With London's two major airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, operating at near capacity, more airlines are cleverly opting for Stansted—the latest being American. That's good news for travelers, given the recent opening of the Radisson SAS next door. The angular building features 500 rooms, designed in one of three funky styles (Chili, Ocean or Urban) each with free WiFi, four restaurants and Europe's lone wine tower: a 12-meter-high, 4,000-bottle atrium where the sommelier doubles as a flying "wine angel."

For more information: Radisson SAS Stansted

Just 2 km from Incheon International Airport, in South Korea, the Incheon Hyatt Regency is a vast contemporary oasis of 523 rooms and suites, furnished with goose-down duvets, flat-screen TVs and sleek marble baths. The hotel recently added a casino, the Golden Gate, to its roster of facilities, which also includes a restaurant offering eight distinctive culinary options and an outsized spa.

For more information: Incheon Hyatt Regency

With its Zen-style water features, bamboo thickets and Asian-inspired restaurant design, the 414-room Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport brings fusion flair to Motor City. Each room features Westin's Heavenly Bed, but with three lounges, including one with views of the tarmac and a fitness center with jacuzzi and a heated indoor pool, guests are not likely to be holed up in their rooms for too long.

For more information: Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport

German-born architect Helmut Jahn's soaring steel-and-glass showpiece, the five-star Kempinski Munich Airport Hotel, is conveniently located adjacent to both Terminals 1 and 2. Beneath Jahn's trademark stark skeletal construction are 389 airy rooms and suites, including a spacious Presidential Suite—each with floor-to-ceiling windows. The hotel also features a wellness center, gourmet restaurant and meeting spaces.

For more information: Kempinski Munich Airport

With two swimming pools, one indoor and one outdoor, a landscaped courtyard garden filled with blossoms and a fitness center, sauna and spa facilities, you could be excused for mistaking the Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong for an island resort. While somewhat of an atoll, it is tethered to Chek Lap Kok, one of the world's best airports, by a convenient air-conditioned gangway. Hong Kong Disneyland and the new AsiaWorld-Expo convention center are within easy reach.

For more information: Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong

The winner of the AAA's coveted Four Diamond rating, the Grand Hyatt DFW is a two-year-old property with a raft of luxuries that have also impressed cynical seasoned travelers. In fact, according to Tripadvisor's popularity index, it's ranked number one out of 167 Dallas-area hotels. Why? Because in addition to stellar food and lovingly assembled interiors it features Hyatt's signature Grand Bed, state-of-the-art 32-inch flatscreens and a granite-top work desks.

For more information: Grand Hyatt DFW

With no less than 607 well-appointed rooms, this is an airport hotel unlike any other. Kitted out in a multi-culti theme where the interior décor pays homage to a different continent (reception, for example, gives a nod to Antarctica and as such features a large water fountain), the $395 million hotel will boast all the usual business accoutrements as well as some learned firsts, like triple-glazed windows to cut down on outside noise.

For more information: Sofitel London Heathrow T5

Located a stone's throw from the airport, this dramatic 19-story steel-and-glass disc-like structure features 428 modernist rooms, bathed in earth tones and natural materials. It is topped by a stunning 5,300-square-foot wellness and fitness center, with an infinity pool from which guests have panoramas of downtown Frankfurt. Four eateries encircle the Lobby Bar, whose enormous free-hanging glass wine tower holds 1,500 bottles.

For more information: Radisson SAS Frankfurt

Situated in a faceless Minneapolis, Minn., office park, the Crowne Plaza Airport West Hotel has brought swish minimalist interiors and restrained colours to the American heartland. Formerly an unremarkable Holiday Inn, today this chic 257-room outpost, which features a popular backlit lobby bar in cornflower blue, is making Midwestern layovers all the more bearable.

For more information: Crowne Plaza Airport West Hotel