hotel had become a staple of Parisian social life; Luminaries like Ernest Hemingway and Marcel Proust could regularly be seen sipping drinks and entertaining guests.)

Fortunately, after four years of painstaking renovations led by French architect Thierry Despont, the hotel reopened revealing a fresher version of its original extravagance. The 800 stonemasons, upholsterers, and woodcarvers that were commissioned by Despont worked tirelessly to revitalize the smallest details of all components of the interior—which now boasts custom Pierre Frey fabrics, restored oeil-de-boeuf windows, and gilded Art Deco and Neoclassical furniture.

Of course, there were some modern additions, too, including the first-ever Chanel spa and the Ritz Club, a two-story beauty and wellness haven with a show-stopping indoor swimming pool.

Book with American Express Travel to receive your complimentary Fine Hotels & Resorts® benefits. Terms Apply.

When the Palace Hotel first opened its doors in 1875, it was the largest property in the world, boasting 750 guest rooms with (at the time) modern amenities like telegraph communication and elevators. Unfortunately, the fires that followed the 1906 earthquake destroyed the hotel, which had already become a favorite of world travelers.

But only three years later, the Palace rose from the ashes—and this time it wasn’t the convenience of elevators or telecommunications that made it a must-visit destination: It was the unveiling of the brand-new Garden Court, a 110-foot by 85-foot-wide space framed by massive Italian marble columns with Austrian crystal chandeliers hanging from a seven-million-dollar stained-glass ceiling. (The room was so exquisite, in fact, that 60 years later it was designated San Francisco Landmark Number 18.)

Nowadays, anyone can visit the Garden Court for brunch or afternoon tea and marvel at the sheer grandeur.

Many hotels promise to treat you like royalty, but few know what it takes to tend to the wishes of actual royalty. One of those properties is the Sujan Rajmahal Palace.

More than 250 years old, this royal palace was built as a quiet oasis amid the hustle and bustle of the Pink City for the wife of HH Sawai Jai Singh II. Over the years, the property has also welcomed several members of the British royal family (including Queen Elizabeth II), the Shah of Iran, and Jackie Kennedy.

After undergoing extensive renovations, this property reopened in 2015 with only 14 rooms, suites, and apartments. Decorator Adil Ahmad’s restoration of its interior included designing 48 custom wallpapers and fabrics to fit each room’s theme. Geometric shapes, intricate motifs, and vibrant colors inspired by the region’s rich architectural and cultural heritage make it one of India’s most beautiful hotels.

A museum, by definition, is a building in which objects of cultural value are stored and exhibited—but some museums are worth visiting because they are true masterpieces in their own right. One such example is the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, a complex of buildings on the Neva River that is home to the most extensive art collections in the world.

When Russian Empress Catherine the Great laid the foundation for the modern-day Hermitage, she knew that her impressive art collection needed to be exhibited in rooms just as splendid and beautiful as the art itself.

Take the Raphael Loggias, for example. The corridor is an exact copy of the gallery in the Papal Palace in Vatican City: The walls are covered in biblical scenes and elaborate ornamentation motifs in shades of gold and blue. The Winter Palace is another perfect instance of the extravagance of the Romanov family. The Main Staircase (or Jordan Staircase) stuns with its gilded wall moldings, granite columns, complex frescoes, and white marble statues.

When you hear the name Rio de Janeiro, you may picture the white-sand beach of Copacabana. But the Brazilian city is also home to one of the most impressive libraries in the world.

The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading took seven years to build and is home to the most significant collection of Portuguese books outside of Portugal with more than 350,000 volumes.

The neo-Manueline interior features exquisitely ornamental doors, arcs, and wooden columns. Plus, the bookshelves rise a full three stories above the central study area.

Italy’s Amalfi Coast has no shortage of beautiful restaurants overlooking the turquoise waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, but La Sponda takes that to another level.

The Michelin-starred eatery located in the family-run, 58-room Le Sirenuse looks like something out of a fairy tale. The elegant dining area features a tiled aquamarine floor, floor-to-ceiling windows opening up to breathtaking vistas over Positano, and arched ceilings covered in pink bougainvillea (which, at night, are illuminated by some four hundred candles).

La Sponda’s chef, Gennaro Russo, serves light Mediterranean fare prepared with fresh local ingredients—which, just like the interior of his restaurant—is inspired by the gorgeous Amalfi Coast.

When the Tianjin Binhai Cultural Center opened its doors last year, it became a sudden social media sensation. Dubbed “the Eye” for its resemblance to the optical organ when looked from outside, the futuristic design is the brainchild of Dutch urban design company MVRDV and Tianjin architects TUPDI.

The library features a substantial illuminated spherical auditorium encircled with floor-to-ceiling terraced bookshelves. However, the uninterrupted cascade of books visible in most photos is just an optical illusion; In fact, there are only a few real volumes places strategically on the bookshelves while everything else is just images of books printed on the walls.

Although authorities only approved the atrium to be used for reading and discussion—the library’s 200,000 books are actually in separate rooms inside the cultural center—its architecture remains pretty mind-blowing.

Rumor has it that J.K. Rowling took inspiration for Harry Potter’s magical world from this more than a hundred-year-old Portuguese bookstore. And it’s easy to see why: The neo-Gothic façade of the building looks as if it belongs to a magical world.

But really, it's the interior of Livraria Lello that attracts book lovers from around the globe. A stained-glass skylight surrounded by gorgeous moldings and art décor motifs cover the ceiling, but the red stairway—with its intricate wood-carved detailing—is the focal point.

It takes just one look at the Erawan Museum, located just outside of Bangkok, to realize it's anything but ordinary: The building is topped by a gigantic sculpture of a three-headed elephant standing on a pink pedestal.

The layout of the interior space is an homage to the Hindu representation of the universe, with the first two floors, situated inside the pedestal, representing the underworld and earth. The third one—heaven—is located in the elephant’s belly. The crown jewel of the main hall is a beautiful round stained glass ceiling that depicts the map of the world, the zodiac symbols, and the stars. Underneath it, two winding porcelain-studded staircases symbolize the stairway to heaven.

While the museum's awe-inspiring architecture attracts travelers, its collection of Thai and Buddhist relics is also worth exploring.