THE BRAND:

SHINOLA

THE PLACE: The Shinola Hotel, Detroit. Rates start at $255 per night.

BETTER KNOWN FOR: Manufacturing handsome, looks good-on-anyone, domestically built watches, bikes, and leather goods.

CATERING TO: The design-minded guy who wants to feel like a local.

THE EXPERIENCE: In 2011, Shinola revived a defunct shoe-polish brand in Detroit and made it a luxury-product manufacturer. Now its revamped two old buildings in the middle of the city to create a new hotel and dining destination. Rooms are fashioned to look and feel like home residences-in-room Bluetooth speaker systems (made by Shinola, available for purchase), analog alarm clocks (made by Shinola, available for purchase), leather throw pillows (made by Shinola, available for purchase), hardwood floors, bookshelves holding actual books, and mini fridges stocked with local craft brews. That hometown feel, though, can feel too try-hard when the brand is still new to a city and selling you every item on display. Rooms also include made-in-America furniture (a hallmark of the company, one of the first to recognize that Built in Detroit is a very effective marketing message). The lounge feels like a well-appointed rumpus room, one youd find in an old-school Detroit home, with a pool table.

PRIME AMENITY: Select suites come with a Shinola turntable and a collection of classic vinyl records.

The Brand:

EQUINOX

THE PLACE: The Equinox Hotel, New York City (with locations on the way in Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Chicago, Seattle, and Houston). Rates start at $700 per night.

CATERING TO: Fitness junkies with tastes that veer toward the expensive.

THE EXPERIENCE: Think of it as an urban healthretreat. Equinox, being Equinox, has taken something you already do and made it more expensive and exclusive: like sleeping. Restorative rest is the priority in the rooms. Each space is soundproofed, comes with a blackout-window system, and features a minibar stocked with beverages that help promote sleep. Of course, the hotel contains a 60,000-square-foot Equinox fitness club-the companys largest ever-that guests have access to, including a 25-yard indoor pool, group classes, and a SoulCycle studio. Its all a lot of pressure to be your healthiest, when often the best part of traveling is shirking your healthiest routines.

PRIME AMENITY: You can order an in-room IV vitamin drip on demand to recover (from either a workout or a hangover).

The Brand:

VIRGIN

THE PLACE: The Virgin Hotel San Francisco. (Theres also a location in Chicago and more opening in Dallas, Nashville, and New York City.) Rates start at $295 per night.

CATERING TO: Business travelers looking to feel like theyre traveling for more than just business.

THE EXPERIENCE: The hotel extension of Richard Bransons Virgin conglomerate

incorporates the airlines British rock-n-roll-meets-can-do vibe in hopes of making business travel feel more like enjoyable travel. Take the hotels sprawling Commons Club, a DJ-manned restaurant, bar, caf, and coworking space where youre just as likely to tear off a few emails next to a local tech entrepreneur as next to another out-of-towner. That gloss, though, sometimes has the opposite effect and emphasizes the fact that youre still traveling for work. Rooms provide a surplus of outlets and free Wi-Fi, along with an oversize shower and yoga mats. The hotel lets you order room service and consult your concierge through an app on your phone

PRIME AMENITY: Almost anywhere theres a chair on the property, theres an outlet for easy charging.