![]() ![]() You can’t find a hotel with a better one on the island. The rooms have all the amenities you would expect from any high-end hotel, but the real reason you stay here is the view. If you don’t want to bother renting a car, you can walk to the hotel from the ferry terminal, and there are plenty of shops and restaurants nearby. The hotel is ideally situated in the quaint downtown area of - you guessed it - Friday Harbor, which is the main shopping and dining district on San Juan Island. When you return from camping, just sleeping in a real bed feels luxurious, but both of my visits were equally impressive. I stayed at Friday Harbor House twice: once before a three-day kayaking trip and once after. ![]() Cole RachelĪ Room With a View Friday Harbor House, San Juan Island, Washington A special stay in a city that’s full of them. I took in the tall ships and could hear a band playing on the roof of nearby Pier 17 while all of Manhattan glowed and buzzed in the distance. On a recent stay, I ended my evening on my suite’s balcony with a glass of wine. There’s also an amazing dining option, Restaurant Pearl, and rooms with balcony views of the seaport, the East River, and the Brooklyn Bridge. The rooms are stylish and cozy, with in-room amenities from Malin + Goetz and pour-over coffee setups, my favorite. The newly opened 33 Seaport Hotel is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. With an explosion of restaurants (the new Tin Building by Jean-Georges, for example), cool bars, and the excellent McNally Jackson bookstore, not to mention the tall ships and expansive views, the Seaport has established itself as one of the city’s chicest hangouts. Those who have been to New York's South Street Seaport recently know: It really is a marvel. Any hotel with a bookstore is a place I want to come back to, and this was a very good one. I particularly enjoyed the art collection - each room has unique pieces, along with those displayed in the lobby and public areas - and the bookstore. Alongside its playful design, the hotel boasts a swimming pool (very rare in Paris), a Clarins & myBlend spa, a serious cigar bar, and a Michelin-starred restaurant, Il Carpaccio, where my husband ate what he said was the best version of that dish he had ever had. It’s a touch of lightness that infuses the property with a sense of fun. But unlike any of the other Palace hotels, Le Royal Monceau underwent a renovation by Philippe Starck several years ago, so its storied history sits alongside Starck’s signature touches, from unusual combinations of materials to angles that rest slightly askew. The hotel, which has been in operation for almost 100 years, is one of the French hotels that can use the designation “Palace.” It’s a title awarded by jury to those that transcend the rigorous criteria needed to achieve five stars, and currently, only 31 properties hold the honor. On a recent Friday night, I checked into Paris’ Le Royal Monceau for a quick staycation. Sophie Mancini Transcending Five Stars Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris So here’s to showmanship and the fascinating figures dedicated to it. Like a clock, the whirring cogs are finely orchestrated, and yet we only ever see the beautiful face. Like the most enchanting cinema, he explained, the greatest hotels are pure theater. He applied to acting programs without success but found another industry embodying the same level of seamless performance: hotels. “I could do that,” he thought, watching the actors on-screen night after night. He told me that, as a kid in East Berlin, he worked in a movie theater’s projection room. I had dinner at Grand Hotel Son Net, a dazzling estate in the foothills of Mallorca’s Serra de Tramuntana, with the property’s managing director René Zimmer. ![]() I met people from all over the world, but one encounter stuck with me. I SPENT JUNE reporting in Spain: Mallorca and Valencia, with a pitstop in Madrid. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |