Character actor Ben Foster is one marquee role away from the big time.

When Starwood launched the W Hotel group in 1998 in New York City, it tipped off a trend in business travel that fundamentally changed the industry. No longer would we be content with soulless beige rooms, bland breakfast buffets, and generic hotel art. If we’re going to spend weeks of our lives on the road, we want to stay somewhere that feels like home -- or preferably, better than home. Now that W is the corporate behemoth, smaller groups and individual properties have emerged to take up the mantle of the best boutique hotels for business travelers. Here are a few exceptional examples around the world.

Fall has arrived and winter is imminent. You’re busy planning your escape, possibly to Los Angeles, so lucky for you there are several new hotels in L.A. just waiting to take your reservation. The most anticipated arrival is surely the renovated Hotel Bel-Air. The storied property, known for its high-profile guests, extravagant weddings, and perhaps America’s best bartender over the age of 60 (here's hoping Gus will be back), is almost ready for its close-up after nearly two years of reconstruction.

Justin Timberlake dropping by for brunch. Khloe Kardashian sipping afternoon tea. Each day brings a new adventure for Autumn Accarrino, the food and beverage manager at the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills.

Over the weekend, SBE officially opened Cleo to the public, and the restaurant marks the addition of another star in Hollywood’s new nightlife galaxy (with Hollywood and Vine as its nexus). Unlike the nightlife and hospitality giant’s nearby club The Colony, Cleo at the newly-opened Redbury hotel on Vine Street, Cleo offers a more sophisticated evening experience based on fine dining and specialty cocktails, instead of bottle service and DJ-curated beats. The restaurant is most certainly going to become a late night destination for L.A. thirtysomethings this fall. The moody 4000-square-foot space feels like a cross between SBE’s now closed S Bar, and their Barcelona-hip Bazaar at the SLS Hotel.

I'm sitting in an incredibly slick room at the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, anticipating a very busy day of lunches, salon tours, and later, a massive party celebrating 25 years of Sebastian Professional. The location for the anniversary shin-dig is the Paramount Studios Backlot, which leads me to believe that this party, with live music from the Sounds, DJ Z-Trip, and our gracious host, Brooklyn-based jewelry designer Pamela Love (pictured), who designed the Re-Shaper hairspray limited edition bottle, will be like no other I've attended.

Here at BlackBook, we pay a lot of attention to where cool customers go out -- bars, clubs, restaurants, shops, hotels, you name it. So why not flip the frame and let you see where we go out? Here's a periodically updated, exhaustive list of hotspots currently favored by everyone at BlackBook, from the mighty bosses down to the humble interns, from the charming local lounges around the corner to the jet-setting temples of luxe living. ● Creative Director - Jason Daniels, The Odeon (NYC) -American Psychos down salmon and steak frites, but the real scene's on the sidewalk. ● Vice President, Content - Chris Mohney, Agua Dulce (NYC) - Festive outpost feels like Miami, F-L-A.

Jen Egan, Gen Art’s ubiquitous It Girl and Project Runway’s eagle eye, on being perpetually “out,” decoding Japanese door lists, and why Beverly Hills fashion still sucks.

It's time to break out the funny glasses, (Note: This will be the last year you'll be able to sport those super cool glasses with the double zeros in them, next year 2010 won't work so well) the poppers, the kazoos, and the champagne. Wear something sparkly and check out this NYE packages from around the country (and London):

Wildly popular and insanely hyped, Los Angeles' SLS Hotel is apparently going to change your hotel-staying life. It's supposed to be perfect. Is it? Most signs point to "yes." They have deer antler lamps in the rooms. They have star-studded collaborators (a Philippe Starck design, a Jose Andres restaurant), nightlife-oriented amenities (a Mercedes Van-cum-drunkbus to take you to nightlife hotspots in the surrounding area). They recently had a big star-studded opening last week -- attendees included Paris Hilton, Jared Leto, and BlackBook interviewee Bijou Phillips -- with all the requisite hubbub surrounding it. The SLS is the hot, new classmate on the LA hotel scene, no question.