Booking a stay at a nice hotel has never been easier than it is these days, with online competition not just keeping rates down, but driving up incentives in order to attract our lodging dollars. This market expansion (and our increased awareness of it) also means that the big brand-name hotel chains, while chock full of plushness and modernity, have to contend with the fact that they are advertising in – or in some cases* on *- the same domain as some of the most fascinating, most extraordinary and most downright interesting places anybody could ever hope to stay. Here, with your next trip in mind, are the Nine Most Interesting Hotels in the World. The Stanley Hotel. The Stanley, nestled in the scenic Estes Valley in Colorado’s Rocky  Mountains, has been one of the most opulent mountain lodges in the world ever since it opened on July 4, 1909… But that isn’t what makes it a famous place. It was also the primary set for the classic horror film, The Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s send-up of Stephen King’s chilling novel. At 7,500 feet of elevation, the views from this historic monument are stunning, and the hotel’