If your tolerance for Brooklyn preciousness is low, limit yourself to dinner and resist the urge to check out the hotel rooms upstairs: they are lovely in a reclaimed-wood-and-exposed-brick kind of way, but the twee factor is pretty intense.

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Music-lovers also should check out the Hotel Hof Weissbad (from 270 CHF), the only venue that has Appenzeller music concerts year-round: every Wednesday night is a raucous dancing and music session, where old-timers spin around on the dance floor to high-speed hackbrett.

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For a lavish country-club-style atmosphere set in an urban forest of oaks and pines, plus athletic extras like a running track, three large outdoor pools, a 125, 000sqft fitness centre, tennis courts and a climbing wall, check out the 289-room Houstonian Hotel Club and Spa near the Galleria on the west side of town.

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The major hotel chain that figures out a way to implement "anytime check-in" on a mass scale will become the new Hilton.

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If you are worried that the Four Seasons might still be working out its grand opening kinks, check out the uber-cool 77-room Hazelton Hotel down the street.

BBC: Business trip: Toronto