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Tapping an avant-garde leather-jewelry designer to create a French Provincial bar was risky. But Dream Hotel owner Vikram Chatwal got it right when he hired Jody Singleton to craft his hypnotic lobby bar. Silk-brocade sofas, studded columns, and cobalt-blue glass chandeliers are dark and sexy; the black-and-white birch-tree mural commanding the entire length of one wall is mesmerizing. The drink prices are as ambitious as the décor, but the specialty cocktails are creative and generously poured by waitresses who look like fit models on Project Runway. If the ambiance goes to your head, a light menu of thin-crust pizza, skewers, and dumplings can be ordered from the hotel restaurant, Serafina. — Amanda Pressner