The Best Hotels to Book in Wisconsin, USA

This Prairie-style mansion in Wausau is considered one of the world’s finest examples of George Maher architecture. Each double has a period detail found nowhere else in the property, such as a claw-foot soaking tub in the Fuller Room and an oak tripartite headboard in the Sheldon Room. Nibble cheese and sip wine at the nightly social in a lounge with a striking mosaic fireplace, and the gourmet breakfast is in a wood-paneled dining room with stained-glass windows

Sharing lobby space with this homely hotel is a branch of Benvenuto’s, where you can perfect the art of building your perfect calzone. Next door to the shops, bars and restaurants of the Third Street Lifestyle Center, the inn has doubles bathed in gold and brown, in addition to self-catering suites with granite worktop kitchens, private whirlpools and lounges with fireplaces. Shared spaces allow relaxation in a plunge pool, jacuzzi and small gym.

Every room here has a record player, enabling you to spin albums from the on-site vinyl library. Spread across a 1940s brick-and-steel building and a 1960s motor lodge, the rooms also feature minibars packed with locally produced snacks and beers, and furniture handcrafted from the city’s urban wood. Play yard games or chill around fire pits in the courtyard, then head to the Lakely for live jazz and Koltboards, which are Scandinavian-style platters of cold meats, vegetables, bread and cheeses.

Swim off two sandy beaches or pop next door to the country’s largest waterpark? There’s no need to choose at this complex of privately owned apartments on the northern shores of Lake Delton, all with access to boat slips, outdoor and indoor pools, a spa, lakeside grills and fire pits. Individually themed after far-flung destinations, the waterfront studios for two have whirlpools, wet bars, body massage showers and decked balconies with Lake Delton views.

If this spa hotel were any closer to Lambeau Field, you’d be surrounded by boisterous Packers fans. Enjoy up-close views of Green Bay’s football stadium from ground-floor decks with fire pits and grills in the Terrace Suites, or through floor-to-ceiling windows in the Skyline Suite – the only accommodation on the top level. At fifth-floor, open-flame restaurant Taverne in the Sky, the pre-game speciality is rotisserie chicken with herb-tossed French fries, sweet-roasted brussels sprouts and chimichurri. Don’t miss the Packer Mule cocktails, either.

All one- and two-bedroom, self-catered condominiums at this Lake Minocqua retreat feature a fall color scheme and terraces overlooking the water. Perfect for a nature-orientated getaway, it offers renal canoes and kayaks, plus easy access to the Bearskin Trail, an 18mi (29km), linear route that cuts through hardwood forests and over historic railroad trestle bridges. After a day’s hiking or paddling, huddle by the lakeside fire pit or unwind in the spa, where you’ll find a cedar sauna and indoor pool.

Housed in the 19th-century Goodwin House, this adults-oriented boutique has Beloit’s only rooftop bar, where you can accompany Downtown views with a Wisconsin-style Old Fashioned (Korbei, bitters, Sprite) and snacks such as chimichurri beef skewers and Vietnamese grilled and chilled shrimp. Black-and-white rooms with tufted leather headboards feature turntables with records. Velvet Buffalo restaurant has modern fresh Italian cuisine and a sizable selection of gins and whiskies.

Adorned with rusting, heavy-duty machinery, this hotel’s entrance leaves no doubt about its former purpose. Established as a foundry in 1858, the building now contains industrially inspired rooms and suites with dark wood and exposed brick walls, iron-latticed desks and oversized wall clocks. Reserve the Legacy Suite for a lounge with a double-sided gas fireplace. At on-site steakhouse Merrill & Houston’s, the chef tops the Ironworks rib eye with shrimp, scallop, parmesan butter and garlic crumbs.

This Romanesque-revival building in Downtown Milwaukee was a technological marvel when it opened as the so-called Grand Hotel of the West in 1893, boasting fireproofing, electricity and in-room thermostats. Soak up its old-world grandeur over cocktails and piano music in the lobby bar, where original features include marble columns, a fireplace and high corniced ceilings hung with chandeliers. At the 23rd-floor Blu bar, live jazz and sharp martinis accompany Lake Michigan views. Fancy a dip? You’ll still have dreamy views from the indoor pool.

If you want to connect with your creative side, this art-obsessed boutique in Milwaukee has equipped every room with paintings by Wisconsin-based creators, butcher-block drawing paper, a turntable with records and – wait for it – a ukulele. When you’re not courting the muse, check out the creations of contemporary artists in the first- and second-floor galleries, treat yourself to a tipple in the Giggly – the city’s only champagne joint – or dine on Neapolitan-style pizza and artisanal Midwestern cuisine at the on-site eateries.