The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park

The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park

At sunset, the rooftop bar La Perla fills with the kind of light El Paso is known for, the Franklin Mountains turning copper as the borders of Mexico and New Mexico blur into the same skyline. This is the space where Elizabeth Taylor once lived, the penthouse of a hotel built in 1930 that hosted Conrad Hilton and dignitaries before reopening as El Paso's most luxurious boutique hotel. Pueblo Revival Art Deco lines run through all 130 rooms and suites across fourteen floors, and it holds the only MICHELIN Key in El Paso, a credential the city's other hotels don't have. Guests can eat at Ámbar, drink at the rooftop or the ground-floor bar, work out in the fitness center, hold a meeting in the conference hall, or send children to the playroom while parents get coffee in the library. Pets are welcome for a flat deposit, front desk staff speak English and Spanish, and 24-hour reception, concierge and laundry cover the practical end of things. This suits travelers drawn to a place with a real past and a city-center address close to the Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Rite Temple, rather than those chasing a sprawling resort pool or total quiet outside town. It is a hotel for people who want El Paso's history poured into a cocktail glass at altitude, not just a bed for the night. La Perla stays open until midnight, the mountains lit up below, and the story that once belonged to a Hollywood starlet is now just part of a night out. A 1930s Art Deco landmark in downtown El Paso where Elizabeth Taylor once lived, now the city's only MICHELIN Key hotel with a rooftop bar over the Franklin Mountains. Good for history-minded travelers who want a city-center base with real character, not those seeking a resort pool or total quiet.