By Farhad Heydari and Terry Ward

updated 3:09 p.m. ET Oct. 6, 2008

Ghastly wall-to-wall carpeting. Archaic shower-tub combinations draped with flyaway plastic curtains. And predictably unimaginative continental breakfasts of withered pastries and artificially flavored "fruit beverages" served in pebbled plastic tumblers.

It’s no surprise that being faced with passing the night in yet another forgettable airport hotel is the scourge of business travelers. And who could blame them? Underwhelming compared to their stylish downtown cousins, airport hotels had become the sclerotic bête noire of the industry.

But now, as posh trappings and upgraded amenities become standard fare across the board, the lowly, downtrodden and oft-maligned airport hotel, too, is getting a much-needed facelift. In fact, according to projections by Bjorn Hanson, a head analyst who recently retired from the hospitality division of PricewaterhouseCoopers, airport hotels rank second behind luxury hotels in the estimated $5.5 billion that the industry spent on capital investment on existing properties in the U.S. in 2007.

Those figures are welcome news to jaded business travelers like Scott Norvell, whose many stays at subpar run-of-the-mill airport hotels encapsulates the sentiments of many a hardened road warrior. "I gave up on airport hotels after my last experience in Abu Dhabi," says the Fox News London Bureau Chief. "Frankly, I have yet to find an airport hotel that makes the convenience worth the effort. I'd rather sleep on a sofa in the business lounge if it comes down to it.”

And while Norvell may have abandoned hope after his Abu Dhabi experience, there’s a good chance a stay at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport in Singapore could alter his outlook. Opened in May 2008 to the tune of $84 million Singapore dollars (roughly U.S. $57 million), the Crowne Plaza’s artistic twisted metal façade, sultry outdoor tropical pool, natural lighting and direct access via covered walkway to Changi’s Terminal 3 make it an exercise in both decadent modernity and pure convenience.

Says Singapore businessman Ronald Chan, who stayed at the Crowne Plaza for pleasure as part of a Father’s Day surprise from his wife and kids, “It’s really unexpected and very nicely designed—not what you expect from an airport hotel. Someone really took pains to make this hotel different.”

Chan, who travels across Asia frequently for work, says he admired energy-efficient touches in the hotel’s design, including the elimination of the need for a nightlight in the bathroom thanks to a savvy design that lets light from the outside corridor filter in. And while all 230 of the hotel’s rooms are air-conditioned, Chan liked the feel of the hotel’s open-air corridors, overflowing with exotic foliage and flowers and leading from the elevators to the rooms. “It felt like a tropical resort."

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Elsewhere in southeast Asia, the Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur International Airport Hotel, linked by skybridge to the terminal from its location next to the airport control tower, is another inviting airport hotel. Business travelers staying in one of 441 rooms and executive suites appreciate amenities such as the outdoor pool, lighted tennis court and indulgent sauna and steam facilities that prepare you for yet another a trans-Pacific haul.

Over in Europe, London's Stansted Airport is home to a raft of low-cost carriers. Opened in summer 2004, the Radisson SAS is a three-minute walk to the terminal at Stansted. Staying here is particularly handy for travelers with late-night and early morning departures. And the hotel’s perks make it a swish example of the new generation of slick airport hotels.

Rezidor Hotel Group The increased traffic at London's two major airports is good news for the Radisson SAS, which opened next to the airport in Summer 2004. The angular building features 500 rooms, designed three funky styles, each with free Wi-Fi, four restaurants and Europe's lone wine tower.

"Four distinct food and beverage outlets, design-led bedrooms and full meetings and fitness facilities ensure that this hotel is a cut above [the rest]," says general manager Tim Cordon. "The hotel's centerpiece is a 13-meter-high wine tower which holds 4,000 bottles of wine obtained each evening by 'wine angels' who fly on cables to retrieve your choice."

Airborne angels aside, the biggest news in recent airport hotel openings on the greater London aviation scene came on July 31, 2008, at Heathrow, a little more than four months after the Queen herself presided over the opening ceremonies of the airport’s new Terminal 5. As the terminal suffered growing pains, the five-star Sofitel London Heathrow, directly connected to Terminal 5, offered road-weary travelers smooth sailing.

Themed locales in the hotel include "Antarctica" at reception, where a water feature cascading onto floodlit blocks issues an instant calming effect. Scores of exotic trees in the hotel’s Zen Garden are equally bliss inducing. And beds in the uber-luxe rooms and suites—with pillowtop mattresses, duvets and pillows, billowing in down—are a nonstop ticket to cloud nine. The Imperial Suite boasts three bedrooms and Europe’s first Swarovski Crystal bathroom, where crystals, limestone and wood combine for a seductive effect.

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