The Best of the Sea and Stars:
The Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf
Hyatt Regency Embarcadero

Traveling is the dreamer's way of charting a path through the wide and magnificent world. Your hotel stay should support this exploration.

Two of the Hyatt's best loved San Francisco hotels, the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero and the Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf know all about indulging your travel aspirations. At the Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf, travelers looking for romance or perhaps just a worldly experience will take pleasure in the hotel's dreamy accents and tapestries in cool, soothing marine colors. Meanwhile, business travelers can be assured that any potential stress from the workday world will be assuaged by the hotel's luxurious amenities and décor.

At first glance the property is any traveler's dream, with oversized rooms adorned in coolly comforting masculine accents and large windows overlooking the famous bay. San Francisco's foggy skyline washes in through those soaring windows accented with sea-blue sheers and looking out on the enchantment of the world beyond. For the business traveler or vacationing family the spared down furnishings are easy on the eye and practical for quick changes and freshening up. Remember there's a lot to see and do in San Francisco! A full size tweed divan with oversized leather pillows makes a quick cat nap practically a given (you'll be stomping up and down those hills, remember?) and the dark walnut furniture is a foil for the city's spectacular light. Sumptuous amenities in the form of imported linens, a granite walk-in shower, and a refrigerator stacked with snacks almost make staying in your room an option, that is, when you're worn out from all the sightseeing.

Yet décor and amenities, including an outdoor, heated pool, don't measure up to San Francisco's attractions and with the best of San Francisco just steps from the hotel, you cannot help but venture out. Just a short walk past the hotel's valet stand is Fisherman's Wharf where you'll find a world class aquarium, cable cars, biking tours, sea lions and Bay cruises. Or, if you prefer a more urban experience, head in the opposite direction where you'll quickly discover interesting shops and restaurants, yoga studios and street performers. Fortuitously, you are within easy walking distance of San Francisco's finest attractions including Coit Tower.

Or, if being the view takes second place to having the view, soar with the stars in one of the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero's remarkable rooms in the clouds. Breathtaking views of the Bay Bridge on one end and the city's finest downtown architecture on the other create a treetop ambience ordinarily reserved for the birds. With your head in the fog, you can dream your day away or descend the high rise in one of the hotel's shining glass elevators that stream past strings of shining glass lights.

Stepping out from the hotel's elegant foyer you are close to both San Francisco's Financial District and the city's most popular tourist destinations. Take a BART train from the hotel or if you prefer, cable cars and ferries are within walking distance. Wander over to Chinatown and from there to Fisherman's Wharf only to return to your serene room in the sky where you'll swoon over the city views.

Only one who journeys may uncover the world's mysteries. Through unhampered devotion to elegance and beauty, Hyatt Hotels makes finding the path to them a snap.

Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf
555 North Point Street
San Francisco, California
415-563-1234
www.fishermanswharf.hyatt.com

Hyatt Regency Embarcadero
5 Embarcadero Center
San Francsico, California
415-788-1234
www.sanfranciscoregency.hyatt.com

Café Organico

What better way to shower your beach-going-body with the utmost affection and appreciation than by feeding it the freshest, best quality organic ingredients?

Duc’s Bistro

In 2008, Duc’s Bistro revamped its French-Vietnamese menu with the vision of improving upon what had always been delectable cuisine. The shared vision of the husband and wife restaurateur duo, Duc Nguyen and Ming Nga Vu, was to combine the “effortless beauty of Vietnamese food with the refinements of western methods and presentations.”  Thirty-three years of owning restaurants lead them to wonder if it was possible to combine everything they had learned and actually improve upon Vietnamese cuisine. They wanted to take the food that was already elegantly simple and turn it into something simply elegant.

Hoku’s at the Kahala Hotel, Honolulu

I keep mental lists of my favorite places in the world, and Hoku’s at the Kahala Hotel & Resort happens to be on one. Perhaps Hoku’s belongs on the list of food so good you might cry, or of romantic sunsets and breathtaking ocean views to dine by, or of the most elegant service available, or the list of the most opulent… Not to get carried away, but the Kahala Hotel & Resort itself deserves to be on a list, perhaps the list of hotels you really ought to experience.

The Z Ocean Hotel

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).

Do you Know the Way to San José?

San José is not always on the receiving end of favorable mentions in travel reviews, and maybe this is due to the fact that, with so much to see, when reviewers really start gushing about their recent Costa Rican adventures—the beautiful coasts, enchanting cloud forests, extensive wildlife and lush, tropical climate—there just aren’t any superlatives left to pour over the sprawling city of San José. The fact of the matter is, when you visit Costa Rica, you’ve got to know what you’re after. If, let’s just say, you are traveling to have your wedding or to take a honeymoon, you might opt to avoid the hustle and bustle of San José altogether. On the other hand, if your goal trip is to see Costa Rica in its entirety, spend a night or two at the very least in San José and, if you feel inspired to do so, go wild! Even more so now that a great national emphasis has been placed on revamping Costa Rica’s largest city, San José perfects a national balancing act. If you’re the sort who loves to come off of a quiet few days of seaside contemplation with a couple of rum and Cokes and a fast night of Latin dancing (or, alternately, if you like to start off your beach retreat with a jolt), San José offers the respite you crave.

For many people Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is perhaps best known as the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed.  It is a mere 100 miles from New York City; close enough to the Big Apple for a day-long educational excursion to the Liberty Bell and other sites.  Departing from New York City in the morning allows for just enough time to grab a quick cheesesteak for lunch from one of the famous greasy spoons in “Cheesesteak Alley” before calling it a Philadelphia day and rushing back to New York by dark.    

A Place for All Seasons “Montana,” so the popular slogan says, “is the last best place.”  Call me biased, but if that’s true, then Montana’s Gallatin and Park Counties are truly the last last best places.  Small slivers in the shape of states, the counties huddle against one another in Montana’s southwestern corner, roughly forming the letter p.  

Lima, “The City of Kings”, is the fifth largest city in Latin America and was once the capital of South America.  Straddling the coast of the Pacific Ocean, it’s known for its’ Incan ruins surrounding modern urban enclaves built during Spanish colonialism. Striking baroque architecture from that period abounds and can be seen in many government buildings, churches and historical houses.  In fact the entire historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  From May through December, the sky is often dull with low clouds and dense fog, an aspect that perhaps adds a certain air of mystery.  Regardless of the weather, surfing aficionados flock here from all over the world for a chance to ride Lima’s consistently perfect waves.  Peruvian cuisine, considered among the world’s most delectable, is said to taste best in Lima.

An Exceptional Meeting between Earth and Ocean

Situated on South Africa’s East Coast, Durban is a precious cornerstone of the KwaZulu-Natal region.  In Zulu, Durban is aptly known as ‘Thekweni,’ meaning “where the earth and ocean meet”.  But don’t be fooled by the simple designation, neither Durban’s landscape nor its beaches are commonplace.

For any traveler seeking the indulgence of gorgeous topography paired with the elegance of the Indian Ocean’s sub-tropic aquamarine swells, Durban is for you.  In the west of the city, art deco and modern architecture combine, spreading in the form of apartment buildings and hotels along the fine sands of an unspoiled shoreline, and comprising what is referred to by locals and vacationers alike as the “Golden Mile”.   Interspersed among the hotels and apartment buildings are a handful of popular restaurants and nightclubs.