Six of the best: classic American lodgings

Vintage Hollywood glamour meets modern beachfront cool on Ocean Avenue. Santa Monica's first and highest beachfront hotel, built in 1933, the 80-year-old's exuberantly painted art deco exterior is a landmark where celebrities from Gwen Stefani to Adam Sandler have been spotted beneath the Veranda Restaurant's striped awning. Breakfast service is fast and the menu ranges from healthy to hearty, with French toast souffle the signature dish. A Hollywood facelift has retained art deco touches in the 84 super-sized rooms and suites, now tastefully decorated with a variety of modern amenities including goosedown bedding, complimentary Wi-Fi and expansive Pacific Ocean views.

Rooms from $US279. See GeorgianHotel.com.

HISTORIC PLAINS HOTEL

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

Opened in 1911, the Historic Plains Hotel is a Cheyenne landmark in a land marked by cattle barons and cowboys. "Welcome Pardner" is inscribed in the lobby's leadlight ceiling, while guests sit on museum-quality pieces of Thomas Molesworth's luxe ranch furniture. Above the small lift, expressly sized to deter guests from riding their horses up to their rooms, a tinted photo of Chief Little Shield commemorates his regular hotel visits. All 130 rooms and suites feature western artworks and evocative black-and-white photographs. Light timber furniture has been custom-designed and richly hued soft furnishings are Native American inspired. The fitness centre is propitious as The Capitol Grille restaurant and bar serves bunkhouse-sized portions in western saloon booths.

Rooms from $US94.50. See theplainshotel.com.

SPRING CREEK RANCH

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING

Set on a butte 2100 metres above the verdant Snake River Valley and surrounded by Grand Teton National Park, just 81 inn rooms and condominiums and eight spacious mountain villas are discreetly placed across 400 hectares where herds of elk and moose flourish. Clad in rustic western red cedar with stone fireplaces and wrap-around views, accommodation is classic luxury lodge with comfortable decor straight out of an interior design magazine. Granary restaurant serves gourmet western fare, massages are administered in a tepee, guests gather around the fire pit after a few laps in the heated pool or a lively game of tennis, while, corralled nearby, trail horses paw the ground rarin' to go. Rooms from $US580. See springcreekranch.com.

MIZPAH HOTEL

TONOPAH, NEVADA

Built in 1907, plaques outside 47 gracious rooms at the Mizpah Hotel recount Tonopah's colourful history. Fuelled by a silver rush, Jim Butler founded the town in 1900 and the impressive wagon bed in the Jim and Belle Butler Suite echoes settlers' long journeys across Nevada's high deserts. The Wyatt Earp Room commemorates the time he worked here as a hotel bouncer, while in Room 502, the ghostly apparition of a lady in red is sometimes captured in photos. Combining Edwardian charm with modern comfort, rooms feature soft luxury linens, plush towels, en suites with claw-foot tubs and spa toiletries plus flat-screen TVs, and free Wi-Fi. With two restaurants, a casino and saloons, expect to see Miss Kitty perched at the bar. King room from $US104. See mizpahhotel.net.