Barack Obama

The restored Waldorf Astoria New York revives Park Avenue's grandest Art Deco address. The glamour is personal for Paris and Nicky Hilton: both sisters spent part of their teenage years living in the hotel with their family.

Johnny Depp made the Grand Hôtel’s Princess Lilian Suite his Stockholm hideaway in 2016, staying in the landmark’s most spectacular quarters above the waterfront. He joined a guest history stretching from Greta Garbo to Madonna and Barack Obama. Opposite the Royal Palace, with the Cadier Bar, gilded rooms and ferries slipping past the windows, the Grand feels less like a hotel with celebrity stories than one of the stages on which Stockholm’s celebrity history has unfolded.

Barack Obama stayed at Jerusalem's King David Hotel during his 2013 visit, when rooms and security arrangements transformed the landmark into a presidential base. The episode continued a long tradition of statesmen and public figures using the hotel as their city address. Its limestone façade, gardens and Old City views give the stay a sense of history that ordinary luxury cannot reproduce.

Barack Obama and his family stayed at The Hay-Adams before the 2009 inauguration, with the White House visible just across Lafayette Square. Few hotel stories carry a stronger sense of anticipation: a president-elect waiting opposite the residence he was about to enter. The hotel's formal rooms and discreet service still make the address feel closely connected to Washington's political life.

Barack Obama chose Hotel Adlon Kempinski while in Berlin, joining a guest history that includes Michael Jackson and Angelina Jolie. Beside the Brandenburg Gate, the hotel has the rare quality of feeling both intensely public and carefully shielded. Its formal rooms, landmark address and practiced discretion create a Berlin stay with genuine diplomatic and celebrity weight.

The Taj Mahal Palace faces Mumbai's Gateway of India with domes, harbour views and more than a century of grand-hotel theatre. Prince William stayed in its heritage wing with Catherine during their 2016 India tour, adding a fourth generation of British royals to the guestbook.

Barack and Michelle Obama made ITC Maurya their New Delhi base in January 2015, occupying the Grand Presidential Suite with its private sauna, study and 12-seat dining room. Barack used the hotel gym each morning, Michelle dined privately at Bukhara, and the presidential limousine waited below. ITC Maurya still feels designed for such arrivals: composed, discreet and grand, with celebrated Indian dining and a diplomatic Chanakyapuri address.

Modern design sets the tone at 11 Mirrors Hotel, a contemporary retreat in Kiev's core. From here, the wider experience of Kyiv remains close at hand.

The Table Bay pairs Cape Town's V&A Waterfront energy with sweeping harbour and mountain views. Michael Jackson arrived here during his 1997 South African visit, adding a pop-culture chapter to a hotel built for grand entrances.

Barack Obama stayed and held briefings at The Westin Playa Bonita during his visit to Panama, turning the Pacific-facing resort into a temporary working base. The story reveals a useful balance: enough scale for official business, with sea views and tropical surroundings waiting outside. It is a resort that can feel purposeful and removed at once, close to Panama City but visually apart from it.

Barack Obama spent a night at The Leela Palace New Delhi, while Tom Cruise stayed in the Maharaja Suite and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have used the Presidential Suite. Few hotels possess a guest history with such immediate star power. The palace-like interiors and Diplomatic Enclave setting create a stay built around privacy, ceremony and the confidence of a property used to major arrivals.

A garden sets the tone at Villa San Valentino, an unfussy retreat in Tuscany. From here, the wider experience of Tuscany remains close at hand.

Barack Obama and the US delegation selected the New York Palace for their 2015 visit, bringing presidential security and ceremony to its Madison Avenue courtyard. The choice reinforced the hotel's role as a grand Manhattan address capable of handling high-profile arrivals without losing its sense of calm. Historic architecture and modern towers give the property a distinctly New York form of glamour.