On a city break, a standout hotel can make or break your vacation. From splashy debuts by global brands to under-the-radar boutiques that feel like a true respite from urban commotion, these are the best new hotels in cities around the world.

25hours Hotel The Olympia Sydney

The lobby of 25hours Hotel Sydney The Olympia, complete with a video-rental counter. Justin Nicholas/25hours Hotel Sydney The Olympia

After years of being mummified in scaffolding on Oxford Street, the former West Olympia Theatre has reemerged as 25hours Hotel The Olympia , a riotously fun, high-voltage new entrant to Sydney’s hotel scene. The brand’s first Australian outpost is set on Oxford Street—with its longstanding tangle of nightlife, queerness, rebellion, theater, politics, and fashion—which has long served as one of the city’s great cultural arteries. The Olympia is now absorbing this collective energy like a live wire.…