The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa

Frank Edbrooke built it in 1892 on a triangular lot, which is why the floorplan makes no sense and the building is unmistakable from any direction. Inside is a nine-story stained-glass atrium where they have poured afternoon tea for decades, with a harpist or pianist going most days. Four dining rooms hang off it: Ship Tavern for the wood-and-model-ships version, Churchill for cigars, Palace Arms for the old-guard dinner, and the coffee shop on the corner. Every president since Teddy Roosevelt but one has stayed here, and the hotel will tell you so.

Why go. It is the one downtown building where the lobby alone is worth walking in for.

Afternoon tea books out weeks ahead in December; a drink in the Ship Tavern gets you the same building for a tenth of the price.