1.  Where to Stay





Drop your bags at the polished Hotel Sorella (from $199).  Minimalist flair greets guests in the lobby, dressed in Carrera marble, with a blue Murano chandelier designed by Paola Navone.  The 132 mod rooms are appointed in charcoal, white, and blue hues, with bathrooms kitted out with rainfall showers and Lather apothecary products.  Head up to the seventh floor’s red-hued Italian restaurant, Bar Rosso, at sundown for a Brown & Bourbon cocktail mixed with brown sugar, orange bitters, and Fernet Branca ($12). 

Stay central at the boutique Raphael (from $229), housed in a 1920s Italian Renaissance Revival building.  Though the hotel’s on the National Register of Historic Places, the interior recently enjoyed a full renovation, with elegant mahogany and travertine marble floors in the lobby and 126 guest rooms done up in warm gold and earth tones, along with subway-tiled bathrooms with generous soaking tubs.  Ask for a north-facing room with open views of the Country Club Plaza, an homage to sister city Seville in Spain.  At night, head to the outdoor patio to hear local jazz outfits or sip a cocktail like the Lawrin ($8), mixed with Dark Horse Reserve Bourbon, cane sugar, fresh limes, and soda, at the lively, on-site bar, Chaz on the Plaza. 

Bunk with the arty crowd at Oak Street Mansion (from $175).  Situated in a stately, renovated Georgian Revival mansion, the property feels more like a design hotel thanks to its owners’ eclectic collection of 100 paintings, ranging from Thomas Hart Benton lithographs to more recent pieces from Kansas City Art Institute alumni.  Each of the eight rooms features a unique style of art: Try the Jazz Room, with framed album covers of Charlie Parker and Angela Hagenbach; or the Street Art Room, where three walls showcase a bold mural of train cars and the local skyline by local artist Jesse Hernandez.  In the morning, fill up on pumpkin-spice pancakes and other seasonal goodies at the complimentary homemade breakfast.