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Hotels have been throwing swank shindigs since Ritz-Carlton started making crackers, but the recent boom in boutique accommodations is providing stylish new options for both travellers and locals who want to ride home in an elevator in the wee hours of Jan. 1.

Jon Brown, 42, is one such reveller. The Toronto resident — who regularly commutes by plane to Vancouver to run his film studio — is preparing for his second New Year's Eve bash at the 20-month-old Drake Hotel. And he has already signed on for next year as well.

“When I first walked into the Drake, we booked our New Year's then and there,” he says. “We have busy professional lives, and we could have hopped on a plane and gone anywhere. When we go to the Drake, it's like we've already done that.”

The 19-room boutique property on a trendy strip of Queen Street West in Toronto allows him and his partner to avoid the hassle of crowds and the hunt for elusive cabs. By booking a room and buying a ticket to the hotel's party, he says, he gets to “walk right by the velvet rope, which is incredible. You can enjoy your first drink in your room, and when you walk out, you're Alice in Wonderland.”

This Dec. 31, it's easier than ever to find a cool venue for all your party needs, since many of North America's boutique properties have opened their doors — or reopened after major renovations — over the past couple of years. Here, then, are the most alluring New Year's Eve packages at boutique hotels in seven of the continent's most desirable destinations.

NEW YORK CITY

Hotel Gansevoort

After sampling the sushi and flame-grilled Robatayaki at the hotel's Ono eatery, head up to the party on the Gansevoort's huge tented rooftop patio and roam the wraparound lounge and garden. Then step inside at midnight to watch the ball drop in Times Square — on a 15-foot-wide, high-definition screen — to the music of DJ Mighty Mi.

If you want to stay the night, packages include champagne and truffles at check-in, two tickets to the party, Saturday-night accommodation and a continental breakfast, as well as a dose of Morning Dog hangover tonic to get you back into form for 2006.

Hotel Gansevoort: 18 9th Ave. (at 13th Street); 1-877-426-7386; www.hotelgansevoort.com. General admission to the party is $260, including champagne. Double-occupancy hotel packages start at $995.

Hotel Hudson

One of the more extravagantly designed hotels in town, the Hudson is pulling out all the stops for New Year's Eve. After checking into your dark-wood-panelled suite, visit the Hudson Cafeteria (don't let the name fool you, this is one posh eatery) for what it calls “comfort food served with a modern twist” — think chicken-and-morel-mushroom potpie and spaghetti with “big-eye tuna” meatballs.

Then make your way into the Hudson Bar. With a translucent floor lit from below, you'll be unsure whether you're entering 2006 or Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Give yourself over to the ministrations of an as-yet-unnamed celebrity host and various DJs, or through the intimate Library bar and garden, tented and heated for your comfort. Party packages include three hours of hors d'oeuvres and a fully stocked open bar, as well as a champagne toast at midnight.

Hotel Hudson: 356 West 58th St.; 1-212-554-6000; www.hudsonhotel.com. Party tickets are $225 for general admission and $200 for hotel guests. Rooms start at $455 a night (double occupancy).

TORONTO

Drake Hotel

Still fringed by a lineup of waiting (or smoking) hipsters most nights of the week, this hot spot will probably be packed for its 10-hour house party.

Warm up with a Dorothy Parker — a blend of vodka, Chambord, pineapple juice and Blue Curaçao — before the music begins. The madcap multi-instrumentalism of local band the Old Soul will share the stage with a squad of DJs, while roving performance artists and burlesque acts will invade the hotel's three floors of fun. A variety of packages can include a table for the evening, oysters, sushi, hors d'oeuvre, petits fours, a bottle of premium vodka, mixers and champagne. Also on offer are two dinner seatings for a three-course, prix-fixe meal. After all this, as the hotel says, guests can “stretch, dance, chill, work, snuggle, entertain or just crash” in their stylish room or suite.

The Drake Hotel: 1150 Queen St. W.; 1-866-372-5386; www.thedrakehotel.ca. General admission to the house party is $40; dinner packages range from $95 to $125. Rooms for the night start at $179.

Gladstone Hotel

The grizzled grand dame of Queen Street West is ready to strut her new look on Dec. 31, as a recent makeover has transformed her from lovable flophouse to sophisticated boutique hotel. Lest you worry that the bar has forgotten its old friends, the party is called “Ay Carumba! Knockout New Year.” Last year's Dec. 31 roster returns with the Skin Tight Outta Sight burlesque troupe squaring off against masked mystery rockers the Tijuana Bibles for music, dancing and tag-team wrestling. “It's a decadent and sexy celebration,” says Gladstone booking agent Penny Rose. The hotel kitchen doesn't open until January, but hors d'ouevres will be on hand, and tasty restaurants — Bar One (924 Queen St. W., 416-535-1655) and Sugar Café (942 Queen St. W., 416-532-5088), to name a couple — are just steps away. And you won't have to leave if you book fast — the hotel's new artist-designed rooms start at $150 a night.

The Gladstone Hotel: 1214 Queen St. W.; 416-531-4635; gladstonehotel.com. Tickets for the party are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

MONTREAL

Hotel Place d'Armes

If you can't make it to Paris, you can at least find the spirit of Montmartre at the Place d'Armes' Moulin Rouge-themed party.

Celebrate the big night with a four-course dinner for two, featuring live music, at the hotel's Aix Cuisine du Terroir. Guests then move on to Suite 701, the hotel's new “gastronomic bar/lounge” for magicians, entertainers and the high-kicking dance routines of Sugarpuss Burlesque at 8 p.m. The package also includes two nights' accommodation, continental breakfast each morning, and wine and cheese with cocktails each evening from 5 to 7 p.m.

Hotel Place d'Armes: 55 rue St-Jacques; 1-888-450-1887; hotelplacedarmes.com. The full package costs $474 for a Queen Superior room or $514 for a King Superior room.

MONT-TREMBLANT, QUE.

Château Beauvallon

Taking the name of the original Mont-Tremblant inn, this luxurious spot opened this week and is set for a busy holiday season. Nestled between the 8th and 11th hole of the Le Diable golf course, its 70 suites face a courtyard decked out in Christmas lights, which guests can take in from their balcony or patio. New Year's Eve packages include accommodation, a general manager's cocktail reception, a four-course dinner, a magician for younger kids and DJs for the teens, nightly nostalgic movies and a champagne brunch on New Year's Day. The minimum three-night stay starts Dec. 30 and includes a shuttle bus to the ski hill during the day.

Château Beauvallon: 1-888-245-4030; chateaubeauvallon.com. Packages start at $259 a person.

CHICAGO

W Hotel City Center

This sleek and stylish downtown hotel is hosting an event dubbed Midnight Kiss. DJs man the decks in two ballrooms, while the mezzanine awaits guests who want to take in the scene from a distance. Hungry partiers can check out the four-course dinner at Ristorante We, the W's Tuscan steakhouse. Party tickets are $135, while $1,000 buys bottle and cocktail service in Whiskey Blue, the hotel's tony lounge. Sleepover packages, meanwhile, include a limited-edition calendar, gourmet fortune cookies, a bottle of champagne, breakfast for two and a late checkout.

W Hotel City Center: 172 West Adams St.; 312-332-1200; starwoodhotels.com. Packages including a room start at $300 a person.

Loews House of Blues Hotel

If you're wondering what kind of New Year's Eve party Dan Ackroyd would throw, try the House of Blues' offerings. The hotel has a variety of packages, starting with a cover band at the hotel's Kaz Bar for $40 (champagne toast included), and for $440 you also get a hotel room and two drink tickets. From there, $630 gets you two tickets to see San Francisco-based rockers Train at the House of Blues, as well as a hotel room. Throw in $115 more and they throw in dinner at Back Porch, the House of Blues restaurant. For $860, dinner is upgraded to the member's-only Foundation Room.

Loews House of Blues Hotel: 333 North Dearborn St., 312-245-0333; www.loewshotels.com.

VANCOUVER

Wedgewood Hotel

If you're looking for an elegant capper to ‘05, look no further than the Wedgewood, which is consistently rated one of the top hotels in the world. The four-course celebration at Bacchus restaurant will focus on the sumptuous French cuisine of chef Lee Parsons. Pianist Gregory Shea will entertain diners at their tables — before or after they slip upstairs to take in the view of the city skyline from their balcony or their suite's double soaker tub. Phillip Meyer, Canada's classiest hotel manager (seriously — he's like velvet), says guests can expect a warm, refined atmosphere among the rich cherry wood and Italian chandeliers, “not a big party or balloons and noise makers.”

Wedgewood Hotel: 845 Hornby St., 1-800-663-0666; wedgewoodhotel.com. Packages start at $508.

The Dominion Hotel

If noisemakers and confetti are your thing after all, head to the recently renovated Dominion, billed as “Vancouver's only budget art hotel.” Guests can book rooms starting at $39 a night, dine on Asian fusion cuisine at the Sapphire Restaurant, and then plunk down a mere $10 ($15 at the door) for Chaz Royal's Pasties Party at the Lamplighter bar. Guests are encouraged to wear their own pasties and vie for the $100 prize in the tassel-twirling competition. Royal will hold court during performances by a cast of burlesquers from around the globe.

When the dancing's done, guests can sack out in a hotel room designed by a Vancouver artist, like, say, a Butterfly Room decorated with hundreds of hand-cut insects.

Dominion Hotel: 210 Abbott St.; 1-877-681-1666; dominionhotel.ca.

SAN FRANCISCO

The Clift

After a four-course dinner at the hotel's Asia de Cuba restaurant, the party starts at 9 p.m. — just about the time the ball will be dropping in New York.

Two floors of merrymakers will jive to the music of DJ Vibe, fresh from P. Diddy's annual White party in the Hamptons. Located in downtown's Union Square, the hotel also features the Redwood Room, built out of lumber that was salvaged from the property after it went up in flames in 1915. It's a combination of classic and modern design — appropriate for an evening that straddles two years.

Clift Hotel: 495 Geary St.; 415-775-4700; www.clifthotel.com. Room packages start at $510. The four-course dinner at the hotel's Asia de Cuba restaurant, plus party admissions, runs $225; general admission comes in at $170.

Special to The Globe and Mail