Whether you like your accommodations cozy, cool or chic, you can find it all at one of Kansas City’s best hotels.

LUXURY HOTELS

The Westin Crown Center
Located within Hallmark’s Crown Center—an 85-acre complex of shops, restaurants and theaters—the hotel features 729 well-appointed guest rooms and suites. Enjoy 24-hour room service, as well as the Westin Heavenly Bed and Westin Heavenly Bath accoutrements. In addition, the hotel features three on-site restaurants; fitness facilities like an all-season swimming pool, a jogging track, and tennis and basketball courts; and a whirlpool, sauna and steam room.

1 EAST PERSHING RD. 816-474-4400

Intercontinental Kansas City at the Plaza
Known for contemporary elegance, the Intercontinental Kansas City is just steps away from the Country Club Plaza entertainment district. The Plaza is an outdoor museum of romantic Spanish architecture and European art, boasting more than 180 stores and distinctive boutiques and a variety of diverse restaurants.

401 WARD PKWY. 816-756-1500

The Quarterage Hotel
This charming hotel in Historic Westport surrounds you with Old World hospitality. It offers access to some of the city’s best shopping and entertainment. After a full day of sightseeing, relax in front of a fire in the lobby, which features handcrafted oak and brass trim and spectacular marble floors.

560 WESTPORT RD. 816-931-0001

BED AND BREAKFASTS

Woodstock Inn
Located in nearby Independence, the Woodstock Inn’s original building was built in 1900. In 1987, Charles Woodstock and Lane and Ruth Harold bought the building and turned it into an 11-room bed and breakfast.

1212 W. LEXINGTON ST., 816-833-2233

Dome Ridge Bed and Breakfast
The main attraction of this unique B&B is its distinct architecture: a geodesic dome. Beneath the dome’s many glass pentagons and hexagons are four cozy guest rooms.

14360 N.W. WALKER RD. 816-532-0474

Southmoreland on the Plaza Bed and Breakfast
Blending classic B&B ambiance with small hotel amenities, each room is named after a famous Kansas Citian and has a special feature, such as a treetop deck, fireplace or Jacuzzi.

116 EAST 46TH ST., 816-531-7979

BOUTIQUE HOTELS

The Raphael Hotel
Originally constructed in 1927 as the Villa Serena Apartments, the building was transformed in 1975 into a hotel with 123 well-appointed guest rooms and suites. Noted as one of the city’s most romantic restaurants, The Raphael Restaurant has a weekly changing menu of “creative Continental” cuisine. The hotel is conveniently located near Country Club Plaza and other landmarks.

325 WARD PARKWAY, 816-756-3800

Hotel Phillips
For 70 years, the Hotel Phillips has been welcoming guests into a pampering retreat. The hotel, which boasts a AAA Four Diamond Award, features the sophisticated Phillips Chophouse and the hip 12 Baltimore Café & Bar.

106 W. 12TH ST., 816-221-7000

Hotel Savoy
Open since 1888, Hotel Savoy underwent renovations in 1985, which transformed the rooms into antique-filled suites. The décor includes stained glass, Italian tile floors and carved oak woodwork. The Savoy Grill, open since 1903, is KC’s oldest restaurant; definitely make time for a meal here.

219 W. 9TH ST., 816-842-3575

KC’S CROSSROADS DISTRICT BLOSSOMS WITH ART OF ALL KINDS.

The line at Dolphin snakes out the door and around the corner on Baltimore Street. The wait is amiable, but a palpable sense of anticipation is building.

The serpentine train isn’t for an arena concert, nor is it for a department store shoe sale. It’s not even for garnering a table at a popular restaurant that doesn’t accept reservations. Instead, it’s for a photography show at Dolphin, which is a fine art gallery.

Welcome to First Fridays in Kansas City. Every first Friday of the month, the Crossroads District’s more than 100 galleries, shops and restaurants open their doors from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., beckoning to art lovers of all ages, cultures, tastes and backgrounds.

“Kansas City has probably been one of the Midwest’s best-kept secret destinations for art collectors,” says Marcus Cain, editor of Review, Kansas City’s art magazine. “The Crossroads District is a very welcoming urban neighborhood—a place where everyone opens their doors to invite in new people, and audiences are encouraged to open their minds to new experiences. It isn’t intimidating like many gallery districts in larger cities.”

A trolley traverses the square mile of this eclectic neighborhood, which is bounded by 15th Street, I-35, the Freighthouse District, and Troost Avenue. On First Fridays, some galleries and stores start the excitement earlier, while some stay open later—but all of them (including some small, working studios of artists that aren’t normally open to the public) pledge to be open during the evening hours.

“First Fridays have been going on for a number of years, but the consistency of it happening every first Friday really started in the fall of 2000,” says Kelly Kuhn, owner of Blue Gallery. “That’s when it began to take off, and it snowballed really quickly. Really, it’s a no-fail event. You don’t have to grab a Kansas City Star, or log onto a Web site. You just have to show up.”

When the event began, attendance was in the hundreds. Now, it’s grown to the thousands, and on a balmy fall night, 10,000—if not 20,000—people take part in the festivities. “We have had 4,890 people visit our business,” Kuhn says.

“It’s just really family friendly, and it’s not too loud, not too bright. It’s just a nice event,” says Peregrine Honig, owner of the boutique Birdies Panties and a local artist. “This is just a great way for people to come together.”

Besides Blue Gallery and Dolphin, two other must-visits include Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art and the Byron C. Cohen Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Today, the many visitors and residents keep the neighborhood vibrant and busy even on other nights of the month—but the Crossroads District wasn’t always so lively. In fact, it had become run down during the ’80s. About 20 years ago, artists moved into the district.

“A number of creative types bought buildings because they were affordable,” says Suzie Aron, past president of the Crossroads Community Association.

“Much like artists everywhere, they were able to see the beauty in an area that others had left behind,” Kuhn adds.

The artists’ acute, collective eye not only transformed the neighborhood, but also created such a welcoming environment that when city officials were looking to build a new performing arts center, they chose the intersection of 16th and Broadway in the Crossroads District as the site.

The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie, will be completed in December 2009. It will become the new home of the Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera and Kansas City Ballet.

Events inside the center will be accented by the art found not only in its galleries, but also the creative expressions on the streets. According to Aron, “The thing about the Crossroads District is you are just as likely to see a street performance given by a nonprofit arts organization as you are to see a couple tangoing, or a guy looking in a telescope at the moon.”

Café Sebastienne

Place an order for Monet’s haystacks, served with a side of Picasso—easy on the abstraction—and a glass of Whistler, straight up. Or, savor a plate of seared sea scallops on a grilled portobello mushroom, stuffed with spinach and brie, drizzled with balsamic reduction, and paired with a chilled sauvignon blanc.

The art at the café, located in the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, comes not only on the wall, but also in the dishes, making for a perfect beginning or ending to a First Friday experience. The café is decorated with Frederick James Brown’s 110-piece collection called “The History of Art.” His art is accented by Chef Jennifer Maloney’s symphony of flavors. In warmer months, she might serve a pan-roasted chicken breast with warm, coconut curry over jasmine rice. And during cooler times of the year, that same chicken breast might be served with a root vegetable purée. “Some people just come in for the art, but many come for the food,” Maloney says. “We say you can get free art with every meal.”