Le Royal Monceau — Raffles Paris

What the classifiers highlight

Philippe Starck rebuilt this palace hotel in 2010 with hallucinogenic stripes, glass staircases hung with tiny chandeliers, and bathrooms lined in mirrors. Both guides note the 75-foot pool, the longest in a Parisian luxury hotel, a 99-seat private cinema called the Katara, and an in-house art gallery alongside a bookstore stocking more than 700 titles. Matsuhisa runs the restaurant.