Dream Midtown

Vikram Chatwal—the mastermind behind the color-themed Time and the Night hotel, inpired by "modern gothic Gotham"—turned the old Majestic Hotel into a luxury lodge with a trippy slumberland theme in 2004. The lobby, dominated by a two-story tubular fishtank and an enormous statue of Catherine the Great, sums up the surreal aesthetic. Rooms are more restrained, with ethereal blue lighting effects offsetting white minimalism, but scuffed furniture is showing its age. The hotel's popular Italian eatery, Serafina, has a Fellini-esque interior crafted by David Rockwell, and Ava, the rooftop bar, wows drinkers with its panoramic views of the city. The onsite Ayurvedic spa was conceived by none other than New Age guru Deepak Chopra.