For the traveler who has everything, the “Hip Hotels Atlas” ($36.95, Thames & Hudson) is pure flip-through fun, page after page of gorgeous views and luxurious accommodations, velvet draperies, period furniture, elaborate swimming pools, thatched-roof porches, marble bathrooms, stone walkways and crisp linens.
Author Herbert Ypma presents lodgings from around the globe; each receives a descriptive narrative about seven or eight paragraphs long, with a brief history of the hotel and enticing tidbits.
Address, phone, website and starting room rates are given at the end, and each offering is accompanied by at least one full- page and often several smaller photographs. The pictures captivate and make one want to start using this fat book as a personal checklist.
