3 of a kind
NH Lingotto, Italy
Via Nizza, Turin, Italy;
tel: 0039-0116642000; nh-hotels.com
The city of Turin is home to the Fiat car, and this hotel is Fiat’s former factory, which was renowned for the car-testing track on its roof. The factory, designed by Giacomo Matte-Trucco and completed in 1923, had five floors, with production starting at ground level and revving up floor by floor until the completed automobiles emerged at roof level, and it is here that hotel guests can run: along the 1,030m track formerly frequented by Topolinos, Pandas, Spiders, Ulysses et al.
The building is part of a complex that includes a college, concert hall, theatre, gallery and function room, which is up by the track in a futuristic glass dome, all designed by local architect Renzo Piano (who hit the international scene in the 1970s along with Richard Rogers when they codesigned the Centre Pompidou in Paris). His firm is called Renzo Piano Building Workshop, recalling Turin’s industrial tradition.
The hotel combines contemporary and industrial-modern design and connects – at first-floor level – to a huge shopping gallery. At roof level is the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli art gallery with a soaring, overhanging roof. The gallery’s permanent collection includes works by Matisse, Manet, Picasso and Renoir.
Rooms: There are 240 rooms designed to feel like swish lofts, with stylish furniture, cherry-wood wall panelling and the original Fiat factory's floor-to-ceiling windows putting much of Turin before you. Some rooms come with views of the central tropical garden (as do public areas, and you can dine in the garden, too). Doubles from €106.
Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, Portugal
Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca, Lisbon, Portugal, tel: 00351-213811400, fourseasons.com/lisbon
This 10-storey hotel is on top of one of Lisbon’s seven hills, so from the race track on the roof you get 360-degree views of Portugal’s capital. The 400m track runs around the perimeter of the building, circling the gym, where you can look in at fellow fitness fanatics on the real thing, and vice-versa. The penthouse fitness centre, including swimming pool, has glass walls, so on rainy days runners can still make the most of the views.
The panorama includes Eduardo VII Park, St George’s castle, the Tagus river, the 25th of April Bridge, and the wide avenues of Lisbon and its old town beyond (some of these views can be had from the rooms too).
Inside the hotel, rich history is recalled in 18th-century Louis XVI-style furnishings, while art-deco pieces bring a polished, sunnier look. In the marble bathrooms, some of the fittings are 1950s originals. New pieces include contemporary Portuguese tapestries.
Rooms: There are 282 rooms, 40 of which are suites, and most (272) have private balconies. All the one-bedroom suites can be connected to other rooms. Doubles from €345.
Hilton Chicago, US
720 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, US, tel: 001-3129224400; hilton.com
This colossal building, designed by architects of the revolutionary Chicago school, Holabird Roche, in 1927, is large enough to accommodate an indoor running track in its athletics club (as well as a swimming pool, whirlpools, hot rooms and sun deck). But despite its city-centre location, you can also leg it outside: Grant Park is across the road so you can head through there and then course along the shore of Lake Michigan, which is two blocks away (running past attractions such as the museum campus and Art Institute of Chicago).
The hotel, whose original owners were victims of the Great Depression (not the last developers to be hit by the effects of foundationless credit), has retained its grandeur and has housed many a US president.
It also has an Irish pub, called Kitty O’Sheas, for those who wish to man themselves with a pint of plain.
Rooms: They range from guest rooms and suites to executive and accessible rooms. They are decorated in spotless old-school soft-edged style and are wired for contemporary technology. Some rooms come with two beds and two bathrooms. Double from $125 (€96.50).