En Suite
To some travelers, the hotel is critical to the experience. We report on the newest, most noteworthy hotels; old classics we still love; or someplace fun and funky that reflects a special mood. Anything goes: prices range from modest to lavish.
The W Hollywood
A Return to Glamour
Hollywood always loves a return. That is why everyone in Los Angeles is excited about the opening there of new restaurants, stores and hotels that are revitalizing the neighborhood and bringing it back to life. Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea and Vine, once the heart of tinseltown, fell into a spiraling decline in the eighties and nineties bringing in low income housing and rockers drawn to LA with dreams of stardom.
Hollywood’s long awaited rebirth began in 2001 with the opening of the Hollywood and Highland Complex, home of the Kodak Theatre and complex of stores, restaurants and hotel on the exact spot where the legendary Hollywood Hotel once stood. Now, with the opening of the W Hollywood, the gentrification of the neighborhood finally extends to its famous corner, Hollywood and Vine. Constructed on the boulevard across from the historic Pantages theatre, everything was designed to work with the legendary environment and the hotel succeeds in evoking a modern sensibility while staying true to the town’s glamorous roots. Opened in January,2010, it registered for LEED Silver certification, and was built above the Metro Red Line Hollywood and Vine station that is cleverly integrated into the hotel’s entry just steps away from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Entering via red carpet you almost feel as if you are creating modern Hollywood history. In the lobby a white marble spiral staircase fit for Norma Desmond provides real silver screen drama hugging a curved bronze mosaic wall and encircling a cascading chandelier dropped like diamonds from a gilded ceiling. Lounging in the W Living Room’s black tufted sofas and chairs, you'll look like a subject in a studio still complete with backlighting courtesy of the lobby bar. Have a drink outdoors at the Station Hollywood bar and you can enjoy the seductive LA weather.
W Hollywood has 305 studios and one bedroom suites featuring the W’s world class Bliss Spa amenities and spectacular Hollywood views, some of the Hollywood sign. There is of course a rooftop pool for quick dips. Restaurant Delphine on the lobby level features French brasserie cuisine and the Bliss Spa and Drai’s nightclub on premises complete the scene.
The W Hollywood
6250 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 798-1300
www.whotels.com/hollywood
Nestled in the Brazilian jungle, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the mountains along the southern Coast of São Sebastião, about 125 east of Sao Paulo, is the creation of Edson Pavão, businessman and entrepreneur. Ilha de Toque Toque Boutique Hotel requires little introduction and escapes every descriptive cliché about a beautiful, tropical paradise. The 10 room “pousada” is so seamlessly and smartly constructed in the natural landscape (literally – the walls are made of eco-bricks), that the line between earth and shelter blurs.
South Beach has long been regarded as one of the most glamorous districts in the world for its internationally famous nightclubs, award winning restaurants, high fashion shops, and perhaps most impressive of all, its long, sprawling topless-optional white sand beach. Here beauty is in endless bloom in plentiful sunshine along crystal clear aqua waters only paradise could trump, and capable of making anyone’s jaws drop. Miraculously, Z Ocean Hotel, perfectly positioned on Ocean Drive has managed to distill all the glamour and sensuality of the famous strip of beach fronting Lummis Park, into one gorgeous and discreet luxury boutique hotel. Situated in the heart of Miami Beach, the last in the endless progression of landmarked small, oceanfront properties along historic Deco Drive, Z Ocean Hotel, with a fabulous location and breathtaking interior, was originally opened as the Regent Hotel, later to become the De Soleil, only to arrive at the perfection it is today (all three hotels have been managed under the same company, the Crowne Plaza).
Andaz Wall Street
“Invent something new, something personal, something that matters,” Hyatt Hotels challenged acclaimed architect David Rockwell, when it offered him the job of designing Andaz Wall Street, the third hotel in its elegant new collection. The first two are in London and West Hollywood and the fourth will open in mid-town Manhattan later this year with each distinctly different. “That got my juices going,” he says.
Estancia Villa Maria
Equestrian & Golf Estates – Resort
Located only a 45-minute drive from Buenos Aires, Estancia Villa Maria lets guests explore a beautiful and exclusive Argentine country estate – with a level of luxury and service that parallels a five-star resort.
La Mamounia
Every hotel that undergoes a substantial remodeling or restoration has a vision of the end result and when it will reopen for business. But let’s just get one thing straight right here – how many of them take three years to complete and are worth the wait? La Mamounia is one of those.
The Langham Huntington is just nine miles north of downtown Los Angeles, but it seems worlds away from the concrete and congestion of the city. Its out-of-the-way location at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, in one of Pasadena’s most beautiful residential neighborhoods, makes it ideal for peaceful getaways.
There are those hotels that meet the needs of the typical traveler. They’re conveniently located, reasonably priced, and offer comfy rooms with cushy mattresses, flat screens and Wi-Fi. Then there are those that do that, of course, and something more. They provide a sense of elegance, of romance, of time stopped, at least for a moment. A window to the past, a rich backstory peopled with the famous and notorious, a place to dream. The Palmer House Hilton is one of those.
If you take a seat in Opium, the airy, glass-enclosed restaurant set like a jewel in a corner of the Ipanema Plaza Hotel, your seat will practically be ringside. The non-stop show of people watching commences in the early hours and even from the tiny sushi bar, which spills out into the hotel's lobby, your eyes can feast on the scene. The spectacle consists largely of beach goers both male and female shuffling in their Havaianas and stripped down to bikinis and Speedos, a uniform for the tanned Brazilians during summer in Rio. They make their entrances and exits from the pearly white sand famous round the world for that certain girl who likes to walk. It isn't necessary to be tall, tan and lovely to enjoy Ipanema. Let the Cariocas (Rio natives) worry about that. But you do need a home base in the center of all the activity, a hotel that doesn't just provide shelter from the intense heat but soothes and coddles you when you're pooped from partying. Oh, and an icy beer and caipirinha by the largest rooftop pool will help, too. You've found your nirvana at the Ipanema Plaza Hotel.
