These Lavish Hotel Lobbies Are Simply Stunning

The Liberty Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts

Once a granite Victorian jail, now a luxury lodging, Boston's Liberty Hotel retains many original features from its hard prison days. The lobby of The Liberty lies in what was once the jail's central rotunda, and upon close inspection, you can see the holes where the iron bars once were. Revamped prison catwalks line the walls. The building still looks kind of like a jail. Despite its 150-plus-year history, though, the property is decidedly modern. After a $150 million renovation, The Liberty turned from penitentiary to palace with contemporary design elements such as bold patterns, exposed brick, and iron chandeliers.

Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, D.C.

We love open-roofed atrium lobbies because of their visually astounding, spacious ambiance. The many-storied lobby of the Grand Hyatt Washington is, indeed, grand. At the floor of the lobby, a sapphire-blue pool—with a piano in it—slinks alongside cafe seating. The atrium is flooded with natural light, thanks to the enormous vaulted glass ceiling. You'll definitely want to take a trip to the top floor for a better view.

The Roosevelt New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana

The Roosevelt New Orleans's lobby spans an entire city block and exhibits grand art deco details, from ornate tile mosaics to crystal chandeliers. In the center of the lobby, look for the museum-worthy clock, which was displayed in the 1878 Paris World's Fair. (It's tradition for each Waldorf Astoria property to have a clock in the lobby.) Surrounded by velvet ropes, the priceless 19th-century timepiece is the world's largest conical clock.

Glacier Park Lodge, East Glacier Park, Montana

When staying in a national park, you're probably not going to spend a lot of time in your hotel. But it certainly doesn't hurt if the public spaces in your property of choice are awesome. Glacier Park Lodge takes rustic to new heights with its vast lobby constructed of massive Douglas fir timbers that reach from ceiling to floor. The lobby is arguably the most spectacular out of all the hotels in the National Park System. Completed in 1912, the property's design was based on the Forestry Building at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon, and the lobby itself was modeled after a Christian basilica.

The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The solid-marble rotunda atop the lobby of The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia, is a reproduction of the Pantheon in Rome. Appropriately, then, it's enormous. When the dome was first built as part of the Girard Trust Building in 1908, it was the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Today, hotel guests and visitors who ascend the stairs leading from the lobby to the Grand Ballroom are following the very route taken by turn-of-the-century society ladies as they walked to retrieve their jewels from the Girard Trust Building's vault.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco, San Francisco, California

Yet another massive atrium lobby makes our list. Designed by architect John Portman (the guy who designed the world's first modern atrium hotel), this one is 23 stories high. When the Hyatt Regency San Francisco's grand lobby opened in 1973, it was quite the futuristic marvel. In fact, it's the world's largest atrium lobby. A giant geodesic sphere by Charles Perry, made from 1,400 pieces of curved metal tubing, might catch your eye as you ride the glass elevator to your guest room.

The Bowery Hotel, New York, New York

You'll want to wear your finest dinner jacket to the lobby of this classy East Village boutique property. Designed by The Maritime Hotel's Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson, The Bowery Hotel's lobby seems like a grand parlor of the Belle Epoque, with antique velvet couches, Persian rugs, wood-paneled walls, an ornately tiled fireplace, and green palms. New York Magazine calls it "one of the most opulent rooms in the city." It's a true old-New York aesthetic. The lobby is certainly worth a visit, but you'll want to get a room if you can, as the seats at the lobby bar are reserved for hotel guests first.

Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Orlando, Florida

The Waldorf Astoria Orlando, the closest luxury resort to Disney World, was modeled after the art deco Waldorf Astoria in New York City (which, as you may know, has its own over-the-top lobby). Orlando's take on the Waldorf Astoria brand's traditional sumptuousness is quite the achievement. A large lobby clock, like the one in New York, sits in the grand entrance below a hand-painted gilded dome ceiling. You might notice a beautiful fragrance while you're taking it all in: A signature scent adds to the gorgeous visual. It's a blend of blue mint, eucalyptus, bergamot, and marigold bouquets.

Hyatt Regency Cleveland at the Arcade, Cleveland, Ohio

Walk into the Hyatt Regency Cleveland's stunning 7,000-square-foot lobby—called the Arcade—and crane your neck skyward to take in the 85-foot-high vaulted skylight, comprised of 1,800 panes of glass. If this sunny, five-story indoor atrium looks like a really fancy mall to you, that's because it is. Built in the late 19th century, Cleveland's landmark Arcade was one of the first indoor shopping malls in America. Today, the Arcade continues to function as a retail center that houses shops, restaurants, and cafes.

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas has no shortage of over-the-top lobbies. Caesars Palace, one of the Strip's landmark properties, makes our list for several reasons. Many scenes from The Hangover movies were filmed in the hotel's palatial lobby, so you might recognize it from the big screen. And as of this year, after a $1 million upgrade, the lobby has a new bar, called, fittingly, Lobby Bar. The ancient Rome-inspired fountain that greets visitors at the lobby entrance makes for a perfect photo op, too. It's quintessential Vegas.

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