What: The ultimate über-cool place for the snowboarding crowd, Riders Palace has received the third annual "Milestone Tourism Prize Switzerland 2002," presented in recognition of the hotel's vision and innovation.

Where: In the Swiss town of Laax.

Why: The Palace is a cutting-edge contemporary building with the kind of interior spaces normally found in trendy urban locations. At first sight the mirror-glazed façade may seem a bit out of place, but when you consider that it is there to reflect the mountains back at you, it comes to seem a far more attractive approach than the big-white-block sanatorium architecture that used to prevail in Swiss resorts.