The Atlas Hotel in Cambridge

The Atlas sits steps from Harvard Business School, right where the university’s next chapter is being built, so the whole place feels like a professor’s study that learned how to throw a party.

The lobby looks like a well-traveled collector’s den: warm wood paneling, leather seating, glowing mushroom lamps, and a wall of curiosities gathered from everywhere. There’s a shop from The COOP, Harvard’s own bookstore, and a few steps away sits Ama, a red-tiled bar under a gold-fringed ceiling, serving dishes rooted in family tradition. Condé Nast Traveler readers just named it one of the 10 best hotels in Boston, and you can see why.

I shot it the way it feels: smart, warm, and just loose enough after dark. Turns out Harvard’s neighbors know how to have a good time.