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HOTELS AND WHAT TO DO WORLDWIDE

Text: MARY GOSTELOW, Editor-in-Chief of WOWtraveler.net

OCT '04

THE LIST: FIVE BEST HOMES AWAY FROM HOME

1 Hôtel Le Germain, Toronto The lobby, designed by Lemay Michaud, is like a comfortable living room, with a two-way glass-fronted fireplace projecting to the granite-floored reception.

2 L’Orangerie of Hôtel Royal Riviera, Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat The villa’s coveted rooms and suites, designed by Grace Leo-Andrieu, have a south-of-France colour scheme, with terra cotta floors and bold sunflower or cornflower-coloured walls.

3 Mandarin Oriental, New York The Hirsch Bedner-designed spa includes a corner suite for couples, with 35th-floor views over both Central Park and the Hudson River.

4 Carlisle Bay, Antigua The library, designed by Mary Fox Linton, is futuristic Lucite, with shelves, back lit in Day-Glo colours, housing an eclectic collection of travel books.

5 Grand Hyatt Tokyo The Shinto shrine, designed by Chhada Siembieda, has Impressionist-style waterfalls on the anteroom walls, while the inner room has floors and walls of hoop pine, flooded with golden light.

PENDER ISLAND, B.C.
All 22 rooms in the lodge at Poets Cove face west for fabulous sunsets over the resort’s marina. Each room also comes with a sexy bathroom (divided from the bed area by sliding screens), a Java-log fireplace and a terrace. This is a haven for diving, with some of the world’s best marine life and a dive school, as well as hiking, biking and mountaineering. Recover in the spa’s rock-hewn outdoor tub and in Aurora Restaurant featuring chef Martini De Board’s memorable sirloin on Japanese rice noodles. GM Susan Kelly came from Shutters On the Beach in Santa Monica.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Fairmont is an ideal base, halfway between Capitol Hill and trendy Georgetown. Favourite rooms are handy to the ninth-floor Club Gold lounge. (All odd-numbered rooms overlook a courtyard, with French windows that open to a small balcony.) Enjoy mid-Atlantic comfort food in Juniper, the newly opened restaurant, and take scenic jogs along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal or through Rock Creek Park. GM is George Terpilowski.

VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA
There is a Canadian oasis not far from the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Express, overlooking the Sea of Japan. The 50-room Vlad Inn was built, unit by unit, in Edmonton, shipped to Russia and reconstructed by Canadians. Owned by Arctic International, it is run by GM Alex Petrollini, from Calgary, and Vancouver-born Peter Lorentsen. The hotel has a lovely garden, gym and business centre and excellent food and service.

PARIS
The curtains at the InterContinental Le Grand Hotel Paris make you want to sing arias. The ones in room 2126 are at least five metres high and made of burgundy fabric theatrically draped with golden cloth – a fitting touch since the room looks across to the Opéra Garnier. Pierre-Yves Rochon has recently redone the hotel, designed for Empress Eugénie in 1862. GM is Marie-Béatrice Lallemand, and the renowned Café de la Paix is as popular as ever.

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND
The Four Seasons Resort is nestled in a horseshoe shape that overlooks working terraced rice paddies. Upstairs suite 1601 has an outstanding view, while the main room has an elevated walkway to an outdoor sala (covered veranda), done up in teak. Make time for lessons in the cooking school and a Thai massage in the Lanna Spa. GM is Patrick Ghielmetti. [ ]

Contact the editor-in-chief of Gostelow Reports, WOW: The Intimate Newsletter for Elite Travelers and www.WOWtraveler.net at MGostelow@enroutemag.net.

OCT '04