The Westin Dhaka

If the InterContinental owns Dhaka's state quarter, the Westin owns Gulshan—the leafy northern district where the embassies, multinationals and the city's best restaurants cluster. The tower rises directly on Gulshan Avenue, and for the business travellers who make up most of its house, the ability to walk or ride minutes to meetings and dinners in Gulshan and Banani outweighs anything else in the city.

The hotel executes the Westin formula faithfully: Heavenly Beds that rank among the best sleep in Dhaka, a serious gym, and calm, neutral rooms whose upper floors look across the district's rooftops and lakes. Club floors and an executive lounge serve the long-stay corporate crowd, and service is practised at handling everything from delegations to airline crews.

Eating is a genuine draw. The daily international buffet is one of Dhaka's most popular tables, the grillroom on the upper floors turns out proper steaks with skyline views, and Gulshan's restaurant scene is on the doorstep for everything else. A rooftop-level pool, spa and sauna handle recovery from the city's intensity. The Westin is not a landmark in the InterContinental's historic sense; it is the reliable, well-oiled Gulshan machine, and Dhaka regulars value it for exactly that.