Sarah Hull
Sarah Hull lives and writes in Brooklyn, New York. Her first big travel writing break happened after college, when she was accepted as a writer for the Rough Guide to New England. She has since worked on a number of titles for Rough Guides, and contributes regularly to Travelsquire.com. In her spare time, she dreams of traveling to Negril, Jamaica. Her best travel tip? Scan and email yourself a copy of your passport before you head out.
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The flagship property of the Tokyu Hotels, one of Japan’s most prestigious hotel chains, is opening its doors to the Capitol Hotel Tokyu on October 22, 2010. Perhaps the city’s most stylish hotel, this luxurious property is situated on a hill known for stargazing, best experienced amongst the flowers and greenery of the hostelry’s impeccable Hié Shrine garden. Designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, the hotel updates the more traditional hospitality of the former Capitol Tokyu Hotel, proud host of the Beatles, the Three Tenors, and other celebrities. When Capitol Hotel Tokyu opens later this month, this historical hotspot is sure to rocket to the top of the list of Japan’s destination hotels.
+81-3-3503-0109
Elevating Window Shopping to an Art Form: Kevin Walz announces the opening of WalzWindowShop in Rome
Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Margaret McKeane told Mr. and Mrs. Walz, “Kevin will be an artist or a designer. He has no choice in the matter.” Ever since, Kevin Walz has been straddling the disciplines of art and design in New York and Rome. Now, Walz’s designs, which have made it all the way to the Pompidou Center and the Cooper-Hewett Museum, are inhabiting a humble glass space off Campo de’ Fiori, his very own “WalzWindowShop.” Rotating its displays every eight weeks, this petite gallery will regularly feature products designed by Walz and crafted by local Italian artisans in addition to works of art made by Walz. The first installation, titled Italics, peddles art panels on vintage Italian military linen, a limited edition of Walz’s Inset daybed, and stunning new light fixtures, made in a traditional Roman folded brass sheeting and glass lantern process.
WalzWindowShop
via del Pelligrino 17
Open M-F 6-7 pm S 10 am – 1 pm or by appt
Tel : +39 06 687 3650
Hotel Monteleone
Luxury in the Heart of the French Quarter
An ornate entrance to New Orleans’ famed French Quarter, the curlicued façade of the 17 story Hotel Monteleone, rises grandly in salutation to city locals, celebrities, trendsetters and literati. Lovely to gaze upon, this Beaux-Arts beauty proves even more spectacular if you plan on being a guest and spending the night.
While some folks might find it hard to be stylish after 124 years, the Monteleone makes it look easy, sporting a heated rooftop pool (enhanced by icy cocktails in hot weather) and rooms adorned with marble and furnished with heavenly linens and complimentary chocolates. A polished lobby brightened by glittering chandeliers and towers of majestic flowers is a marvelous scene, all kept in time to the tick-tock of the 100-year-old mahogany clock.
In a city that’s known for drinking, the Monteleone raises the bar with one of the coolest watering holes in town that is an integral part of New Orleans history. Situated beneath an antique merry-go-round canopy with a fiber optic ceiling of stars in the night sky and decorated with a wild circus motif, the Carousel Bar & Lounge is the only bar in town that revolves around the room (propelling guests to get ahead on their buzz). Overlooking famous Royal Street through large fan windows, it has long been a favorite of locals and tourists. Originally installed in 1949, the 25-seat carousel bar turns on 2,000 large steel rollers and while the bar always rotates at the same speed, tipsy visitors are often heard to claim that the bartender has turned up the motor’s speed. Stay long enough and you may think you are hallucinating, especially when one special shooting star crosses the room at regular intervals. A long string of fabulous people have imbibed from their ornate stools, including Liberace, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote; the latter frequently joked that he was born in the Monteleone (in fact his parents were living in the hotel when his mother went to the hospital for his birth).
A trip to New Orleans can be a wild ride. Do yourself a favor and seek sanctuary at the Hotel Monteleone, one of the country’s most historic, hospitable, and alluring hotels.
Hotel Monteleone
214 Royal Street
New Orleans, LA
(504) 523-3341
An American in Basel: Andy Warhol exhibit opens at Switzerland’s Kunstmuseum through January 11, 2011
Centers on the artist’s early Sixties paintings and drawings
After a successful career in advertising illustration, Andy Warhol decided in the early 1960s to work as an independent artist. The world of consumption, of the media and mass industry remained his central interest. The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel focuses on the years between 1961 and 1964, the formative period of Warhol as a painter and graphic artist. In this period of only four years, Andy Warhol initiated a turn in the history of art whose consequences can be felt to this day. Step by step, he replaced the individual visual language of painting with imagery that had already been disseminated by media and thus become collective as well. This exhibition, which runs from September 5th to January 11th features seventy paintings and drawings and illustrates this development in Warhol’s oeuvre.
Kunstmuseum Basel
St. Alban-Graben 16
CH-4010 Basel
Telefon 0041 (0)61 206 62 62
www.kunstmuseumbasel.ch/en/information/
In Albuquerque, 84-Year Old Historic Doors Re-Open at Hotel Parq Central
The carefully restored doors at Hotel Parq Central will open on September 29 from the site of the original 1926 Santa Fe Hospital. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Hotel Parq Central contains old-world details like the building’s original clay tiles, 1926-era windows, and a Grand Staircase, in addition to complementary modern touches like wi-fi, iPod docks, and LCD flat-panel TVs. The guestrooms and public spaces are located in four separate buildings, all intertwined by delightful hidden gardens. Here, guests can enjoy Albuquerque’s 310 days of sun amidst Catmint, Irises, Mexican Evening Primrose, and Indian Hawthorn. The hotel’s rooftop “Apothecary Lounge” is another perk, with great mountain views, and, in a cheeky nod to the building’s past, decoupaged walls of vintage-era medicinal labels. Bar highlights also include an operating room lamp and a table formed from a 1940’s coffin carrier.
Located along the famed Route 66, Hotel Parq Central adds a dose of design spice to this wonderfully storied byway.
Rates start at $139 a night
806 Central Ave SE Albuquerque, NM
Phone: 505.242.0040
Hotelparqcentral.com
Aruba Says “No” to Hurricanes and Offers Special Programs During Atlantic Hurricane Season
Need weather reassurance? Aruba has it! While the Caribbean is bracing for the Atlantic hurricane season, which usually occurs from the summer through the end of November, Aruba guarantees a no-hurricane season year after year.
The Holiday Inn Aruba has recently announced that it has reinstated its “Risk-Free SunSpree” hurricane guarantee for the 2010 season. In the pre-vacation stage, guests holding confirmed reservations with nonrefundable deposits who are unable to travel due to hurricane can rebook their reservations without penalty. During the trip, guests who are already on property will be able to receive a certificate valid for a free future stay. For reservations, visit www.caribbeanhi.com/aruba, or call 1-800-HOLIDAY.
The Westin Resort Aruba is offering a “Hurricane Free” escape, starting at $199 per room, per night. Guests are given a $74 credit per room (74 being the minimum wind speed of a Category 1 hurricane) if it rains for more than three hours on any day of the trip. The package breakfast for two at Bon Bini and two welcome drinks per day at the Lobby Bar of Tambu pool bar. The “Hurricane Free” package is valid for stays of four nights or more, now through Nov. 30, 2010. When booking, ask for rate plan WIND74. For more information visit www.westinaruba.com
Four Whole Foods Market Florida Stores Host Culinary Tour May 4-7, 2010
During May 4-7, 2010, four Whole Foods Market stores in Florida – Coral Gables, Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens and Wellington – are hosting a culinary tour with Top Chef Season 6 contestant, Florida resident, and Haiti native Ron Duprat in an effort to raise funds for Food For The Poor, a Miami based organization, providing relief efforts in Haiti.
Each event is held from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., and costs $25 per person. Attendees will be treated to a cooking demonstration in which Duprat will recreate the Chilean sea bass he made in one of his Quick Fire Challenges on the popular reality show, as well as a tasting of the dish with a wine pairing. He will also provide various cooking tips, talk about growing up in Haiti and offer insider information about Top Chef. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Food for the Poor.
For more information, kindly visit www.foodforthepoor.org
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I've fantasized about throwing in the towel and moving to a tropical island. You know, one of those picture-perfect beaches spread across the travel magazines, comprised of two parts sugary sand, one part bright blue sea, and 100% get-your-groove-back.
Portland is perhaps best known for its excessively rainy weather, its acclaimed urban planning, and coffee. If you couple these distinctions with the city’s lesser known characteristics—a gorgeous natural setting, a thriving arts and food scene, and a notably progressive political climate (former president George H. W. Bush once referred to it as “Little Beirut”)—then you’re mixing up one interesting cocktail.
Portland is nothing if not eclectic, and its happy blend of mismatched communities, among them artists, bicyclists, and drag kings, is a testament to its livability. The best time to visit is between May and October, when the sun is out and Portland flavor is at its peak.
I work in the City Hall neighborhood of lower Manhattan, a culinary wasteland that's filled with a lot of pretty civic buildings but nowhere good to eat. It never fails to surprise me that just a few blocks away is TriBeCa, a much quieter. More residential neighborhood that invites meandering and lots of food sampling. That's what's funny about New York, you can walk five blocks and be in an entirely new world.
TriBeCa is populated by affluent, casually label-wearing New Yorkers, seen lingering in upscale eateries or curating expensive bouquets of flowers at the flower shop. Like the West Village, TriBeCa is a neighborhood where New Yorkers aspire to rest their heads; if someone made a movie about what it looked like to reside in New York, it would probably be set in TriBeCa.
On April 21, the 2010 TriBeCa Film Festival begins, continuing through May 2. Like the city it inhabits, the festival brings together all sorts of factions – filmgoers rub elbows with celebrities, a street fair is set amidst classy cafes (tempting balloon-carrying children of all stripes), and film buffs hobnob with tourists. And of course there are the films: big name premieres, documentaries, shorts, even sports films. Tickets range from $8 (for a matinee) to $450 (for twenty general screenings).
The TriBeCa Film Festival is like a movie set in itself, an ode to the neighborhood that provides its moniker. If you're in the area, try and pop by – who knows, you might even see De Niro, or even better, a really good film.