TIME’s World’s Greatest Places is a cut above the many, many lists you run into on travel websites: the team behind it likes the interesting as much as the luxurious, makes unexpected choices, and gives you just enough information about each to want more. They’re also not in the affiliate link business.

The list goes well beyond sub-$1,000 hotels (Brisbane’s Bluey’s World gets a mention), but I saved these:

• Populus, Denver
• Banyan Tree Veya, Valle de Guadalupe
• Corendon, Amsterdam (airport hotel!)
• Hôtel Swexan, Dallas
• QT, Singapore
• The Radical, Asheville
• The Viewpoint, York, Maine